Flaming sphere

e flaming sphere
Difficulty	8
Attacks	Explode 4d6 fire

e flaming sphere
Difficulty	8
Attacks	Explode 4d6 fire
Base level	6
Base experience	91
Speed	13
Base AC	4
Base MR	0
Alignment	0 (neutral)
Frequency (by normal means)	2 (Quite rare)
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	10
Nutritional value	10
Size	Small
Resistances	fire
Resistances conveyed	fire
A flaming sphere: can fly. does not breathe. has no limbs. has no head. is mindless. does not eat. (*) is neither male nor female. is normally generated hostile. can be seen through infravision. never leaves a corpse. gives out light.
Reference	monst.c#line318

A flaming sphere, e, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. It is a fiery sphere that emits light in a 1-square radius around itself, and can burn through webs while moving.

Flaming spheres possess a fire explosion attack that can burn vulnerable items in the target's inventory, and possesses fire resistance.

The spellbook of flame sphere is a deferred feature that teaches a spell the hero can use to create tame flaming spheres.

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 6b60618e, flaming spheres create explosions with their attacks, which cover a 3x3 area around them and affect items and other monsters caught within the blast radius - this does not count the inventory of a hero that is polymorphed into a flaming sphere and explodes. This is adapted from xNetHack, and the sphere's difficulty rating is also raised to 9.

Generation

Randomly generated flaming spheres are always created hostile.

A flaming sphere does not leave a corpse upon death.

Strategy

Flaming spheres are fairly annoying to deal with, since their explosion attack can destroy the hero's scrolls, potions and spellbooks along with burning armor. Thankfully, pets that attack flaming spheres will likely take the explosion in your stead, and fire resistance completely trivializes them. Flaming spheres can also be made to miss if you are invisible or displaced, and their nonexistent MR score means they can easily be put to sleep or otherwise immobilized, allowing a hero or their pet to kill them before they can explode.

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 the target's open inventory from damage by a flaming sphere explosion ⁹⁹⁄₁₀₀ of the time.

History

The flaming sphere first appears in NetHack-- 3.0.10, and makes its vanilla debut in NetHack 3.3.0.

Variants

SLASH'EM

SLASH'EM makes the spellbook of flame sphere and its spell functional: flaming spheres summoned by the spell only exist for a temporary amount of time, and monsters hit by their explosions are treated as though the hero had attacked them, e.g. awarding them experience for monsters that the sphere kills, blaming them for angering peaceful monsters and so on. The spell also respects extinction, meaning it has a finite number of uses.

All of the above information also applies to SlashTHEM.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, flaming spheres explode on death similar to gas spores, covering a 3x3 area centered on it that can burn items in the open inventory of monsters caught in the blast; extrinsic fire resistance can prevent both effects.

Flaming spheres may also be generated in the Lawful Quest, where they will appear on the Paths of Law and within the Arcadian Tower if Oona's elemental affinity is set to fire. The summon sphere monster spell can summon flaming spheres.

xNetHack

In xNetHack, the explosion attack of flaming spheres covers a 3x3 radius, affecting monsters, armor and items caught in the explosion as well as items in the affected monsters' inventories; extrinsic fire resistance protects the open inventory from damage ⁹⁹⁄₁₀₀ of the time.

SpliceHack

In SpliceHack, the spellbook of flame sphere is made functional and works similar to SLASH'EM, and flaming spheres can also be created by reading a scroll of elementalism while confused. This also applies to Hack'EM.

EvilHack

In EvilHack, the spellbook of flame sphere is made functional and works similar to SLASH'EM, and they are not counted towards the charisma-based limit for pets. Flaming spheres also explode similarly to gas spores: both their explosion attack and on-death explosions cover a 3x3 radius centered on its square, burning monsters, armor and items caught in the explosion; armor that is burnt enough can also be destroyed.

Two flaming spheres are generated in the lava-filled room on the ground floor of the Wizard's Tower.

Encyclopedia entry

Flaming spheres share the entry below with other spheres:

The attack by those who want to die -- this is the attack against which you cannot prepare a perfect defense.
                       --Human aphorism

[ The Dosadi Experiment, by Frank Herbert ]