Unicorn

uuu unicorn
Difficulty	6
Attacks	Headbutt 1d12 Kick 1d6

uuu unicorn
Difficulty	6
Attacks	Headbutt 1d12 Kick 1d6
Base level	4
Base experience	52
Speed	24
Base AC	2
Base MR	70
Alignment	7 (white) 0 (gray) -7 (black)
Frequency (by normal means)	Very rare (Rare if white)
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	1300
Nutritional value	300
Size	Large
Resistances	Poison
Resistances conveyed	Poison (27%)
A unicorn: has no hands. is herbivorous. wanders randomly. is strong. likes gems. can be seen through infravision.
Reference	monst.c#line892

A user has suggested improving this page or section as follows:

"this page does not separate fact and comment; strategy and mythology should be placed in their own sections, per Wikihack:Style guide"

A unicorn is a type of monster that appears in the dungeon starting at mid-game. In lore, the unicorn is an (almost) unattainable target - impossible to catch, the horn of which has magical properties. Similarly, unicorns in NetHack are extremely fast (even to a player with intrinsic speed), and always stay a knight's move or more away, so as to be out of range of both melee and ranged attacks. If the unicorn is pinned down in a corner, it may very well teleport away before the player can approach.

Fighting unicorns

Unicorns do surprising amounts of damage, getting in multiple kicks and butts per turn. They won't attack on their own, however, due to their tendency to stay out of range, so only moving directly next to one will lead to an attack.

Unicorns cannot see invisible; once you obtain invisibility, you will have a much easier time lining them up for attacks or gems.

The most sound strategy for fighting unicorn is to let a [[pet] take it out. Attacking with projectiles and rays which bounce from walls is also a good way to hit a unicorn which stays out of the direct line of sight. You can also use either a pit or a beartrap so you can attack it from a distance. If neither option is available try having it follow you down a long hall while you fire at it from a safe distance. A boomerang can be handy in this situation as well. Some other tactics are to wear a cloak of displacement and try to move to a throwing position. If the unicorn attacks your displaced image, you may have a chance to attack with ranged weapons. Also, if you are very fast, you will have occasional chances to attack with ranged weapons.

There are three types of unicorns: white, grey, and black, which correspond to lawful, neutral, and chaotic alignments respectively. The unicorn of your alignment will be peaceful; all others will be hostile. Unicorns in bones files or created by polymorph traps may be exceptions to this rule, but killing a unicorn of your own alignment always carries a -5 Luck penalty. (As is usual in NetHack, this penalty will not apply if you encourage your pet to kill it.)

Unicorn horns and corpses

When killed, a unicorn is guaranteed to leave a unicorn horn with its corpse, unless it has been revived or is a polymorphed monster from a polymorph trap, in which case it has only 1/20 chance of leaving one. Eating a unicorn corpse has a chance of giving poison resistance.

[a]pplying a unicorn horn has a chance to cure blindness, hallucination, confusion, stunning status effects, making a unicorn horn a recommended item for all adventurers able to obtain one. A unicorn can also use its own horn to cure status effects that are affecting it, with a message "The tip of the color unicorn's horn glows!"

Finally, unicorn horns are considered magical tools, making good fodder to polypile to try for a magic marker.

Sacrificing unicorns

Sacrificing a unicorn at an altar is a special case and is covered in the page on altars. Simply put, to receive alignment and Luck benefits you should sacrifice a unicorn of a different alignment than you at your own altar.

A comprehensive table of unicorn sacrifices is located under altars.

Unicorns and gems

Throwing gems to a unicorn of your alignment can bring Luck increases as well as assist in identification. If the unicorn "graciously" accepts your gift, it is worthless glass. If he "gratefully" accepts your gift, it is a valuable gem.

Throwing any gem to a hostile unicorn will calm him down. If the gem is worthless glass, there will be no effect on your Luck, but if it is real and the unicorn is not of your alignment, he "hesitatingly" accepts your gift and your Luck may go up or down, more so if the gem was identified.

Throwing any gem at a tame unicorn will cause the unicorn to catch and immediately drop the gem. Thus, a tame unicorn cannot be used either for identification or for gaining luck.

It is recommended that a player try to throw gems at a unicorn in a non-teleport zone, particularly Sokoban, as unicorns are commonly seen there.

Messages

"The color unicorn's recently regrown horn crumbles to dust."

A revived unicorn died, but did not drop a unicorn horn.

"The tip of the color unicorn's horn glows!"

A status effect affecting a unicorn was cured by its own horn

Encyclopedia entry

Men have always sought the elusive unicorn, for the single twisted horn which projected from its forehead was thought to be a powerful talisman. It was said that the unicorn had simply to dip the tip of its horn in a muddy pool for the water to become pure. Men also believed that to drink from this horn was a protection against all sickness, and that if the horn was ground to a powder it would act as an antidote to all poisons. Less than 200 years ago in France, the horn of a unicorn was used in a ceremony to test the royal food for poison.



Although only the size of a small horse, the unicorn is a very fierce beast, capable of killing an elephant with a single thrust from its horn. Its fleetness of foot also makes this solitary creature difficult to capture. However, it can be tamed and captured by a maiden. Made gentle by the sight of a virgin, the unicorn can be lured to lay its head in her lap, and in this docile mood, the maiden may secure it with a golden rope.

[ Mythical Beasts, by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library) ]

Martin took a small sip of beer. "Almost ready," he said.

"You hold your beer awfully well."

Tlingel laughed. "A unicorn's horn is a detoxicant. Its possession is a universal remedy. I wait until I reach the warm glow stage, then I use my horn to burn off any excess and keep me right there."

[ Unicorn Variations, by Roger Zelazny ]

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