Genocide
Genociding something is the action of wiping out all members of a certain race by magical means. Do not confuse it with extinctionism, where you must kill all the creatures by yourself.
Genocide can take place in the form of a scroll of genocide or you may get to genocide one monster when #sitting on a throne. Genocides gained from a throne are always safe, scrolls may not be if they are cursed or if you are confused.
If you want to keep a genocideless conduct, you can always answer "none" when asked what to genocide.
Contents
Reverse genocide
Reading a cursed scroll of genocide will create 4-6 of the specified monster. This is what makes reading a non BUC-identified scroll of genocide dangerous. However, it can work to your advantage if the resulting monsters are useful and can be killed easily. Some useful monsters to reverse genocide are:
- W, wraiths: to eat their corpses for a level gain.
- D, dragons: a dangerous way to make dragon scale mail.
- @, nurses: to nurse dance.
- i, tengu: to eat for a possibility of teleport control.
- ;, kraken: easy experience as they have 1 hp out of water.
- h, mind flayers: to eat for intelligence gain, be sure to be standing on a burned Elbereth square.
- H, giants: to eat for strength gain.
For monsters that you want to eat, especially those that provide a large amount of nutrition, it is valuable to have a tinning kit on hand when reverse genociding.
Reverse genociding does not break the genocideless conduct.
Emergency genocide
The scroll of genocide is a useful escape item, as it can instantly kill a monster which poses an immediate threat and cannot be dealt with in any other way. For example, a sea monster holding you, a single monster about to take your last hit point, or a nymph who is robbing you blind. Keep in mind however that some monsters cannot be genocided.
Common genocides
Some species are widely considered to be so nasty, or so annoying, that they merit genocide as soon as possible:
- L, liches
- h, mind flayers
- ;, sea monsters
- R, rust monsters and disenchanters
It is nearly always best to postpone genocide until you can bless your scroll, as the worst monsters don't appear until later, giving you plenty of time to build up a cache of holy water. Note that if you are a dwarf, genociding h will be instantly fatal! Thus, this is a good use for uncursed scrolls or genocides offered by a throne.
Genocide by class (blessed scroll)
| Glyph | Monster | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| L | liches (4 types) | Curses inventory items. |
| ; | kraken | Drowns you. |
| electric eel | Drowns you, plus electric shock destroys items. | |
| giant eel | Drowns you. | |
| h | mind flayers (2 types) | Amnesia attack, INT loss, death by brainlessness |
| humanoids (5 types) | Includes dwarves, do NOT genocide these if you are one. | |
| R | disenchanter | Reduces item enchantment. |
| rust monster | Rusts weapons and armor, but trivial with rustproofing. | |
| N | nagas (8 types) | Golden can curse, others often nasty. |
| T | trolls (5 types) | Often an annoyance. |
| D | dragons (18 types) | Tough opponents, but convey intrinsics. |
| q | quadrupeds (6 types) | Tough if low level. |
| V | vampires (2 types) | May increase number of wraiths in graveyards. |
| Z | zombies (7 types) | May increase number of wraiths in graveyards. |
| P | green slime | Turns you into green slime. |
| black pudding | Corrodes weapons and armor. | |
| brown pudding | Rots weapons and armor. | |
| gray ooze | Rusts armor. | |
| n | nymphs (3 types) | If you can't kill them from a distance |
Genocide one species (uncursed scroll)
| Glyph | Monster | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| h | mind flayer | Amnesia attack. |
| R | disenchanter | Reduces item enchantment. |
| R | rust monster | Rusts weapons and armor, but trivial with rustproofing. |
| c | cockatrice | Can stone you without lizard corpses, hazardous even in death. |
| b | gelatinous cube | Eats organic items (esp. bags and boxes). |
| v | energy vortex | Electric shock destroys rings and wands. |
| g | gremlin | Sometimes steal intrinsics. |
| J | jabberwock | Tough opponent. |
| H | minotaur | Tough opponent, but carries wand of digging. |
| w | purple worm | Tough if low level. Can kill pets. |
| U | umber hulk | An annoyance; confusion gaze and tunneling. |
No genocides
It can be argued that all species are a source of useful items and properties, and hence genociding actually makes the game harder. Liches provide athames and can be powerful pets, mind flayer corpses can boost intelligence, sea monsters are trivial for a well equipped player to deal with, etc.
This viewpoint usually advocates genociding only mimics, as this will increase the number of items present in shops, especially in Orcus Town.
A player who wishes to maintain genocideless conduct can answer "none" when prompted for which species to genocide.
