Edderkop

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Not to be confused with Kops.

An edderkop, h, is a type of monster that appears in dNetHack and notdNetHack. Edderkops are deceptively dangerous humanoid monsters that serve the Black Web Entity, and will grudge any drow that they encounter, usually overwhelming them.

An edderkop has a strong magical blade attack, the ability to manifest and fire arrows, and a passive attack - all three are shadow-based and ignore most forms of AC. The shadow bolts fired by their arrow attack appear on your square, creating a web as well.

Strategy

Edderkops are somewhat slow, but can easily cut through even the most high-AC builds due to their shadow attacks, allowing them to hit often and usually for high damage. Their ranged attack does not require physical arrows and only needs them to have a line-of-sight, which also prevents other monsters from blocking the attack on top of them likely trapping you in a web - as edderkops can use this attack on each of their turns, they can easily remain at a distance and blast you to death.

With this in mind, fighting edderkops at a distance is the best approach by far, keeping out of range of their melee attacks. Wielding Sting can be used to cut the webbing left by the shadow bolts and restore your freedom of movement, and a scroll of earth can be read in a pinch to break line of sight.

Origin

The edderkop's name is derived from the archaic English word attercop, meaning "spider".