Agent

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An agent, @, is a type of monster that appears in EvilHack and Hack'EM. They are strong human minions that possess the ability to teleport randomly, and will also seek out the Amulet of Yendor if it is left on the floor.

Agents possess a weapon attack and three claw attacks, which are all capable of stealing the Amulet of Yendor, The Idol of Moloch or other unique items.

Eating an agent corpse or tin has a 35 chance of conveying teleportitis.

Generation

Agents only appear in Infidel games, and are always generated hostile; their monster difficulty is deliberately lower than what their abilities suggest. Agents will not be randomly generated in Gehennom, and are not valid forms for polymorph.

An agent generates with a potion of invisibility, a 13 chance of standard armor, and either a short sword (34 chance) or a dagger (14 chance) as their weapon.

Strategy

While not physically powerful, agents are an early-game nuisance for Infidels due to their ability to steal the Amulet and warp away. Their theft attack can also steal other items, ensuring they remain a nuisance well into the later stages of the game - of note is that it is possible to fool them into stealing a mundane, similar-looking figurine rather than The Idol of Moloch.

Encyclopedia entry

It was part of his profession to kill people. He had never liked
doing it and when he had to kill he did it as well as he knew how
and forgot about it. As a secret agent who held the rare double-O
prefix -- the licence to kill in the Secret Service -- it was his
duty to be as cool about death as a surgeon. If it happened,
it happened. Regret was unprofessional -- worse, it was
death-watch beetle in the soul.
[ Goldfinger, by Ian Fleming ]