Flying

Flying is an intrinsic property that appears in NetHack, Monsters that fly are defined in the source code with the M1_FLY flag.

Flight allows a monster to avoid contact with the ground as with levitation, but additionally allows control over vertical movement - while flying, you can pick up items on the floor, go down stairs, use ranged weapons without hurtling in the opposite direction, and so on. Broadly speaking, flight gives almost all of the benefits of levitation with none of the downsides.

Description

The detailed effects of flying are as follows:

• You can pass over pits, holes, and most other traps without triggering them. (Pits and holes in Sokoban will still trap you.)
  • You can manually trigger the trap by #sitting on it.
  • Exceptions are anti-magic fields, magic traps, polymorph traps, level teleporters, webs and statue traps.
• You can pick up items in pits and spiked pits without falling in. If you begin flying while stuck in a pit, you can escape in one turn.
• You can descend into holes and trap doors with the > command.
• Land mines have a chance of not being triggered, and will not wound your legs.
• You can move over lava and water safely, and you can dip items into water.
• You have a better chance of avoiding being killed by a collapsing drawbridge.
• You can move freely over ice and on the Plane of Air.
• Wounded legs do not reduce your carrying capacity.
• You suffer no ill effects from descending stairs when encumbered, fumbling, or punished.
• You escape the dungeon rather than dying if you level teleport to a level between −9 and −1.
• You cannot snag underwater items with a bullwhip unless you start levitating.
• If you begin phasing through something solid, you will stop flying until you are in open space again.

Even though all e possess the M1_FLY flag, they levitate rather than fly.

List of flying monsters

The following monsters are capable of flight:

• a killer bee
• a queen bee
• g winged gargoyle
• h mind flayer
• h master mind flayer
• i homunculus
• t lurker above
• x xan
• A couatl
• E air elemental
• E fire elemental
• E stalker
• H titan
• J jabberwock
• W wraith
• & succubus
• & incubus
• & balrog
• any monster represented by v, y, B, D, or V

These monsters listed below are also capable of flight, but are not valid polymorph forms:

• A Angel
• A ki-rin
• A Archon
• D Ixoth
• V Vlad the Impaler
• @ Medusa
• @ Wizard of Yendor
•   ghost
•   shade
• & Juiblex
• & Yeenoghu
• & Orcus
• & Geryon
• & Dispater
• & Baalzebub
• & Asmodeus
• & Demogorgon
• & the Riders
• & mail daemon
• & djinni
• & Minion of Huhetotl
• & Nalzok

Obtaining flight

The only way to obtain this property is to polyself into one of the flying monsters listed above, or ride one as a steed. The eligible flying steeds are:

• A couatl
• A ki-rin
• J jabberwock
• any monster represented by D

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.

Flying can be gained extrinsically by wearing an amulet of flying.

Bugs

You can sometimes displace flying monsters by kicking them. If the "foo swoops, nimbly evading your kick" then it is moved to a vacant square randomly selected from those nearest to you. This means that on sufficiently crowded levels, it is possible for a flying creature to swoop through a wall. (This is possibly an effect of bug C343-38; it is hard to tell from its description.)

Variants

The amulet of flying is an item that originated in SLASH'EM and has since appeared in many variants.

Various new flying races and monsters (and thus additional polyforms) are often added in variants - the vampire player race]] has intrinsic flight in all variants.

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, the amulet of flying cannot be eaten to gain intrinsic flight. You can use a fishing pole to snatch items from pits while flying.

SLASH'EM also introduces many new flying monsters.

NetHack Fourk

In NetHack Fourk, the amulet of flying is an available item. Valkyries also have intrinsic flight.

EvilHack

EvilHack also has the amulet of flying as well as several new flying monsters of its own.

UnNetHack

UnNetHack adds the amulet of flying.

xNetHack

xNetHack has the amulet of flying.

dNetHack

dNetHack allows players to obtain the property via boots of flight. The half-dragon race also receives the flight intrinsic at XL 14.

SpliceHack

In SpliceHack, the angel race has intrinsic flight.

References

This page is based on a spoiler by Dylan O'Donnell. The original license is:

Redistribution, copying, and editing of these spoilers, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

1. The original contributors to any spoiler must continue to be credited.
2. Any modifications to the spoiler must be acknowledged and credited.