Horned devil
& horned devil 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 9 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 1d4, claw 1d4, bite 2d3, sting 1d3 |
| Base level | 6 |
| Base experience | 147 |
| Speed | 9 |
| Base AC | -5 |
| Base MR | 50 |
| Alignment | 11 (lawful) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 2 (Quite rare) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | Fire, poison |
| Resistances conveyed |
None |
|
A horned devil:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line2545 |
The horned devil, &, is a major demon that appears in NetHack.
Contents
Generation
The horned devil is flagged to only appear in Gehennom, but no lawful creatures can be randomly generated there - thus, they are effectively never randomly generated. This trait also occurs with barbed devils and the erinys, though all three are still eligible to be generated via gating by other major demons. Horned devils can also be summoned if a lawful spellcaster casts the summon nasties monster spell;[1] they also serve as minions for chaotic gods and Moloch.
Horned devils are still generated in graveyards; in addition, the lairs of Asmodeus and Baalzebub will each contain a horned devil upon normal level creation.[2][3] Another horned devil appears within Moloch's Sanctum, placed just outside the temple near its southeast corner.[4]
They are generated with either a trident (75% chance) or a bullwhip (25% chance).
Strategy
The horned devil is considered the weakest of the major demons by the game, with a lower monster difficulty than even the barbed devil despite having a better AC. It is also ranked as weaker than the water demon, which has weaker attacks and a comparable AC; this is likely because the water demon is faster, can swim, and may potentially appear much earlier.
Despite their solid AC, horned devils are somewhat slower than an unhasted player, and a fast character with good AC of their own and a blessed, well-enchanted and/or silver weapon will have relatively little trouble dispatching one. Horned devils are also weak to cold attacks, and a wand or cone of cold can eliminate them in one or two shots. However, they can still pose a significant threat if one generates with a bullwhip and manages to disarm you, especially if this means being robbed of something like Excalibur in the middle of a pitched fight against more powerful demons (e.g., Asmodeus or Baalzebub).
Horned devils are a decent source of tridents and bullwhips for those looking to utilize either.
History
The horned devil is introduced in NetHack 3.0.0.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, chaotic players have a chance of receiving a horned devil minion as a servant from sacrificing while at any experience level ranging from 10 to 16.
Four horned devils appear in the lair of Dispater. There is also a 1⁄10 chance that a lemure pit special room may contain a horned devil.
UnNetHack
As with SLASH'EM, the is a 1⁄10 chance of the lemure pit special room containing a horned devil.
Lethe patch
In the restructured Gehennom featured within the Lethe patch, Baalzebub's lair contains 5 horned devils.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, horned devils are given a passive quill attack.
Encyclopedia entry
These devils lack any real special abilities, though they
are quite difficult to kill.
