Yellow light
y yellow light 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 5 |
| Attacks |
Explode 10d20 blind |
| Base level | 3 |
| Base experience | 44 |
| Speed | 15 |
| Base AC | 0 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 4 (Uncommon) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 0 |
| Nutritional value | 0 |
| Size | Small |
| Resistances | fire, cold, shock, disintegration, sleep, poison, acid, stoning |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
A yellow light:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line956 |
A yellow light, y, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. The yellow light is the only other member of the light monster class along with the black light. It is amorphous, can fly and flow under doors, and act as a 3x3 light source.
A yellow light has an explosion attack directed at a target monster's square that destroys the yellow light, wakes nearby sleeping monsters and blinds any monster hit for 10d20 turns. The attack is ineffective on targets that cannot see, and if the yellow light is invisible and a character cannot see invisible, there is an experience level-based chance that its explosion will have no effect.[1] A yellow light possesses every resistance property minus magic resistance.
Contents
Generation
Randomly-generated yellow lights are always hostile.
In addition to normal random generation, reading a non-cursed scroll of light while confused has a 1⁄5 chance of generating a yellow light unless they are genocided.
The second variant of Medusa's Island has a yellow light in the back room of the hall Medusa inhabits, and three yellow lights are generated on the Plane of Air.
Yellow lights never leave a corpse upon death.
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.
Per commit 1ba1422e (partly adapted from UnNetHack), reading a non-cursed scroll of light while confused will instead summon multiple tame cancelled yellow lights if they are not genocided. An uncursed scroll will summon 3–4 yellow lights, while a blessed scroll will summon 5–6 yellow lights.Strategy
While it is possible to kill yellow lights normally for characters that can deal with their 0 AC and fast, erratic movement, it is usually preferable to let them explode while the character is already blinded: a blindfold or towel is one of the most straightforward methods of making yellow lights harmless, and a unicorn horn or curative spell (e.g., extra healing and cure blindness) also make them trivial to deal with. Yellow lights also cannot see invisible - if their target is invisible or has displacement, they may harmlessly explode at the square that the light perceives them to be at.
Be careful of dealing with yellow lights in or around rooms such as treasure zoos or throne rooms - a light that explodes close to the room will wake many (if not all) of the inhabitants.
History
Yellow lights have been present since Hack121, a variant of Jay Fenlason's Hack.
Messages
- You get the impression it was not terribly bright.
- An invisible yellow light exploded, and you were unaffected by it.
- You have a melancholy feeling for a moment, then it passes.
- A tame yellow light exploded.
Variants
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, reading a non-cursed scroll of light while confused will instead summon multiple tame cancelled yellow lights if they are not genocided. An uncursed scroll will summon 3–4 yellow lights, while a blessed scroll will summon 5–6 yellow lights.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, yellow lights emit a 2-square radius of light around themselves, and their explosion attack affects all monsters adjacent to it.
Encyclopedia entry
Strange creatures formed from energy rather than matter,
lights are given to self-destructive behavior when battling
foes.
