Difference between revisions of "Bat"

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  |MR=0
 
  |MR=0
 
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  |frequency=Very rare, appears in small groups
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  |resistances=None
 
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  |resistances conveyed=None
 
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|attributes={{attributes|A bat|sgroup=1|fly=1|animal=1|nohands=1|carnivore=1|wander=1|infravisible=1}}
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|reference=[[monst.c#line1120]]
 
}}
 
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The '''bat''' is a class of [[NetHack]] [[monster]] represented by the overall symbol {{white|B}}. They are all extremely fast and can fly, as one would expect.
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A '''bat''', {{monsym|bat}}, is a type of [[monster]] that appears in ''[[NetHack]]''. It is the weakest monster of the [[bat or bird]] [[monster class]], and like the others it is capable of [[flight]]. Bats will flit erratically about the dungeon: there is a {{frac|3}} chance of the monster moving in a random direction during each of its turns.{{refsrc|src/monmove.c|915|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}
  
The '''bat''', {{brown|B}}, is also the weakest monster of this class.  Other bats include the [[giant bat]] and the [[vampire bat]]. Note that one [[bird]], the [[raven]], also uses the B symbol.
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A bat has a single bite attack.
  
[[You]] should not eat bat corpses. Eating a bat corpse [[stun]]s you; it is not worth only 20 [[nutrition]]. Note that [[pet]]s will eat bat corpses, and stunning does not seem to affect them; do not follow your pets' example.
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Eating a bat [[corpse]] or [[tin]] will [[stun]] you for up to 30 (more) turns.{{refsrc|src/eat.c|1013|version=NetHack 3.6.7}} A character [[polymorph]]ed into a bat is intrinsically stunned for the duration of the polyself.{{refsrc|include/youprop.h|79|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}
  
Bats grow up to be giant bats.
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==Generation==
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Bats can generate in small [[group]]s, and may sometimes generate as peaceful towards neutral characters. A bat can [[grow up]] into a [[giant bat]].
  
== Commentary ==
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Bats appear among the random {{white|B}} that are part of the first quest [[monster class]] for [[Wizard]]s and make up {{frac|24|175}} of the monsters randomly generated on the [[Wizard quest]].
The bat is to [[NetHack]] as the [http://angband.oook.cz/monsters.php?q=insect+swarm&t=&s=&v= insect swarm] is to [[Angband|Zangband]]. The bat appears early in the game; a melee-oriented character or a [[Wizard]] with [[force bolt]] can dispatch it quickly; bats are thus easier to fight than those dreaded [[soldier ant]]s. However, if you do not kill it quickly, then it can bite you to death because it moves faster than you do. ''Kill it quick or it kills you.'' The speed of a bat gives it multiple bites per turn and also makes it difficult to run away. If you miss too often and your pet does not make the kill, then you might have to resort to dusting [[Elbereth]].
 
  
Bats and [[giant bat]]s both appear early in the game, and individually the giant bats are actually more dangerous. The danger with the bat is that it often brings a partner. Survive one bat and the ''second bat'' could finish you.
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Standard bats generated in [[Gehennom]] have slightly higher speed than normal, possibly a play on the phrase "like a bat [on its way] out of hell".{{refsrc|src/makemon.c|1275|version=NetHack 3.6.7|name=batoutofhell}}
  
What about bats?
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==Strategy==
 +
Bats are not especially tough, but their very high [[speed]] can make hostile bats an annoyance, particularly in groups. Fleeing from bats is somewhat easier due to their erratic movement; if you stay in melee range, they will often also stay in melee range, making them easier targets as well.
  
[[Real life]] bats are nocturnal. They thrive in the night and sleep in caves and other dark places. Bats probably feel at home in the [[Mazes of Menace]]. One can imagine though, then bats would have a dislike for those perpetually lit rectangular [[dungeon]] rooms. Death to a bat in a dark [[corridor]] is more realistic than death to a bat in a well lit room, is that not so? Actually, bats do not dislike light; they would just sometimes prefer not to be seen. Bats have only a melee attack, and you have [[night vision]] of radius 1, so you can always see them when they attack you. Bats are [[infravisible]], so [[race]]s with infravision can even spot them through dark corridors.
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==History==
 +
The bat first appears in Hack 1.21 and Hack for PDP-11, which are based on [[Jay Fenlason's Hack]], and is included in the initial bestiary for [[Hack 1.0]]. In these early versions, eating a bat corpse causes [[confusion]], as the stun property is not yet implemented.
  
