Spellbook of flame sphere
| spellbook of + flame sphere 
| |
|---|---|
| Appearance | random |
| Base price | 100 zm |
| Weight | 50 |
| Turns to read | 2 |
| Ink to write | 5–9 |
| Spell type | matter |
| Level | 1 |
| Power cost | 5 Pw |
The spellbook of flame sphere is a deferred feature that exists in the code of NetHack, and can be read to learn the spell of flame sphere. It is a level 1 matter spell, and the spellbook takes roughly two turns to read.
The spellbook is implemented in SLASH'EM, GruntHack, SlashTHEM, EvilHack, and Hack'EM.
Generation
All Flame Mages start the game with a spellbook of flame sphere.
Description
When cast, the spell creates a tame flaming sphere - if cast at Skilled level, two flaming spheres are created, and if cast at Expert, three are created.
Flaming spheres created by this spell are considered spell beings: monsters killed by exploding flaming spheres are considered the responsibility of the player character, i.e. they gain experience from monsters the sphere killed, as well as any blame if the sphere attacks a peaceful monster. In addition, some variants make it so that flaming spheres created by the spell will only exist for a certain amount of time.
Strategy
Any role that relies on flaming spheres from this spell for offense will have to adjust to its non-directional attacks and learn to manipulate the sphere's position to defend against enemies, including careful displacement of the spheres - for Flame Mages, the flame sphere constitutes their primary form of magical offense alongside the starting wand of fire, and it is often worth keeping one active just in case. Flame spheres can be quite useful against cross-aligned unicorns and other skittish hostiles, but are naturally useless against monsters with fire resistance.
Discretion is the better part of valor in utilizing the flame sphere spell: do not allow summoned spheres to drift near shopkeepers or other similar peacefuls, e.g. by trying to attack mimics in shops with them, and exercise caution if moving while blind to avoid killing pet spheres - flaming spheres are mindless, and early hits to alignment and luck may take a while to repair if you plan on praying to your deity. This is especially true in variants that give spheres 3x3 explosions similar to gas spores.
Closing doors can be used to control where spheres move, and magic whistles can help keep them close; in variants where summoned spheres do not vanish, weaker hostile monsters such as fungi can be used to "burn off" extra spheres from a major fight before proceeding.
Taking shops with spheres
In SLASH'EM, shopkeepers cannot easily adapt their movement to a character positioned on a certain square, which can be exploited to kill them easily with several flaming spheres without them leaving the shop and attacking you: stand diagonally next to an open shop door, using a digging tool to carve out a suitable niche if necessary, then summon flame spheres using this spell and a combination of the power surge and draw energy techniques as necessary. The shopkeeper will continue to switch weapons and patrol the shop interior, unsure of your position, until they are eventually killed.
