# Centaur

C plains centaur 

Difficulty

6

Attacks

Projectile as weapon or melee weapon 1d6, Kick 1d6

C plains centaur 

Difficulty

6

Attacks

Projectile as weapon or melee weapon 1d6, Kick 1d6

Base level

4

Base experience

49

Speed

18

Base AC

4

Base MR

0

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

2500

Nutritional value

500

Size

Large

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A plains centaur:

 has a head, a couple of arms, and a torso.

 is omnivorous.

 is strong.

 likes gold.

 can pick up weapons and food.

 can be seen through infravision.

Reference

monst.c#line1152

C forest centaur 

Difficulty

8

Attacks

Projectile as weapon or melee weapon 1d8, Kick 1d6

C forest centaur 

Difficulty

8

Attacks

Projectile as weapon or melee weapon 1d8, Kick 1d6

Base level

5

Base experience

64

Speed

18

Base AC

3

Base MR

10

Alignment

-1 (chaotic)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

2550

Nutritional value

600

Size

Large

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A forest centaur:

 has a head, a couple of arms, and a torso.

 is omnivorous.

 is strong.

 likes gold.

 can pick up weapons and food.

 can be seen through infravision.

Reference

monst.c#line1158

C mountain centaur 

Difficulty

9

Attacks

Projectile as weapon or melee weapon 1d10, Kick 1d6, Kick 1d6

C mountain centaur 

Difficulty

9

Attacks

Projectile as weapon or melee weapon 1d10, Kick 1d6, Kick 1d6

Base level

6

Base experience

88

Speed

20

Base AC

2

Base MR

10

Alignment

-3 (chaotic)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

2550

Nutritional value

500

Size

Large

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A mountain centaur:

 has a head, a couple of arms, and a torso.

 is omnivorous.

 is strong.

 likes gold.

 can pick up weapons and food.

 can be seen through infravision.

Reference

monst.c#line1165

Centaur is a monster class in NetHack. Centaurs come in three varieties:
plains centaur
forest centaur
mountain centaur
A centaur is a monster that is a particular cross between a human and a horse; it has the body and legs of a horse, but where the horse's head would be, it instead has the upper body, arms, head, and face of a human. Centaurs can wield weapons and use magic items, but unlike many other intelligent monsters, centaurs can also move fast and they can kick you.

Contents

1 Generation
2 Strategy

2.1 Combat
2.2 As a pet

3 EvilHack
4 Encyclopedia entry

Generation
Centaurs have a 50% chance to be generated with a launcher and missiles; a forest centaur gets a bow and 3–14 arrows, while the other varieties get a crossbow and 3–14 bolts.
Some centaurs may start peaceful.

Strategy
Combat
Centaurs are dangerous in melee; their rapid and repeated use of wielded weapons (or bare-handed combat) combined with kicking can quickly harm or kill your character. A centaur with ranged weapons may shoot you. Shoot back or send your pet.

As a pet
Centaurs can use:

Weapons
Shields
Helms
Gloves
Amulets of life saving
Unicorn horns
Potions of gain level
Centaurs make superb steeds; while not quite as fast as a unicorn or a warhorse, a centaur is still very fast—a mountain centaur has a base speed of 20 and when zapped with a wand of speed monster is even faster than a player in speed boots. And unlike a unicorn or warhorse, a well-equipped centaur can take quite a beating, even in Gehennom. They can return quite a beating too: a centaur is the only steed that can wield a weapon, and given a powerful weapon (perhaps a throwaway artifact weapon from sacrificing) can easily match the damage dealt by a dragon or a jabberwock.
Centaurs are very easy to keep fed, which is of particular importance where steeds are concerned. Every time you attempt to ride a steed, its tameness is decreased by one (except for Knights). While ki-rin are sometimes regarded as the "best" steeds, they do not eat, and thus they are notoriously difficult for non-Knights to keep tame. Just take care if you kill a shapeshifter: unless you dismount first and dispose of the corpse, your centaur is very likely to get to the corpse first if you ride over it. 

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.

Pets will no longer eat corpses that make them polymorph, unless they are starving or on the verge of becoming untame.
Centaurs cannot fly, so as with all land-based steeds, take care around water, and ice too for that matter—it is very easy to slip off the steed on water you've frozen and then displace your steed into the unfrozen water, drowning it. Polymorph traps are not a problem for the centaur if the player has magic resistance: this will protect the steed too while you are riding it. The player's reflection will not transfer to the steed, but a centaur can wear a shield of reflection.

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.

Riding while wearing an amulet of flying will cause the steed to fly as well—riding a mountain centaur with an amulet or shield of reflection paired with an artifact weapon can make them a somewhat viable competitor to the ki-rin. However, be sure to keep a wand of undead turning handy in case they die.
EvilHack
Main article: EvilHack#New player races
EvilHack adds centaurs as a playable race. Player and monster centaurs can wear all armor, except boots.

Encyclopedia entry

Of all the monsters put together by the Greek imagination
the Centaurs (Kentauroi) constituted a class in themselves.
Despite a strong streak of sensuality, in their make-up,
their normal behaviour was moral, and they took a kindly
thought of man's welfare.  The attempted outrage of Nessos on
Deianeira, and that of the whole tribe of Centaurs on the
Lapith women, are more than offset by the hospitality of
Pholos and by the wisdom of Cheiron, physician, prophet,
lyrist, and the instructor of Achilles.  Further, the
Centaurs were peculiar in that their nature, which united the
body of a horse with the trunk and head of a man, involved
an unthinkable duplication of vital organs and important
members.  So grotesque a combination seems almost un-Greek.
These strange creatures were said to live in the caves and
clefts of the mountains, myths associating them especially
with the hills of Thessaly and the range of Erymanthos.

[ Mythology of all races, Vol. 1, pp. 270-271 ]

 

This page is based on a spoiler by J. Ali Harlow.

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It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.4.3. Information on this page may be out of date.
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