Elven monarch
@ elven monarch / Elvenking / Elvenqueen  
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 11 |
| Attacks | |
| Base level | 9 |
| Base experience | 196 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 10 |
| Base MR | 25 |
| Alignment | -10 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 800 |
| Nutritional value | 350 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | Sleep resistance |
| Resistances conveyed | sleep resistance (60%) |
|
An elven monarch:
| |
| Reference | NetHack 5.0.0 - include/monsters.h, line 2679 |
- "Elvenqueen" redirects here. For the monster in dNetHack and its variants, see Elvenqueen (dNetHack).
An elven monarch, @, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. The elven monarch is an omnivorous human-like monster that is the strongest of the elves, and is an overlord to elf-kind: male elven monarchs are known as Elvenkings, while female elven monarchs are known as Elvenqueens. Elven monarchs are strong, and like most elves they have infravision and the ability to see invisible, can be seen via infravision, and will collect items such as weapons, armor and food that they come across.
An elven monarch has two weapon attacks and possesses sleep resistance.
Eating an elven monarch corpse or tin has a 3⁄5 chance (60%) of granting sleep resistance, which is the second-highest among elven monsters.
A hero that is polymorphed into an elven monarch will have their strength set to 18, which matches the maximum strength of an elven hero, rather than 18/** like other strong monsters.[1][2] Sitting on a throne while polymorphed into an elven monarch will also produce a message.[3]
Generation
Randomly-generated elven monarchs are always created as peaceful towards elven heroes, and will occasionally be created peaceful towards chaotic humans. An elf-noble can grow up into an elven monarch of the matching gender.[4]
Hostile elven monarchs can be generated by a hostile monster that casts the summon nasties monster spell.[5] If an elven monarch would be summoned this way when they are genocided or considered out-of-depth, they will be replaced by an elf-noble.[6]
A throne room may have an elven monarch as the sleeping hostile monster occupying the throne, and they will be given a mace in addition to their other equipment.[7][8]
A hostile Elvenking is always generated on the Plane of Earth during level creation.[9]
Elven monarchs are eligible for offensive, defensive and miscellaneous items, and are generated with elven equipment like other elves along with some items specific to them.[10][11] As elven monarchs are overlords to their kind, they will always generate with armor that has a minimum enchantment of +0 and weapons (but not tools) that have a minimum enchantment of +1.[12]
- They have a roughly 1⁄2 chance of being given torso armor that has a roughly equal probability of being either an elven mithril-coat or an elven cloak.
- They have a roughly 1⁄2 chance of being given an elven leather helm, and otherwise have a 1⁄4 chance (effectively 1⁄8) of generating with elven boots.
- They have a roughly 1⁄2 chance of being given an elven dagger.
- They will be given one of the following sets of items, with an equal probability of each set:
- A guaranteed elven bow and set 3-14 of elven arrows, a 1⁄4 chance of an elven shield, and a 2⁄3 chance of an elven short sword.
- A guaranteed elven broadsword and a 1⁄2 chance of an elven shield.
- A roughly 1⁄2 chance of an elven spear that comes with an accompanying elven shield.
- They have a 2⁄3 chance of generating with a pick-axe, with the Elvenking on the Plane of Earth always carrying a pick-axe.
- They have a 1⁄50 chance of generating with a crystal ball.
Strategy
Elven monarchs ignore Elbereth like most elves, and heroes that cannot match them in melee might be wise to drive them off with scaring tools or else pick them off with projectiles, spells or wands. They represent an especially nasty threat for an early game hero that stumbles upon one presiding over a throne room—this can occur as early as the fifth dungeon level, and these elven monarchs can deal surprising amounts of damage in general with their enchanted mace.
In the mid-game stages, heroes are more likely to both encounter random elven monarchs and be prepared for them: groups of elf-nobles have a small chance of at least one generating with a potion of gain level that turns them into an elven monarch; hostile elven monarchs can also be generated by the summon nasties monster spell, which Elbereth is typically used to counteract by driving off said nasties. Elvenking corpses are also fairly nutritious sources of sleep resistance for meat-eating heroes and pets alike.
When dealing with the Wizard of Yendor, if he summons nasties then be sure to far look any @ that appear: it is common practice to zap the Wizard with a death ray at the first opportunity, so ensure that you have the right target, @, and distinguish him from any potential elven monarchs first.
