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EvilHack was designed from the outset to be [[Difficulty Spike|a much more difficult game to win]]; while not at all impossible to ascend, several aspects of this game that the player might take for granted from vanilla NetHack have been changed and can easily end a promising run. In general, monsters are tougher and have more hit points, they can fight more intelligently, and they can and will use a variety of items and spells against you that previously only the player could use. While plenty of improvements have been made for the player as well, EvilHack still presents a significant challenge for even the seasoned player.
The variants [[GruntHack]] and [[SporkHack]] are cited as major inspirations, incorporating many of the same features that make those variants difficult in their own right. Elements from other variants (e.g. [[Slash'EM]], [[SpliceHack]], [[UnNetHack]], and [[xNetHack]]) as well as from later and newer versions of the vanilla ''NetHack'' are included; while some of those features have remained as is, many have been altered to set
Work on EvilHack first began on October 20th, 2018, and it was released for public play in April of 2019 on the Hardfought public NetHack servers. The Github repository for EvilHack can be found at [https://github.com/k21971/EvilHack https://github.com/k21971/EvilHack]; a direct link to the change log can be found [https://github.com/k21971/EvilHack/blob/master/doc/evilhack-changelog.txt here], and is updated on a regular basis.
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** All orcish monsters now have this, same as the player orcs.
* [[Adam Smith Hates Your Guts]]: In addition to the vanilla game's instances, ''EvilHack'' allows shopkeepers to be a variety of different species, and pricing can be further affected by how your player character's race is regarded by theirs.
* [[Adaptational Badass]]: '''''
* [[Adaptation Correction]]: EvilHack can be considered this in comparison to ''NetHack'' and the ''Dungeons $ Dragons''-related material it adapts.
* [[And Your Reward Is Clothes]]: Regular clothing and armor can now be gifted by your god, among various other things. Great if you get a solid set of magical gloves or a shirt as a gift - not so great if you get a pair of fumble boots...
** EvilHack also integrates modified versions of the popular "object materials" and "object properties" patches to increase the variety of types of clothing and armor you can encounter in the game, ranging from mundane materials such as cloth and plastic to more exotic ones such as dragonhide.
* [[Anti-Frustration Features]]:
** Monsters cannot read genocide scrolls, as that would render the game a complete [[Luck-Based Mission]].
** Gehennom mazes are replaced with {{spoiler|Gnomish Mines-style levels that have lava running through them}}, and all demon lords are guaranteed to spawn with their own lairs - this is done in order to make it far less of a [[Scrappy Level|Scrappy Branch]].
** {{spoiler|The mysterious force that would interfere with ascension runs has been removed - as the game is much harder in general,
** {{spoiler|Angering your quest leader no longer renders the game [[Unwinnable]] - you can still enter if you manage to kill them.}}
** A couple of major changes are made to the [[Bag of Holding]]. {{spoiler|You can add [[Anti-Magic|Magicbane]] to the list of items not to stick in a bag of holding, since its cancellation effect now has
** Items can now be handed directly to peaceful and tame monsters via #give, making outfitting pets far easier and more intuitive.
** Non-artifact items given as sacrifice gifts by your god will never be made of [[Depleted Phlebotinum Shells|any material that could harm the player character]].
* [[Anti-Magic]]: Cancellation is further buffed so that the wand and spell
* [[Artificial Brilliance]]: Every single intelligent monster now has a greater capacity for item usage - all monsters now have the same armor class damage reduction as players, and intelligent monsters can use many more items against the player or for their own benefit
** [[Artificial Stupidity]]: Even so, hostile monsters will still take actions that are less than beneficial to their own well-being; [[Damage Discrimination]] is still averted, and on top of friendly fire kills, monsters will [[Let's You and Him Fight|actively infight among each other based on species]] (explained in the entry for that trope below).
* [[Attack Reflector]]: Downplayed from the original - reflection can still minimize the effects of rays, but will no longer negate them altogether. On the other hand, it now also comes in the form of a spell, specifically one of the two new additions to the 'matter' school.
* [[Bag of Holding]]: A new artifact bag of holding called The Bag of the Hesprides is added, and bags of holding are beneficiaries of [[Anti-Frustration Features]] per that entry.
