Wand of draining

The wand of draining is new wand introduced in SLASH'EM. Similar to a spellbook of drain life, it casts an unreflectable beam which drains a level from its target monster.

Identification
This wand has the same effect as the spellbook of drain life, and will self-identify if this effect is seen. When engraved with, if there is a pre-existing message, it will erase part, or possibly all, of it. This generally produces the message "The engraving looks different now" which is shared with the wand of polymorph in SLASH'EM; however, reading the message will clearly differentiate between the two, as the wand of polymorph produces random, very recognizable rumors. If the engraving is sufficiently short, the wand will give a message about the engraving disappearing; to avoid this ambiguity with the other wands that do that, dust-engrave moderately long messages (6 letters is enough) before engrave-testing unidentified wands.

Monster use
Unfortunately, in SLASH'EM monsters know how to use these wands all too well. The beam cannot be reflected, and magic resistance provides no protection against it. Monsters are quite content to empty these wands on you, quite possibly killing you from level drain, and at the very least leaving you considerably weaker. Monsters will very preferentially use these wands against you, it seems.

Protection
The only protection against these wands is drain resistance. This is a rather obscure property in vanilla nethack that becomes a vital part of an ascension kit in SLASH'EM, mostly due to this wand. It is provided from the following sources: For those who don't mind the potential loss of a level, it is sufficient to have the amulet in open inventory, ready to be replaced when a monster begins attacking with a wand of draining. You will possibly lose two levels in the two turns it takes to remove the current amulet and put the amulet of draining on, but be able to regain one level almost instantly. A ready-to-wield Excalibur or Stormbringer is a better option, but these can be hard to find for neutrals.
 * Wearing an amulet of drain resistance.
 * Wearing deep dragon scales or deep dragon scale mail.
 * Wielding Excalibur, Stormbringer, or the Hand of Vecna; note that the Staff of Aesculapius does not protect against life drain in SLASH'EM any longer.
 * Having it intrinsically, either from polymorph or being a lycanthrope, vampire undead slayer or necromancer.

Those who do not have a means of protection would be well-advised to pick up and/or stash any wands of draining they find.