Zouthern animal

From NetHackWiki
Revision as of 06:28, 15 September 2020 by Ardub23 (talk | contribs) (Ardub23 moved page Zouthern animals to Zouthern animal: Prefer singular titles – NHW:Style guide#Article names)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Zouthern animals are a monster class added in SLASH'EM, represented by the symbol z. (Zruties, which previously occupied this glyph, are merged into the ​Y apelike creature class.) Zouthern animals are generally based on real Australian wildlife. All have a chance to be peaceful if you are neutral, except for the Tasmanian devil.

List of zouthern animals

Echidna

Echidnas are generally the first of the zouthern animals seen; they are not terribly threatening, being rather slower than most animals and doing comparatively little damage.

Platypus

A platypus is a slightly dangerous monster, having a poisonous kick. It is still somewhat slow, and can be easily taken out with ranged weapons if the poison is a problem.

Real platypuses have a poisonous sting at their hind legs.

Koala

A koala poses no direct threat, possessing no physically damaging attacks of any sort. Its calming touch will abort any active techniques, but is otherwise harmless. However, other monsters affected by it will turn to peaceful (although some monsters may resist). It is thus a large threat to any pet, since a peaceful monster is no longer your pet, and some may be difficult to tame again, particularly polymorphed pets. A pet koala, however, is very useful, since it can turn hostile monsters peaceful. They are somewhat slow and not overly strong, however. They can be tamed with eucalyptus leaves and will not eat anything else.

Wombat

A wombat is a rather ordinary monster, being roughly equivalent to a wolf in terms of difficulty, and having no particular distinguishing attributes.

Tasmanian devil

A Tasmanian devil can eat organic items and engulf non-organic ones, much in the manner of a gelatinous cube. This is likely a reference to Taz from Looney Tunes. Like most SLASH'EM monsters, it is somewhat more dangerous than vanilla monsters that appear at the same time.

Wallaby

A wallaby is a moderate danger, having a speed slightly greater than that of the player. It is about as dangerous as a unicorn.

Wallaroo

A wallaroo is somewhat of a threat during the midgame, owing to its tendency to hit reasonably hard and fast, and appear in small groups.

Kangaroo

Kangaroos are quite a large threat through SLASH'EM's mid- and even late-game, since they hit very hard, are twice as fast as a player without speed, and tend to appear in groups. However, they have no magic resistance, making sleep a very valid option against them.

SpliceHack

Main article: Monster (SpliceHack)

SpliceHack includes zouthern animals and adds one new species, drop bears, based on Australian folklore. Drop bears are able to hide on the ceiling to ambush the player, similar to piercers.