* [[Bandit Mook]]s:
** Hobbit rogues are a newly added monster that can steal items from the player.
** From the list of returning monsters, leprechauns
* [[Basilitrice]]: In ''[[NetHack]]'', the cockatrice is a class of creatures represented by the <code>C</code> glyph - a character who wears gloves can use the corpse of one as a melee weapon that [[Taken for Granite|petrifies opponents]]. ''EvilHack'' improves enemy monster AI to the point that glove-wearing monsters 'lucky' enough to get a wish might well choose a footrice corpse to smack you with!
* [[Bear Hug]]: Elder minotaurs are capable of this now.
* [[Blade of Fearsome Size]]: A
* [[Boss in Mook Clothing]]:
** Alhoons have quickly become infamous for being more deadly than even the arch-lich of ''NetHack'' fame - they do not have as many tentacle attacks as their mind flayer brethren, but they can still [[Stupidity-Inducing Attack|drain your intelligence]] and cast powerful spells, and enjoy all of the strengths and weaknesses associated with being undead. {{spoiler|As of 0.7, they can no longer be genocided unless Vecna is destroyed first.}}
** Beholders are one of the most dangerous creatures in the game... while awake. They spawn asleep 80% of the time, and even once awake, they move slowly and their worst attacks can be avoided by blinding yourself. However, they are immune to any form of [[Danger Sense]] besides warning (which [[Oh Crap|always shows them as a 5]])<ref>The highest possible rating on the game's warning scale.</ref> - the only other way to see it is [[Schmuck Bait|to view it directly]], and its many gaze attacks will prove that to be a Very Bad Idea. Even if you blind yourself, it still has a powerful bite to watch out for, and you'll have to watch your step around every corner or even down every stair in the late game - and they can't be tamed ''or'' genocided.
** [[Elite Mook|Elder minotaurs]] are stronger, Gehennom-exclusive variants of the already-fearsome minotaurs with an additional crushing attack that can pulp you disturbingly quick - and they can't be tamed either, unlike normal minotaurs. {{spoiler|Their monster difficulty is rated as 29, equal with the vanilla arch-lich - and the aforementioned alhoon is rated ''just'' above it at 30.}}
** Vorpal jabberwocks are the strongest of the jabberwock class, and each of its many claw attacks is just as capable of beheading you as Vorpal Blade is of beheading anything else - and it ''also'' can't be genocided. {{spoiler|It can, however, be [[One-Hit Kill]]ed by Vorpal Blade.}}
** Vampire mages have all the viciousness of vampire lords, amplified and augmented with powerful casting and high magic resistance. They ''can'' be genocided or even tamed, but good luck pulling
** [[Eldritch Abomination|Shambling horrors]] play with this trope depending on what features and abilities they generate with, which can make them literal boss-tier enemies that randomly generate like other monsters.
* [[Bribing Your Way to Victory]]: As with ''NetHack'', though demon lords that can be bribed will start asking for a ''lot'' more.
* [[Call Back]]:
** Gehennom and one of the new [[
** Several [[Dummied Out]] features from the original NetHack are implemented in EvilHack, such as Cerberus and Charon.
* [[Canine Companion]]:
** {{spoiler|Kathryn the Ice Queen has two unique German Shepherds, Koa and Ozzy. [[Creator's Pet|All three are based on K2's
** Some orcish monsters such as goblin outriders may generate riding wolves or wargs as steeds.
* [[Cold Iron]]: Elves
** Inverted(?) with orcish monsters, who are now completely averse to mithril (which operates in the same exact fashion).
* [[Color-Coded for Your Convenience]]: As with the original; some changes are made to make monsters easier to distinguish from each other.
* [[Combinatorial Explosion]]: It ''is'' a NetHack variant, after all.
* [[Contractual Boss Immunity]]: Several bosses have more immunities compared to their original incarnations, and are given means of counteracting some of vulnerabilities. {{spoiler|No more free stoning of [[That One Boss|Demogorgon]]}}!
* [[Cool Horse]]: Player monster Knights may be generated on horses. The newly added lesser nightmare acts as an [[Evil Counterpart Race]] to the pony - they are the starting pet for chaotic Knights, and their nightmare and Cauchemar forms are equivalent to the horse and warhorse. {{spoiler|The [[Horsemen of the Apocalypse]] are generated on powerful horses matching the description of their folkloric steeds - and if you reach the Astral Plane with a good enough alignment record, you are recognized as War and given the Red Horse.}}
* [[Contractual Boss Immunity]]: Expanded from the original game. All quest leaders and nemeses, along with all demon lords and princes, are now immune to magic-based scaring.