The pick-axe from the elven monarch on the Plane of Earth can be used to navigate through the level if the hero lacks digging options of their own: most characters should have several wands of digging on hand alongside a digging tool of their own by the time they reach the Elemental Planes, and the minotaur that also appears there will provide another wand of digging, while the guaranteed reappearance of the Wizard of Yendor will have him bring along a spellbook of dig (which will mostly be a consideration for the occasional heavy-duty spellcaster build).
As polymorph forms, elven monarchs are fairly solid picks for non-elven heroes due to their 18 strength, ability to wear all armor, and their two weapon attacks that add +2d4 damage and enable two weapon combat.[13][14]
History
The elven monarch first appears in NetHack 3.0.0 as the Elvenking: from this version to NetHack 3.6.7, including some variants based on those versions, Elvenkings are exclusively-male monsters that share their magenta-colored glyph (@) with the Wizard of Yendor, and a hero that polymorphs into an elf-lord has their strength set to 18/** as with other strong monsters.
NetHack 5.0.0 makes changes to monster titles and growth via commit 0c3b9642 so that Elvenkings and several other monsters have female counterparts, and implements gender-neutral terms for such monsters as a whole—they also lower the strength of the elven monarch's polyform via commit b6a3d4b9, which is done to maintain congruence between non-player monsters and their player counterparts. NetHack 5.0.0 also changes the glyph of the Wizard of Yendor to a brighter magenta (@) via commit ecb3a1a6 in order to make him more distinguishable from elven monarchs.
Origin
The rare possibility of elven monarchs generating with a crystal ball is an allusion to the palantír, a magical artifact from J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth novels. Palantíri are indestructible crystal balls used for communicating and viewing past and future events in other parts of the realm, and were made by the Elves of Valinor in the First Age. Elves are the only race of hero in NetHack that can naturally reach an intelligence of 20, which allows them to apply crystal balls other than artifacts with no chance of failure.
Messages
- You feel very comfortable here.
- You sat on a throne while polymorphed into an elven monarch or other "royal" monster.[3]
Variants
Some NetHack variants grant elven monarchs and other elven monsters AC bonuses for wearing racial equipment. NetHack variants created prior to NetHack 5.0.0 may also make their own adjustments so that female counterparts to Elvenkings are properly named and generated.
GruntHack
In GruntHack, Elvenkings are replaced by the king and queen racial monsters, which can be elven.
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, the "Ozymandias' Tomb" random vault has a statue trap of an Elvenking.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, the Elvenking is significantly stronger, with better defenses and six weapon attacks (including two offhand ones). The Elvenqueen is a distinct monster from the Elvenking, rather than a simple female counterpart.
An Elvenking may appear as the ruler of a randomly-generated throne room, and his court can consist of elf-lords, elf-ladies, Grey-elves, Green-elves, Woodland-elves, quicklings, dryads, naiads, Coure Eladrin, Noviere Eladrin, Bralani Eladrin, Firre Eladrin, Shiere Eladrin, doppelgangers, and wood trolls.
The River Ford level in the Mordor Ruins Quest has a 3⁄4 chance of generating an Elvenking in the forest on the west side.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, the monster is renamed to an elven royal, with male monarchs called "elven kings" and female monarchs called "elven queens".
EvilHack
In EvilHack, the monster is renamed to an "elven royal", with the same titles as in SpliceHack.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, an Elvenking presiding over a throne room will always generate with an ornate mace.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, the monster is renamed to an "elven royal", with the same titles as in SpliceHack and EvilHack. Additionally, elven royals cannot generate on the throne of a throne room that is on or above dungeon level 10.
References
- ↑ src/polyself.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1087-L1088
- ↑ src/polyself.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1100-L1118
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 src/sit.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 211-L212
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2136-L2151
- ↑ src/wizard.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 42
- ↑ src/wizard.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 553-L569
- ↑ src/mkroom.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 261
- ↑ src/mkroom.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 266-L272
- ↑ dat/earth.lua in NetHack 5.0.0, line 57
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 226-L256: Default equipment for elves
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 257-L262: Equipment for elven monarchs
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2216-L2222
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 5490-L5516
- ↑ include/mondata.h in NetHack 5.0.0, line 129-L132
