Wizard of Yendor

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@ Wizard of Yendor Wizard of Yendor.png
Difficulty 34
Attacks

Claw 2d12 amulet-stealing, spell-casting 0d0 mage

Base level 30
Base experience 1411
Speed 12
Base AC -8
Base MR 100
Alignment unaligned[1]
Frequency (by normal means) Unique
Genocidable No
Weight 1450
Nutritional value 400
Size Medium
Resistances Fire, Poison
Resistances conveyed Fire (25%), Poison (25%), teleport control (25%), causes teleportitis (25%)

The Wizard of Yendor:

Reference monst.c#line2295

The Wizard of Yendor (also informally known as "Rodney"), @, is a unique monster that serves as one of the main antagonists of NetHack. He is a powerful human sorcerer that is a prince to his kind.

The Wizard of Yendor is the guardian of the Book of the Dead, and the hero must retrieve it in order to perform the Invocation, gain access to Moloch's Sanctum and take the Amulet of Yendor from the high priest of Moloch. However, killing him alone will not be enough to deter him: the Wizard can not only harass heroes remotely with mysterious curses and spells, but will eventually reappear stronger than ever. He will even follow the hero to the Elemental Planes, with a guaranteed reappearance on the Plane of Earth unless he has been made to flee the dungeon.

Eating the Wizard of Yendor's corpse or tin will grant fire resistance, poison resistance, teleportitis, or teleport control, with an equal chance of each.

Generation

The Wizard of Yendor is always generated hostile, will not appear in a bones level and is not a valid form for polymorph.

residing within his Tower in Gehennom, with the Book of the Dead placed on his square. When generated on the Plane of Earth, he is always created with a spellbook of dig.[2]

Abilities

The Wizard of Yendor has -8 AC and full monster magic resistance, along with fire resistance and poison resistance; he is breathless, regenerates, can see invisible, can be seen via infravision, and is capable of flight. The Wizard is covetous and can warp to the hero's position, and also has a form of teleport control: teleporting him will always move him to the upstairs of that floor, and if he is teleported inside his Tower, he will always end up on the down ladder.[3]

The Wizard of Yendor has a strong 'claw' attack that has a 1⁄20 chance of stealing the Amulet of Yendor, any invocation items or any quest artifacts the hero possesses, and will attempt to cast one mage monster spell per turn of combat: he has access to the full complement of arcane monster spells, up to and including the touch of death. As both his Amulet-stealing attack and monster spellcasting in general are only coded for player-versus-monster combat, the Wizard of Yendor is incapable of harming other monsters.[4]

The Wizard also has a unique mage spell known as Double Trouble, which creates another incarnation of him with all his powers, and he will not use this spell if there are already two of him in the world.[5] The clone can be created with a different appearance from his normal self, and may be any one of the following monsters: human, water demon, vampire, red dragon, troll, umber hulk, xorn, xan, cockatrice, floating eye, guardian naga, or trapper.[6][7] The Wizard's clone will have all the abilities of the monster he is disguised as, and attacking a disguised clone will cause him to shift to his normal form.

Harassment

Once the Wizard of Yendor is killed or the Invocation is performed, the game recognizes the hero as a demigod—see that article for details on its other effects. The Wizard will begin to harass the hero with negative effects, regardless of whether he is alive or present on the hero's level, and will continue to do so for the rest of the game. The timer is set to 50-299 turns after the Wizard first dies, while performing the Invocation sets it to the lowest value between the current timer and 2-12 turns, and the timer is reset to 50-249 turns after a harassment effect occurs, all of which exclude the period of invulnerability from a successful prayer.[8][9]

When the hero is harassed, one of the following effects will happen:[10]

Probability Effect Message
1⁄3 No effect "You feel vaguely nervous."
1⁄6 Curse items "You notice a black glow surrounding you." (if not blind)
1⁄6 Aggravate "You feel that monsters are aware of your presence."
1⁄6 Summon nasties No message
1⁄6 Revival "A voice booms out... 'So thou thought thou couldst <kill/elude> me, fool.'"

