Ring of protection from shape changers
A ring of protection from shape changers is a type of ring that appears in NetHack.
Generation
Wizards may have a ring of protection from shape changers as one of the two random rings in their starting inventory.[1]
Description
Wearing a ring of protection from shape changers causes most shape changers and other similar monsters to lose their shifting ability:
- Chameleons, doppelgangers, sandestins and vampires will appear in their base form; they are vulnerable to being polymorphed completely into another monster, and may suffer system shock as with polymorphing other monsters.
- Werecreatures will similarly always appear in their human form a majority of the time: they are still capable of shifting to animal form, but will shift back to human form on their next turn, and cannot summon help.[2][3][4]
- Mimics are de-cloaked and cannot disguise themselves.
- Monsters with a digestion attack will not polymorph when swallowing a shape changer whole.
Eating the ring has a 1⁄3 chance of conveying protection from shape changers as an intrinsic.
Strategy
An early ring of protection from shape changers can protect against werecreatures, though not with 100% reliably: they can still assume their animal forms for a turn before being forced to change back, possibly giving them a chance to inflict lycanthropy. Thankfully, they are reliably prevented from summoning help and possibly surrounding you, which can be especially dangerous with werewolves. The ring will also reliably prevent other shape changers from chameleons and doppelgangers from shifting, which prevents them taking on out-of-depth forms like the arch-lich that can end your game in an instant.
Pet keepers may be particularly interested in this ring: pet vampires have a tendency to shift to vampire bat or fog cloud form and drop any armor and other items you have given them, and vampire lords can break torso armor by shapeshifting into wolves. The ring of protection from shape changers will keep them in their humanoid form, which is also their best one for combat before factoring in armor, though they cannot revive from their other forms if killed. Pets with digestion attacks such as purple worms will also not polymorph if they swallow a chameleon or doppelganger whole while you are wearing the ring (though they will still polymorph from eating their corpses).
Identification
A non-cursed 100zm ring can be identified as protection from shape changers by wearing it around known shapeshifters such as mimics, e.g. in a shop or on the top level of Sokoban - the ring will uncloak the mimics immediately.
History
The ring of protection from shape-changers appears in Hack for PDP-11, a variant of Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is included in the initial item list for Hack 1.0.
Messages
- The sink looks nothing like a fountain.
- You dropped a ring of protection from shape changers into a sink.
References
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 165
- ↑ src/mhitu.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 600: chance of changing to animal form when attacking
- ↑ src/were.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 38: changing back to human form always occurs with protection from shape changes active
- ↑ src/were.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 137: ability to summon help checks if protection from shape changes is active
