Defilement

For the "god" named defilement, see defilement (god).

In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, defilement is a research path available to characters that have the defilement thought slotted and with at least 27 insight, necessary to activate the thought. Chaotic Undead Hunters start each game with the thought already slotted. It is also referred to as the philosophy of defilement. There are three distinct types of defilement research: preservation defilement, vampiric defilement and rot defilement.

Description

To progress along the research path, a character must research corpses of monsters at workbenches—or with a dissection kit—that are less than 50 turns old and that aren't bloodless. For non-Undead Hunters, following the parasitology research path requires wishing for the thought and dissection kit.

Preservation research has 6 upgrades, vampire defilement has 7 and rot defilement has 9, and upgrades from any path counts towards making a "great breakthrough" and meeting the conditions for a full-scoring ascension. Undead Hunters that wish to ascend under Defilement, must have claimed at least 6 upgrades total from any of the three defilement research paths to achieve a full-scoring ascension. Other roles can obtain defilement upgrades, but cannot ascend under an Undead Hunter ascension. While characters of other roles may still perform undead hunter research, they cannot ascend under an undead hunter ascension. Once enough research has been performed, a character may obtain a preservation or vampiric upgrade by applying a phlebotomy kit at a workbench to defilement or with a dissection kit in open inventory:

Preservation

The preservation research path is linear, with upgrades being claimed in the following order:

• Reduce hunger: Halve the rate at which nutrition is lost. Also halves the amount of nutrition lost from casting and maintaining spells.
• Prevent abuse: Attributes cannot be reduced permanently by effects, such as by the weaken monster spell or abuse.
• Gain DR: Grants 3 base DR to all slots, and allows chrysalises to start generating.
• Cold resistance: Grants permanent intrinsic cold resistance.
• Sleep resistance: Grants permanent intrinsic sleep resistance.
• Gain DR: Grants another 3 base DR to all slots, and increases the chances of chrysalises generating.
• Dead truce: All undead monsters will start to be generated peaceful.

Vampiric

The vampiric research path is non-linear, and upgrades can be claimed in any order:

• Better control your spawn: Dominated pets cannot be made un-tame and only count as ¹⁄₂ towards the pet amount limit. Pets classified as traitors do not turn traitor below half maximum hp.
• Improve your spawns' attacks: Increases the AC by 1–5, follow distance, rate at which they grow up, and grants a +5 bonus to both to-hit and damage for pet vampires.
• Manipulate the blood of your victims: Hemargyos weapons and vampiric bite attacks have a ¹⁄₁₀ of dealing the greater of +400 damage and 30% of the target's maximum hp.
• Improve your blood-bullets: Applying a nightmare's bullet mold now produces blood-spears instead of blood-bullets.
• Hypnotic gaze: Grants a paralysis gaze attack of a duration of 1–4 turns. Can only be used through the "ability" extended command.
• Partake of the blood of Shub-Nugganoth: Requires the hero to have made contact with The Black Mother. Allows Undead Hunters to ask for the "her drooling Hunger" Black Mother boon without meeting lifetime devotion thresholds, and any number of times. Interchangeable with the rot defilement "rot of Shub-Nugganoth" upgrade, but if one or the other has already been obtained, the other will be unavailable.

Obtaining a vampiric defilement upgrade produces no message.

Obtaining preservation upgrades also reduces current and peak intelligence and wisdom scores by 1. Every third upgrade taken on the research path will also permanently reduce the maximum intelligence and wisdom possible for that character by 1; this also stacks with reductions from parasitology research. Fully advancing along the parasitology research path will reduce their intelligence and wisdom maximums by 4, producing a cap of 21 for each compared to the normal 25. Vampiric upgrades, while still permanently reducing racial attribute maximums, does not reduce absolute maximums.

Rot

The rot research path is non-linear, and upgrades can be claimed in any order:

• Vomit rot: On 1⁄10 of melee attacks, or at will, make vomit attack with a range of 2 squares. On hit, afflict the target with caterpillars.
• Rot wings: grants intrinsic flying
  • Send forth a phantom duplicate: Only available after the rot wings upgrade has been claimed. Creates a butterfly swarm copy of yourself, equipped with your wielded weapons. Costs 45 power and 45 nutrition
• Become followed by the kindred of rot: Rot monsters will start to generate. All mindless monsters and animals generate as swollen, silvergrubs generate from rotting intelligent corpses and all eggs hatch as man-flies. All rot monsters are hostile to all other monsters, except for other rot kin.
  • Become uninteresting to beings of rot: Only available after the rot kin upgrade has been claimed. Monsters that are rot kin will be generated peaceful
• Feast on injury and destruction : Heal by 1.6% of max HP after every melee hit.
• Seek sapivorous immortality: Grants intrinsic life saving and adds a passive centipede-head disease bite attack to the hero's attack routine. When the life saving is triggered, the hero will temporarily polymorphs into a centipede.
• Rot stinger: Adds a passive scorpion stinger attack, and a scorpion stinger disease attack to the hero's melee attack routine. Both attacks will be made poisoned and disease-inflicting.
• Rot spores: Adds a retaliatory 1d1 disease-inflicting attack.
• Rot of Shub-Nugganoth: Requires the hero to have made contact with The Black Mother. Allows Undead Hunters to ask for the "her drooling Hunger" Black Mother boon without meeting lifetime devotion thresholds, and any number of times. Interchangeable with the vampire "blood of Shub-Nugganoth" upgrade, but if one or the other has already been obtained, the other will be unavailable.

Obtaining rot defilement upgrades through chrysalises reduces current and peak constitution, intelligence and wisdom scores by 1. Every third upgrade taken on the research path will also permanently reduce the maximum constitution, intelligence and wisdom possible for that character's race by 1. Fully advancing into the reanimation research path will thus reduce their intelligence and wisdom maximums by 3, superseded by helms of brilliance and the spirit Huginn and Munnin while it is bound.

Message

Preservation

Your metabolism slows.

You gained the reduce hunger upgrade.

Your body becomes resistant to decay.

You gained the prevent abuse upgrade.

Your skin becomes tough.

You gained the first DR increase upgrade, making chrysalises start generating.

You no longer feel cold.

You gained the cold resistance upgrade, obtaining permanent intrinsic cold resistance.

You no longer feel sleepy.

You gained the sleep resistance upgrade, obtaining permanent intrinsic sleep resistance.

Your skin becomes tougher.

You gained the second DR increase upgrade, increasing the odds of chrysalises generating.

You become uninteresting to the undead.

You gained the undead truce upgrade, making undead start generating as peaceful towards you.

Rot

You feel a little nauseated.

Wings of rot grow from your back!

You gained the rot wings upgrade.

Your wings rot!

You gained the rot wings upgrade as a half-dragon.

Strange butterflies hatch from your wings and dance overhead.

You gained the phantom duplicate upgrade.

You become uninteresting to the beings of rot.

You gained the rot truce upgrade, making rot monsters start generating as peaceful towards you.

You are followed by the kin of rot.

You gained the kindred of rot upgrade, making and rot monsters will start being generated.

You("feast on injury and destruction.

You gained the injury and destruction upgrade.

A monstrous centipede bores out of your body.

You gained the life saving upgrade, achieving saprovorous immortality.

A monstrous scorpion stinger tears loose from your flesh.

You gained the rot stinger upgrade.

Puffball mushrooms errupt from your skin.

You gained the rot spores upgrade.

Strange spores take root in your flesh.

You gained the rot of Shub-Nugganoth upgrade.