View source for Poison

'''Poison''' is one of the most annoying hazards of the [[early game]] for any player who has not yet gained [[poison resistance|immunity to it]].

There are many ways in which a NetHack character will come into contact with poison.  Some monsters wield poisoned weapons or fire poisoned arrows, while others such as killer bees have a poisonous sting or bite.<ref>{{function|Attrib.c|poisoned}}</ref>  Poison is also used in many of the traps in the dungeons.  Finally, certain kinds of [[corpse]]s are poisonous, and cause 1 to 15 HP and 1 to 4 strength loss when eaten,{{refsrc|src/eat.c|1583|version=NetHack 3.6.0}} but never [[instadeath]], though the HP loss may be enough to kill a player with low health.

Poisoning from eating a poisonous corpse is different from [[food poisoning]], which is a type of [[sickness]].

==Effects==
The effects of poison are:
* [[HP]] loss.
* Loss of [[attribute]] points, especially [[strength]] but also [[dexterity]] and [[constitution]].  A [[potion of sickness]] can reduce ''any'' of your attributes.
* Small probability of an [[instadeath]], depending on the type of poison exposure. This probability is per exposure, not per source.

{{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|Per {{commit|d0b11fd2c05dae5ebc7a3ff6425257e6ed372894}}, poison no longer has a chance of instakilling the player.  Instead of the instakill, the player suffers 6+4d6 damage, half that of max maximum HP loss, and loss of attribute points.}}

==Statistics==
{|class="wikitable"
!Source!!Chance of poison!!Chance of deadly!!Chance of stat damage
|-
|Monster [[melee]] attack||1 in 8 successful attacks that pass your [[magic cancellation]]||1 in 30 poison attacks||1 in 6 poison attacks will damage either [[strength]], [[dexterity]] or [[constitution]] depending on the monster.
|-
|Monster ranged attack||?||1 in 30 successful attacks with a poisoned thrown weapon{{refsrc|src/attrib.c|258|version=NetHack 3.6.0}}||1 in 2 chance of damaging [[strength]]
|-
|Poisoned [[dart trap]]||1 in 6||1 in 10 hits||1 in 2 chance of damaging [[constitution]]
|-
|Poisoned [[spiked pit]]||1 in 6||1 in 8 falls||5 in 8 chance of damaging [[strength]]
|-
|Noxious gas [[container trap]]||depends on luck||1 in 15 chance||1 in 3 chance of damaging [[strength]]
|-
|Poisoned needle container trap||depends on luck||1 in 10 chance||1 in 2 chance of damaging [[constitution]]
|-
|Poison blast attack from an [[iron golem]] or [[green dragon]]||?||1 in 15 chance||1 in 3 chance of damaging [[dexterity]]
|-
|Poisonous corpse||4 in 5||none||always damages [[strength]], deals d15 HP damage
|}

== Poisonous corpses ==
The following monsters leave poisonous corpses:

* all {{mcsl|k}}
* all {{mcsl|a}} except [[giant ant]]s and [[fire ant]]s
* all {{mcsl|S}} except [[garter snake]]s and [[python]]s
* all [[werecreature]]s
* [[gremlin]]s
* [[manes]], [[homunculi]], [[lemure]]s
* [[rabid rat]]s
* [[giant spider]]s, [[scorpion]]s
* [[xan]]s
* [[vampire bat]]s
* (baby) [[green dragon]]s
* [[yellow mold]]s
* adult [[guardian naga]]s
* [[quantum mechanic]]s
* [[Medusa]]
* [[jellyfish]]
* [[salamander]]s
* the [[Chromatic Dragon]]
* [[Scorpius]]
<!-- and many more that are either nocorpse or leave different corpses -->

Note that a corpse being poisonous is independent of its monster having poison resistance and/or granting poison resistance when eaten.

== Strategy ==
===Poison resistance===
The best way to protect yourself from poison is to obtain [[poison resistance]] as soon as possible.  Intrinsic poison resistance is granted by eating any of a large variety of corpses (listed in [http://www.steelypips.org/nethack/343/drgn-343.html Dylan's Dragon Resistances spoiler]).  Most, but not all, of these corpses are poisonous themselves, so it is not advisable to eat them without some way of avoiding or curing the strength loss.  It can be avoided by wearing an external source of poison resistance (e.g. an [[amulet versus poison]]) or a ring of sustain ability, and it can be cured by applying a unicorn horn. [[Tinning kit|Tinning]] the corpse is another option; the tinned meat will no longer be poisonous but will still convey the intrinsic.

