Fire (element)
- For other uses of the term, see Fire (disambiguation).
Fire is a damage type that occurs in NetHack, and is capable of burning targets and vulnerable items.
Description
Fire damage erodes affected armor and weapons made of organic material such as cloth, leather or wood by burning them, and destroys items made of flammable material such as scrolls and spellbooks[1]—it also causes potions to explode by boiling their contents, which also subjects any hero or monster carrying those potions to their vapors. Falling into lava will completely destroy all flammable items, usually along with the victim themselves.
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.
Fire rays and other sources of fire damage will light candles, lamps and potions of oil, with the exception of the Candelabrum of Invocation.
Item destruction caused by fire damage is now dependent on the amount of damage dealt, with the amount of items in open inventory that are affected being equal to 1⁄5 of the fire damage inflicted.Fire damage sources
Fire damage can occur from various sources:
- Fire rays from a zapped wand of fire, an applied fire horn, or a fire breath weapon
- Fiery explosions created by the fireball spell, a read scroll of fire, an applied wand of fire, a lit potion of oil that is thrown, or by attempting to dip a lit oil lamp in a potion of oil
- Towers of flame that come from fire traps, and can also occur as possible effects of magic traps and container traps
- Quaffing a lit potion of oil, which deals fire damage
- The damage inflicted by the artifact Fire Brand
- Contact with lava, including being submerged in lava
Fire rays and explosions may boil away pools of water that they pass over, leaving behind pits—fire rays and fire traps can also melt ice.
A hero or monster subjected to fire damage will have sliming cured, due to the fire burning away the affected tissue.
Various monsters also have fire-element attacks, which use the AD_FIRE damage type flag:
- The bite attack used by fire ants
- The breath weapon used by red dragons, red nagas, hell hounds, hell hound pups, and randomly by the Chromatic Dragon
- The claw attack of a fire elemental
- The engulfing attack of a fire vortex or steam vortex
- The explosion attack used by flaming spheres
- The fireball monster spell, which is currently deferred
- The fire pillar monster spell used by monsters that cast clerical spells and are at least level 13
- The gaze attack of a pyrolisk
- The holding attack of a salamander
- The passive attack of a red mold, a fire elemental or a fire vortex
- The touch attack of a steam vortex, fire vortex or salamander[2]
Magic cancellation can block the effects of melee fire attacks that do not engulf, and cancellation disables the fiery effects of those attacks.
Monsters with fire breath weapons that are subjected to sliming will breathe on themselves to burn away the slime. Flesh golems subjected to fire damage will become slower.[3]
A hero or monster subjected to fire damage from these attacks has a chance of catching fire, which can subject their inventory to fire damage as described further above. Paper golems and straw golems are especially vulnerable to fire: paper golems that take damage from fire traps, the fire effect of magic traps, and the fire effect of container traps can lose maximum HP up to a value equal to that maximum plus one;[4] straw golems that take damage from those same traps can lose maximum HP up to 1⁄2 of that maximum plus one.[5] Paper and straw golems that are set aflame by any other source of fire damage will burn up completely, which is an instant death that prevents them from leaving their special death drops.[6][7][8][9] A hero polymorphed into a paper or straw golem can also burn up if they are set aflame by fire damage, and can lose the same amount of their current form's maximum HP plus one from the same traps;[10][11][12] dying from burning up this way returns them to normal form, even if they are wearing an amulet of unchanging.[13]
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.
The gold dragon has a fire breath weapon.
Per commit 2bec685b, pyrolisk eggs explode for 3d6 fire damage when they are broken or something attempts to eat them - pets will also avoid eating pyrolisk eggs.
Per commit 6b8079a1, the fire pillar spell also melts ice on the target square.Fiery monsters
A fiery or flaming monster is made of elemental fire, which grants it several unique properties. The following monsters are considered fiery:[14]
Fiery monsters will burn through any webs they move into, and gain immunity to sliming from green slime attacks or eating globs of green slime.[15][16] Fiery monsters naturally have fire resistance, and will actively eat globs of green slime as a cure for stoning if it is safe to do so. A fiery monster will always take damage from the moisture-inducing engulfing attack of a fog cloud, even if they are otherwise unbreathing.[17][18]
Resistance and vulnerability
Fire resistance is a property that protects a hero or monster from fire damage by reducing or nullifying the amount of damage dealt, though it does not necessarily protect their items from fire damage. Iron golems hit by fire damage have their HP restored by the amount of damage that would be dealt without their fire resistance.[19]
Erosion-proofing a flammable item will make it "fireproof", though it is protected from all forms of erosion; fireproof water walking boots also allow a hero to walk on lava. Fireproof armor does not block fire damage against a hero or monster wearing that armor. The scroll of fire and spellbook of fireball are intrinsically immune to being destroyed by fire.