If the Wizard is currently dead and revives, he generates adjacent to the hero at one monster level higher than what his previous incarnation generated at (i.e., any changes to his level from level drain or gain level are ignored). If the Wizard is alive on a different dungeon level and does not possess the real Amulet, he is level teleported to a square adjacent to the hero. If the Wizard has used Double Trouble, only one incarnation of him will be brought to the hero; the other incarnation may be brought by a later harassment.

The Wizard will always revive when a hero enters the Plane of Earth, barring specific circumstances that have him removed from the game. On the Astral Plane, the Wizard cannot revive, and every other effect has a 1⁄4 probability of occurring - the Wizard can only enter the Astral Plane if he is adjacent to the hero when they enter the magic portal on the Plane of Water.

Strategy

The first battle with the Wizard of Yendor marks the beginning of the ascension run for a mass majority of players - once they kill him or perform the invocation, he will hound them for the rest of the game, and finishing as fast as possible from that point reduces the number of turns that he can harass a hero. Before facing him for the first time, most players will want to find the vibrating square and create quick paths from stairway to stairway through the Gehennom mazes.

Awakening the Wizard

A hero with a drum of earthquake can reliably wake him up from outside the Wizard's Tower, gaining access to the Book without having to enter the Tower at all. A tame mind flayer can also lock onto him with its telepathy to wake him up. A hero polymorphed into a mind flayer has a 1⁄10 chance of locking into his mind each time they mind blast via the #monster extended command, provided he is within an eight-tile radius.[11] Drinking a cursed potion of invisibility will also wake him up, along with all other sleeping and meditating monsters on the level, but only if done inside the Tower.

Defeating the Wizard

Defeating the Wizard of Yendor in the first encounter can be a challenge if the hero cannot bring him down quickly - thankfully, he lacks intrinsic magic resistance, and landing a shot from a wand of death or finger of death will do the job. Unfortunately, the Wizard's AC makes it likely for a death ray to miss, and he may require multiple shots, giving him time to steal a quest artifact(s) that grants magic resistance or reflection: pity the hapless Caveman who has the Sceptre of Might stolen with no other source of MR and no other good melee weapon in their inventory, especially if the Wizard immediately takes advantage with a touch of death.

It is of course entirely possible for a hero to defeat the Wizard in standard combat, but in addition to avoiding the above scenarios and the standard perils of dealing with a covetous spellcasting monster, killing the Wizard as fast as possible minimizes the odds of killing him over a moat or pool of water (e.g. in his Tower) and preempts him summoning nasties or casting Double Trouble. See the section below for methods of retrieving the Book if it falls into the water.

Stealing the Book of the Dead without killing the Wizard allows heroes that can manage it to continue preparations without risk of harassment; this is especially useful for pacifists trying to raise the dead to obtain a level 49 purple worm. Prudent players will have non-quest artifact sources of vital properties on hand before beginning the ascension run, and especially cautious ones may wish to carry their quest artifact(s) in a container.

As shown in the diagram to the right, zapping a wand of digging diagonally at the Wizard of Yendor's inner tower will create an opening without waking him up, and the hero can then shoot a death ray from that position through the newly-created gap, killing the Wizard without giving him the chance to cast spells if it hits. Do not step near the breached tower, or he will awaken.

-----------
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-----------
Attacking the Wizard through the corner

Retrieving the Book of the Dead

If the Wizard is killed over any square of the moat, the Book of the Dead can be recovered by zapping a wand of cold or the cone of cold spell over the water; the Book of the Dead is immune to blanking, and will end up on top of the ice. Alternately, a hero can wear an amulet of magical breathing to go into the water and pick it up - remember to leave vulnerable items (i.e. potions, spellbooks, scrolls, and non-rustproof weapons) on dry land or in a non-cursed oilskin sack.

Post-Invocation

During the ascension run, make sure magic resistance is active as often as possible, as the Wizard of Yendor may reappear at any inconvenient moment and quickly bring about YASD. Many players choose to zap a wand of death at the Wizard instantly every time he reappears; those low on wand charges may want to take him out quickly through some other means, e.g. stoning. If the Wizard reappears and summons nasties immediately, watch out for Elvenkings—they are represented by the same symbol (@) as the Wizard, and it is a common annoyance to squander a wand of death charge on the wrong monster.