The reason while (real life) bats like the night is because it gives them cover from other creatures while the bats apply [[echolocation]], employing sound to discover the positions of things. NetHack does not implement echolocation (though the [[biodiversity patch]] does, at least if you polymorph into a bat); in fact NetHack gives very little [[artificial intelligence]] to most monsters that do not use [[item]]s and have only [[melee attack]]s, making them only approach the hero and whack them repeatedly.
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==Origin==
 +
{{wikipedia}}
 +
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera (/kˈaɪrəptɛrə/) that have forelimbs adapted into wings, with very long spread-out digits covered with a thin membrane or [[Wikipedia:Patagium|patagium]] - they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight, and are more agile in flight than most birds. Bats make up the second largest order of mammals after rodents, comprising about 20% of all classified mammal species worldwide, with over 1,400 species - until as late as 2013, these were traditionally divided into two suborders: the largely fruit-eating "megabats", and the echolocating "microbats".
  
Take comfort then, if you actually find a bat but are too weak to kill it before it kills you, that you are not playing [[Dungeon Crawl]]. The bats of Crawl are smart enough to dash in, bite once, then fly out of melee range before your turn. (The bats of [http://roguebasin.roguelikedevelopment.org/index.php?title=CastlevaniaRL CastlevaniaRL] adopt a slightly different tactic; their attacks bounce you away from them, so that you often must retaliate with a ranged attack.) It is a good idea for Crawl players to carry around some daggers, darts or other ranged weapons to throw at bats; it helps that the upper levels of Crawl are completely lit, leaving bats vulnerable unless they go behind a corner or pillar. The bats of NetHack stay in melee range, so that if you are a good fighter then it is trivial to defeat them.
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Most bats are nocturnal, and many roost in caves or other refuges; their habitats are spread throughout the world, with the exception of extremely cold regions. Many bats are insectivores, and most of the rest primarily consume fruit or nectar; a few species feed on animals other than insects, such as the blood-drinking vampire bats. While not blind, many 'microbats' have small and poorly developed eyes in contrast to 'megabats' possessing vision comparable to that of humans, if not better) - these 'microbats' (and a few 'megabats') are known to use echolocation to navigate and forage, often in total darkness. Using echolocation, these bats can determine how far away an object is, as well as its size, shape and density, and whatever direction it is moving in if any; microbats may resort to standard vision for orientation and while traveling between their roosting grounds and feeding grounds, as echolocation is effective only over short distances.
  
What trips some players, what causes them to have their new character die to a bat, is NetHack's #[[enhance]] system. Throwing something at a bat (even it if it is infravisible down the corridor) is most likely a waste of a turn if you happen to be unskilled or restricted in that weapon. Players who early wield an unskilled weapon to trade can encounter trouble. They think that they see an easy bat and try to kill it, only to miss too often and fear wasting a turn to wield a different weapon.
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As flying mammals, bats are considered [[Wikipedia:Liminal being|liminal beings]] in various traditions, and are associated with a range of traits such as death, darkness, and witchcraft (which occurs in Aztec and Indigenous American folklores), as well as good fortune, happiness and fertility (such as in China). In Western cultures, the bat is often a symbol of the night and its foreboding nature, and is often associated with fictional characters of the night, ranging from villainous vampires such as Count Dracula to heroes such as the DC Comics character Batman.
  
Alas, bats preexisted the #enhance command. Bats have annoyed adventurers seeking the [[Amulet of Yendor]] since the days of [[Hack]], back when eating a dead bat would cause [[confusion]] because [[stun]] was not yet distinct.
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==Variants==
 +
In the [[biodiversity patch]], polymorphing into a bat simulates the use of echolocation by real-life bats.
  
