=== Attacking and Weapons=== Attacking is simple in Hengband. If you move into a creature, you attack it. If you are wielding a weapon (including digging implements which are considered to be weapons) when you do so, the damage for the weapon is used when you hit a creature. Otherwise, you will attack with your bare hands which does minimal damage (unless you are playing a monk). Melee can do more damage per turn than any other form of attack, and the basic equipment (a weapon) is easy to find. On the other hand, melee only works against adjacent monsters and takes a great deal of training and equipment to come into its own deeper in the dungeon. Upgrading to weapons with higher base damage is vital but heavy weapons are harder to master. You will have to find a compromise, depending on class, experience level, and available equipment (use the 'C'haracter screen to see how various weapons affect your melee skill). You may wield both a primary weapon for melee combat, and a bow or other missile launcher for launching missiles at the same time. Most classes will also benefit from carrying an assortment of magical devices for attack. ***** --- Attacking from a Distance --- You can attack creatures from a distance by firing a missile from a bow or other missile launcher, by throwing an object or by using magical items such as wands, rods and staffs. If you have chosen to play a spell casting class, you may be able to learn some spells which allow you to attack a creature from a distance. You can use distance attacks even when your target is next to you. Whenever you give a command to fire a weapon, cast a spell, or use an attacking magical device (unless the spell or device has an area effect), you will be prompted for a direction. You may choose any of the eight movement directions or press '*' to enter targeting mode. A detailed explanation of targeting mode can be found in the section on Command Descriptions (see commdesc.txt#ThrowFire [b]). You may also wish to make use of the use_old_target option which automatically selects the last target. This prevents you from having to target the same monster every time you attack it. An explanation of this option is found the section on User Interface Options (see option.txt#UserInterface [c]). ***** --- Attacking Monsters in Walls --- You should note that some creatures, for example ghosts, can pass through the dungeon walls. You can attack a creature in a wall with your weapon by trying to move into the wall space which contains the creature. If the creature is invisible and you do not have the ability to see invisible creatures, you must tunnel into the wall space containing the creature. Bolt spells do full damage to a creature in a wall, but ball spells will be stopped and blow up just in front of a wall and do only half damage. Inversely, when you have ghost like form and are in a wall, you will take only half damage from ball spells and breaths of monsters, which is a very important privilege. ***** === Melee Weapons === Carrying a weapon in your backpack does you no good. You must wield a weapon before it can be used in a fight. A secondary weapon can be kept by keeping it in the backpack, and switching it with the primary weapon when needed. Weapons have two main magical characteristics, their enchanted ability to hit and their enchanted ability to do damage, expressed as `(+#,+#)'. A normal weapon would be `(+0,+0)'. Many weapons in Hengband have bonuses to hit and/or do damage. Some weapons are cursed, and have penalties that hurt the player. Cursed weapons cannot be unwielded until the curse is lifted. Identifying a weapon will inform you of the magical bonuses and penalties and whether or not it is cursed. Hengband assumes that your youth in the rough environment near the dungeons has taught you the relative merits of different weapons. Hengband displays as part of their description the damage dice which define their capabilities. Any damage enchantment is added to the dice roll for that weapon. The dice used for a given weapon is displayed as "#d#". The first number indicates how many dice to roll, and the second indicates how many sides they have. A "2d6" weapon will give damage from 2 to 12, plus any damage bonus. The weight of a weapon is also a consideration. Heavy weapons may hit harder, but they are also harder to use. Depending on your strength, dexterity, character class, and weapon weight, you may get several attacks per turn. ***** === Missile Launchers === Firing a missile while wielding the appropriate launcher is the only way to get the "full" power out of the missile. You may of course throw an arrow at a monster without firing it from a bow, but you will find the effects may not be what you had hoped. Slings will fire pebbles or shots, bows will fire arrows and crossbows will fire bolts. Missiles of varying type and quality can be bought in the town and may be found throughout the dungeon. Missile launchers, have their characteristics added to those of the missile used, if the proper weapon/missile combination is used, and the launcher