The Wizard of Yendor will not warp to a hero while holding the real Amulet of Yendor, but he will still harass them through other methods - a hero being overwhelmed by the Wizard can throw the Amulet away and level teleport or otherwise escape the level as he goes to pick it up. This gives an opportunity for heroes to recover pets and equipment and recover resources before eventually retrieving the Amulet.

Weakening the Wizard

Level draining the Wizard will permanently reduce the level of his current incarnation, although it will still increase the next time he revives or casts Double Trouble; if his level is reduced to 0, he will lose all spellcasting abilities, and his melee damage becomes unremarkable. Reducing his level without killing him is best done with a negatively enchanted Stormbringer, whose enchantment can be easily reduced to −3 through engraving. Reducing his level will also lower his monster magic resistance, making him more susceptible to sliming and subsequently polymorphing - this will prevent his covetous teleportation and remove most of his abilities, and pets can also attack him on their own initiative once he approaches their level.

While the Wizard normally cannot be made tame or peaceful, there are a handful of methods to pacify him if he is polymorphed, which usually requires sliming him or reducing his level as above:

  • Polymorph him into any unicorn and throw him a gem of any kind.
  • Polymorph him into a snake and successfully use a wooden flute.
  • Polymorph him into a nymph and successfully use a wooden harp.
  • Polymorph him into any undead monster and read the blessed Book of the Dead.
  • As a chaotic priest or knight outside of Gehennom, polymorph him into any undead monster and successfully turn undead.
  • Polymorph him into any non-human, non-mindless monster and #untrap him from a pit that you did not create. Failure from the monster weighing too much, or success, both have chances of pacifying the Wizard; failure will leave him trapped, allowing you to try again.

The Wizard will always be hostile when he next revives, so these methods cannot be used to permanently pacify him. Remember that teleporting the Wizard will always move him to the upstairs, or the down ladder if you are within his tower - if you managed to polymorph or slime the Wizard while he occupies a staircase, you will not be able to teleport him away.

Driving off the Wizard

It is possible to remove the Wizard of Yendor from the game altogether by making him escape the dungeon: this is done by luring him to the first dungeon level, then dealing enough damage to render him scared while he is on or near the up stair.[12] Causing the Wizard to escape via this up stair will prevent him from reappearing for the rest of the game, including his usual reappearance on the Plane of Earth. The other effects of his harassment will still occur.

There are a few reasons to go to the trouble of ensuring Rodney does not appear: one general reason is to save on the time that would be spent fighting him later. Another is to lower the difficulty of certain conducts and playstyles; for example, a Monk who observes both weaponless conduct and the restriction on body armor can temporarily switch their cloak (ideally a robe) to a cloak of magic resistance and put the Eyes of the Overworld in a bag to prevent the Wizard from stealing them, then lead the Wizard to the top floor and force him to flee as above. After driving off the Wizard, the Monk can switch back to their robe and safely rely on The Eyes of the Overworld as a magic resistance source for the rest of the game. For similar reasons, driving off the Wizard is a key part of the exotic conduct of ascending without ever having magic resistance.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (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 12498ffa, The Wizard of Yendor will no longer escape the dungeon.

History

The Wizard of Yendor is first introduced to NetHack in Hack 1.0.2. From this version to NetHack 2.3e, he appears in a two-square room in the center of a maze with a hell hound (which does not have a breath weapon in this version), and the Amulet of Yendor is placed underneath the hell hound; the room has no doors and is surrounded by a moat. In these versions, the Wizard of Yendor uses 1 as his glyph. Fake Wizard rooms have a demon present with a fake Amulet instead of the Wizard.

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The arrangement of the real Tower makes it possible for players to use stealth and kill the hell hound, then pick up the Amulet and leave without awakening him, though he will eventually realize the Amulet is missing and begin harassing the hero.

From NetHack 3.0.0 through 3.0.10, the Wizard is given a larger tower to occupy, and a vampire lord is generated within as an additional "roommate"; fake Wizard rooms have a randomly chosen demon prince, and place a demon lord instead if no prince is available, or a random demon if all of the named demons are gone. All eight modern demon rulers exist in these versions, but are only generated in these fake Wizard rooms or via summoning.

