Acid blob
b acid blob 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 2 |
| Attacks | |
| Base level | 1 |
| Base experience | 9 |
| Speed | 3 |
| Base AC | 8 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 2 (Quite rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 30 |
| Nutritional value | 10 |
| Size | Tiny |
| Resistances | Sleep resistance, poison resistance, acid resistance, stoning resistance |
| Resistances conveyed | Cures stoning |
|
An acid blob:
| |
| Reference | NetHack 3.6.7 - src/monst.c, line 147 |
An acid blob, b, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. The acid blob is a blob monster that is the first acidic monster most heroes will encounter, and also likely the first amorphous or amoeboid monster as well.
An acid blob has a passive attack that has a 1⁄2 chance of triggering when it is attacked in melee, dealing acid damage against attackers without acid resistance as well as abusing strength[1][2]—this can splash the attacker in acid even if the attack kills the blob, and is affected by cancellation.[3][4] Being splashed by the acid blod's passive acid can also subject the attacker's armor and weapons to corrosion: armor has a 1⁄30 chance of corroding regardless of the melee attack type, and certain armor and weapons have a 1⁄6 chance of corroding if used to strike the mold directly.[5][6][7][8] Acid blobs possess acid resistance, poison resistance and stoning resistance.
An acid blob corpse is acidic to eat, and eating an acid blob corpse or tin cures stoning on the first bite.[9][11] Acid blob corpses are always fit for sacrifice, and do not become tainted from aging similar to lichen and lizard corpses, though they will still rot away like other corpses.[12][13]
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 071d79dc, the corpses and tins of acid blobs and many other acidic monsters can grant temporary acid resistance or temporary stoning resistance when eaten. Per commit e96d4ea9, neither resistance will expire in the middle of a meal that would be unsafe to eat without the resistance.Contents
Generation
Acid blobs may generate as peaceful towards neutral heroes.
Reading any scroll of create monster while confused will create at least 13 acid blobs.[14]
Strategy
Acid blobs will act the same as any other monster when hostile, but are ultimately harmless due to lacking non-passive attacks—however, attacking them poses a threat to an inexperienced and/or low-level player, and their amorphous forms allow them to ooze under doors and block a hero's path. For some early characters, it is best to dispatch hostile blobs from a distance with disposable projectiles like rocks, or non-iron projectiles such as elven daggers. Wands and spells can work, but are better saved for more direct threats. If you have enough HP to survive a few splashes of acid, then use a disposable/non-iron weapon, attack bare-handed, or simply kick them; the acid splash may still affect any corrosion-vulnerable armor.
Neutral heroes dealing with peaceful acid blobs blocking their path will want to let their pet handle the dirty work instead, and can use movement m to try and nudge the blob into an open room if all else fails. Angering a peaceful acid blob incurs the usual -1 penalty to alignment record, or a -5 penalty if you kill the blob without angering it (e.g. via force bolt for Wizards), which can be a major detriment in the early game—be sure to farlook an acid blob to determine if it is peaceful.
Past the early game, acid blobs are little more than a nuisance that can occasionally erode weapons and armor if a player is careless in dispatching them, and proper erode-proofing mitigates even that annoyance. However, acid blob corpses have some value throughout the game, both as long-lasting sacrifice fodder and a vegan means of curing stoning: acid blob tins cure stoning without causing acid damage, but may take too long to safely open unless they are blessed and/or opened with an ideally-blessed tin opener.
Later in the game, players may employ scrolls of create monster by reading them while confused to fill up an area with acid blobs and prevent especially dangerous hostile monsters from approaching—this is also very rarely employed to completely fill the Astral Plane and stop the Riders from reviving.
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 2ee09b92, peaceful monsters can be displaced as with pets, allowing neutral heroes to move past peaceful acid blobs in their way.
The ability to gain temporary stoning resistance from acid blobs makes them more useful as emergency meals for facing stoning monsters such as Medusa, though not to the point that it is recommended over the hero simply blinding themselves or using reflection.History
The acid blob first appears in Hack 1.21 and Hack for PDP-11, which are both based on Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is part of the initial bestiary for Hack 1.0. From this version to NetHack 2.3e, acid blobs use the a glyph.
From its first appearance to NetHack 3.0.10, acid blobs are poisonous to eat rather than acidic, and their acidic passive attacks decrease weapon enchantment. Corrosion is introduced in NetHack 3.1.0, and the passive attacks of acid blobs are made corrosive.
Variants
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, acid blobs are primordials.
Fourteen acid blobs are placed on the level containing the branch entrance to the Chaos Temple Quest (or "chaos1") if the branch is generated in the dungeon.
Encyclopedia entry
- See the encyclopedia entry for amoeboid.
References
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2776: case for acid passive against you
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2784: check for acid resistance versus hero
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2762: cases below this line affect the hero even if they kill the defender
- ↑ src/mhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1608: check for acid resistance versus monsters
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2786: corrosion of hero's armor from acid splash
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 3011: corrosion of hero's armor and/or weapons used in the attack
- ↑ src/mhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1621: corrosion of monster's armor from acid splash
- ↑ src/mhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1623: corrosion of monster's armor and/or weapons used in the attack
- ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 738: acidic corpses cure stoning
- ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1644: eatcorpse
- ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1368: Eating a tin calls cprefx, but not eatcorpse on line 1644, where stomach acid is handled.[10]
- ↑ src/pray.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1370
- ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1616
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1354