multiplier is applied to the total damage, making missile weapons very powerful given the proper missiles. This is especially true if both the launcher and the missile are enchanted. Hits and misses are determined by your ability to hit versus your target's armor class. A hit is a strike that does some damage; a miss may in fact reach a target, but fails to do any damage. Higher armor class makes it harder to do damage, and so leads to more misses; it will also reduce the damage from a strike that actually occurs. The varying types of missile launchers each have their own strengths and weaknesses. Which can be summarized as follows: Shots per turn Multiplier Sling: 1.25 2 Short Bow: 1.00 2 Long Bow: 1.00 3 Light Crossbow: 0.83 3 Heavy Crossbow: 0.75 4 Bows tend to be good at dealing constant streams of damage. A sling is good for killing many small monsters - it even does more damage per round than a short bow if you can carry enough ammunition. Crossbows deal enormous amounts of damage in one shot. However, the reload time is such that a longbow will deal more damage over time. Certain classes automatically receive additional shots as they become more experienced. Rangers and Cavalry receive some additional shots with a bow. Rogues receive some extra shots with a sling. Archers and Warriors receive some additional shots with any missile launcher. ***** == Ego Weapons and Artifacts === In addition to the ordinary weapons your character may find in the dungeon, some of them may be endowed with additional powers. These weapons fall into two types: (1) artifacts; and (2) ego weapons. Unlike artifacts which are unique and may only be found once in each game, it is not unusual to find several ego weapons of the same type during the course of a character's adventures. In general, artifacts and ego weapons may boost one or more of your primary statistics, may confer certain abilities upon your character, may grant resistance to certain forms of attack and may be especially deadly against certain types of creature. Take note that if your weapon has two attributes that make it deadly to your opponent (for example you are fighting a demon and your weapon slays both evil and demons (demons are evil)), only the most effective slay will apply. (Defender) A magical weapon that actually helps defend the wielder by increasing his/her armor class and providing resistance against damage from fire, cold, acid and lightning attacks. It also grants levitation, increases your stealth, let you see invisible creatures and protects you from paralyzation and some slowing attacks. It also helps you regenerate hit-points and mana faster. It has a randomly chosen ability to sustain a key statistic and to provide additional resistance. (Holy Avenger) A Holy Avenger is one of the more powerful of weapons. It will increase your wisdom and your armor class and prevent you from becoming afraid. This weapon will do extra damage when used against evil, demonic and undead creatures, and will also give you the ability to see invisible creatures. These weapons are also blessed and so can be wielded by priests with no penalty. Weapon of Westernesse A Weapon of Westernesse is one of the more powerful weapons. It slays orcs, trolls and giants while increasing your strength, dexterity, and constitution. It allows you to sense the presence of nearby orcs, trolls, and giants. It also allows you to see invisible creatures and protects you from paralyzation and some slowing attacks. (Trump Weapon) A Trump Weapon is especially deadly against evil creatures and will increase your ability to discover hidden dungeon features. It will help you regenerate hit-points and mana faster and at the same time will reduce your rate of food consumption. It provides resistance to nexus and protects you from paralyzation and some slowing attacks. It may have an additional resistance. In addition, it can be activated for teleport once every 50+1d50 turns. A Trump Weapon can cause you to teleport randomly. Random teleports can be annoying when you don't need them, but, unless the weapon is cursed, you may prevent them by inscribing the weapon with the '{' command. (Pattern Weapon) A Pattern Weapon has been embedded with a fragment of the Pattern. It will increase your strength and constitution and also has a chance of increasing your dexterity. It is especially effective when used against evil, undead and demonic creatures. It will allow you to see invisible creatures and protects you from paralyzation and some slowing attacks. It has an additional, random, resistance. (Blessed Blade) A blessed weapon will increase your wisdom and can be wielded by priests with no penalty. It allows you to sense the presence of nearby good creatures. It may have some other special abilities. Weapon of Extra Attacks These weapons will grant the user additional attacks per round. Weapon of Sharpness (edged weapon only) These are known to occasionally score vorpal hits (see below) and will also increase your ability to tunnel through the dungeon walls. Weapon of Earthquakes (hafted weapon