Genetic engineer (SLASH'EM)
Q genetic engineer 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 14 |
| Attacks |
Claw 1d4 polymorph |
| Base level | 12 |
| Base experience | 267 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 3 |
| Base MR | 10 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 20 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | poison resistance |
| Resistances conveyed | Causes polymorph |
|
A genetic engineer:
| |
| Reference | SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line3020 |
- For the monster in upcoming versions of NetHack and other variants, see Genetic engineer (disambiguation).
A genetic engineer, Q, is a type of monster that appears in SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM. The genetic engineer is a type of humanoid quantum mechanic monster that can be seen via infravision, and can teleport at random.
A genetic engineer has a single claw attack that can polymorph its target if the engineer is not canceled, with details varying depending on if the attack hits the hero or a monster: against the hero, it can be blocked by magic cancellation, unchanging or magic resistance, and otherwise the hero is polymorphed; against another monster, if the target does not have magic resistance or require a weapon of a certain enchantment to hit and they are not killed by the attack, the monster is polymorphed.[1][2] The resulting polymorph is temporary in both cases, and can produce out-of-depth forms for monsters similar to self-polymorph from chameleons.[3]
A genetic engineer corpse is poisonous to eat, and eating a genetic engineer corpse or tin will polymorph the eater unless they have unchanging.
Generation
Genetic engineers are only randomly generated in Gehennom, and are always created hostile.
Two genetic engineers are generated next to Doctor Frankenstein in Frankenstein's Lab at level creation, with two more placed randomly around the level.
Strategy
The genetic engineer is generally a dangerous opponent, since they can easily polymorph you into a form that breaks armor or else shrinks out of it - this in turn will usually leave you susceptible to being polymorphed further due to lack of magic cancellation. Fortunately, they are typically only encountered around Gehennom, and you should have a source of magic resistance before then. Players without magic resistance that encounter one early (e.g. via polymorph trap) should use their best ranged attacks to kill off the engineer before they can get into melee range.
Do not use conflict around genetic engineers if at all possible: monsters in SLASH'EM revert to their original form if killed while polymorphed, effectively giving them an "extra life" in many cases even if the new form is weak; this causes fights to drag out longer than necessary in best-case scenarios, and as with other instances of monsters polymorphing, this may also create out-of-depth and/or highly-resistant monsters such as the magic-resistant crystal golem. While the attack is subject to enchantment resistance against other monsters, this should not be relied upon for conflict-based strategies, and the property should be temporarily disabled if any genetic engineers are present so that the hero can kill them first.
As a polyform
The genetic engineer also represents an interesting strategy for players that use polyself often: their polymorph attack is a claw attack, so it triggers regardless of wielded weapons, and ignores MR scores—this allows taming of numerous monsters that are either very formidable enemies (e.g. Archons and giant shoggoths) or very difficult to tame (e.g. Planetar and Solar). This also allows taming of monsters that cannot normally be made tame, e.g. this is the only way to tame Death in SLASH'EM that preserves his current form, as opposed to sliming him and taming the resulting green slime.
Gray dragons and other monsters with player-style magic resistance are completely immune, while monsters with armor that provides magic cancellation can prevent your attack from working immediately. Shopkeepers, aligned priests and hostile minions will remember their identity, and can never be tamed even if polymorphed. As mentioned previously, the effect is also subject to the "hits creatures as +x weapon" and "need +x weapon to hit" properties, meaning that it will not work on certain monsters unless you are wielding a weapon of the appropriate enchantment.
Besides the above, there are the usual risks of polymorph, e.g. creating stronger and/or more resistant monsters, or else creating a monster with a dangerous or lethal passive attack, which will always immediately trigger in response as if the new form had been attacked—this includes stoning monsters such as cockatrices, asphynxes and basilisks; YASD can be prevented from these instances by simply wearing gloves. In addition, the genetic engineer form is not very strong defensively, and many monsters are capable of killing a hero and reverting them to normal before they can get a chance to polymorph them, particularly if the hero are surrounded.
Origin
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including the transfer of genes within and across species boundaries to produce improved or novel organisms. New DNA is obtained by either isolating and copying the genetic material of interest using recombinant DNA methods or by artificially synthesising the DNA. The new DNA can be inserted randomly, or targeted to a specific part of the genome—the process can also be used to "knock out" or remove genes. The genetic engineer monster is a visual pun on the term by applying it literally, similar to the quantum mechanic.
Messages
- You undergo a freakish metamorphosis!
- You were polymorphed by a genetic engineer's attack or ate their corpse or tin.
- <Foo> undergoes a freakish metamorphosis!
- A monster was polymorphed by a genetic engineer's attack.
References
- ↑ mhitm.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 1747
- ↑ uhitm.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 2246
- ↑ mhitm.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 1764: this calls mon_poly, which in turns calls mon_spec_poly which calls newcham—this latter-most function does not respect difficulty or depth
