Dwarf king
h dwarf ruler / dwarf king / dwarf queen 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 8 |
| Attacks | |
| Base level | 6 |
| Base experience | 83 |
| Speed | 6 |
| Base AC | 10 |
| Base MR | 20 |
| Alignment | 6 (lawful) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 900 |
| Nutritional value | 300 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | None |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
A dwarf ruler:
| |
| Reference | NetHack 3.6.7 - src/monst.c, line 441 |
- "Dwarf queen" redirects here. For the monster in dNetHack and its variants, see Dwarf queen (dNetHack).
A dwarf king, h, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. The dwarf king is a male humanoid monster that is the strongest type of dwarf with many of the same traits, including the ability to tunnel with a wielded digging tool and pick up armor, gold, gems, and other items that they come across.
A dwarf king has two weapon attacks.
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 0c3b9642, dwarf kings are known as dwarf rulers, with "king" and "queen" being gendered titles.Contents
Generation
Randomly-generated dwarf kings are always peaceful towards dwarven and gnomish heroes, and will mostly be peaceful towards other lawful heroes. Dwarf kings will not randomly generate in Gehennom due to being lawful. A dwarf lord can grow up into a dwarf king.
In addition to random generation, a dwarf king may appear as the random h that is generated on level creation for each of the filler levels in the Gnomish Mines. A dwarf king may also be one of the monsters generated in a throne room as the occupant of the throne.
Dwarf kings can appear among the random h that are part of the first quest monster class for Cavepeople and make up 24⁄175 of monsters that are randomly generated on the Caveman quest.
A dwarf king can be generated with each of the following items:[1]
- A 6⁄7 chance of a pair of iron shoes and an independent 6⁄7 chance of a dwarvish cloak.
- A 1⁄4 chance of a dwarvish short sword and dwarvish iron helm, combined with an equal probability of either of the following:
- A dwarvish mattock, or
- A dwarvish roundshield paired with either a dwarvish spear or an axe, with an equal probability for each weapon.
- Dwarf kings that receive a dwarvish short sword and dwarvish iron helm also have a further 1⁄3 chance of receiving a dwarvish mithril-coat.
- Dwarf kings that are not given a dwarvish short sword and dwarvish iron helm will instead receive either a pick-axe (1⁄3 chance) or a dagger (2⁄3 chance).
As overlords, dwarf kings will always generate with armor of at least +0 enchantment and weapons (but not tools) that are at least +1.
Strategy
Dwarf kings have two weapon attacks, which make them deadly when attacking with their initial weapons, especially if they are given enchanted dwarvish mattocks—they may also generate with a lot of AC from their worn starting armor. A hostile dwarf king is best dealt with from afar by an early hero unless they were incredibly fortunate themselves in assembling a set of armor: a hero that manages to kill a dwarf king using their pet or some other means may consider taking their armor and weapons afterward, since they can represent a potential offensive and/or defensive upgrade.
As with other dwarves, dwarf kings move at a slow 6 speed, which can be used to the hero's own advantage. Similarly, dwarf kings that are using a dwarvish short sword, axe, mattock, or dwarvish spear tend to have better armor on average. Since dwarf kings, mind flayers and master mind flayers share the same glyph, you should use far look to correctly identify any h, especially at lower dungeon levels or in the Gnomish Mines (where the random h generated on level creation monster can be a minesflayer)—a h encountered in Gehennom will almost never be a dwarf king.
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, the mind flayer and master mind flayer have their glyph colors changed to bright magenta, h, making them somewhat easier to distinguish from dwarf rulers.}}
History
The dwarf king first appears in NetHack 3.0.0.
Variants
Some NetHack variants grant dwarf kings and other monsters AC bonuses for wearing racial equipment, and may additionally generate them with a potion of booze. NetHack variants may also make adjustments so that female counterparts to the dwarf king are properly named and generated.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, the game is intended to replace dwarf kings with hostile war orcs during level creation for the Gnomish Mines (with the exception of bones) so that dwarven and gnomish heroes will have to deal with hostile monsters like other races[2]—this does not occur in practice, since dwarf kings are never specified for generation when creating any of the Mines levels.
GruntHack
In GruntHack, dwarf kings are replaced by racial monster kings and queens, which dwarves are eligible to generate as.
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, dwarf kings that are generated outside of the Gnomish Mines have a 6⁄7 chance of being generated with a potion of booze. They also gain +1 bonus AC for each piece of worn dwarven armor.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, dwarf kings have a full base attack bonus of +1 to-hit per monster level, and their second weapon attacks use off-hand weapons instead of using their primary weapon twice. Dwarf clerics (which are always women) will grow up into dwarf queens, and neither dwarf kings nor dwarf queens are valid polymorph forms.
A dwarf king may appear as the ruler of a throne room, and his court can contain dwarf lords, dwarf clerics, dwarves, gnomes, gnome lords, gnome ladies, gnomish wizards, hobbits, and leprechauns.
Dwarf kings may appear as prisoners within random throne rooms, as well as throne rooms ruled by orcs of the ages of stars and ogre kings. Additionally, the prisoners in the northern prison tower of the Drow Healer quest home level may include dwarf kings.
Dwarf kings that are randomly generated outside of the Gnomish Mines are always generated with a potion of booze.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, the monster is known as a dwarf ruler. Dwarf rulers that generate with dwarvish ring mail have an increased chance of it being made of mithril, which makes it behave similarly to the dwarvish mithril-coat of NetHack.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, the monster is referred to as a dwarf royal, and dwarf royals gain +1 bonus AC for each piece of worn dwarven armor.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, the monster is also known as a dwarf royal as in EvilHack, and dwarf royals gain +1 bonus AC for each piece of worn dwarven armor. Dwarf royals generated outside of the Gnomish Mines have a 6⁄7 chance of being generated with a potion of booze, as in UnNetHack.
Encyclopedia entry
Dwarfs have faces like men (ugly men, with wrinkled, leathery skins), but are generally either flat-footed, duck-footed, or have feet pointing backwards. They are of the earth, earthy, living in the darkest of caverns and venturing forth only with the cloaks by which they can make themselves invisible, and others disguised as toads. Miners often come across them, and sometimes establish reasonably close relations with them.... The miners of Cornwall were always delighted to hear a bucca busily mining away, for all dwarfs have an infallible nose for precious metals.
Among other things, dwarfs are rightly valued for their skill as blacksmiths and jewellers: they made Odin his famous spear Gungnir, and Thor his hammer; for Freya they designed a magnificent necklace, and for Frey a golden boar. And in their spare time they are excellent bakers. Ironically, despite their odd feet, they are particularly fond of dancing. They can also see into the future, and consequently are excellent meteorologists. They can be free with presents to people they like, and a dwarvish gift is likely to turn to gold in the hand. But on the whole they are a snappish lot.
