Elf-lord

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Revision as of 02:16, 19 October 2023 by Umbire the Phantom (talk | contribs) (Variants: dnh)
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An elf-lord, @, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. They are a strong type of elves with two weapon attacks and possess sleep resistance, infravision and the ability to see invisible.

Eating an elf-lord corpse or tin has a 53% chance of conferring sleep resistance.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.

The elf-lord has been renamed to the elf-noble; male elf-nobles are elf-lords, while female elf-nobles are called elf-ladies.

Generation

Elf-lords can generate in small groups, and randomly-generated elf-lords are peaceful towards chaotic elven players and occasionally peaceful towards chaotic humans. Woodland-elves, Green-elves, and Grey-elves can grow up into elf-lords, and elf-lords can grow up into Elvenkings.

In addition to normal random generation, elf-lords can also be generated by the summon nasties monster spell.

Elf-lords are eligible for offensive, defensive and miscellaneous items, and are generated with elven equipment like other elves:[1]

Strategy

Groups of elf-lords can be quite dangerous to a mid-game character: Elf-lords that have a bow and arrows can pepper you with them repeatedly from a distance with their two weapon attacks, and their status as a lord to their kind allows them to multishot the arrows, which can easily rack up significant damage. Furthermore, they may generate with potions of gain level that they can use to become stronger Elvenkings.

As a monster that can be generated via summon nasties, they are not as dangerous as an Elvenking, but their ability to ignore Elbereth like most elves makes them more difficult to drive off than other monsters.

History

The elf-lord first appears in NetHack 3.0.0.

Variants

Some variants adjust things so that female counterparts to the elf-lord can generate and are properly named.

GruntHack

In GruntHack, elf-lords are replaced by the racial lord and lady monsters, which can be elven.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, an elf-lord will generate on the level containing the magic portal to the Mordor Ruins Quest. Within the branch:

  • The River Ford level has a 34 chance of generating an elf-lord and a separate 34 chance of generating an elf-lady in the forest on the west side.
  • At the west edge of the Elven Forest level, an elf-lord and an elf-lady are among the group of elves generated opposite a horde of Mordor orcs and other monsters led by a Nazgul.

Elf-nobles may appear among the court of an elven monarch-ruled throne room.

SpliceHack

In SpliceHack, the monster is renamed to an elven noble, with male monarchs called "elven lords" and female monarchs called "elven ladies".

EvilHack

In EvilHack, the monster is renamed to an elven noble as in SpliceHack.

References

  1. src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 222: Default equipment for elves