Dispater

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Dispater, &, is one of the many demon princes that can appear in NetHack. Like all demon princes and lords, he is covetous and capable of flying, and will attempt to steal the Amulet of Yendor if you possess it.

Dispater is one of three demon princes without his own lair in Gehennom, with the other two being Geryon and Demogorgon. He has the fourth-highest monster difficulty and experience point yield in the game behind Baalzebub.

Generation

Under normal circumstances, Dispater will only appear if summoned via the summon nasties monster spell being cast in Gehennom, or being gated in by another demon prince (e.g., Asmodeus, Baalzebub or Geryon). It is also possible for him to appear in a bones file.

Dispater is always generated with a wand of striking.[1]

Strategy

Like other lawful demon princes, Dispater can be bribed for safe passage with a portion of your visible gold. If you were wielding Excalibur at the time of his appearance, refuse when he asks, or else he fails to see where you are, Dispater will become hostile.[2][3][4]

Dispater is a rather dangerous spellcaster in spite of his relatively poor AC (surpassed by water demons and horned devils). He has a lot of hit points, great monster magic resistance, and can move almost as quickly as a fast player. In addition to the standard demon prince traits of fire and poison resistance, he has a decently strong weapon attack and powerful mage spells—up to and including curse items, summon nasties, and the touch of death. However, he will always use his wand of striking first, which should be no danger to any player at that point.

Even if you possess magic resistance, it is still best to kill Dispater as quickly as possible if he appears—while not a Demogorgon-level threat that requires a specialized kit, his magic is far more annoying to contend with once his wand is spent. Beware using shock damage against him, as he will cast spells much sooner if his wand is destroyed prematurely. Players going for speed ascensions should bribe Asmodeus and Baalzebub or else deal with them quickly before he can be gated, although it is still possible for the Wizard of Yendor to summon him if he gets a chance.

Some extinctionist players may want to have a hasted Asmodeus or Baalzebub gate him in if they plan to eradicate all unique monsters.

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.

Per this commit monsters will remember players resistances and reflection and adjust their attacks accordingly - thus, if Dispater sees that his wand of striking is rendered ineffective by your magic resistance, he will stop using it and become a nuisance far quicker than he would otherwise.

Origin

The NetHack incarnation of Dispater is based on his portrayal in Dungeons & Dragons source books, where he is a unique archdevil—this is in turn based on Dīs Pater, a Roman god of the underworld later subsumed by Pluto or the Greek Hades. Originally a chthonic god of riches, fertile agricultural land, and underground mineral wealth, he was later commonly equated with the Roman underworld deities Pluto and Orcus.

In Dungeons & Dragons, Dispater's appearance is that of a handsome human about 2 meters (ca. 7 feet) tall, with two small horns, a tail and a cloven left hoof—Dispater's portrayal and default tile in NetHack draws from this, although it retains only the former trait.[5][6][7] He is also known to carry a powerful rod that symbolizes his authority, and also acts as a staff of striking—which is why he always generates with a wand of striking.

The "City of Dis" mentioned in the encyclopedia entry is derived from Dispater's appearance in the Inferno, where the infernal city under his rule made up the entire sixth circle of Hell. Some variants of NetHack add a lair inspired by the City.

History

Dispater was introduced in NetHack 3.0.0.

Variants

Many variants give Dispater his own lair in Gehennom.

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, all demon princes have lairs. Dispater's lair is located between levels 10 and 15 of Gehennom, and Dispater himself waits near the center of the long winding hallway contained within the maze.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, Dispater occupies a throne in the center of the citadel of Dis, and is a far tougher opponent with a much higher AC that favors the curse items and turn to stone monster spells while being immune to stoning himself. He also possess a corrosive touch attack and an armor-rusting passive, and his artifact weapon, the Rod of Dis, adds +1d8 damage to his attacks and can stun the player.

Dispater should not be confronted without several lizard corpses in open inventory, as characters that begin to stiffen have only a few turns to eat one before becoming a statue—free action can buy players an additional 3 turns to act.

Lethe patch

In the Lethe patch, Dispater has his own lair, and sits on a throne at the eastern end of the level, past a river of Lethe water.

Encyclopaedia entry

The Roman ruler of the underworld and fortune, similar to the
Greek Hades. Every hundred years, the Ludi Tarentini were
celebrated in his honor. The Gauls regarded Dis Pater as
their ancestor. The name is a contraction of the Latin Dives,
"the wealthy", Dives Pater, "the wealthy father", or "Fater
Wealth". It refers to the wealth of precious stone below the
earth.

[ Encyclopedia Mythica, ed. M.F. Lindemans ]

References