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In NetHack 3.1.0, the Amulet is given to the high priest of Moloch, and the Wizard instead carries the Book of the Dead. The Wizard is still generated in a room similar to his dwelling from previous versions, and similar rooms exist on the first level of the Wizard's Tower and as part of the the two "Fake Wizard's Tower" levels; one of these levels contains a magic portal to the real Tower.

In NetHack 3.4.3 and previous versions, including some variants based on those versions, if the Wizard appears within twelve turns after the Invocation and the hero is on the Sanctum's floor, he will immediately warp into the Sanctum to steal the Amulet from the high priest of Moloch (without damaging them, due to the coding of his attacks).[4][13] The Wizard will then target the hero next, circumventing the need for them to fight the high priest. NetHack 3.6.0 fixes this by preventing covetous monsters from attacking the high priest.

In NetHack 3.6.0 and previous versions, including variants based on those versions, the quest artifact of the hero's role is the only one that can be stolen by the Wizard of Yendor, and it is common to use another role's quest artifact for magic resistance and/or reflection while leaving the vulnerable one in an on-hand container. It is also possible to awaken the Wizard from outside his Tower if a monster casts the aggravate monster spell, and using a stethoscope on the Wizard reports his alignment as chaotic rather than unaligned.

Starting in NetHack 3.6.1, the Wizard is given the ability to target any role's quest artifact, meaning that the above tactic is no longer viable; the proper alignment is reported when using a stethoscope on the Wizard; and the aggravate monster spell's range is adjusted via commit 04bc0480.

Messages

In addition to the harassment messages above, the Wizard of Yendor will speak one of the listed lines while he is alive and nearby at random intervals or when a hero chats to him, and he will otherwise utter a random demonic malediction.[14] Insults are selected from a pre-determined list at random.[15]

"Even now thy life force ebbs, <insult>!"
"Savor thy breath, <insult>, it be thy last!"
You are at 5 HP or lower.
"I shall return."
"I'll be back."
The Wizard is at 5 HP or lower.
The Wizard of Yendor laughs fiendishly.
"Relinquish the amulet, <insult>!"
None of the above apply.
"Destroy the thief, my pets!"
The Wizard cast summon nasties (excluding via harassment).

Variants

Quite a few variants alter the Wizard of Yendor's stats and behavior in some manner.

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, NetHack 3.4.3 rules for the Wizard of Yendor stealing quest artifacts apply. Additionally, there is a method of temporarily pacifying the Wizard exclusive to this variant: after draining enough levels from the Wizard that he can be slimed or polymorphed, hitting his monster form with a potion of amnesia will render him peaceful, though the effect can be resisted dependent on his current form's monster MR.

All of the above information applies to SlashTHEM.

UnNetHack

In UnNetHack, the Wizard of Yendor can steal any artifact except the quest artifact of the hero's current role.

The Wizard also has an additional harassment effect outside the Astral Plane - a large earthquake will occur, similar to the effect of playing a drum of earthquake.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, the Wizard of Yendor will not attack the elder priest carrying the Amulet of Yendor in Moloch's Sanctum. While the Wizard's harassment mechanics are unchanged, the pool of eligible nasties is expanded and includes incredibly dangerous monsters such as the bebelith and ancient naga.

The Wizard's Amulet-stealing attack no longer targets quest artifacts, making them more reliable as sources of magic resistance both when fighting against him and on the ascension run. However, he is capable of casting nearly any monster spell available in dNetHack, which has been expanded with several potent and lethal options, and will do so 3⁄4 of the time. The remaining 1⁄4 of the time he will cast haste self, Double Trouble, or another spell exclusive to him that forces an amulet of strangulation onto the hero's neck, transforming their current amulet if necessary; magic resistance will prevent the currently worn amulet from being transformed, but does not protect the hero if they are not wearing one.

Illurien of the Myriad Glimpses is a unique monster that engages in very similar harassment to the Wizard after being killed for the first time.

EvilHack

In EvilHack, the Wizard of Yendor's glyph is changed to @ in order to distinguish him from elven royals.

