Shocking sphere

e shocking sphere
Difficulty	8
Attacks	Explode 4d6 shock

e shocking sphere
Difficulty	8
Attacks	Explode 4d6 shock
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	shock
Resistances conveyed	None
A shocking 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#line325

A shocking sphere, e, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. It is a sphere with an affinity to electricity that emits light in a 1-square radius around itself.

Shocking spheres have a shock explosion attack that can destroy rings and wands in the target's inventory, and possess shock resistance.

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 and adapted from xNetHack, shocking 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 shocking sphere and explodes. The sphere's difficulty rating is also raised to 10.

Generation

Randomly generated shocking spheres are always created hostile.

A shocking sphere does not leave a corpse upon death.

Strategy

Shocking spheres are fairly annoying to deal with, since their explosion attack can destroy the hero's rings and wands, usually making them the most hazardous of the spheres. Thankfully, pets that attack shocking spheres will likely take the explosion in your stead, and shock resistance completely trivializes them. Shocking 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 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.

Shocking spheres are a tempting and often valuable target for genocide, due to the increased danger they pose to a hero's inventory.

Per commit 9942b65d, extrinsic shock resistance protects the target's open inventory from damage ⁹⁹⁄₁₀₀ of the time, making sources such as the ring of shock resistance and blue dragon scale mail much more valuable.

History

The shocking sphere first appears in NetHack 3.3.0.

Variants

dNetHack

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

Shocking spheres may 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 electricity. The summon sphere monster spell can summon shocking spheres.

SpliceHack

In SpliceHack, shocking spheres can be created by reading a scroll of elementalism while confused. This also applies to Hack'EM.

xNetHack

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

EvilHack

In EvilHack, shocking spheres explode similarly to gas spores: both their explosion attack and on-death explosions cover a 3x3 radius centered on its square, affecting monsters and items caught in the explosion. This makes the shocking sphere a frequent genocide target.

SlashTHEM

In SlashTHEM, eight shocking spheres are generated on the goal level of the Acid Mage quest, where they are placed adjacent to the Lightningrod at level creation.

Encyclopedia entry

Shocking 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 ]