Amulet of unchanging
An amulet of unchanging is a type of amulet that appears in NetHack.
Contents
Generation
Amulets of unchanging are the least common, and make up 9⁄200 (4.5%) of all randomly-generated amulets.
General stores and jewelers can sell amulets of unchanging.
Description
Wearing an amulet of unchanging grants unchanging, which prevents polymorphing and other means of changing form, including sliming but not stoning. A hero that puts one on while afflicted with sliming will be immediately cured.
If a hero dies while polymorphed (which would normally return them to their normal form) and are wearing an amulet of unchanging, they will instead die as normal in most cases. The exceptions are listed below, and will return the hero to normal form even if they are wearing the amulet:
- While in the form of a wood or leather golem, be hit by a brown pudding bite and rot away.[1]
- While in the form of an iron golem, be hit by a rust monster attack and rust away.[2]
- While in the form of a clay golem, be hit by the intrinsic-stealing attack of a gremlin.[3]
- While in the form of an undead monster, pray to your god.
Wearing a cursed amulet of unchanging while in the form of a monster with no hands is considered a major trouble by the hero's god, and successful prayer will uncurse the amulet so they can remove it and eventually return to their base form.
If the hero is polymorphed into a metallivore, eating the amulet has a 1⁄5 chance of successfully absorbing its magic and "un-changing" them to their normal form.
Strategy
If discovered early, the amulet of unchanging can be a good "poor man's substitute" for magic resistance when dealing with polymorph traps in areas such as the Gnomish Mines beyond Minetown. If you are riding and do not have magic resistance, an amulet of unchanging will also protect your steed from polymorph traps. The amulet of unchanging can also suppress unwanted polymorphing from other sources, such as lycanthropy.
Amulets of unchanging are often used to remain in a particular monster form (usually a powerful one chosen via polymorph control) for various strategies, which is especially handy if you lack a reusable source of polymorph - in exchange for this potential, the hero risks any death that occurs being permanent where they would not be otherwise. It can also become a literal life-saver if you accidentally genocide your role or race while polymorphed.
Identification
The amulet of unchanging is most reliably identified by wearing the suspected amulet while eating a mimic corpse: the hero will not into a pile of gold (or an orange if hallucinating) if the amulet is unchanging and otherwise will not affect their armor as other forms of polymorph do, at worst dismounting the hero from their steed if they are riding.
For polyselfless, vegan and/or vegetarian conducts, the best alternative is to polymorph yourself while wearing the suspected amulet and a known ring of polymorph control, which allows you to specify a safe form if you do polymorph; if you intend to use a polytrap for this purpose, you must remove any source of magic resistance as well. If the amulet is unchanging, the polymorph trap will not disappear and you will receive the standard message for a blocked polymorph. ("You feel momentarily different.")
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
Per commit 43af05a6, if you improvise with a musical instrument and are not deaf, you will produce "familiar" music if you have unchanging, providing another way to identify the amulet. The blessed potion of polymorph will also give a controlled polymorph when quaffed.History
The amulet of unchanging first appears in NetHack 3.3.0.
Variants
Some variants grant the amulet of unchanging further properties.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, an amulet that is polymorphed into an amulet of unchanging will not revert to its original object like other polymorphed items.
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, amulets of unchanging cannot be polymorphed.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, doppelganger Convicts start each game with a cursed amulet of unchanging, which prevents them from polymorphing or liquid leaping out of the chained heavy iron ball on turn 1. Once removed and uncursed, they can use the amulet as a means to keep themselves locked into powerful forms (usually obtained from applying a mask) or to avoid being polymorphed by traps and other monsters.
See also
References
- ↑ src/mhitu.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1458
- ↑ src/mhitu.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1440: Hit by rusting attack while poly'd
- ↑ src/mhitu.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1537
This page is based on a spoiler by Dylan O'Donnell. The original license is:
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