Rat King (EvilHack)
@ Rat King 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 14 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 3d4, Bite 1d6 lycanthropy |
| Base level | 12 |
| Base experience | 296 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 3 |
| Base MR | 30 |
| Alignment | -10 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Unique |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | poison,sleep,level drain |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
The Rat King:
| |
| Reference | EvilHack - monst.c, line 3114 |
The Rat King, @, is a unique monster that appears in EvilHack and Hack'EM. In Hack'EM, this version of the Rat King serves the same roles as the Rat King of SLASH'EM.
The Rat King is a strong and omnivorous human that is similar to a wererat, but does not shift from his humanoid form. He has regeneration, can be seen via infravision, is capable of swimming, and will pick up items and valuables.
The Rat King has a weapon attack and a lycanthropy-inducing bite, and possesses poison resistance, sleep resistance and drain resistance like other werecreatures.
The Rat King's corpse is poisonous to eat.
Generation
The Rat King is always generated hostile, and is not a valid form for normal polymorph.
The Rat King is always generated with a pair of high boots, a cloak of displacement, and a rustproof +1 to +3 scimitar of venom. He also has a 2⁄3 chance of generating with a ring of teleport control.
EvilHack
The Rat King only appears in The Sewers of Waterdeep variant of Mines' End, which is a sewage-filled level consisting of a series of rooms that are surrounded by long halls, including a treasure room that is only accessible with teleportation - he will always be generated in the throne room.
Hack'EM
The Rat King appears on the rat level as he does in SLASH'EM and other similar variants, though he can still generate with a ring of teleport control as in EvilHack.
Strategy
The Rat King is a formidable early-game opponent: He moves at the same base speed as an unburdened player, resists sleep and poison that some early characters can use to dispatch other foes, and his weapon and cloak make him difficult to attack in melee. Even characters that can consistently hit through the Rat King's AC, which is usually around 0, the displacement from his cloak will cause half of your attacks to miss - combined with the slowing effects of wading through sewage, this can easily prolong the fight and increase the odds of contracting lycanthropy, being poisoned by his scimitar, or simply taking excessive damage. A character with poison resistance, high MC and consistent damage output should be able to take him on, and an early source of flight or levitation can help prevent the sewage from constantly slowing down non-tortle characters.
Ranged attacks including attack spells, wands, and/or projectiless can mitigate the threat of his weapon attack and infectious bite, and elemental damage can be particularly effective. A sufficiently large stack of missile weapons such as shuriken, daggers or a launcher and its corresponding ammo (preferably silver, if possible) can also make quick work of him. If you don't have a reliable strategy to defeat the Rat King, it is also viable to avoid him entirely - he generates asleep in a closed-off room that isn't necessary to travel through to get to the level's luckstone.
Origin
In biology, a "rat king" refers to a group of rats that are accidentally knotted and sticked together at their tails and sometimes legs. It shares some similarities with siamese siblings, but as opposed to actual siamese twins, the rats are joined postnataly. Radiographical images show that the tails of the joined rats had fractures in their tails which healed, implying the rats were alive in that state for a prolonged time.
Various forms of media feature a "Rat King" character, often as a large humanoid rat depicted with a crown - the portrayal is based on the Mouse King from the 1892 two-act classical ballet The Nutcracker, who is sometimes called the Rat King in adaptations.
Encyclopedia entry
At this moment two of the enemies' tirailleurs seized him by
his wooden mantle, and the Mouse-King, squeaking from his seven
throats, leaped in triumph towards him. Maria could no longer
control herself. "Oh, my poor Nutcracker!" she cried, sobbing,
and without being exactly conscious of what she did, grasped her
left shoe, and threw it with all her strength into the thickest
of the mice, straight at their king.
[ Nutracker and the Mouse-King, by E. T. A. Hoffmann,
translated by Mrs. St. Simon ]
