Floating eye

e floating eye
Difficulty	3
Attacks	Passive paralysis

e floating eye
Difficulty	3
Attacks	Passive paralysis
Base level	2
Base experience	7
Speed	1
Base AC	9
Base MR	10
Alignment	0 (neutral)
Frequency (by normal means)	5 (Common)
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	10
Nutritional value	10
Size	Small
Resistances	None
Resistances conveyed	Telepathy (100%)
A floating eye: can fly. can survive underwater. cannot pick up items. has no limbs. has no head. does not eat. (*) is neither male nor female. is normally generated hostile. can be seen through infravision.
Reference	monst.c#line308

Afloating eye, e, is a particularly dangerous monster that appears in NetHack.

The floating eye does not attack, but each time it is attacked in melee (unless that attack kills it), there is a ²⁄₃ chance of it using a passive paralyzing gaze that immobilizes the attacker. If you are paralyzed by a floating eye, the length of time depends on your Wisdom and the floating eye's level - if your wisdom is 12 or lower, there is a ¹⁄₄ chance of being paralyzed for exactly 127 turns; otherwise, the duration (lvl + 1)d70 turns. Floating eyes are the indirect cause of many YASDs this way.

Eating a floating eye corpse conveys telepathy.

Generation

Only 50% of floating eyes leave a corpse upon death.

Strategy

As indicated above, and in-game via the encyclopedia entry, the floating eye is dangerous to attack in melee. The floating eye's gaze will not trigger if attacked outside of melee range; additionally, it does not occur if the floating eye has been cancelled, is blinded, or if you cannot see the floating eye. Reflection or free action will also prevent paralysis. Note that there is a ¹⁄₅₀₀ chance that you will lose one point of Luck if you attack a blind floating eye. While you can apply a mirror to paralyze a floating eye, this does not prevent its passive gaze from paralyzing you.

Any ranged attacks - daggers, polearms, spells, etc. - can safely dispose of floating eyes, and even throwing junk weapons or rocks will suffice. If fighting one inside a room, you can wait for it to move so that you can retrieve your thrown weapons if desired. Alternately, you can blind yourself by applying an appropriate item, such as a blindfold, towel or a cream pie, and attack the eye without consequence. Another option is zap the floating eye with a wand of make invisible, unless you have the see invisible intrinsic.

If you and the floating eye are in a corridor, and wasting turns is not an issue, you can place yourself between the floating eye and an obstacle of some sort (such as a locked door, boulder, or passive creature) so the paralysis will cause no lasting damage other than wasting turns; however, you will then likely have to contend with hunger instead.

Variants

dNetHack

In dNetHack, the duration of the paralysis effect is shortened to 2d6 turns, making them less dangerous to melee. However, it is still safest to attack them from range, as 12 turns is still enough time for other monsters to appear and kill a character.

FIQHack

In FIQHack, floating eyes instead have an area-of-effect slowing attack; hitting one in melee no longer paralyzes, but instead has a harsher passive slowing effect which will typically last past leaving its slowing area of effect (or killing the floating eye).

NetHack 4

In NetHack 4, it is impossible to attack a floating eye in melee without being protected from its gaze in some way. Monsters can still attack floating eyes normally and suffer paralysis. This was implemented to prevent aggravating deaths from early-game movement mistakes, as an accidental button press would often mean instant death.

UnNetHack

In UnNetHack, floating eyes use a different glyph, e.

xNetHack

In xNetHack, floating eyes use e in order to improve visibility.

Encyclopedia entry

Floating eyes, not surprisingly, are large, floating eyeballs which drift about the dungeon. Though not dangerous in and of themselves, their power to paralyse those who gaze at their large eye in combat is widely feared. Many are the tales of those who struck a floating eye, were paralysed by its mystic powers, and then nibbled to death by some other creature that lurked around nearby.