only) These weapons may cause an earthquake when they strike an opponent which potentially may cause other monsters in the area to take damage from falling rocks and will destroy a small portion of the surrounding dungeon. They also increase your ability to tunnel through the dungeon walls. Some weapons of this type found deep in the dungeon may grant extra attacks per round. Weapon of Slaying These weapons have a chance of being granted unusually high damage dice. Some weapons of this type deal poison damage or cause vorpal hits. Implement of Digging These digging implements increase your ability to tunnel through the dungeon walls, and have the acid brand (see below). --- The Elemental and Other Brands --- For players of Angband, Zangband and older versions of Hengband, keep in mind that activations have been added to the weapons with the acid, electric, cold, fire or poison brands. Enjoy this new power to your heart's content! (Chaotic) These bizarre, feared weapons have been manufactured in the Courts of Chaos, and are very unpredictable in combat often producing chaotic effects when they strike your opponent. Effects include *destruction*, teleport away and vampiric drain among others. A Chaotic weapon grants resistance to chaos attacks and cannot be damaged by acid, fire and electricity. It may have an additional, random, resistance. (Vampiric) These foul weapons have been created by Death magic. They lust for blood, and if such a weapon scores a hit, it greedily sucks life from the hapless victim, transferring the life energy to its master and healing them in the process. Some of these weapons are especially effective against human-type opponents, dealing 2.5 times the normal dice against those creatures. Weapon of Melting A magical weapon of acid that will inflict damage with 2.5 times the normal dice when used against a creature that is not resistant to acid. It also provides resistance against acid attacks. It may be activated every 12 turns to attack with a ball of acid. Weapon of Shocking A magical weapon of lightning that will inflict damage with 2.5 times the normal dice when used against a creature that is not resistant to electricity. It also provides resistance against lightning attacks. It may be activated every 12 turns to attack with a ball of electricity. Weapon of Freezing A magical weapon of ice that will inflict damage with 2.5 the normal dice when used against a creature that is not resistant to cold. It also provides resistance against cold attacks. It may be activated every 12 turns to attack with a ball of cold air. Weapon of Burning A magical weapon of fire that will inflict damage with 2.5 the normal dice when used against a creature that is not resistant to fire. It also provides resistance against fire attacks. It may be activated every 12 turns to attack with a ball of fire. Weapon of Poisoning A magical weapon, coated with poison, that will inflict damage with 2.5 times the normal dice to creatures not resistant to poison. It also provides resistance against toxic and poisonous attacks. It may be activated every 12 turns to attack with a ball of radioactive waste. Weapon of Force This weapon will attack monsters with your mana power and will inflict damage with 3.5 times the normal dice. It also increases your intelligence and wisdom and allows you to see invisible creatures. --- Weapons of Slay {Monster-Type} --- For players of Angband, Zangband and older version of Hengband, keep in mind that the old weapons of Slay {Monster-Type} have been discontinued since they weren't particularly useful. The old *Slay* {Monster-Type} weapons are now Slay {Monster-Type}, and some of those that still seemed weak have been tweaked further. Weapon of Slay Animal This weapon is especially effective against natural creatures and will inflict damage with 4 times the normal dice against such creatures. It allows you to always sense the presence of nearby animals. It also raises your intelligence and helps you regenerate hit-points and mana faster. Weapon of Slay Evil This weapon is especially effective against evil creatures and will inflict damage with two times the normal dice against such creatures. It allows you to always sense the presence of nearby evil creatures. It also increases your wisdom. Weapon of Slay Human This weapon is especially effective against human-type beings and will inflict damage with 4 times the normal dice against such beings. It allows you to always sense the presence of nearby human-type creatures. It also increases your dexterity and provides resistance to fear. Weapon of Slay Undead This weapon is especially effective against undead creatures and will inflict 5 times the normal dice against such creatures. It allows you to always sense the presence of nearby undead. It will also increase your wisdom, allow you to see invisible creatures and provide resistance against nether. Weapon of Slay Demon This weapon is especially effective against demonic creatures and will inflict damage with 5 times the normal dice against such creatures. It allows you to always sense the