Ghoul queen

From NetHackWiki
Revision as of 17:23, 20 August 2023 by Umbire the Phantom (talk | contribs) (TLC - des file doesn't mention them at all, probably the result of bad luck on that editor's part; standard formatting stuff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

A ghoul queen, Z, is a monster that appears in SLASH'EM, SlashTHEM and Hack'EM. They possess two claw attacks, including one that can paralyze you as with most ghouls.

Generation

Ghoul queens are not randomly generated, but will generally be among the random zombies generated in certain rooms and levels such as graveyards and the Temple of Moloch at level creation. They can also be created by the summon undead monster spell.

Strategy

Ghoul queens are incredibly annoying monsters to face, since they can repeatedly use summon nasties with their two spellcasting attacks and quickly fill up the level. They are all the more dangerous to face at melee range, as their combination of paralyzing claw attacks and spells like curse items or destroy armor can be potentially deadly. Both ghoul queens and ghoul mages should be treated as priority targets when dealing with a room full of monsters, and may even be worth a scroll of genocide.

Artifact weapons such as Sunsword, Disrupter and the Holy Spear of Light are appealing options if you happen to obtain one. Undead Slayers are capable of detecting ghoul queens due to their innate ability to sense undead, which can make it easier to avoid them or dispose of them efficiently.

Encyclopedia entry

The forces of the gloom know each other, and are strangely
balanced by each other. Teeth and claws fear what they cannot
grasp. Blood-drinking bestiality, voracious appetites, hunger
in search of prey, the armed instincts of nails and jaws which
have for source and aim the belly, glare and smell out
uneasily the impassive spectral forms straying beneath a
shroud, erect in its vague and shuddering robe, and which seem
to them to live with a dead and terrible life. These
brutalities, which are only matter, entertain a confused fear
of having to deal with the immense obscurity condensed into an
unknown being. A black figure barring the way stops the wild
beast short. That which emerges from the cemetery intimidates
and disconcerts that which emerges from the cave; the
ferocious fear the sinister; wolves recoil when they encounter
a ghoul.

[ Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo ]