Naga

The naga, N, is a monster class in NetHack that consists of the following monsters and their hatchling forms:

• N red naga
  • N red naga hatchling
• N black naga
  • N black naga hatchling
• N golden naga
  • N golden naga hatchling
• N guardian naga
  • N guardian naga hatchling

Common traits

Nagas have the head of a human and the body of a snake. They are slithy, limbless monsters with thick hides that are classified as strong and capable of consuming meat; with the exception of black nagas, they are also omnivorous. Female nagas are oviparous and capable of laying eggs. All nagas have poison resistance, and you may gain the intrinsic from eating naga meat.

All hatchlings are large, while all adult nagas are huge. Nagas are considered kebabable—you receive a +2 to-hit bonus when attacking them with a weapon that uses the spear skill.

If you chat to a naga or naga hatchling, they will "mumble incomprehensibly".

Generation

The naga monster class is the second quest class for the Rogue quest, and nagas have a ~3% chance of being generated in the branch.

Naga hatchlings are neutral-aligned and do not randomly generate outside of certain branches with a neutral "bias" such as the Oracle and Sokoban. They can also hatch from naga eggs, and are sometimes generated peaceful towards neutral characters.

Hatchlings

All naga hatchlings have a single 1d4 bite attack and are mostly harmless.

• Red
• Black
• Golden
• Guardian

N red naga hatchling
Difficulty	4
Attacks	Bite 1d4

N red naga hatchling
Difficulty	4
Attacks	Bite 1d4
Base level	3
Base experience	28
Speed	10
Base AC	6
Base MR	0
Alignment	0 (neutral)
Frequency (by normal means)	0 (Not randomly generated)
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	500
Nutritional value	100
Size	Large
Resistances	Fire, Poison
Resistances conveyed	Fire (10%), Poison (10%)
A red naga hatchling: cannot pick up items. has no limbs. has a slithy or serpent-like body. has a thick hide. is omnivorous. is strong. can be seen through infravision.
Reference	monst.c#line1621

The red naga hatchling and its adult form are infravisible. The hatchling has the least chance of all nagas to convey poison resistance from eating their corpse or tinned meat, but is also an early source of fire resistance.

N black naga hatchling
Difficulty	4
Attacks	Bite 1d4

N black naga hatchling
Difficulty	4
Attacks	Bite 1d4
Base level	3
Base experience	28
Speed	10
Base AC	6
Base MR	0
Alignment	0 (neutral)
Frequency (by normal means)	0 (Not randomly generated)
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	500
Nutritional value	100
Size	Large
Resistances	Poison, Acid, Stoning
Resistances conveyed	Poison (20%)
A black naga hatchling: cannot pick up items. has no limbs. has a slithy or serpent-like body. has a thick hide. is acidic to eat. is carnivorous. is strong.
Reference	monst.c#line1621

The black naga hatchling and its grown-up form are acidic—players eating their corpses will take damage, but their tinned meat is safe to consume. Black naga hatchlings and adults are also the only carnivorous members of the monster class.

Generation

Four black naga hatchlings appear on the fourth variant of Medusa's Island.

N golden naga hatchling
Difficulty	4
Attacks	Bite 1d4

N golden naga hatchling
Difficulty	4
Attacks	Bite 1d4
Base level	3
Base experience	28
Speed	10
Base AC	6
Base MR	0
Alignment	0 (neutral)
Frequency (by normal means)	0 (Not randomly generated)
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	500
Nutritional value	100
Size	Large
Resistances	Poison
Resistances conveyed	Poison (20%)
A golden naga hatchling: cannot pick up items. has no limbs. has a slithy or serpent-like body. has a thick hide. is omnivorous. is strong.
Reference	monst.c#line1621

N guardian naga hatchling
Difficulty	4
Attacks	Bite 1d4

N guardian naga hatchling
Difficulty	4
Attacks	Bite 1d4
Base level	3
Base experience	28
Speed	10
Base AC	6
Base MR	0
Alignment	0 (neutral)
Frequency (by normal means)	0 (Not randomly generated)
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	500
Nutritional value	100
Size	Large
Resistances	Poison
Resistances conveyed	Poison (20%)
A guardian naga hatchling: cannot pick up items. has no limbs. has a slithy or serpent-like body. has a thick hide. is omnivorous. is strong.
Reference	monst.c#line1621

Adult nagas

• Red
• Black
• Golden
• Guardian

N red naga
Difficulty	8
Attacks	Bite 2d4, Breath 2d6 fire

N red naga
Difficulty	8
Attacks	Bite 2d4, Breath 2d6 fire
Base level	6
Base experience	82
Speed	12
Base AC	4
Base MR	0
Alignment	-4 (chaotic)
Frequency (by normal means)	1 (Very rare)
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	2600
Nutritional value	400
Size	Huge
Resistances	Fire, Poison
Resistances conveyed	Fire (20%), Poison (20%)
A red naga: cannot pick up items. has no limbs. has a slithy or serpent-like body. has a thick hide. can lay eggs. is omnivorous. is strong. can be seen through infravision.
Reference	monst.c#line1627

The red naga is the slowest of the adult nagas, with its speed matching that of an unhasted player. It is also the only chaotic naga. They are likely the first hostile monsters with a fire breath attack to be encountered in the dungeon—avoid fighting them over ice if possible.