* [[The Corruption]]: Zombies convert people this way, with their bites being incredibly infectious. A terminal illness status effect given this way turns its victim into another zombie if it doesn't kill them outright.
* [[King Mook|Crowned Mook]]: King Mooks are given [[Distaff Counterpart|"queen" counterparts]], and both receive more perks, such as enchanted weapons. Vampire rulers are introduced as well.
* [[Demon Lords and Archdevils]]: The demon lords from ''NetHack'' are all buffed and given their own special levels, and four are chosen at random during your trip through Gehennom - meaning that there's no longer any [[Optional Boss]]es among them. Hope you're prepared to take down [[That One Boss|Demogorgon]]!
* [[Depleted Phlebotinum Shells]]: Expanded from the original game - elves now have an aversion to [[Cold Iron]], and orcs can't stand the touch of [[mithril]].
* [[Detect Magic]]: Wizards now have a similar ability to Priests that grants them innate knowledge of whether or not an object is magical in nature.
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* [[Hell Hound]]: Cerberus, formerly a [[Dummied Out|deferred feature]] in the original game, now appears. {{spoiler|He guards the entrance to Gehennom, and [[Contractual Boss Immunity|cannot be beheaded by Vorpal Blade]] - [[Multiple Head Case|the removed head will regrow almost immediately]].}}
* [[Interface Spoiler]]: The Sokoban prize tool items are designed to avert this somewhat, as their contents cannot actually be seen unless you have a means of object detection or a scroll of magic detection.
* [[Let's You and Him Fight]]: EvilHack adds a heavily modified variant of
* [[Master Swordsman]]: The Knight's skill tree is adjusted to improve their proficiency in all types of swords; their peak skill level in available spells is also lowered from Skilled to Basic, pushing them towards the more physical side of the [[Magic Knight]] scale.
* [[Mayincatec]]: Archaeologists lean heavier into this than before, with the addition of the ability to train up to expert in spears. Their new quest artifact, Xiuhcoatl, is an [[wikipedia:Atlatl|atlatl]] (or "spear thrower") named for [[wikipedia:Xiuhcoatl|the spirit form of an Aztec fire deity]], and [[Kill It with Fire|can inflict massive fire damage
* [[Medusa]]: Returns from the base game and gets her own taste of the [[Adaptational Badass]] pie. {{spoiler|For example, she'll
* [[Memetic Badass]]: Honey badgers are nasty and vicious, true to their "don't give a fuck" reputation. ''And'' they can tunnel through walls!
* [[Mirror
* [[Misplaced Vegetation]]: Nymph gardens are special rooms that are entirely colored green, and tend to include
* [[Mounted Combat]]:
* [[Nonstandard Game Over]]: {{spoiler|Don't let any of the player monsters on the Astral Plane steal the Amulet, or they'll attempt to ascend with it - if they do, you're boned.}}
* [[Our Dragons Are Different]]: There are far more variations, existing ones are buffed, and almost all of them can now [[Swallowed Whole|engulf and digest the player and other smaller monsters, similar to purple worms]]. Dragon scales also take a page from SporkHack's book, possessing new secondary abilities based on their element. Unfortunately for the player, that now also applies to the dragons themselves. {{spoiler|It ''also'' applies to mail made from their scales (e.g., sea dragon scales and scale mail grant magical breathing and the ability to swim, and black dragon scales and scale mail may passively disintegrate attackers).}}
** Knights are now incapable of taming dragons, as they are considered natural enemies.
** Of particular note is the pseudodragon, with this incarnation primarily adapted from ''[[Advanced Dungeons and Dragons]]'' - it resembles a "true" dragon in appearance but is smaller and far more docile on average, making it more suitable as a familiar
* [[Our Liches Are Different]]:
*
** In version 0.7, liches in general are also rendered immune to genocide; liches as a class are Demonic Spiders, and thus traditional first targets of a non-cursed genocide. {{spoiler|This is due to the influence of none other than Vecna - '''''the''''' Vecna of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fame - who appears as a newly-introduced boss.}}
* [[Our Zombies Are Different]]:
** Probably the most significant monster change in EvilHack, and one of the key changes that makes this variant so difficult. Zombies now have poisonous 'claw' attacks and disease-inducing bites that target the head and can cause amnesia. Both attacks alone can more then easily end an early-game character - [[Resurrective Immortality|''and'' they can rise from the dead repeatedly!]] There is a reprieve - you'll be encountering them a fair bit later than you would normally as a result.