The Wizard is a far more powerful opponent that generates with his own standard inventory: he will always generate with a robe and cornuthaum, and he has a 1⁄2 chance of generating with an amulet, which will either be an amulet of magic resistance (1⁄4 chance, or 25%) or an amulet of guarding (3⁄4 chance, or 75%). The Wizard also has his own weapon, with a 2⁄3 chance (66%) of an athame and a 1⁄3 chance of a quarterstaff; said weapon has a 2⁄3 chance (66%) of generating with the fire object property, a 1⁄6 chance (16%) of generating with the frost property, and a 1⁄6 chance (16%) of generating with the venom property.

The Wizard's attack routine is upgraded as well: he has a 2d8 weapon attack in addition to the 2d12 Amulet-stealing attack, and can cast two monster spells from both mage and clerical schools during each of his turns; this includes the various new monster spells added to the game such as acid blast, lightning and reflection. His artifact theft attack is capable of stealing any quest artifact except that of the hero's current role.

The potential amulet of magic resistance and the reflection monster spell means that death rays are no longer a surefire method to dispose of Rodney at a given moment, and the added weapon attack and other tweaks to monster AI makes it possible for him to use quest artifact weapons and armor against the hero should he steal them. Furthermore, the new monsters added to EvilHack also mean that Double Trouble can result in the Wizard taking on very dangerous forms; a player facing the Wizard should be ready to dispatch him as quickly as possible without the use of a wand/finger of death (although it can still weaken him and drain his HP). However, he is markedly less cautious about warping away to heal compared to other covetous monsters, which a hero can use to their advantage.

Similar to UnNetHack, the Wizard can also cause an earthquake as part of his harassment towards heroes with the Amulet of Yendor in their possession.

Monster stats by variant

@ Wizard of Yendor Wizard of Yendor.png
Difficulty 35
Attacks

Claw 2d12 Amulet theft, Cast 0d10 mage spell

Base level 30
Base experience 1531
Speed 12
Base AC -8
Base MR 100
Alignment -128 (chaotic)
Frequency (by normal means) 0 (Not randomly generated)
Genocidable No
Weight 1450
Nutritional value 400
Size medium
Resistances fire, poison
Resistances conveyed fire, poison

The Wizard of Yendor:

Reference dNetHack 3.21.3 src/monst.c, line 5900
@ Wizard of Yendor Wizard of Yendor.png
Difficulty 35
Attacks

Weapon 2d8, Claw 2d12 amulet-stealing, Spell-casting, Spell-casting (clerical)

Base level 30
Base experience 1336
Speed 12
Base AC -6
Base MR 100
Alignment A_NONE
Frequency (by normal means) Unique
Genocidable No
Weight 1450
Nutritional value 400
Size Medium
Resistances fire,poison
Resistances conveyed fire (25%), teleport control (25%), poison (25%), causes teleportitis (25%)

The Wizard of Yendor:

Reference EvilHack - monst.c, line 3114

Encyclopedia entry

No one knows how old this mighty wizard is, or from whence he came. It is known that, having lived a span far greater than any normal man's, he grew weary of lesser mortals; and so, spurning all human company, he forsook the dwellings of men and went to live in the depths of the Earth. He took with him a dreadful artifact, the Book of the Dead, which is said to hold great power indeed. Many have sought to find the wizard and his treasure, but none have found him and lived to tell the tale. Woe be to the incautious adventurer who disturbs this mighty sorcerer!

References

  1. ↑ src/monst.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2303: The Wizard is the only always-unaligned monster in NetHack; some other monsters can be set to unaligned, but this requires them to be generated under special conditions
  2. ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1301
  3. ↑ src/teleport.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1239
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 His Amulet-stealing attack is handled entirely in mhitu.c, and mcastu.c has no provisions for monster vs. monster spellcasting.
  5. ↑ src/mcastu.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 398
  6. ↑ src/wizard.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 49
  7. ↑ src/wizard.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 497
  8. ↑ src/spell.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 265
  9. ↑ src/allmain.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 289: timer only sets and decrements if the hero is a demigod
  10. ↑ src/wizard.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 684
  11. ↑ src/polyself.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1541
  12. ↑ src/muse.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 916
  13. ↑ mhitm.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1129
  14. ↑ src/wizard.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 747
  15. ↑ src/wizard.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 720
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