# Horned devil

&amp; horned devil 

Difficulty

9

Attacks

Weapon 1d4, claw 1d4, bite 2d3, sting 1d3

&amp; horned devil 

Difficulty

9

Attacks

Weapon 1d4, claw 1d4, bite 2d3, sting 1d3

Base level

6

Base experience

147

Speed

9

Base AC

-5

Base MR

50

Alignment

11 (lawful)

Frequency (by normal means)

2 (Quite rare)

Genocidable

No

Weight

1450

Nutritional value

400

Size

Medium

Resistances

Fire, poison

Resistances conveyed

None

A horned devil:

 has a thick hide.

 is poisonous to eat.

 does not eat. (*)
 is a demon.

 is normally generated hostile.

 can follow you to other levels.
 is nasty.

 has infravision.
 can be seen through infravision.

 appears only in Gehennom.

 never leaves a corpse.

Reference

monst.c#line2545

The horned devil, &amp;, is a major demon that appears in NetHack.

Contents

1 Generation
2 Strategy
3 History
4 Variants

4.1 SLASH'EM
4.2 UnNetHack
4.3 Lethe patch
4.4 SpliceHack
4.5 EvilHack

5 Encyclopedia entry
6 References

Generation
The horned devil is flagged to only appear in Gehennom, but will not be randomly generated there since it is lawful. This trait also occurs with barbed devils and the erinys - all three are still eligible to be generated via gating by other major demons. Horned devils can also be summoned if the summon nasties monster spell is cast in Gehennom or by a lawful spellcaster.[1] Horned devils also serve as minions for chaotic gods and Moloch.
Horned devils may be generated in graveyards. In addition, the lairs of Asmodeus and Baalzebub will each contain a horned devil upon normal level creation.[2][3] Another horned devil appears within Moloch's Sanctum, placed just outside the temple near its southeast corner.[4]
They are generated with either a trident (75% chance) or a bullwhip (25% chance).[5]

Strategy
The horned devil is considered the weakest of the major demons by the game, with lower monster difficulty and hit die but better AC than the barbed devil. It also has a lower difficulty than the water demon, who has an AC closer to the horned devil's but also possesses weaker hit die; this is likely because the water demon is faster and can swim.
Horned devils are slower than an unhasted player, and a fast well-armored character with a well-enchanted blessed and/or silver weapon will have relatively little trouble dispatching one - a wand or cone of cold can eliminate them in one or two shots. However, they can still pose a significant threat if they disarm you with their bullwhip, which speedrunners in particular will find a major nuisance - having Excalibur yanked out of your hand, e.g. in the middle of a pitched fight against Asmodeus or Baalzebub, can be fatal.
Horned devils are a decent source of tridents and bullwhips for those looking to utilize either.

History
The horned devil is introduced in NetHack 3.0.0.

Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, chaotic players have a chance of receiving a horned devil minion as a servant from sacrificing while at any experience level ranging from 10 to 16.
Four horned devils appear in the newly-added lair of Dispater. There is also a 1⁄10 chance that a lemure pit special room may contain a horned devil.

UnNetHack
As with SLASH'EM, the is a 1⁄10 chance of the lemure pit special room containing a horned devil.

Lethe patch
In the restructured Gehennom featured within the Lethe patch, Baalzebub's lair contains 5 horned devils.

SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, horned devils are given a passive quill attack.

EvilHack
In EvilHack, The Idol of Moloch is an artifact figurine of a horned devil and the Infidel quest artifact. It can be applied like a normal figurine to summon a random major demon, including a horned devil, without using up the artifact.

Encyclopedia entry

These devils lack any real special abilities, though they are quite difficult to kill.

 

References

↑ src/wizard.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 44

↑ dat/gehennom.des in NetHack 3.6.6, line 492

↑ dat/gehennom.des in NetHack 3.6.6, line 578

↑ dat/gehennom.des in NetHack 3.6.6, line 689

↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 496