# Wraith

W wraith 

Difficulty

8

Attacks

Touch 1d6 drain life

W wraith 

Difficulty

8

Attacks

Touch 1d6 drain life

Base level

6

Base experience

120

Speed

12

Base AC

4

Base MR

15

Alignment

-6 (chaotic)

Frequency (by normal means)

2 (Quite rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

0

Nutritional value

0

Size

Medium

Resistances

Cold, Sleep, Poison, Stoning

Resistances conveyed

Gain level

A wraith:

 can fly.

 does not breathe.

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

 does not have a solid form.

 does not eat. (*)
 is undead.

 is normally generated hostile.

 can follow you to other levels.

Reference

monst.c#line1888

For the monster class, see wraith (monster class).
A wraith, W, is a type of monster that appears in Nethack. Wraiths are capable of draining levels from you if they hit, but are valuable encounters because a fresh wraith corpse grants an experience level when eaten. However, wraith corpses provide 0 nutrition and have the same 1⁄7 chance of being rotten as any other food item, causing it to instantly "rot away completely" without you gaining experience.[1]

Contents

1 Generation
2 Strategy

2.1 Wraith farming

3 History
4 Origin
5 Variants

5.1 SLASH'EM
5.2 dNetHack
5.3 The November NetHack Tournament

6 Encyclopedia entry
7 References

Generation
Wraiths tend to appear via normal generation once you have reached or passed the Oracle level; they are also quite common in graveyards. Wraiths can be generated with a random offensive item, miscellaneous item and/or defensive item. Wraiths always generate hostile, and leave a corpse 1⁄2 of the time upon death.
Wraiths are the second quest monster for Priests, and 14% of randomly generated monsters in the Priest quest will be wraiths; the wraith monster class is also the second quest class for Priests and Wizards, and makes up 3% of randomly generated monsters in the Priest and Wizard quest, some of which may be wraiths. In the Priest quest, the upper filler levels will generate one wraith on level creation, and the lower filler levels generate three wraiths on level creation; the Priest quest also has several undead-filled graveyards that include wraiths among their ranks.
Reading the Book of the Dead while it is cursed, or else while improperly performing the Invocation ritual on the vibrating square, will raise the dead and possibly summon wraiths.
If a player is slain by a member of the wraith monster class - which also includes barrow wights and Nazguls - that player rises from the grave as a wraith rather than a traditional ghost if bones are left.[2]

Strategy
The level gained from eating a wraith's corpse makes them a popular choice for reverse genocide, and the corpses provide zero nutrition, heavily reducing the risk of overeating; however, an oversatiated character can still choke on them. Wraith corpses cannot be tinned, but they can be kept fresh in an ice box. Those discovering the bones of a player killed by a W will have to contend with the tougher spirit of the former player, as wraiths can fly, use wands and read scrolls - on top of using the former inventory, the wraith can still drain levels as well. 
Most players will resort to either hunting wraiths or finding/making potions of gain level in order to meet the level requirement for their Quest. Wraiths represent one of the many temptations for a Monk in particular to break vegan or even vegetarian conduct, as they may want the additional levels in order to access their quest or else obtain additional intrinsics.

Wraith farming
Main article: Wraith farming
Like all undead, wraiths killed on a level with a graveyard (or the Castle, which counts as a graveyard level for this purpose) are much less likely to leave a corpse, with a 1⁄18 chance if killed by the player or 1⁄6 if killed by anything else.[3] Players often lure graveyard wraiths up or down a stairway before dispatching it, or else level teleport or branchport via The Eye of the Aethiopica while the wraith is adjacent; the Eye is a frequently-used artifact in farming wraiths for this purpose. The cursed Book of the Dead can also be used for wraith farming.
Wizards and Priests can repeatedly cast create monster (or use a wand of create monster) on their quest's home level; priests will generate far more wraith on their quest overall, but must lure them outside of the branch for the best chance of obtaining their corpses. Wizards looking to farm wraiths may consider a strategic genocide of xorns so that more wraith-class monsters will generate - they will no longer have access to phasing via xorn polyform, but in return can farm wraiths freely without worrying about graveyards, especially once they retrieve the Eye. Any roles aiming to maximize their level via wraith corpses may also consider genociding other graveyard monsters such as zombies.
Either MC3 or drain resistance is highly recommended for a player transporting wraiths: Magic cancellation will not completely prevent level drain, but decreases the odds of being drained of a second level before one can gain a single experience point (e.g. by killing the wraith) and regain the previously drained one. Alternatively, graveyard wraiths can be saved for a pet purple worm, whose engulfing attack is not subject to the odds of a corpse dropping; this does not work for players polymorphed into purple worms.

