# Dragon (SLASH'EM)

D shimmering dragon 

Difficulty

25

Attacks

Breath 4d6 magic missiles, bite 3d8, claw 1d4, claw 1d4

D shimmering dragon 

Difficulty

25

Attacks

Breath 4d6 magic missiles, bite 3d8, claw 1d4, claw 1d4

Base level

18

Base experience

696

Speed

9

Base AC

-8

Base MR

20

Alignment

4 (lawful)

Frequency (by normal means)

3 (Rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

4500

Nutritional value

1500

Size

Gigantic

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A shimmering dragon:

 can fly.

 has no hands.

 has a thick hide.
 can lay eggs.

 can see invisible creatures.

 is carnivorous.

 is normally generated hostile.

 is nasty.
 is strong.

 likes gold.
 likes gems.

 can pick up magical items.

Reference

SLASH'EM_0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line2242

D deep dragon 

Difficulty

27

Attacks

Breath 4d10 poisonous, bite 4d8 drain life, claw 3d4, claw 3d4

D deep dragon 

Difficulty

27

Attacks

Breath 4d10 poisonous, bite 4d8 drain life, claw 3d4, claw 3d4

Base level

18

Base experience

720

Speed

9

Base AC

-4

Base MR

20

Alignment

-6 (chaotic)

Frequency (by normal means)

3 (Rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

4500

Nutritional value

1500

Size

Gigantic

Resistances

level drain, poison

Resistances conveyed

poison (100%)

A deep dragon:

 can fly.

 has no hands.

 has a thick hide.
 can lay eggs.

 can see invisible creatures.

 is poisonous to eat.
 is carnivorous.

 is normally generated hostile.

 is nasty.
 is strong.

 likes gold.
 likes gems.

 can pick up magical items.

 hits creatures as a +3 weapon.

 may turn against you when tame.

Reference

SLASH'EM_0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line2252

D baby shimmering dragon 

Difficulty

6

Attacks

Bite 2d6

D baby shimmering dragon 

Difficulty

6

Attacks

Bite 2d6

Base level

4

Base experience

63

Speed

9

Base AC

-4

Base MR

10

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

2 (Quite rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

500

Nutritional value

500

Size

Huge

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A baby shimmering dragon:

 can fly.

 has no hands.

 has a thick hide.

 is carnivorous.

 is normally generated hostile.

 is strong.

 likes gold.
 likes gems.

Reference

SLASH'EM_0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line2160

D baby deep dragon 

Difficulty

6

Attacks

Bite 2d6 poisonous

D baby deep dragon 

Difficulty

6

Attacks

Bite 2d6 poisonous

Base level

4

Base experience

52

Speed

9

Base AC

0

Base MR

10

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

2 (Quite rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

500

Nutritional value

500

Size

Huge

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A baby deep dragon:

 can fly.

 has no hands.

 has a thick hide.

 is carnivorous.

 is normally generated hostile.

 is strong.

 likes gold.
 likes gems.

Reference

SLASH'EM_0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line2167

There are a few significant differences between dragons in vanilla NetHack and dragons in SLASH'EM.

Contents

1 New dragon varieties
2 Differences between NetHack dragons and SLASH'EM dragons
3 Raising SLASH'EM baby dragons into adults
4 References

New dragon varieties
SLASH'EM adds two new dragons to the nine present in NetHack: the Shimmering D and Deep D dragons. Dragon scale mail made from their scales provide displacement and drain resistance respectively.
While shimmering dragon scale mail gives displacement, the dragons themselves do not have displacement in the sense that the displacer beast or a player wearing a cloak of displacement does. Rather, they have a lower armor class than the typical dragon, -8 instead of -4, and are thus harder to hit, simulating displacement. Shimmering dragons' breath attack is magic missiles, and they thus possess player-style magic resistance.[1] Their corpses do not confer any intrinsics. They are also a deferred feature in vanilla NetHack.
Deep dragons have drain resistance and poison resistance, and their breath attack is poison gas. Their bite attack can also drain levels from their victims. Their corpses are poisonous, but have a 100% chance of giving poison resistance. Wearing deep dragon scale mail confers drain resistance, a property of considerably more importance in SLASH'EM than in vanilla, given the abundance of wands of draining.

Differences between NetHack dragons and SLASH'EM dragons
SLASH'EM baby dragons have a base level of 4 instead of 12. Also, unlike in NetHack, where baby dragons are never randomly generated except in aligned dungeon levels and branches (Oracle, Gnomish Mines, Sokoban, Medusa, Vlad's Tower), SLASH'EM randomly generates baby dragons on ordinary levels (with a frequency of "2"). This means that a SLASH'EM player will encounter baby dragons earlier and more frequently than a NetHack player. On the other hand, SLASH'EM adult dragons have a base level of 18 instead of 15, and many places that normally have guaranteed adult dragons in NetHack, such as Fort Ludios or The Castle, can now have baby dragons as well. As a result of the changed monster polymorph rules, increased difficulty of adult dragons, removal of most guaranteed adult dragons, and increased level difference between adult and baby forms, dragon scale mail is significantly harder to come across in SLASH'EM without using reverse genocide or a wish.
SLASH'EM dragons also have additional characteristics not present in NetHack. For example, most baby dragons (all of them except deep, silver, shimmering) hit as a +1 weapon, and most adult dragons (all of them except silver and shimmering) hit as a +3 weapon.
Interestingly, deep, blue, black, white, red, and orange adult dragons have a chance of turning traitor, while shimmering, gray, silver, green, and yellow ones do not. In other words, chaotic dragons can turn traitor, and lawful ones cannot, with one exception (orange).

Raising SLASH'EM baby dragons into adults
The much greater difference in base level between baby and adult dragons in SLASH'EM makes it significantly more difficult for tame baby dragons to gain enough experience to grow up into adults.  The rat level, with its large number of weak, slow monsters is a safe place to let pets gain a large amount of experience.  Note that the Rat King himself can still be quite dangerous.

References

↑ See SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2/mondata.c#line80; this is how monsters gain intrinsic magic resistance, with baby gray dragons being a special case