Asmodeus
& Asmodeus 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 53 |
| Attacks |
Claw 4d4, magic cold 6d6 |
| Base level | 49 |
| Base experience | 3202 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | -7 |
| Base MR | 90 |
| Alignment | 20 (lawful) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Unique |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1500 |
| Nutritional value | 500 |
| Size | Huge |
| Resistances | Fire, cold, poison |
| Resistances conveyed |
None |
|
Asmodeus:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line2722 |
Asmodeus, &, is the most powerful of the demon princes who is guaranteed to appear in Gehennom. He will generally be encountered in his lair, unless you have somehow managed to meet him before reaching that level. He is no trouble at all, provided you have decent AC and cold resistance.
Alternatively, if you are not wielding Excalibur, you can pay Asmodeus instead of fighting him. He asks for a portion of your visible gold so it is best to hide most of it, for example in your bag of holding.
Asmodeus is always generated with a wand of cold and a wand of fire, [1] but never a random offensive item.
Combat
Asmodeus will appear before you first and (if you aren't wielding Excalibur) demand that you pay him for safe passage. When you refuse, or if he fails to see where you are[2], he becomes angry. Like some quest nemeses and other named demons, he will teleport to the upstairs when he takes a few hits. The easiest way to defeat him is to lure him down one level and then stand on the upstairs. A less effective method is to drive him upstairs until you reach a level that allows you to teleport to the upstairs ahead of him. Note also that level teleportation can be used to lure him to a level that permits teleportation.
Alternatively, you can use a cockatrice corpse to turn him into a statue the first time he shows his face, and blast it for his wands and scrolls.
It is imperative that you be able to keep Asmodeus in your line of sight as much as possible, for like the aforementioned quest nemeses and named demons, in a few short turns after teleporting away from you, he will restore himself to perfect health; he starts with 198 hit points.
Other uses
Since Asmodeus wants the Amulet of Yendor as much as you do, you can exploit this behaviour. If you can lure him to the Moloch's Sanctum, he will teleport to the high priest, engage (and hopefully defeat) him/her, take the Amulet, and go back to attacking you, allowing you to obtain the amulet without leaving the vicinity of the staircase.
In principle, you could wound him just enough to chase him up the stairs, and repeat on each level. This lets you avoid the mysterious force, but is generally not worth the effort.
Encyclopaedia entry
It is said that Asmodeus is the overlord over all of hell.
His appearance, unlike many other demons and devils, is
human apart from his horns and tail. He can freeze flesh
with a touch.