N black naga
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Bite 2d6, Spit 0d0 acid venom

N black naga
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Bite 2d6, Spit 0d0 acid venom
Base level	8
Base experience	132
Speed	14
Base AC	2
Base MR	10
Alignment	4 (lawful)
Frequency (by normal means)	1 (Very rare)
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	2600
Nutritional value	400
Size	Huge
Resistances	Poison, acid, stoning
Resistances conveyed	Poison (53%)
A black naga: cannot pick up items. has no limbs. has a slithy or serpent-like body. has a thick hide. can lay eggs. is acidic to eat. is carnivorous. is strong.
Reference	monst.c#line1634

The black naga is capable of spitting acidic venom at you from a distance.

Generation

Four adult black nagas appear on the fourth variant of Medusa's Island.

N golden naga
Difficulty	13
Attacks	Bite 2d6, Magic 4d6 spell-casting

N golden naga
Difficulty	13
Attacks	Bite 2d6, Magic 4d6 spell-casting
Base level	10
Base experience	239
Speed	14
Base AC	2
Base MR	70
Alignment	5 (lawful)
Frequency (by normal means)	1 (Very rare)
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	2600
Nutritional value	400
Size	Huge
Resistances	Poison
Resistances conveyed	Poison (67%)
A golden naga: cannot pick up items. has no limbs. has a slithy or serpent-like body. has a thick hide. can lay eggs. is omnivorous. is strong.
Reference	monst.c#line1642

The golden naga is the sole spellcaster of the monster class, and a dangerous one at that. Its available spells include destroy armor, curse items and drain strength, and it may haste self and/or become invisible before you can catch sight of it.

Generation

Golden nagas often generate peaceful for a lawful character.

Strategy

Magic resistance can blunt the worst of their spells' impact.

N guardian naga
Difficulty	16
Attacks	Bite 1d6 paralysis, Spit 1d6 blinding venom, Hug 2d4

N guardian naga
Difficulty	16
Attacks	Bite 1d6 paralysis, Spit 1d6 blinding venom, Hug 2d4
Base level	12
Base experience	295
Speed	16
Base AC	0
Base MR	50
Alignment	7 (lawful)
Frequency (by normal means)	1 (Very rare)
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	2600
Nutritional value	400
Size	Huge
Resistances	Poison
Resistances conveyed	Poison (80%)
A guardian naga: cannot pick up items. has no limbs. has a slithy or serpent-like body. has a thick hide. can lay eggs. is poisonous to eat. is omnivorous. is strong.
Reference	monst.c#line1649

The guardian naga is the fastest of the nagas, and arguably the strongest. Although they lack the golden naga's spellcasting prowess, they can paralyze you with their bite attack and spit blinding venom.

They have a bearhug attack defined in the source, but may not use it against you: bearhug attacks require hitting with two prior attacks in the same turn, but guardian nagas never meet this condition due to skipping their spit attack in melee combat. The attack still contributes to their experience reward, and they use it readily in combat against other monsters.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 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.

Guardian nagas can use their hug attack, which is now an eel-style "wrap" attack. Nagas can't inhabit water squares, so they can't drown you.

Generation

Guardian nagas are the second quest monster in the Rogue quest, and have a ~14% chance of being generated within the branch. Several more guardian nagas will be generated upon entering each floor below the Home level.

Strategy

A ring of free action is very useful against guardian nagas, especially if you lack ranged options to drop them before they can close in.

History

All nagas were introduced to the game in NetHack 3.0.0.

Origin

The Nāga (feminine "Nagi") are creatures that appear in Dungeons & Dragons, which in turn derives them from a supernatural race of half-human half-serpent beings that can occasionally take human form, and hold cultural significance in the folkloric traditions of many South Asian and Southeast Asian cultures over the past two millennia.

Their most common depiction is that of a snake with a human head, which the default tiles of NetHack draw from—other iconographic depictions portray them as human from the waist up and snake from the waist down, wholly human with snakes on the heads and necks, or even as common serpents. Various south and southeastern Asian cultures also portray Nāgas as having multiple usually-serpentine heads.

Encyclopedia entry

The naga is a mystical creature with the body of a snake and the head of a man or woman. They will fiercely protect the territory they consider their own. Some nagas can be forced to serve as guardians by a spellcaster of great power.