Difference between revisions of "Death resistance"

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** {{black|@}} [[Lareth]]
 
** {{black|@}} [[Lareth]]
 
** {{magenta|@}} [[Sir Lorimar]]
 
** {{magenta|@}} [[Sir Lorimar]]
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===EvilHack===
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In [[EvilHack]], magic resistance still prevents the instadeath effects of death rays or death touches, but no longer offers complete protection against them: the target will still take significant damage and have their maximum HP drained. [[Half spell damage]] combined with magic resistance can reduce this damage further. The [[Gauntlets of Purity]] offer complete protection from death magic while worn.
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In addition to the same monsters from ''NetHack'', the following monsters in EvilHack are also immune to death magic:
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* All [[angelic being]]s
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* All [[quest leader]]s
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* [[Cerberus (EvilHack)|Cerberus]]
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* [[baby celestial dragon|Baby]] and adult [[celestial dragon]]s
  
 
===SlashTHEM===
 
===SlashTHEM===
[[SlashTHEM]] also features death resistance as a property, with the same effects as above.
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[[SlashTHEM]] also features death resistance as a property, with the same effects as in SLASH'EM.
  
In addition to the monsters listed above, the following monsters introduced in SlashTHEM have death resistance:
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In addition to the listed [[#SLASH'EM|SLASH'EM]] monsters, the following monsters introduced in SlashTHEM have death resistance:
  
 
* {{gray|A}} [[weeping angel]]
 
* {{gray|A}} [[weeping angel]]

Revision as of 08:42, 20 January 2024

Death resistance is an informal property that appears in vanilla NetHack, and protects against most magical sources of instant death.

Description

In NetHack, certain types of monsters are immune to the instant death effect of the touch of death monster spell and rays from a wand of death and the finger of death spell. This property does not have its own flag, and is instead governed by various other sections of code tied to those attacks and spells.

If a monster is nonliving, a demon, a vampire in one of their shapeshifter forms, or has player-style magic resistance (either from possessing a magic missile attack or an extrinsic source of magic resistance), they are unaffected by the above spells and attacks[1] - monsters will not actively use the touch of death or other monster spells against other monsters. You will also resist death magic if you are polymorphed into any of those monsters;[2][3][4] magic resistance will save you from death rays and the touch of death, but will not block a death ray zapped directly at yourself.[5][6]

Variants

In addition to the "informal" type, death resistance appears as a formal property in SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM.

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, death resistance is governed by the MR_DEATH flag in monflag.h. A monster that has the death resistance property and is hit by a touch of death or a death ray will resist the instant death effects of those attacks, but will still take damage.

This property can be found on various monsters in the dungeon, including some of the more powerful ones; while you cannot obtain this specific property as an intrinsic from a corpse or through any external source, you can do so by polymorphing into a monster that has the property. Death resistance will not protect you from a death ray zapped at yourself.

The following monsters possess death resistance in each variant, and are listed in rough order of their appearance in monst.c:

EvilHack

In EvilHack, magic resistance still prevents the instadeath effects of death rays or death touches, but no longer offers complete protection against them: the target will still take significant damage and have their maximum HP drained. Half spell damage combined with magic resistance can reduce this damage further. The Gauntlets of Purity offer complete protection from death magic while worn.

In addition to the same monsters from NetHack, the following monsters in EvilHack are also immune to death magic:

SlashTHEM

SlashTHEM also features death resistance as a property, with the same effects as in SLASH'EM.

In addition to the listed SLASH'EM monsters, the following monsters introduced in SlashTHEM have death resistance:

References

  1. src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 3671: monster qualities that confer immunity to death rays
  2. src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2449: zapping self with death while in nonliving/demon form
  3. src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 3841: death rays while in nonliving/demon form
  4. src/mcastu.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 380
  5. src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 3485: anitmagic is checked here, but not when zapping self
  6. src/mcastu.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 391