Fire vampire
V fire vampire 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 22 |
| Attacks |
Claw 2d4 fire, Claw 2d4 fire, Bite 2d4 drain life, Touch 2d4 drain energy, Spell-casting 2d12 fire |
| Base level | 12 |
| Base experience | 462 |
| Speed | 24 |
| Base AC | 0 |
| Base MR | 50 |
| Alignment | -5 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | sleep, poison, cold, fire |
| Resistances conveyed |
None |
|
A fire vampire:
| |
| Reference | SLASH'EM_0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line3223 |
The fire vampire is a powerful type of vampire that appears in SLASH'EM, SlashTHEM and Hack'EM. Unlike other members of the monster class, it is not undead and is instead an extraterrestrial being that is humanoid and infravisible, though it still shares the vampire's regeneration abilities and resistances along with their weakness to silver.
Fire vampires are unbreathing and capable of flight, and can follow you to other levels; they also possess fire resistance and cold resistance. They move at twice the speed of an unhasted, unburdened player character, and have five total attacks: two fire-element claw attacks, a life draining bite, an energy draining touch, and a ray-type fire monster spell similar to the magic missile attack of Angels and Yeenoghu and the cold attack of Asmodeus - this spell is a deferred feature in vanilla NetHack, and is similar to the fireball spell when used at a distance.
Generation
A fire vampire always generates as hostile, and will never leave a corpse when killed.
In addition to random generation, fire vampires may be generated in any level or branch where random V are placed at level creation.
Strategy
The fire vampire can be very dangerous to the unprepared, as its 24 speed and melee-range fire spell can quickly burn through much of your HP; the fire spell bypasses reflection at a distance and can also burn applicable items in your inventory. Additionally, they have a natural AC of 0 and are capable of wearing all armor. The Chaotic Quest in particular is a disaster waiting to happen for those without fire resistance, as fire vampires can generate among the random V placed on level creation.
Fire resistance will blunt most of the damage from fire vampire attacks, though it will not protect your inventory; once you obtain fire resistance, you may want to turn off the 'sparkle' option in order to shorten the time used on animations and lessen distractions during combat with them. As they are not undead, fire vampires lack drain resistance and can be weakened with the wand of draining among other similar items and effects, though they still have a solid MR score of 50.
As a polyform
A fire vampire is one of the strongest polyforms for any character with a means of polymorph and a source of polymorph control due to their high speed, regeneration, flight, 0 AC, and ability to wear all armor. For a doppleganger in particular that gains polymorph control through experience levels or an external source, fire vampires represent a power boost that can buoy even weaker characters against high-level threats.
Be careful not to rely too much on it in either case, however - in addition to the perils of excessive shapechanging for dopplegangers in particular, fire vampires cannot utilize silver weapons and items, and monsters such as footrices can result in an undignified instadeath by stoning if you are careless. Fire vampires can also only feed by draining the blood of other monsters like the rest of their vampire kin, and as such may be a difficult form to use in certain stages of the game unless you have a ring of slow digestion. Finally, their fire attacks can destroy scrolls and potions in monsters' inventories, which is a variable concern depending on how much loot you are seeking out at a given point.
Origin
In "The Fire Vampires", a short story by Donald Wandrei which is considered part of the Cthulhu Mythos, there are two distinct kinds of the titular alien beings: the flame Creatures of Cthugha that appear as many points of fiery light, and the fire Vampires of Fthaggua that appear as crimson bursts of lightning. Their tile and description in SLASH'EM could easily depict either; somewhat strangely, they are still considered humanoid. Cthugha is a Great Old One, an elemental spirit of fire opposed to the Elder Gods, while Fthaggua is the regent of the fire vampires and may be Cthugha's progeny.
Encyclopedia entry
A swirling cloud of bright, burning motes, the fire vampire
descends upon its victim and easily burns them to death once
they are in its deadly embrace.