** Being killed by illness from the latter (or else eating a raw zombie corpse) [[Nonstandard Game Over|turns the player into a zombie]] unless it's cured. If a player is unfortunate enough to lack a cure, there's a small chance that the game will allow them to continue playing - but they'll be stuck in that form for the remainder of the game. The same can happen to other monsters, who will also fight off the zombies and take other necessary precautions to cure potential infection.
** The same strategies that apply to dispose of other monsters that revive from their corpses also apply here, as well as some other newer strategies: {{spoiler|You can drop the bodies in a lava forge, stuff them and lock them in a container, tin them, leave them for a gelatinous cube to engulf... You can also kill zombies permanently by [[Remove the Head or Destroy the Brain|beheading them, e.g. with Vorpal Blade.]]}}
* [[Pegasus]]: Encountered at the end of one of the new branches.
* [[Pet Interface]]: Enhanced from the original game.
** You can now simply #give items to a tamed monster, making feeding and equipping pets far easier.
** Certain monsters become impossible to tame if you are in possession of a "Bane" item that affects them.
** Pets are now capable of obtaining intrinsics from corpses.
* [[Psychic Radar]]: Telepathy is buffed so that you can see the position of telepathic monsters, which now includes spellcasters - and they can sense you in return.
* [[Punched Across the Room]]: Giant monks can literally send foes flying with their punches.
* [[The Quest]]: Many aspects of each role's quest has been updated, with the leaders and nemeses all gaining varying amounts of buffs (e.g. [[Contractual Boss Immunity|immunity to magic
* [[Rodents of Unusual Size]]: One of the new creatures added to the other large rats within the "rodent" class - giant rats can now grow up into enormous rats, which in turn can become R.O.U.S.
* [[Shapeshifter Mode Lock]]:
** Some tamed shape-changing monsters, minus vampires and were-creatures, will revert back to their original form if "killed" in their polymorphed form, and cannot change form again once this happens.
**
* [[Sidequest]]: Many new branches are added.
* [[Squishy Wizard]]: Illithids (playable mind flayers) have absurdly low strength and constitution [[cap]]s of 10 and 12 respectively, as well as a charisma cap of 16, but in return have far higher-than-average caps for dexterity (20), intelligence and wisdom (22). And of course, they can be played as actual wizards.
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* [[Swallowed Whole]]: Several monsters are capable of this now, including elementals and dragons.
* [[Unusable Enemy Equipment]]: ''Mostly'' averted as in vanilla ''NetHack'', with notable changes below.
** Played straight with Orcus's signature wand - {{spoiler|it's now an artifact heavy mace that he drops upon his defeat. It can't be picked up by the player, and [[Harmful to Touch|will harm them if they try]]
** Downplayed with certain artifacts that cannot be wished for; these are mostly associated with bosses
** There are new monster-exclusive spells, and in an inversion monsters can use the cancellation spell now, averting this for the player.
* [[Up to Eleven]]: If you hadn't guessed by now...
* [[Useless Useful Spell]]: Averted with the "cure sickness" spell, which is now directional like other healing spells
* [[Video Game Stealing]]: The Rogue now has an actual thievery skill that can be trained.
* [[Villain Protagonist]]: One of the new roles added is the Infidel - based on Tomsod's original patch, the Infidel is an unaligned servant of [[God of Evil|Moloch]] that offers the player a role reversal of sorts. {{spoiler|As an example, they ''start'' with [[MacGuffin|the Amulet of Yendor]], and their first main objective is to return it to Moloch's Sanctum.}}
* [[Violation of Common Sense]]:
** One of the more surefire ways to get rid of zombies for good is also probably one of the least intuitive methods ever devised: {{spoiler|Try to eat their corpse, which causes them to rot away completely and [[The Corruption|infects you
{{reflist}}
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