Minotaur
H minotaur 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 17 |
| Attacks |
Claw 3d10, claw 3d10, butt 2d8 |
| Base level | 15 |
| Base experience | 504 |
| Speed | 15 |
| Base AC | 6 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Not randomly generated |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 1500 |
| Nutritional value | 700 |
| Size | Large |
| Resistances | None |
| Resistances conveyed | None
|
The minotaur, H, is an especially deadly NetHack monster. Minotaurs are notoriously difficult to kill and deal out incredible amounts of damage, leading to many deaths by their hands even by experienced players. They are also infamous for being one of the few monsters to ignore Elbereth.
Fortunately, they are never randomly generated. There is always at least one generated on each maze level and one on the Ranger quest home level. They can also be summoned by the Summon nasties monster spell.
A minotaur has a 1/3 chance of getting a wand of digging (100% if on the Plane of Earth).[1]
To estimate how badly you can expect to be stomped, see armor class.
Strategy
Some minotaur-repellent ideas, roughly in decreasing order of effectiveness (the last three options are virtually last-ditch efforts):
- A minotaur is a worthy candidate for a wand of death charge. If not magic resistant or reflecting, be careful where you aim - fire in a panic and you might eat the rebound.
- Minotaurs have zero magic resistance. Taming, by whatever means, is guaranteed to work.
- If a minotaur has interrupted your dig for victory, zap a wand of digging straight down (unless on the Castle level).
- A very fast spellcaster, preferably armed with jumping, might be able to keep a distance and pick the minotaur apart. Be careful not to get backed into a corner.
- An expert archer or dagger-thrower can do the same thing.
- Attack wands are another option; watch when they run out or charges. If the minotaur is in a maze, use rebounds to deal double damage, but only if you are resistant.
- If you have free action, wield a potion of paralysis and smash it over the minotaur's head, buying yourself a few (approximately 3-12) turns to kill it, run, or prepare some of the other options mentioned here.
- Build a boulder fort and pick it apart.
- Build an acid blob fort to buy yourself time to either dig down or combine inventory items (performing alchemy, or writing a scroll of taming).
- Zap the minotaur with a wand of sleep and run/dig/teleport. You will probably have to deal with the minotaur later, though.
- Zap the minotaur with a wand of sleep and try to kill it in melee before it wakes back up. Make sure you have an escape item in case this doesn't work.
- Engage the minotaur head-on. Unless you're a well-kitted Barbarian, Valkyrie or Samurai, this is probably not very intelligent.
- Throw a potion of paralysis at the minotaur, buying yourself a few free hits or a few turns to run. Thrown potions are quite likely to miss.
Pet Minotaurs
A user has suggested improving this page or section as follows:
"This is standard behavior, and should be moved to pet or some such."
Minotaurs can easily be tamed, or an existing pet may polymorph into one.
Minotaurs pets are very powerful, they have strong attacks and can get up to 22 hit dice with 176 hit points.
They carnivours, will not wear armor, wield weapons, use unicorn horns, wear amulets, nor quaff potions of gain level.
They will open unlocked doors, but are stopped by locked doors and boulders, and, as they do not fly, all traps will affect them.
