Teleport control

Teleport control is a property that occurs in NetHack, and allows your character or a monster to control the destination square of a teleportation attempt.

Sources

Teleport control is conferred extrinsically by either putting on a ring of teleport control, or carrying The Master Key of Thievery in open inventory.

Teleport control is conferred intrinsically via the following methods:

• Reaching experience level 17 as a Wizard or Monk
• Polymorphing into a tengu
• Eating the corpse or tin of a tengu (17%) or the Wizard of Yendor (25%)
  • The same applies for the Riders, but biting into their corpses is an instadeath and they will immediately revive if you attempt to use a tinning kit.
• eating a ring of teleport control

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.

Reading a blessed scroll of teleportation gives you teleport control for one turn, allowing you to perform a controlled teleport with it - this also makes it possible to perform two controlled teleports or more in one game turn with very fast speed.

Monsters

The following monsters have teleport control intrinsically:

• i tengu
• @ Wizard of Yendor
• all Riders
  • & Death
  • & Famine
  • & Pestilence

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.

As part of changes made so that they can better emulate the Furies, commit f930a12f allows for erinyes to gain teleport control if a character abuses their alignment record enough.

Description

If you are not stunned or unconscious, teleport control allows you to select a destination square when teleporting across a level by any means. If you select a square on the level that you cannot occupy (e.g., inside solid rock without phasing) or else contains a trap, boulder or monster, you will instead be sent to a random point in the level. Being stunned or unconscious will cause any teleportation to place you on a random safe square as if you did not have the property.

If you are level teleporting and are not stunned, you are instead prompted to enter the number of a target level to warp to, with the number corresponding to that level in your current dungeon branch: if successful, you are placed on a random safe square on that level; selecting your current level will simply leave you on your current square. Level teleporting while stunned will send you to a random level as if you did not have the property; level teleporting while confused has a Luck-dependent chance of placing you on a random level instead.

For controlled level teleports, a target level that is too shallow will levelport you to the parent dungeon branch - e.g., selecting "1" while in Gehennom, the Gnomish Mines or Vlad's Tower takes you to the entrance floor of the Dungeons of Doom - while a target level that is too deep will take you to the bottom of your current dungeon branch. This means that a controlled level teleport from anywhere in the main dungeon cannot take you deeper than the Valley of the Dead, while a controlled levelport from anywhere in Gehennom can take you only as deep as the vibrating square level, or Moloch's Sanctum if you have performed the invocation ritual.

Level teleporting to level 0 will send you to "Nowhere", causing you to cease existing and ending your game unless you have life saving. Levelporting to any negative level will always end your game regardless of your survival:

• Levelporting to any level from −1 to −9 will send you to the sky, causing you to plummet several thousand feet to your death, with a levelport to −9 printing a unique message before the plummeting occurs - if you have levitation, flying or life saving, you will instead land, float or be revived back on the surface accordingly. The game will end regardless of the outcome.
• Levelporting to −10 and beyond will send you to heaven, with life saving placing you on the surface as before, and the game will end in either case.

The Quest branch is a major exception for the above rules regarding level teleports: the levels are counted relative to the branch, e.g. levelporting to 1 will take you to the home level of the quest branch, and you cannot level teleport out of the branch. Fort Ludios is another exception, as you also cannot level teleport outside of the branch to any non-negative levels.

If you step into a pool of water and are not able to survive within it, having teleport control lets you attempt a teleport to escape drowning if you have teleportitis or are a teleporting monster.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.

Per commit bb238b5e, activating a level teleporter and being sent to another level will confuse a character instead of stunning them, which is also ignored if the character has teleport control.

Monster teleport control

A monster with teleport control can control its destination when teleporting across the level, with the exact behavior depending on the monster:

• A tengu will teleport directly to within a few squares of your location whether or not it is hostile, and will warp a reasonably far distance away when fleeing from you.
• The Wizard of Yendor will always land on the up stairs of the current floor if teleported, and will always end up on the down ladder if the hero is inside his Tower.
• The Riders have a ¹²⁄₁₃ chance of appearing on a square next to the hero if they are teleported while alive.

