# Lightning (monster spell)
This article is about the monster spell.  For other similarly-named pages, see Lightning.
Lightning is a clerical spell that monsters of level 12 or higher can cast at you.  It deals 8d6 shock damage, which can be reduced by half spell damage, or prevented completely by shock resistance or reflection.  If the player does not have reflection, the electric shock can destroy wands and rings in the player's inventory.  (Items in containers are safe.)  Even if the player escapes damage thanks to reflection or shock resistance, (s)he may still be blinded by the flash.[1]

Contents

1 Messages
2 History
3 See also
4 References

Messages
A bolt of lightning strikes down at you from above![2]
The Lightning spell was cast.
It bounces off your 

<amulet|armor|scales|weapon>.
Your source of reflection protected you (and your equipment) from the Lightning spell.
History
In NetHack 3.4.3 and some variants based on it like SLASH'EM, this spell does not cause blindness.  Given that most other attacks described as "lightning" have a blinding flash, this was considered unusual and marked as a bug (C342-46).  As of NetHack 3.6.0 the lightning spell does cause blindness.[3]

See also
List of monster spells
References

↑ src/mcastu.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 543

↑ src/mcastu.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 546

↑ src/mcastu.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 559

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It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.6.0. Information on this page may be out of date.
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</amulet|armor|scales|weapon>