Displacer beast
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.
The displacer beast is added in commit 7817e69c, and has been subject to a few changes since its introduction—the article reflects the most current information as of the latest relevant commit (commit 719166f9).f displacer beast 
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|---|---|
| Difficulty | 14 |
| Attacks | |
| Base level | 12 |
| Base experience | 301 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | -10 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | -3 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 750 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | Large |
| Resistances | None |
| Resistances conveyed | displacement (100%, 6-36 turns) |
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A displacer beast:
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| Reference | NetHack 3.7.0 (last commit 0e50adc) - include/monsters.h, line 435 |
- For the monster in other variants, see Displacer beast (disambiguation).
A displacer beast, f, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack 3.7.0, and also appears in xNetHack. The displacer beast is a large and quadrupedal feline animal that is carnivorous, has infravision and can be seen via infravision like other felines. A displacer beast can both displace other monsters while moving and naturally has the displacement property: A hero that attacks a displacer beast (including by force-fighting) has a 1⁄2 chance of "displacing" them instead, moving the hero into that square and relocating the displacer beast to a nearby square. This will not occur if the displacer beast cannot be relocated to a valid position, or else if it is currently helpless, eating or trapped—the ability is also unaffected by cancellation.
Displacer beasts have two claw attacks and a bite attack.
A hero eating a displacer beast corpse or tin gains 6-36 turns of intrinsic displacement upon finishing the meal.
Generation
Randomly-generated displacer beasts are always created hostile.
Hostile displacer beasts can be created by the summon nasties monster spell when it is cast by a hostile spellcaster.
Strategy
Displacer beasts are serious threats to mid-game heroes and even some late-game heroes: their -10 AC makes them quite hard to hit, and they can inflict major damage with their melee attacks. Though they are not without exploitable weaknesses, such as a complete lack of MR score or any form of resistance properties, any means of softening up a displacer beast will require being able to hit it in the first place.
With this in mind, one of the displacer beast's major weaknesses involves exploiting their eponymous displacement abilities: a displacer beast can displace itself into a moat, pool or lava and die instantly from drowning or incineration. Displacer beasts that can be hit with any immobilizing magic or abilities, e.g. a wand of sleep ray or a potion of paralysis, are easier to defeat if the hero is capable of reliably hitting through their AC. Their speed of 12 also means that any unburdened hero with speed can outrun it if need be.
Additionally, the displacer beast's lack of MR score means that taming magic and similar effects will always be effective—displacer beasts are also very strong pets due to their AC, and can take out much more troublesome hostile monsters without losing as much health to retaliation.
History
The displacer beast first appears in SLASH 6 and SLASH'EM.
Origin
The displacer beast is an evil creature that originates from Dungeons & Dragons where it is introduced in the 1975 Greyhawk, the game's first supplement—the concept of the creature was borrowed from A. E. van Vogt's 1939 science fiction short story "Black Destroyer", which features a similar feline-like creature called a coeurl as the titular antagonist. The displacer beast is a large and strong feline with a blue-black pelt that vaguely resembles a puma or black panther, though they possess three pairs of limbs rather than two, and also have tentacles up to 5-feet long that extend from its shoulders and end in sharp and brownish-yellow horned edges.
Displacer beasts are usually about 9 feet (2.7 meters) long and weigh as much as 500 pounds (230 kilograms), with females being smaller; "pack lord" varieties of displacer beast and other mutants of the species can grow to twice the usual size. A displacer beast is more intelligent than most animals and can even speak some Common, while pack lords have slightly higher human-level intelligence. They have striking green eyes that glow malevolently and continue to shine even after they die, and can see up to 60 feet in the dark. Their hide is a valuable commodity, used to create highly sought-after enchanted items such as cloaks of displacement.
The displacer beast's name comes from its innate "displacement" ability, which is caused by molecular vibrations generated from specialized nerves located in the outer layers of the displacer beast's skin—this bends light and creates the illusion that it is a short distance away (anywhere from 1 to 3 feet) from its actual location. Displacer beasts are excellent at hiding and resistant to all ranged attacks as a result, as well as many magical effects (such as "dispel magic") and poisons; their displacement ability is seemingly unconscious, though they can direct the illusory image at will using the thorns on the end of its tentacles, which faintly glow blue while this power is in use. A displacer beast can see the true locations of other displacer beasts even through their illusions; the "phase trap" spell can nullify the beast's displacement, and true seeing reveals their real position.
Displacer beasts often kill for sport as much as for necessity, though they do not fight amongst themselves for food or dominance, and like other great cats they will often toy with their prey until they are ready to eat—once their prey is slain, the displacer beast drags the carcass to a safe and remote spot to consume it. Displacer beasts are known to hunt in packs (called "prides") and lure prey into ambushes, and while they prefer to hunt smaller creatures, they are not picky eaters and consume anything they can kill. Displacer beasts fight using deadly claws and wicked teeth: prides will target weaker members of a group first, which extends to attacking spellcasters of traveling parties from a distance with their tentacles while facing armed opponents head-on; if faced with overwhelming odds, however, they tend to flee rather than fighting to the death.
Messages
- <The displacer beast> swaps places with you...
- A displacer beast exchanged places with you when you tried to attack it.
Encyclopedia entry
This strange creature appears to be mutant form of puma (aka
cougar or mountain lion) which lives in underground settings
rather than outdoor wilderness. It is capable of exchanging
positions with people or creatures in its path and is not
fooled by displaced images of others.
