Elemental

The elemental monster class is represented by the symbol E and consists of five monster types:

• Four proper elementals:
  • E air elemental
  • E earth elemental
  • E fire elemental
  • E water elemental
• One additional monster type:
  • E stalker

The stalker is quite unlike the others, and so the term “elemental” usually refers only to the four proper elementals.

Stalkers are genocidable but the proper elementals are not, so using a blessed genocide on the E class will only wipe out stalkers.

Air elemental

E air elemental
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Engulf 1d10

E air elemental
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Engulf 1d10
Base level	8
Base experience	126
Speed	36
Base AC	2
Base MR	30
Alignment	0 (neutral)
Frequency (by normal means)	1 (Very rare)
Genocidable	No
Weight	0
Nutritional value	0
Size	Huge
Resistances	poison, petrification
Resistances conveyed	None
An air elemental: can fly. has no eyes. has no limbs. has no head. is mindless. does not have a solid form. does not eat. (*) is neither male nor female. is strong. never leaves a corpse.
Reference	monst.c#line1364

The air elemental is by far the fastest of elementals and, indeed, the fastest monster of any sort in the entire game. They appear both on the Plane of Air (guaranteed) and in the main dungeon (random). On the Plane of Air, they have a lot more hit points. Unlike other elementals, air elementals can engulf players. Their main attack is to pummel the player with debris; this can be quite deadly to unprepared characters due to their extreme speed and because, unlike against other whirly monsters, one cannot acquire a resistance against the physical damage. Air elementals are not genocidable. They are also immune to petrification and poison. They cannot deal much damage to players polymorphed into a huge monster, e.g. a titan.

In previous versions of NetHack, the air elemental's pummel attack dealt twice as much damage as currently; this was changed in version 3.4.0.

They make surprisingly bad fighter forms to polymorph into, though they are good for travel. E.g. hunting the vibrating square, or crossing the Plane of Air. They are less good for the Plane of Fire because a boulder-throwing, lava-splashing giant might rehumanize you right over lava, and outright bad for the Plane of Water where you cannot see the portal move. Once polymorphed, you cannot use your hands, including to put on or remove rings or operate a bag. Since they are blind, you might want to pack a wand of probing to make picked-up items seen, or wear the Eyes of the Overworld (if you have them).

If you are engulfed by an air elemental and zap in any direction with a wand of teleportation, the elemental will stop engulfing you. This works on the Plane of Air.

See also

• The Air Elemental FAQ

Earth elemental

E earth elemental
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Claw 4d6

E earth elemental
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Claw 4d6
Base level	8
Base experience	126
Speed	6
Base AC	2
Base MR	30
Alignment	0 (neutral)
Frequency (by normal means)	1 (Very rare)
Genocidable	No
Weight	2500
Nutritional value	0
Size	Huge
Resistances	fire, cold, poison, petrification
Resistances conveyed	None
An earth elemental: can phase through walls. does not breathe. has no eyes. has no limbs. has no head. is mindless. has a thick hide. does not eat. (*) is neither male nor female. is strong. never leaves a corpse.
Reference	monst.c#line1378

Earth elementals are slow and thus easily dealt with, although you may find yourself overwhelmed by large numbers of them as they can phase through walls.

Fire elemental

E fire elemental
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Claw 3d6 fire, passive (level + 1)d4 fire

E fire elemental
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Claw 3d6 fire, passive (level + 1)d4 fire
Base level	8
Base experience	134
Speed	12
Base AC	2
Base MR	30
Alignment	0 (neutral)
Frequency (by normal means)	1 (Very rare)
Genocidable	No
Weight	0
Nutritional value	0
Size	Huge
Resistances	fire, poison, petrification
Resistances conveyed	None
A fire elemental: can fly. cannot pick up items. has no eyes. has no limbs. has no head. is mindless. does not have a solid form. does not eat. (*) is neither male nor female. is strong. never leaves a corpse. gives out light.
Reference	monst.c#line1371

Fire elementals are not fast and not hard to fight, especially if you have fire resistance, in which case they can do you no damage.

Water elemental

E water elemental
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Claw 5d6

E water elemental
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Claw 5d6
Base level	8
Base experience	126
Speed	6
Base AC	2
Base MR	30
Alignment	0 (neutral)
Frequency (by normal means)	1 (Very rare)
Genocidable	No
Weight	2500
Nutritional value	0
Size	huge
Resistances	poison, petrification
Resistances conveyed	None
A water elemental: can swim. can survive underwater. has no eyes. has no limbs. has no head. is mindless. does not eat. (*) is neither male nor female. is strong. never leaves a corpse.
Reference	monst.c#line1387

Water elementals may be summoned by drinking from a sink and can easily kill an early character should they hit. Unlike the air elemental, water elementals are slow and easy to run away from.

Encyclopedia entry

Elementals are manifestations of the basic nature of the
universe. There are four known forms of elementals: air, fire,
water, and earth. Some mystics have postulated the necessity
for a fifth type, the spirit elemental, but none have ever
been encountered, at least on this plane of existence.

This page is based on a spoiler by J. Ali Harlow.

This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.

It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.4.3. Information on this page may be out of date.

Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-343}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.