Conflict
This property creates a scene of conflict around you, and so is one of the most useful but dangerous features in the game.
Effects (Overview)
Conflict has several effects. Peaceful or tame monsters will start attacking you or other monsters near them, though for all other intents and purposes they are still peaceful/tame, e.g. attacking them still carries consequences. This makes conflict dangerous near strong pets, shopkeepers, or other peacefuls. However, it will also make nearby monsters attack each other instead of you, which is incredibly helpful, especially in high-density areas like the Astral Plane and Moloch's Sanctum.
Specifically, monsters are affected if they are in your line of sight and at most 8 squares away. Blinded monsters and the Wizard of Yendor are impervious to conflict.[1] Monsters with a sufficiently high combined magic resistance and level can resist this.[2][3][4]
The exact formula for a monster resisting conflict is rn2(100 + alev - dlev) < mtmp->data->mr, where alev is 5 for a ring (of conflict) and 10 for a weapon (like the Sceptre of Might), dlev is the current monster level capped at 50 and mtmp->data->mr is the monsters magic resistance. For peaceful monsters, alev is always 5[5]. For example, a level 28 master mind flayer pet will always resist conflict from the Sceptre of Might, as rn2(77) will always be smaller than the flayers MR of 90.
Additionally, if you are generating conflict when you arrive on the Astral Plane, instead of getting a guardian angel you will be attacked by some hostile angels. If you aren't wearing the ring when you arrive, but later put it on and your guardian angel notices, it will also turn hostile. Conflict also has another effect: Monsters will move around randomly if they engulf you. This can be very helpful, if used properly, to a pacifist.
Sources
The main source of conflict is the ring of conflict. Unfortunately, wearing a ring of conflict burns nutrition very quickly: every even-numbered turn your nutrition is decremented.
A ring of conflict can often be eaten for a chance of obtaining conflict as an intrinsic. Intrinsic conflict has the same nutrition cost as extrinsic conflict, minus the ring hunger.
If you are not wearing the ring, conflict can be toggled by invoking the Sceptre of Might. This has exactly the same effects as the ring, including attack level in resistance rolls, but will spare you from hunger.
Strategy
The safest method of conflict, from a nutrition standpoint, is the Sceptre of Might: You won't get hungry, but you also only get to turn it on every once in a while. Thus, the Sceptre is best used for emergency crowd-clearing; e.g. if a monster summons nasties.
Rings of conflict are the usual way to use conflict, by wearing and removing the ring as necessary.
Eating a ring to get intrinsic conflict is usually a bad idea as it will burn through nutrition very quickly, and you will have no way of shutting it off. If you ate the ring by accident, your only option is to try removing intrinsics at random, by eating the rare disenchanters or letting a gremlin attack you at night.
A user has suggested improving this page or section as follows:
"Include into strategy section that monsters killing each other do not grant experience points to the player."
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, conflict does not function within the Black Market.
References
- ↑ mon.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 609
- ↑ mhitm.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 115
- ↑ resist in zap.c
- ↑ monmove.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 502: All these extra checks do not apply to spellcasters casting spells at range
- ↑ monmove.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 551
This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.
It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.4.3. Information on this page may be out of date.
Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-343}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.