Other covetous monsters do not have teleport control, but will always try to warp to or near your current position.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.

Per commit 10a1befc, other monsters with teleport control also have a ¹²⁄₁₃ chance of appearing on a square next to you if they are teleported.

Strategy

Teleport control is an immensely useful property to have, enough that some players will occasionally risk teleportitis so that their characters can obtain it, e.g. via reverse genocide of tengu. Some other players may prefer an extrinsic source so that their character can make reliable use of vault teleporters.

Combining controlled teleports with magic mapping in either form is a great method for quickly traversing Gehennom.

History

Teleport control first appears in Hack 1.0 with the addition of the ring of teleport control.

Messages

You feel controlled!

You gained teleport control through gaining experience levels.

You feel uncontrolled!

You lost teleport control through level drain.

You feel in control of yourself.

You gained teleport control from eating a corpse.

You feel centered in your personal space.

As above while hallucinating.

Where do you want to be teleported?

You teleported while you have teleport control.

To what level do you want to teleport?

You teleported while you have teleport control.

Sorry...

Your teleport attempt did not place you on the square you selected.

Oops...

You level teleported while confused, and a random level was selected rather than the one you entered..

Variants

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, additional sources of teleport control are introduced: the property can be acquired intrinsically by eating the corpse or tin of a giant shoggoth with a ¹⁄₅ chance, and can be conferred extrinsically by carrying The Candle of Eternal Flame or The Storm Whistle in open inventory.

GruntHack

In GruntHack, monsters with teleport control can choose which square to land on when teleporting.

UnNetHack

In UnNetHack, the uranium imp and Cthulhu have teleport control. Uranium imps have a teleportation ability that warps them and a monster that hits them to another location: when used against you, this ability ignores teleport control ⁴⁄₁₃ of the time (which the specific odds being a reference to Homestuck, where uranium imps originate).

dNetHack

In dNetHack, more artifact sources of teleport control are added:

• The Axe of the Dwarvish Lords while wielded
• Epoch's Curve while wielded
• The Hand-Mirror of Cthylla while carried
• The Silver Key while carried
• Lomya while worn

More monsters also have intrinsic teleport control:

• G golden heart
• h elocator
• q blessed
• n Aglaope
• s phase spider
• 9 Birth
• 9 Health
• 9 Bounty
• 9 Peace
• & War
• @ Grand Master
• @ Illurien of the Myriad Glimpses

While uranium imps are present in dNetHack, they no longer have the ability to override teleport control when they warp after being attacked.

FIQHack

In FIQHack, blessed scrolls of teleportation allow you to perform a controlled teleport.

Teleport control is one of the intrinsic properties a non-cursed potion of wonder can confer when quaffed; dipping an appropriate item in a non-cursed potion also has a chance of giving it water walking as an object property.

xNetHack

In xNetHack, the Amulet of Yendor suppresses all forms of teleport control while in the character's possession.

notdNetHack

In addition to dNetHack details, the Illithanachronounbinder role in notdNetHack gains teleport control at experience level 17.

EvilHack

In EvilHack, the chance of getting teleport control from a tengu corpse or tin is reduced to ¹⁄₁₀.

The Sewers of Waterdeep variant of Mines' End has various sections that can only be reached by teleporting, making teleport control quite valuable in the level - The Rat King (who makes his lair in the Sewers) has a ²⁄₃ chance of generating with a ring of teleport control, which can make navigating these teleporters much less difficult.

Cerberus is given teleport control to prevent characters from easily bypassing him. Monsters will wear the ring of teleport control to obtain the property, and monster that have the property are very likely to appear on a square adjacent to you when teleported.

The Amulet of Yendor suppresses all forms of teleportation while in a character's possession, making teleport control less useful for the ascension run.

SlashTHEM

In SlashTHEM, in addition to SLASH'EM details, Geeks can gain teleport control by reaching experience level 8, and nymphs can gain the property by reaching experience level 15.

The Flute of Slime, The Harp of Lightning, The Pick of the Grave, and The Whistle of the Warden all confer teleport control while carried.

Hack'EM

In Hack'EM, Origin is an artifact weapon staff of escape that confers teleport control and spellcasting bonuses while wielded.