Monsters that have cold resistance but do not have fire resistance are considered to have a vulnerability to fire, taking roughly 57% more damage from fire rays (+1d3 for each 1d6), as well as double damage from fiery explosions[20][21]—this does not apply to a hero that polymorphs into a monster vulnerable to fire.
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 9942b65d, extrinsic fire resistance protects items in open inventory from burning 99⁄100 of the time, with a separate roll for each item that would be destroyed.Strategy
A hero can prevent fire damage from destroying their inventory by stashing vulnerable items in a bag or other container, and fire rays and breath weapons can be deflected by any source of reflection.
Fire resistance is not as immediate a concern for a hero as various other properties like reflection or even poison resistance, but is worth obtaining before Gehennom due to the amount of fire traps and fiery monsters present.
History
Fire as a damage type is present in Hack 1.21 and Hack for PDP-11, which are based on Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is also present in Hack 1.0.
From these versions to NetHack 2.2a, the dragon has a fire breath weapon by default.
Messages
- <One/Some> of your <potions> boils and explodes!
- One of your potions was boiled by fire damage.
- You are burning to a crisp!
- You were engulfed by a steam vortex or fire vortex.
- You feel mildly hot.
- As above, but you have fire resistance.
- <The monster> is melting!
- An ice vortex or glass golem was set on fire by a melee attack; the temperature required for fire to melt glass is at least 1600 degrees C, or 2900 degrees F.
- <The monster> is already on fire!
- A fiery monster was hit by fire damage from a melee attack.[22]
- <Foo> is burning to a crisp!
- You engulfed a monster while in the form of a steam vortex or fire vortex.
- <Foo> seems mildly hot.
- As above, but the monster has fire resistance.
- <The golem> burns completely!
- A paper or straw golem was hit with fire damage that destroyed it instantly.
- You smell burning paper.
- As above, while you are blind.
- May <pet> roast in peace.
- Your pet paper or straw golem was set alight by fire.
- You hear hissing gas.
- An unseen moat was partly boiled by fire.
Variants
Variants of NetHack that add object property systems include fire as a potential object property for weapons and sometimes armor.
SLASH'EM
SLASH'EM adds more sources of fire damage:
- Frag grenades create fiery explosions when they detonate.
- The artifact Firewall deals fire damage on each hit against monsters without fire resistance.
- The artifact Hellfire causes crossbow bolts fired from it to produce fiery explosions.
- Zapping a wand of fireball creates a ray that causes a fireball to explode on the first monster or wall that it hits. Breaking a wand of fireball by applying it or subjecting it to shock damage will also cause a fiery explosion.
- More monsters have attacks that inflict fire damage, such as ruby golems, fire vampires and movanic devas.
GruntHack
In GruntHack, "fire" is one of many object properties available for weapons.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack, notnotdNetHack, the flaming, red-hot and forge-hot object properties grant fire damage to weapons and certain types of armor.
The artifact Lomya adds fire damage to the wearer's attacks.
Randomized gaze attacks often include fire as one of the possible damage types.
DynaHack
In DynaHack, "fire" is one of many object properties available for weapons.
FIQHack
In FIQHack, "fire" is one of many object properties available for weapons.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, the "fire" object property grants fire damage to weapons with the property, while armor with the "fire" object property grants fire resistance and is fireproofed.
Vulnerability to fire can be inflicted with the vulnerability monster spell by clerical casters.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, the "fire" object property behaves as in EvilHack, as does the vulnerability monster spell.
References
- ↑ src/mkobj.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1704: is_flammable function
- ↑ src/mhitu.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 319: engulfing attacks have a grace period after release where a target cannot be immediately re-engulfed; engulf attacks that hit during this period become touch attacks
- ↑ src/mon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 4038
- ↑ src/trap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2404
- ↑ src/trap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2408
- ↑ include/mondata.h in NetHack 3.6.7, line 208
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1707
- ↑ src/mhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1016
- ↑ src/mon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 418
- ↑ src/mhitu.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1057
- ↑ src/trap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 3152
- ↑ src/trap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 3155
- ↑ src/mhitu.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1060
- ↑ include/mondata.h in NetHack 3.6.7, line 70
- ↑ include/mondata.h in NetHack 3.6.7, line 82
- ↑ src/mhitu.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1640
- ↑ src/mhitu.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1913
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2243
- ↑ src/mon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 4046
- ↑ src/explode.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 440: double damage from fire/cold explosions
- ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 3629: extra damage from fire rays
- ↑ src/mondata.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1145