History
The wraith has been present in the game since Hack121, a port of Jay Fenlason's Hack.
Wraiths are sometimes used to drain for gain in NetHack 3.4.3 and earlier versions.

Origin

Wikipedia has an article about:
Wraith

"Wraith" is a Scottish word that describes a ghost, spectre or apparition; the word has no commonly accepted etymology. It appeared in Scottish Romanticist literature, and has acquired the more general or figurative sense of "portent" or "omen"; in 18th- and 19th-century Scottish literature, it also applied to aquatic spirits. An association with the verb "writhe" was the etymology favored by J. R. R. Tolkien, whose use of the word in naming the creatures known as the Ringwraiths (or Nazgul) has influenced its later usage in fantasy literature. 
The wraiths of Nethack originate from Dungeons &amp; Dragons, where they are undead creatures born of evil and darkness; wraiths despise living things and light sources (particularly natural sunlight, which rendered them powerless) A wraith appears as a sinister, spectral figure robed in darkness and often lacking distinct features or appendages, save for glowing red eyes. Wraiths could drain the life from living creatures, turning them into new wraiths upon death; they were similar to wights, as both could only be harmed by either silver or enchanted weaponry.

Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, wraiths need a +1 weapon to hit, and frequently generate with robes. Wraith corpses also have different effects if eaten:

Possibility
Effect
Message

10%
You lose experience.
"You feel that was a bad idea."

10%
Your maximum HP and Pw decreases.
"You don't feel so good ..."

20%
Nothing happens.
"You feel something strange for a moment."

10%
Your maximum HP and Pw increases.
"You feel physically and mentally stronger!"

50%
You gain experience.
"You feel that was a smart thing to do."

dNetHack
In dNetHack, wraiths can appear in the court of a vampire lord-ruled throne room.
The lower filler levels of the Binder quest have a wraith in each of the three non-graveyard rooms, and wraiths may naturally appear in the graveyards themselves. Eight wraiths and an additional wraithlike monster appear on the goal level of the Pirate quest.
In the Mordor Ruins variant of the Chaos Quest, several wraiths can appear in the Elven Forest, and one may appear on the Mordor Wall.

The November NetHack Tournament
In The November NetHack Tournament, The DevTeam Office is a popular location to branchport wraiths to when farming.

Encyclopedia entry

Immediately, though everything else remained as before, dim and dark, the shapes became terribly clear.  He was able to see beneath their black wrappings.  There were five tall figures:  two standing on the lip of the dell, three advancing. In their white faces burned keen and merciless eyes; under their mantles were long grey robes; upon their grey hairs were helms of silver; in their haggard hands were swords of steel.  Their eyes fell on him and pierced him, as they rushed towards him.  Desperate, he drew his own sword, and it seemed to him that it flickered red, as if it was a firebrand.  Two of the figures halted.  The third was taller than the others:  his hair was long and gleaming and on his helm was a crown.  In one hand he held a long sword, and in the other a knife; both the knife and the hand that held it glowed with a pale light.  He sprang forward and bore down on Frodo.

[ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ] 

References

↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1676

↑ src/end.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 514: players killed by a W rise as a wraith

↑ src/mon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 36: Macro for corpse non-generation in graveyards and Rogue level