Master of Thieves
@ Master of Thieves 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 24 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 2d6, weapon 2d6, claw quest-artifact-stealing 2d4 |
| Base level | 20 |
| Base experience | 588 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 0 |
| Base MR | 30 |
| Alignment | −20 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Unique |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | stoning |
| Resistances conveyed |
None |
|
The Master of Thieves:
To a Rogue player, the Master of Thieves also:
To a Tourist player, the Master of Thieves also:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line3141 |
The Master of Thieves, @, is the Rogue quest leader. He is a human that also serves as the Tourist quest nemesis, guarding the Bell of Opening and the Platinum Yendorian Express Card, the Tourist quest artifact. The Master of Thieves has two weapon attacks and a 'claw' attack that can steal quest artifacts, and possesses stoning resistance.
Interestingly, since the Master of Thieves pulls double duty as quest nemesis and quest leader, he resists stoning and can also steal the Master Key of Thievery or any other quest artifact from a Rogue, though this will not occur in a normal game.[1]
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.
The Master of Thieves, along with other quest leaders, has been made significantly stronger, since killing quest leaders no longer makes the game unwinnable. This also means that he is stronger as the Tourist quest nemesis. See this commit.
The changed stats are as follows: Speed becomes 15 (from 12); MR becomes 90 (from 30); first attack becomes 4d10 (from 2d6).
The Master of Thieves also starts with a +5 leather armor, a +4 silver dagger, and 2d4 non-cursed +2 daggers when generated as the Rogue quest leader.
Generation
For Rogues, the Master of Thieves is always generated peaceful at the center-most room of the Rogue quest home level, with a chest placed on his square.
For Tourists, the Master of Thieves is always generated as hostile and awaits in the northwestern corner of the Tourist quest goal level, with the Bell of Opening in his inventory and the Platinum Yendorian Express Card on his square.
Strategy
As the quest nemesis of Tourists, the Master of Thieves is little trouble at all for a player who is strong enough to fight through the crowds of soldiers that defend his lair. The most important note is that he will pick up the Platinum Yendorian Express Card as soon as he is awakened from his meditation state, granting him magic resistance - otherwise, he possesses no resistances outside of the standard stoning resistance that all nemeses have.
The Master of Thieves is relatively unimpressive in melee and lacks special abilities outside of being able to steal quest artifacts from you, including the Platinum Yendorian Express Card if you manage to obtain it without killing him. If you have any darts (e.g. your starting stack of +2 darts) or other poison-compatible projectiles on hand, dip them into a potion of sickness: a flurry of poisoned projectiles fired with sufficient skill level will bring him down quickly and possibly even instakill him.
Encyclopaedia entry
There was a flutter of wings at the window. Ymor shifted his bulk out of the chair and crossed the room, coming back with a large raven. After he'd unfastened the message capsule from its leg it flew up to join its fellows lurking among the rafters. Withel regarded it without love. Ymor's ravens were notoriously loyal to their master, to the extent that Withel's one attempt to promote himself to the rank of greatest thief in Ankh-Morpork had cost their master's right hand man his left eye. But not his life, however. Ymor never grudged a man his ambitions.
[ The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett ]
References
- ↑ The only way to even set up such a scenario would be to kill him in one hit (e.g. with a wand of death), thus preventing him from immediately expelling you from the quest branch. If he then leaves a corpse, you can remove it and revive it if you really want to see him steal the Key.