presence of nearby demons. It will also increase your intelligence and provide resistance against fire. Weapon of Slay Orc This weapon is especially effective against orcs and will inflict damage with 5 times the normal dice against such creatures. It allows you to always sense the presence of nearby orcs. It will also increase your dexterity and provide darkness resistance. Weapon of Slay Troll This weapon is especially effective against trolls and will inflict damage with 5 times the normal dice against such creatures. It allows you to always sense the presence of nearby trolls. It also increases your strength and accelerates how rapidly you recover hit-points and mana. Weapon of Slay Giant This weapon is especially effective against giant humanoids and will inflict damage with 5 times the normal dice against such creatures. It allows you to always sense the presence of nearby giants. It also increases your strength and protects you from paralyzation and some slowing attacks. Weapon of Slay Dragon This weapon is especially effective against dragons and will inflict damage with 5 times the normal dice against such creatures. It allows you to always sense the presence of nearby dragons. It also increases your constitution and provides additional, random, resistances. --- Cursed Weapons --- Equipment that is simply cursed brings only disadvantages, but you may find weapons with horrifying and powerful powers. Here, we'll introduce the weapons with such powers. Morgul Weapon A Morgul weapon was made by Sauron or one of his magicians. It has larger than normal damage dice, poisons enemies, and is especially effective against undead or human-type creatures. It allows the wielder to always sense the presence of nearby undead. It also grants resistance to cold and nether, allows the wielder to see invisible creatures, and surrounds the wielder with a sheath of cold air that damages those who attack the wielder. However, it has a penalty to AC, aggravates nearby monsters and is randomly and powerfully cursed. For players of Angband, Zangband or older versions of Hengband, keep in mind that Morgul weapons have become more powerful. It seems that some maintainers have been corrupted by Morgoth, and the dark powers that lie to the free people of Middle-earth are becoming stronger. (Demonic) A weapon of this type has larger than normal damage dice, deals flame damage and allows the wielder to always sense the presence of nearby demons. It also increases the wielder's intelligence, grants resistance to fire and nether and allows the wielder to see invisible creatures. It may have a bonus to the number of attacks or cause a random effect, like that of a Chaotic weapon, on a successful attack. A Demonic weapon has a penalty to AC and also has a random unpleasant effect. (Weird Weapon) (edged weapons only) A weapon of this type has larger than normal damage dice, produces vorpal hits, absorbs the vitality of enemies and restores the wielder and also causes extra damage to orcs, trolls, giants, natural animals, humans and dragons. However, it is always strongly cursed, reduces intelligence and wisdom, drains your experience points from time to time and aggravates nearby monsters. --- Missile Launchers --- Launcher of Accuracy These missile launchers have an unusually high bonus to hit. Launcher of Velocity These missile launchers have an unusually high bonus to dam. Launcher of Extra Might These missile launchers have an unusually high damage multiplier. They also provide some resistance. Launcher of Extra Shots These missile launchers grant additional shots per round. --- Ammunition --- Ammunition of Hurt Animal This ammunition is especially effective against natural creatures and will do 1.7 times the normal damage against such creatures. Ammunition of Hurt Evil This ammunition is especially effective against evil creatures and will do 1.5 times the normal damage against such creatures. Ammunition of Hurt Dragon This ammunition is especially effective against dragons and will do 2 times the normal damage against such creatures. Ammunition of Shocking This ammunition will inflict 1.7 times the normal damage when used against a creature that is not resistant to electricity. Ammunition of Flame This ammunition will inflict 1.7 times the normal damage when used against a creature that is not resistant to fire. Ammunition of Frost This ammunition will inflict 1.7 times the normal damage when used against a creature that is not resistant to cold. Ammunition of Slaying This ammunition will have unusually large damage dice. Ammunition of Wounding This ammunition will have unusually large bonuses +to-hit and +to-dam. --- Other Items --- Apart from these there are some very rare and well made weapons in the dungeon. These include Blades of Chaos (which grant resistance to chaos), Maces of Disruption (which are especially effective against undead creatures) and Scythes of Slicing (which may score vorpal hits). You may also find a strange weapon called a Poison Needle which has a chance to find an opponent's weakness and kill that