 +
===SLASH'EM===
 +
In [[SLASH'EM]], bats appear among the random {{white|B}} that are part of the first quest [[monster class]] for [[Necromancer]]s and make up {{frac|24|175}} of the monsters randomly generated on the [[Necromancer quest]].
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 +
===UnNetHack===
 +
In [[UnNetHack]], at least two bats will appear on the fifth level of the [[Ruins of Moria]].
 +
 +
==Encyclopedia entry==
 +
{{encyclopedia|A bat, flitting in the darkness outside, took the wrong turn
 +
as it made its nightly rounds and came in through the window
 +
which had been left healthfully open.  It then proceeded to
 +
circle the room in the aimless fat-headed fashion habitual
 +
with bats, who are notoriously among the less intellectually
 +
gifted of God's creatures.  Show me a bat, says the old
 +
proverb, and I will show you something that ought to be in
 +
some kind of a home.
 +
[ A Pelican at Blandings, by P. G. Wodehouse ]
 +
}}
 +
 +
==References==
 +
<references />
 +
{{nethack-367}}
 
[[Category:Monsters]]
 
[[Category:Monsters]]

Latest revision as of 07:00, 9 January 2024

A bat, B, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. It is the weakest monster of the bat or bird monster class, and like the others it is capable of flight. Bats will flit erratically about the dungeon: there is a 13 chance of the monster moving in a random direction during each of its turns.[1]

A bat has a single bite attack.

Eating a bat corpse or tin will stun you for up to 30 (more) turns.[2] A character polymorphed into a bat is intrinsically stunned for the duration of the polyself.[3]

Generation

Bats can generate in small groups, and may sometimes generate as peaceful towards neutral characters. A bat can grow up into a giant bat.

Bats appear among the random B that are part of the first quest monster class for Wizards and make up 24175 of the monsters randomly generated on the Wizard quest.

Standard bats generated in Gehennom have slightly higher speed than normal, possibly a play on the phrase "like a bat [on its way] out of hell".[4]

Strategy

Bats are not especially tough, but their very high speed can make hostile bats an annoyance, particularly in groups. Fleeing from bats is somewhat easier due to their erratic movement; if you stay in melee range, they will often also stay in melee range, making them easier targets as well.

History

The bat first appears in Hack 1.21 and Hack for PDP-11, which are based on Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is included in the initial bestiary for Hack 1.0. In these early versions, eating a bat corpse causes confusion, as the stun property is not yet implemented.

Origin

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera (/kˈaɪrəptɛrə/) that have forelimbs adapted into wings, with very long spread-out digits covered with a thin membrane or patagium - they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight, and are more agile in flight than most birds. Bats make up the second largest order of mammals after rodents, comprising about 20% of all classified mammal species worldwide, with over 1,400 species - until as late as 2013, these were traditionally divided into two suborders: the largely fruit-eating "megabats", and the echolocating "microbats".

Most bats are nocturnal, and many roost in caves or other refuges; their habitats are spread throughout the world, with the exception of extremely cold regions. Many bats are insectivores, and most of the rest primarily consume fruit or nectar; a few species feed on animals other than insects, such as the blood-drinking vampire bats. While not blind, many 'microbats' have small and poorly developed eyes in contrast to 'megabats' possessing vision comparable to that of humans, if not better) - these 'microbats' (and a few 'megabats') are known to use echolocation to navigate and forage, often in total darkness. Using echolocation, these bats can determine how far away an object is, as well as its size, shape and density, and whatever direction it is moving in if any; microbats may resort to standard vision for orientation and while traveling between their roosting grounds and feeding grounds, as echolocation is effective only over short distances.

As flying mammals, bats are considered liminal beings in various traditions, and are associated with a range of traits such as death, darkness, and witchcraft (which occurs in Aztec and Indigenous American folklores), as well as good fortune, happiness and fertility (such as in China). In Western cultures, the bat is often a symbol of the night and its foreboding nature, and is often associated with fictional characters of the night, ranging from villainous vampires such as Count Dracula to heroes such as the DC Comics character Batman.

Variants

In the biodiversity patch, polymorphing into a bat simulates the use of echolocation by real-life bats.

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, bats appear among the random B that are part of the first quest monster class for Necromancers and make up 24175 of the monsters randomly generated on the Necromancer quest.

UnNetHack

In UnNetHack, at least two bats will appear on the fifth level of the Ruins of Moria.

Encyclopedia entry

A bat, flitting in the darkness outside, took the wrong turn
as it made its nightly rounds and came in through the window
which had been left healthfully open. It then proceeded to
circle the room in the aimless fat-headed fashion habitual
with bats, who are notoriously among the less intellectually
gifted of God's creatures. Show me a bat, says the old
proverb, and I will show you something that ought to be in
some kind of a home.
[ A Pelican at Blandings, by P. G. Wodehouse ]

References