Fire resistance
Fire resistance protects against most fire damage and the majority of hot objects, but it will not prevent potions from boiling or scrolls and spellbooks from burning, nor will it prevent non-fireproof armor from becoming burnt. It is a must-have before hitting Gehennom, as fire traps are prevalent there and capable of reducing your maximum hit points.
The most popular way to become fire resistant is to eat corpses. Especially foodless players will be interested in other ways, or at least in avoiding traps.
Monks get intrinsic fire resistance at XL 11, and priests at XL 20.[1] Crowning also brings fire resistance with it.
Extrinsic fire resistance is granted by
- Wearing a ring of fire resistance,
- Wearing red dragon scale mail or scales,
- Wielding Fire Brand,
- Carrying the Mitre of Holiness, the priest quest artifact.
Monsters that are resistant to fire but not to cold are considered vulnerable to cold and take double damage from frosty explosions[2] and about 57% more damage from rays of cold.[3] This never applies to your character, even while polymorphed.
Sources
Intrinsic fire resistance can be obtained from eating the following corpses and globs:
| Monster | Conduct | Difficulty | Chance | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| red mold | vegan | 2 | 3% | |
| gray ooze | vegetarian | 4 | 7% | acidic |
| gelatinous cube | vegan | 6 | 10% | acidic |
| red naga hatchling | meaty | 4 | 10% | |
| flesh golem | meaty | 10 | 12% | |
| Chromatic Dragon | meaty | 23 | 17% | poisonous, Caveman quest nemesis |
| fire ant | meaty | 6 | 20% | abundant on the Valkyrie quest |
| pyrolisk | meaty | 8 | 20% | |
| red naga | meaty | 8 | 20% | |
| Wizard of Yendor | meaty | 34 | 25% | cannibalism for humans |
| fire giant | meaty | 11 | 30% | abundant on the Valkyrie quest |
| hell hound pup | meaty | 9 | 47% | |
| Lord Surtur | meaty | 19 | 50% | Valkyrie quest nemesis |
| salamander | meaty | 12 | 53% | poisonous |
| hell hound | meaty | 14 | 80% | |
| red dragon | meaty | 20 | 100% | |
| Ixoth | meaty | 22 | 100% | Knight quest nemesis |
Messages
The following messages are associated with fire resistance:
- "You feel a momentary chill."
- You gained intrinsic fire resistance by eating a corpse or tin.
- "You be chillin'."
- You gained intrinsic fire resistance by eating a corpse or tin, while hallucinating.
- "You feel cool!"
- You gained intrinsic fire resistance by gaining a level.
- "You feel warmer!"
- You lost intrinsic fire resistance (level drain, gremlin attack).
- "You feel mildly warm."
- You were burnt, but suffered no damage due to fire resistance.
References
This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.
It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.6.1. Information on this page may be out of date.
Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-361}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.