opponent with a single blow. Also, legendary weapons (artifacts) are similar to ego items but usually have more abilities and are very powerful. Artifacts never break. However, they may deteriorate and, if caught in the effect range of *destruction*, may disappear forever. In Hengband, there are two types of artifacts: fixed and random. A fixed artifact has a predetermined name and attributes, so, if you play the game many times, you may encounter the same fixed artifact. The name and attributes of a random artifact are determined when it is generated, so it is extremely unlikely that you would see that artifact again in another game. By the way, the rare weapons mentioned above can also become ego items at the same time. A Blade of Chaos (Holy Avenger) will have a more powerful attack than many artifacts. Note on Vorpal Weapons: A weapon with the vorpal flag will have a 1-in-6 chance of doing additional damage each time it strikes. If it passes the roll it has a chance of doing it again. This continues until a roll is failed. The calculations are nasty but the net effect is an average 22% increase in damage output. ***** === Magical Aids to Physical Combat === There are several magical means of increasing your physical combat ability. The most common of these are potions of heroism and berserk strength and various scrolls (blessing, holy prayer, etc.). Typically, these grant small cumulative bonuses to your combat skill. Some magic realms contain equivalent spells. Be aware that you can't cast spells while berserk, for instance from drinking a potion of berserk strength. Using a healing potion (or some staffs or rods with healing effects) will clear your head, cancel the berserk effect (if you're not a berserker), and allow you to cast spells. ***** === Monk Attacks === A Monk or a ForceTrainer prefer to fight barehanded rather than use a weapon like other characters in Hengband. As a Monk's level increases, the number of attacks he or she gets per round increases and new, increasingly powerful attacks become available. Higher level attacks have a chance to stun the Monk's opponent. While the type of attack that a Monk uses for each blow is chosen at random from the list of available attacks, at higher levels there is a bias towards the attacks which do greater damage. This is because at these levels, the game will roll several times for each blow with the highest attack type chosen. ***** --- Monks Attack Types --- Attack Name Min.lvl Damage Stun Notes ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Punch 1 1d5 - Kick 2 1d7 - Strike 3 1d9 - Knee 5 2d4 * Likely to stun male opponents Elbow 7 1d12 - Butt 9 2d6 - Ankle Kick 11 3d6 - May slow down the opponent Uppercut 13 5d5 6 Double-kick 16 5d6 8 Cat's Claw 20 5d8 - Jump Kick 24 6d8 10 Eagle's Claw 28 7d9 - Circle Kick 32 8d10 10 Iron Fist 35 8d11 10 Flying Kick 39 8d12 12 Dragon Fist 43 9d12 16 Crushing Blow 48 10d13 18 ***** === Basic Tactics === Pillardancing ------------- This tactic uses an isolated wall surrounded by eight empty spaces, i.e. a pillar, so you can avoid an opponent's attacks while you prepare for an attack or escape. If you are the same speed or faster than the enemy, you lure it so it is at one face of the pillar while you are one square away diagonally on another face. You then back away diagonally to another face of the pillar, out of its line of sight. You then repeat that procedure when the opponent moves into your field of view. In Hengband, that tactic is not recommended. Movement has a randomized component so you won't be able to avoid all of the opponent's attacks with pillardancing. Shoot'n Scoot ------------- Requires a large room, Phase Door, and some type of ranged attack. Stand at one end of the room while your enemy is at the other end. Repeat your ranged attack until it gets close, then Phase Door. Keep doing that until you can safely finish off the enemy with melee attacks (or until you can't continue your ranged attack and need to escape). Wail'n Bail ----------- Requires Teleport items. Fight the monster until you're almost dead, teleport out, find him, and resume fighting. This is dangerous, because you could teleport right next to some nasty that will kill you. Also, it is not generally useful for killing unique monsters, as they regenerate damage very quickly, and by the time you find them again, they will have healed what you did to them. The Anti-Summoning Corridor --------------------------- Requires a little time to set up. This can be done just about anywhere. Dig a twisting corridor into the rock, and station yourself at one end of it. When your opponent arrives, he won't be able to summon any monsters next to you. This is a very important technique for fighting many higher-end monsters which very quickly bring in a horde of other monsters. -- Original : (??) Chris Weisiger and Leon Marrick Updated : (??) Updated : Zangband DevTeam Updated : Hengband 1.5.2 Updated : Hengband 3.0.0, English translation backwardsEric ***** Begin Hyperlinks ***** [b] commdesc.txt#ThrowFire ***** [c] option.txt#UserInterface