# Acid blob

b acid blob 

Difficulty

2

Attacks

Passive acid 1d8

b acid blob 

Difficulty

2

Attacks

Passive acid 1d8

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, poison, acid, petrification

Resistances conveyed

Cures stoning

An acid blob:

 can flow under doors.

 does not breathe.

 has no eyes.

 has no limbs.
 has no head.
 is mindless.

 is acidic to eat.

 does not eat. (*)
 is neither male nor female.

 wanders randomly.

Reference

monst.c#line147

The acid blob, b, is an amoeboid monster in NetHack. It is the first acidic monster most players will encounter, and also likely the first amorphous monster as well. Acid blobs do no damage on their own, but have an acid-splashing passive attack that can corrode weapons and armor.
Acid blob corpses are vegan and have some fairly unique traits: they 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.[1][2] Eating an acid blob's corpse will deal 1d15 damage unless you are acid resistant - a tin of acid blob is safe to eat.[3]

Contents

1 Generation
2 Strategy
3 History
4 Variants

4.1 dNetHack

5 Encyclopedia entry
6 References

Generation
Acid blobs may generate as peaceful for neutral characters. Reading any scroll of create monster while confused will create at least 13 acid blobs.

Strategy
Acid blobs will act the same as any other monster when hostile, but are ultimately harmless - 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 player'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 players 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) - 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 means of curing stoning - acid blob tins can cure it without dealing acid damage, but may take too long to safely open unless blessed.
Later in the game, players may employ confused readings of scrolls of create monster to fill up a dungeon level with acid blobs and prevent especially dangerous hostile monsters from approaching; this is also occasionally employed to stop the Riders on the Astral Plane from reviving.

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.

Peacecful monsters can be displaced the same as pets, allowing neutral players to move past peaceful acid blobs in their way.
History
The acid blob has been present in the game since hack121, a variant of Jay Fenlason's Hack. From this version to NetHack 2.3e, acid blobs used the a glyph.
In early versions of NetHack such as NetHack 1.3d, acid blobs were poisonous to eat rather than acidic, and their acidic passive attacks decreased weapon enchantment since corrosion was not yet introduced.

Variants
dNetHack
In dNetHack, acid blobs are classed as primordials.
Fourteen acid blobs are placed on the level containing the branch entrance to the Chaos Temple Quest (or "chaos1") if it is generated in the dungeon.

Encyclopedia entry
See the encyclopedia entry for amoeboid.
References

↑ src/pray.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1370

↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1616

↑ 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.