How to gain Intrinsics

Note: The information in this file is only claimed to be accurate for Nethack v3.2.2.

The Intrinsics you can get by eating monsters are: poison resistance, fire resistance, cold resistance, sleep resistance, shock resistance, disintigration resistance, telepathy, teleportation, teleport control, aggravate monster, hallucination, turn to stone, cure stoning, polymorph, gain level, lycanthropy, get full hit points, invisibility, see invisible, stun, speed, gain intelligence, gain srength, death.

These are the intrinsics which can be gained by eating monsters. If the intrinsic (in the list below) has the word (sometimes) next to it, then eating amonster in that category does not guarantee that you will get that intrinisic. If the intrinsic has the word (always) written next to it, then eating a monster in that category always confers that intrinsic (or effect).

If a monster can infer multiple "sometimes" intrinsics, you will only get, at most, one of them, chosen at random. (i.e., you cannot get both teleport and teleport control from the same tengu)

If a monster can infer both "sometimes" and "always" intrinsics, then you will get ALL of the "always" intrinsics and up to one of the "sometimes" intrinsics. (i.e., you will gain strength from eating a fire giant, and it is possible you will also get intrinsic fire resistance at the same time)

POISON RESISTANCE

(sometimes)

killer bee, queen bee, soldier ant, giant beetle, quivering blob, cockatrice, gremlin, homunculus, quasit, tengu, blue jelly, cave spider, giant spider, scorpion, white unicorn, gray unicorn, black unicorn, xan, green dragon, brown mold, yellow mold, red mold, shrieker, violet fungus, red naga hatchling, red naga, black naga hatchling, black baga, golden naga hatchling, golden naga, guardian naga hatchling, guardian naga, gray ooze, brown pudding, black pudding, snake, water moccasin, pit viper, cobra, flesh golem, nurse, Medusa, Wizard of Yendor, Chromatic Dragon
back to the list

FIRE RESISTANCE

(sometimes)

fire ant, gelatinous cube, hell hound pup, hell hound, Cerberus, red dragon, red mold, fire giant, master lich, red naga hatchling, red naga, gray ooze, flesh golem, Wizard of Yendor, salamander, Chromatic Dragon, Ixoth Lord Surtur
back to the list

COLD RESISTANCE

(sometimes)

gelatinous cube, winter wolf, freezing sphere, blue jelly, white dragon, brown mold, frost giant, lich, demilich, master lich, gray ooze, brown pudding, black pudding, ice troll, yeti, flesh golem, Chromatic Dragon
back to the list

SLEEP RESISTANCE

(sometimes)

gelatinous cube, homunculus, lemure, orange dragon, flesh golem, Woodland-elf, Green-elf, Grey-elf, elf-lord, Elvenking, elf, High-elf, Earendil, Elwing, Chromatic Dragon
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SHOCK RESISTANCE

(sometimes)

gelatinous cube, blue dragon, brown pudding, black pudding, flesh golem, electric eel, Chromatic Dragon
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DISINTIGRATION RESISTANCE

(sometimes)

black dragon, Chromatic Dragon
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TELEPATHY

(sometimes)

floating eye, mind flayer
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TELEPORTATION

(sometimes)

tengu, leprechaun, wood nymph, water nymph, mountain nymph, quantum mechanic, Wizard of Yendor
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TELEPORT CONTROL

(sometimes)

tengu, Wizard of Yendor, Death :), Pestilence :), Famine :)
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AGGRAVATE MONSTER

(always - permanent)

little dog, dog, large dog, kitten, housecat, large cat, 'cannibalism'
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HALLUCINATION

(always - temporary)

violet fungus
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TURN TO STONE

(always)

cockatrice, Medusa

note: when you are a golem, you'll turn into a stone golem.
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CURE STONING

(always)

acid blob, gelatinous cube, spotted jelly, ochre jelly, baby yellow dragon, yellow dragon, green mold, black naga hatchling, black naga, gray ooze, brown pudding, black pudding, lizard
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POLYMORPH

(always)

chameleon, small mimic, large mimic, giant mimic

note: eating a mimic of any size will make you mimic a pile of gold
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GAIN LEVEL

(always)

wraith

LYCANTHROPY

(always)

wererat, werejackal, werewolf

REGAIN FULL HITPOINTS

(always)

nurse

INVISIBILITY

(always)

stalker

note: only applies when you're not already invisible (a cloak doesn't count here), otherwise you'll get see invisible

SEE INVISIBLE

(always)

stalker

note: only applies when you are invisible, otherwise you'll get invisibility

STUN

(always)

bat, giant bat, stalker

SPEED

(always)

quantum mechanic

note: eating a quantum mechanic toggles your speed, that is, you become fast when you're currently slow and become slow when you're currently fast.

GAIN INTELLIGENCE

(sometimes)

mind flayer

GAIN STRENGTH

(always)

giant, stone giant, hill giant, fire giant, frost giant, giant mummy, giant zombie, Cyclops, Lord Surtur

DEATH

(always)

Death, Pestilence, Famine

notes

baby dragons do NOT confer intrinsics

eating adult dragons always confers an intrinsic (unless you already have it)

eating ettins, titans, and minotaurs DOES NOT increase strength like eating other giants does

eating floating eyes always confers telepathy
if you are a human, and you eat any human monster, you are a "cannibal" and will get intrinsic aggravate monster; the same is true for elves eating elves; a list of "cannibal corpses" is given below

these monsters are considered human

human mummy, human zombie, Keystone Kop, Kop Sergeant, Kop Lieutenant, Kop Kaptain, human, wererat, werejackal, werewolf, nurse, shopkeeper, guard, Oracle, aligned priest, high priest, soldier, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, watchman, watch captain, Wizard of Yendor, Croesus, Charon, archeologist, barbarian, caveman/cavewoman, healer, knight, priest/priestess, rogue, samurai, tourist, valkyrie, wizard, Lord Carnarvon, Pelias, Shaman Karnov, Earendil, Elwing, Hippocrates, King Arthur, Arch Priest, Master of Thieves, Lord Sato, Twoflower, Norn, Wizard of Balance, Thoth Amon, Master Assassin, Ashikaga Takauji, Dark One, student, chieftain, neanderthal, attendant, page, acolyte, thug, ninja, roshi, guide, warrior, apprentice

these monsters are considered elves

elf mummy, elf zombie, Woodland-elf, Green-elf, Grey-elf, elf-lord, Elvenking, elf, Earendil, Elwing, High-elf

final notes

The above lists are meant to be exhaustive. If you find anything missing from the lists above, or if a monster is on the list that does not belong, feel free to update the file and re-post it to the newsgroup (after you have double checked in wizard mode).

This file is a result of source diving... and a great deal of boredom.

--The Author