Several roles start with poison resistance or gain it at an early level.  [[Barbarian]]s and [[Healer]]s have starting poison immunity, as do [[orc (starting race)|orc]]s.  [[Monk]]s gain it at level 3.

===Avoiding poison===
There are other precautions you can take to protect against specific encounters with poison:
* High [[magic cancellation]] protects against poisonous bites and stings but not poisoned weapons.
* Unless you know that you can fix the stat loss, don't drink unidentified potions that could be a non-blessed potion of sickness.
* Don't try to untrap dart traps until you have poison resistance.
* If a random scroll you read turns out to be stinking cloud, discharge it harmlessly by choosing to center the cloud a long way away from you.
* Learn what corpses are poisonous, and don't eat them until you have poison resistance.

===Treating attribute loss===
Repeated exposure to poison at the beginning of the game is likely to reduce your strength and [[carrying capacity]], thus limiting the amount of [[inventory]] that you can carry safely.

The best solution is to [[apply]] a noncursed [[unicorn horn]] repeatedly to regain strength. When you see the message "This makes you feel great!", all your stats have been fully restored.

The [[potion of restore ability]] and [[spell of restore ability]] can restore lost attributes as well. You can also [[pray]]: being [[overtaxed]] with at least four points of strength drain is considered [[major trouble]], and having any reduced attributes at all is considered [[minor trouble]].

{{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|Unicorn horns can no longer restore strength, and praying as described here does not work.}}

===Poisoning weapons===
You can hurl poisonous [[missile]]s yourself. Poisoned weapons do an additional d6 damage and have a 10% chance of [[instadeath]] against non-poison resistant foes.
Missiles become poisoned if [[dip]]ped into a [[potion of sickness]]—[[arrows]] of any kind, as well as [[crossbow bolts]], [[dart]]s, and [[shuriken]] may be poisoned this way.{{refsrc|include/obj.h|200|version=NetHack 3.6.0}}
However, [[lawful]] gods do not approve of poisoned weapons, and will exact a small [[Alignment record|alignment penalty]] from followers who use them.

== Food poisoning versus poisonous corpses ==
Differences between [[food poisoning]] and poisoning from poisonous corpses:

* Food poisoning comes from corpses that have become "tainted" from age (this includes the corpses of [[zombie]]s and [[mummy|mummies]]), while poisonous corpses are toxic from the moment they hit the ground.  
* Eating a poisonous corpse has an immediate, not necessarily lethal effect, while food poisoning causes [[sickness]] that will kill you after a few turns, unless you are able to [[Sickness#Remedies|cure]] it in time.
* A poisonous corpse will give the message "Ecch - that must have been poisonous!", while food poisoning is indicated by "Ulch - that meat was tainted!   You feel deathly sick."  
* Poison resistance protects against the effects of eating poisonous corpses.  Only [[sickness resistance]] protects against food poisoning.

Food poisoning can be avoided by eating only fresh corpses.  The other type of poisoning can be avoided by learning which corpses are inherently poisonous.

It is possible for a corpse to be both poisonous ''and'' tainted.  A rotting [[kobold]] corpse fits both criteria, as does the corpse left by a [[kobold zombie]] or [[kobold mummy|mummy]].

==Variants==

===SLASH’EM===

In [[SLASH'EM]], you can also poison weapons by dipping them in a [[toilet]].

=== UnNetHack ===
In [[UnNetHack]], the chance of an instadeath from poison is replaced with a "very toxic" poison that damages max HP and does strength damage, reducing the chance or frustrating [[YASD]] (though it is still nearly always fatal to low level characters). Other detriments of being poisoned remain the same.

===FIQHack===
[[FIQHack]] also eliminates poison instadeath and replaces it with permanent attribute damage, which cannot be fixed via potion or unicorn horn. Additionally, poison resistance only halves poison damage, ensuring that it is never completely safe to eat a poisonous corpse; chances of attribute reduction are also lowered to one third of the time, and the attribute loss itself is reduced by a third.

Since poison resistance only partially protects you in FIQHack, the [[amulet versus poison]] and the [[ring of poison resistance]] are even more useful as they completely protect you from the effects of poison.

== References ==

<references />
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[[Category:Monster damage types]]
[[Category:Monster attributes]]
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