Croesus
@ Croesus 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 22 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 4d10 |
| Base level | 20 |
| Base experience | 746 |
| Speed | 15 |
| Base AC | 0 |
| Base MR | 40 |
| Alignment | 15 (lawful) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Unique |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | None |
| Resistances conveyed |
None |
|
Croesus:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line2306 |
Croesus, @, is a notable monster in NetHack. He is the rich owner of Fort Ludios and all the vaults seen in the dungeon.
If you encounter a guard while inside one of the vaults, you can enter Croesus in the prompt when the guard asks for your name, and you will be left alone until the next one checks in. The name can also be spelled Kroisos or Creosote; the latter is the name of a similarly wealthy Discworld character that plays on the name Croesus. For lawful player characters, doing this incurs a -1 alignment penalty for lying unless it is also their actual name. Attempting this after killing the real Croesus will instead anger the guard. ("Back from the dead, are you? I'll remedy that!")
Generation
Croesus resides in a throne room on the right half of Fort Ludios, occupying the throne himself; he will always start with a two-handed sword.
Strategy
Characters that are ready for the Castle should be able to deal with him, with some caution; while Croesus has only one weapon attack, it hits for 4d10 damage, which can wipe out under-leveled or poorly armored characters in a few swings. Dispatching him at a distance is a good idea for mid-level characters, especially since he has no resistances; a wand of sleep will render him much easier to dispose of, although he does have some magic resistance and a decently low natural AC of 0.
Because Croesus cannot swim, you can freely shoot wands and projectiles at him from from across Fort Ludios' moat and chip him down, since he can only retaliate if he spawns with his own attack wand or else picks one up (usually from another monster killed by the ranged assault); he poses no more danger in this regard than the multiple soldiers you likely fought in order to reach that area. A ring of conflict can easily turn Croesus and the other throne room denizens against each other, and eventually one of them will kill him; at worst, he will be weakened enough that you can mop him and the other survivors up at your leisure.
If you use a boulder (e.g. from a scroll of earth or any giants on the level) or source of cold (e.g. wand of cold or a frost horn), you can cross the moat and take the fight to Croesus, though you must also contend with the throne room monsters; remember that he can see invisible, and like all humans he does not respect Elbereth. Alternately, you can wait for him to step onto the newly created ice, then use a fire-based attack (e.g. wand of fire) to melt it and drown him. Even a low-level character can defeat Croesus this way; however, he is faster than an unencumbered player character at base speed, and has a chance to get two actions in a row (1 in every 4 turns on average) and cross the moat before you have an opportunity to melt the ice.
Encyclopaedia entry
Croesus (in Greek: Kroisos), the wealthy last king of Lydia;
his empire was destroyed when he attacked Cyrus in 549, after
the Oracle of Delphi (q.v.) had told him: "if you attack the
Persians, you will destroy a mighty empire". Herodotus
relates of his legendary conversation with Solon of Athens,
who impressed upon him that being rich does not imply being
happy and that no one should be considered fortunate before
his death.
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