Umber hulk
- For the monster class, see Umber hulk (monster class).
U umber hulk 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 12 |
| Attacks | |
| Base level | 9 |
| Base experience | 194 |
| Speed | 6 |
| Base AC | 2 |
| Base MR | 25 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 2 (Quite rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 1200 |
| Nutritional value | 500 |
| Size | Large |
| Resistances | None |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
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An umber hulk:
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| Reference | monst.c#line1828 |
An umber hulk, U, is a monster that appears in NetHack. It is the sole member of the umber hulk monster class. The umber hulk is a strong, intelligent carnivore that can tunnel naturally through rock, similar to rock moles and woodchucks - while umber hulks are not metallivores like rock moles, they can gain nutrition from tunneling.
Umber hulks have two claw attacks, a bite attack and a unique, non-reflectable gaze that can confuse anything the umber hulk directs it at - this includes itself, if a mirror is applied towards it.[1] You can use this gaze attack with the #monster extended command while polymorphed into an umber hulk.
Contents
Generation
Umber hulks may generate as peaceful towards neutral characters.
In addition to normal generation, umber hulks can be created by the summon nasties monster spell. The Wizard of Yendor may create a clone of himself in the guise of an umber hulk via the Double Trouble monster spell.[2]
An umber hulk is guaranteed to appear on the Plane of Earth.[3]
Strategy
Umber hulks are the strongest tunneling monster encountered in the main dungeon, and move twice as fast as rock moles, though they are still much slower than even an unhasted player. Blinding yourself will protect you completely from the gaze of a hostile umber hulk; confusing it by applying a mirror also makes it somewhat less likely to turn that gaze on you. However, it can still hit decently hard, so be sure to deal with it swiftly.
Umber hulks are a significant pet hazard even while peaceful: their gaze can confuse a pet that attacks them, and the confused pet may then attack you - in the worst cases, swift death may ensue if you do not act quickly.
As a pet
Umber hulks are generally utilized as pets for their natural tunneling ability; tame umber hulks combined with a magic whistle can easily eat a path through large maze levels such as those in Gehennom without requiring additional resources, such as the high energy cost of a spell of dig, the valuable charges of a wand of digging, or bearing the weight of a pick-axe or dwarvish mattock. Hostile umber hulks can also be useful for tunneling purposes, but care must be taken to avoid killing them or letting them confuse you.
As a polyform
The umber hulk is a solid polyself form for much of the same reasons, allowing you to quickly tunnel beelines between stairways without using up spell energy or wand charges. Umber hulks are strong and can wear all non-torso armor, and their confusing gaze can provide a solid means of self-defense: you will automatically avoid directing it at pets, and can also avoid confusing peaceful monsters by pressing n when the prompt comes up, ensuring that only hostile monsters are targeted.
History
The umber hulk first appears in Hack for PDP-11, a variant of Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is included in the initial bestiary for Hack 1.0.
In NetHack 3.6.0 and earlier versions, including some variants based on those versions, an umber hulk's gaze would not uncloak mimics that it targeted; this is fixed in NetHack 3.6.1 via commit b5a027c3.
Origin
The umber hulk is an underground-dwelling insectoid monster originating from Dungeons & Dragons, named for its dark brown coloration. It is generally depicted as some form of cross between beetle and gorilla, with the mandibles, exoskeleton and antennae of the former, and the anatomy, limbs and the gait of the latter. It has four evenly-spaced eyes: two small ape-like eyes on its forehead, and two large compound eyes on the side of its head - those who made eye contact with the smaller eyes would have their mind scrambled, causing them to wander in random directions, lash out at those nearby, or simply stand dazed and confused. An umber hulk's exoskeleton is incredibly strong, and its massive claws can tunnel through rock with ease.
Umber hulks are commonly viewed as unthinking brutes by other races, though they are of average intelligence and even have their own language. While perfectly capable of rational thought and forward planning, umber hulks usually see little point in complex planning where sheer force would suffice; if the situation warrants it, they can outwit foes using their ability to maneuver through the earth. For similar reasons, umber hulks are primarily solitary creatures, though some umber hulks live in small clusters of 2–4, typically comprising mothers and their young. Umber hulk lairs are large caverns, with the walls covered in claw marks that are often the product of the hulk digging out the dwelling and/or sharpening its claws.
An umber hulk tends to fight only when hunting for food, and uses a combination of ambush, power, and confusion to overwhelm prey - if this is not enough, they utilize a variety of tactics to escape, retreat, or recollect itself. They can also cause cave-ins, lead enemies into dead ends, create circular paths, initiate floods, collapse tunnels, or create pitfall traps. Umber hulks feed on purple worms, ankhegs and similar underground creatures, but greatly enjoy the taste of humanoids; their teeth are used to chew through their kills and were not used in combat (unlike the umber hulks of NetHack).
Umber hulks are often captured and enslaved by other beings such as neogi, illithids, cave orcs, and human spellcasters for use as muscle or guard beasts; guard hulks could be obedient if fed well when young, though they could just as easily turn on their masters for any reason (or no reason at all). Occasionally, some umber hulks will actively work with other beings, provided that the benefits did not require traveling above-ground or risking their lives.
Messages
- The umber hulk's gaze confuses you!
- You were confused by an umber hulk's gaze.
- The umber hulk confuses itself!
- You applied a mirror to an umber hulk that was not blind, confusing it.[1]
- Huh? That doesn't look like you!
- You applied a mirror to yourself while polymorphed into an umber hulk.[4]
Variants
Some variants include additional monsters so that the umber hulk is not the sole member of its monster class.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, the umber hulk hits as a +1 weapon.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, umber hulks are unknown abominations. They may appear among the mind flayer-related monsters and aberrations that are randomly generated on the Anachrononaut quest; the Drow Noble Quest also features several umber hulks on the locate and goal levels.
Umber hulks are capable of wearing large barded body armor along with any other large armor.
NetHack Fourk
In NetHack Fourk, the umber hulk, X, is moved to the large deep-rock dweller monster class. It has basic skill in wand usage.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, in addition to SLASH'EM details, umber hulks can generate in the terror hall special room.
Encyclopedia entry
Umber hulks are powerful subterranean predators whose iron-like claws allow them to burrow through solid stone in search of prey. They are tremendously strong; muscles bulge beneath their thick, scaly hides and their powerful arms and legs all end in great claws.
