Balrog
& balrog 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 20 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 8d4, Weapon 4d6 |
| Base level | 16 |
| Base experience | 575 |
| Speed | 5 |
| Base AC | -2 |
| Base MR | 75 |
| Alignment | -14 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | Large |
| Resistances | Fire, poison |
| Resistances conveyed |
None |
|
A balrog:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line2652 |
A balrog, &, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. It is the most physically imposing of the non-unique major demons, and has flight, fire resistance and poison resistance.
Unlike most other major demons, balrogs are incapable of summoning other demons; they share this property with foocubi.
Generation
Balrogs are normally only generated in Gehennom, but are also a valid form for polymorph. They are eligible to summon via gating by other major demons, including demon lords and princes. A balrog is guaranteed to appear on the Plane of Fire.[1]
All balrogs are armed with a whip and broadsword.[2]
Strategy
Balrogs are easily among the more intimidating threats in Gehennom, with a solid base AC of -2, powerful weapon attacks and high monster magic resistance - they also have no spellcasting or gating ability, and are very slow. Balrogs that are the result of early polymorph traps can be a nasty unexpected surprised that spells doom for an unlucky player. For balrogs in their natural habitat, players are likely to have good AC themselves by this point, along with any combination of at least one silver weapon, a source of cold damage, and fast or better speed.
Balrogs are capable of disarming you or even stealing your weapon with their bullwhip, making them especially dangerous if you are relying on the wielded weapon for certain intrinsics (e.g. Excalibur for drain resistance and Magicbane for Magicbane. Unlike a horned devil, the balrog will only wield the bullwhip if it somehow loses its broadsword, due to the way monsters prioritize weapons.
As a pet
Balrogs are among the best choices for a pet that are obtainable from a polymorph trap. In addition to the above qualities, balrogs are also inediate and strong, and a properly equipped balrog is a handy shop-raiding pet that can steamroll through shopkeepers; their strength also makes them good for credit cloning. Their high monster MR means they will often resist a wand of speed monster unless they zap it at themselves, and they can only wear boots and gloves - their natural AC will make up for most of the unusable armor slots.
Balrogs are rivaled in terms of pet quality by Archons and titans. Arched are considered better due to their spellcasting and easier to manage, but can usually only be obtained as a pet by wishing for a blessed figurine of one; titans are also spellcasters that can be created by polytraps as well, but are not inediate and must be kept well-fed. Balrogs are somewhat more available in comparison to Archons, though they are still difficult to obtain and the player will need to actively keep their pet balrog's health up.
Origin
The balrog originates from the legendarium of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth setting; one first appeared in print in his high fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings, where the Fellowship of the Ring encounter one in the Mines of Moria, and others appear in The Silmarillion among other books. Balrogs are tall and menacing, and can shroud themselves in fire, darkness and shadow - they are armed with fiery whips "of many thongs" and occasionally use long swords, which correspond to the bullwhip and broadsword they receive in NetHack; in The Silmarillion, and some of Tolkien's earlier writings also mention steel claws and iron mail.
Balrogs were only rivaled by dragons in their capacity for ferocity and destruction. Early writings portrayed them as numerous and roughly twice the size of human, and they were occasionally killed in battle by Elves and Men; they served as fiery demonic servants of Morgoth, armed with fiery whips of many thongs and claws like steel. Later Balrogs were far more sinister and powerful, owing to their origins as formerly-divine Maiar that were corrupted by Melkor before the World's creation, and could not be as readily vanquished. One example of the later Balrogs is fought by Gandalf and the Fellowship at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, and is known as Durin's Bane.
This Balrog and was a survivor of the War of Wrath that escaped the defeat of Morgoth and hid at the base of a mountain within Khazad-dûm. It earned its name from killing the Dwarf-King of Khazad-dûm, Durin VI, when it was found by a troop of mithril-mining dwarves that had dug too deep. Durin's Bane was exceptionally powerful and endowed with magical prowess, even nearly felling the powerful wizard Gandalf; it used a flaming sword ("From out of the shadow a red sword leapt flaming") and a many-thonged whip that "whined and cracked", and appears "like a great shadow, in the middle of which was a dark form, of man-shape maybe, yet greater". When Gandalf eventually defeat the monster and throws it from a mountain peak, it "broke the mountain-side where he smote it in his ruin".
Encyclopedia entry
... It came to the edge of the fire and the light faded as
if a cloud had bent over it. Then with a rush it leaped
the fissure. The flames roared up to greet it, and wreathed
about it; and a black smoke swirled in the air. Its streaming
mane kindled, and blazed behind it. In its right hand
was a blade like a stabbing tongue of fire; in its left it
held a whip of many thongs.
'Ai, ai!' wailed Legolas. 'A Balrog! A Balrog is come!'
