=== Defending and Armor === In Hengband, monsters may damage and otherwise harm you in a number of ways: in direct melee combat, by exploding next to you, by breathing on you and by casting spells. Some monsters referred to as "summoners" may not directly harm you but may summon other monsters to do their dirty work for them. Creatures will attack you in the same manner in which you attack them. If they move into you, they attack you. Virtually all monsters can lower your hit points by means of a melee attack, and, if you lose too many, you die. Fortunately, this is also the attack most easily guarded against (by wearing armor). Each monster has a maximum of four melee attacks which may be of varying type, power and effect. In addition to pure damage, there can be a number of side effects from a monster hitting you. For example, an especially powerful attack may stun or wound you. Stunning is cumulative and, if not addressed, may eventually result in you becoming knocked out which allows your opponent to continue attacking while you lie helpless. Wounds will cause you to lose hit points each round until you either die or your wound heals. You will slowly recover from any wound except a Mortal Wound with time and all wounds can be healed magically. In addition to wouds and stunning, some monsters melee attacks may have other consequences. These include causing you to become blind, scared, confused, poisoned or paralyzed. There are many others less common effects. More information about monsters' melee attacks may be found in the section on Monsters (see monster.txt). Many monsters also have an array of magical spells or breath attacks which they may use against you from a distance. For example, a red dragon might breathe fire at you. You can defend yourself from the side effects of melee attacks, monster spells and breath attacks by searching for armor that is resistant to that form of attack. As you descend deeper into the dungeon in search of better items, you will need to steadily improve your defenses against pure damage, wounds, stunning, bolts, balls, breaths of various kinds, reductions of exp and stats, theft and a variety of miscellaneous magical attacks. ***** === Armor Class === Your armor class (or AC) is a number that describes the amount and quality of armor being worn. Armor class will generally run from about 0 to 150, but could become negative or greater than 150 with rarer armor or by magical means. Note that spell casters receive a penalty to their maximum mana for wearing armor that is too heavy. In addition, monks lose much of their barehanded fighting skill if their armor becomes too heavy. The larger your armor class, the more protective it is. A negative armor class would actually help get you hit. Armor protects you in three ways. First, it makes you harder to hit for damage. A hit for no damage is the same as a miss. Second, good armor will absorb some of the damage that your character would have taken from normal attacks. Third, acid damage is reduced by wearing body armor (but the armor will be damaged instead). It is obvious that a high armor class is a must for surviving the deeper levels of Hengband. Note, however, that armor class by itself will not protect you from the side effects of monster melee attacks mentioned above. Each piece of armor has a base armor value, which, like the damage from weapons, is assumed known by the player and a magic bonus, which will not be displayed unless the armor has been identified or was bought in a store. Armor class values are always displayed between a set of brackets as '[#]' or '[#,+#]'. The first value is the armor class of the item. The second number is the magical bonus of the item which is only displayed if known and will always have a sign preceding the value. Note: a few rings, amulets and weapons also have the '[+#]' notation, indicating that they provide an armor bonus. Many pieces of heavy body armor will also have a '(-#)' before the '[#,+#]', which indicates that the weight of the armor decreases your chances of hitting monsters. This can range from nonexistent for very light armor to (-8) for the very heaviest armor! ***** === Resisting Magical Attacks === Against some magical attacks (such as cause wounds, cause blindness or cause fear) the player will first get a saving throw (see the Skills page). However, against attacks such as bolts and ball spells this does not apply. Also, there is no saving throw against breath attacks. For these types of attacks, your only recourse it to find items or other means which grant you 'resistance' to that type of attack. In Hengband there are many forms of resistance which may be obtained either as bonuses from your equipment, as the result of casting a magical spell, activating certain artifacts or as the result of a mutation. Unfortunately, not all attacks available to monsters can be resisted, and most can only be partially resisted. Each resistance has one or more corresponding monster attacks which it 'resists'. By this we mean that it reduces the amount of damage that your character will take as a result of an attack of that kind. For example, fire resistance will reduce the damage to your character resulting from fire attacks such as a fire bolt or being breathed upon by a red dragon. Note that appropriate resistances will also negate or reduce some side effects of monster melee attacks. There are two categories of resistances: (1) the low (or elemental) resistances - acid, fire, cold and electricity; and (2) the high resistances - poison, confusion, light, dark, blindness, sound, fear, shards, nexus, chaos, nether, gravity, disenchantment and time. In general, the low resistances are more commonly available, they can be double-resisted and the corresponding attacks have a higher maximum damage potential. A common misconception amongst new players is that having multiple sources of a particular resistance will increase your character's resistance to attacks of that form. This is not true. You will get the same benefit from wielding a single Amulet of Resist Acid as wielding a Shield of Resist Acid, body armor that grants acid resistance and an artifact weapon which grants acid resistance all at the same time. As stated above, however, it is possible to get double resistance for the low resists (and also poison). This is because these resistances are also available on a temporary basis by casting certain spells or by quaffing a Potion of Resistance. Some items may also activate for temporary resistance. The temporary effect is cumulative with the permanent effect and will increase your protection against these kinds of attacks. It also prevents damage to your belongings by the doubly-resisted element. (Warning 1) Double resistance prevents an item from being destroyed, but it does not prevent equipment from being damaged by acid. It is necessary to obtain acid immunity to prevent that form of damage. (Warning 2) The magical spells in some realms can temporarily add a resistance, like nether, which is not a resistance to one of the basic four elements nor poison resistance. Currently, that kind of temporary resistance does not combine with a permanent resistance to become a double resistance. ***** === Ego Armor and Artifacts === In addition to the ordinary armor items your character may find in the dungeon, your character may find armor endowed with additional powers. Those fall into two types: (1) artifacts and (2) ego armor. Unlike artifacts which are unique and may only be found once in each game, it is not unusual to find several pieces of ego armor of the same type during the course of a character's adventures. In general, artifacts and ego armor may boost one or more of your primary statistics, may confer certain abilities upon your character and may grant resistance to certain forms of attack. Each Ego type may only be found on certain types of armor - for example, you can find a Shield of Elvenkind but not Boots of Elvenkind. --- Shields --- of Resist Acid A character using a shield of this type will take only one third the normal damage from acid. The shield can be activated every 20+d20 turns to gain temporary resistance to acid. In addition, the shield is not damaged by acid. of Resist Lightning A character using a shield of this type will take only one third the normal damage from electricity. The shield can be activated every 20+d20 turns to gain temporary resistance to electricity. of Resist Fire A character using a shield of this type will take only one third the normal damage from fire. The shield can be activated every 20+d20 turns to gain temporary resistance to fire. of Resist Cold A character using a shield of this type will take only one third the normal damage from cold. The shield can be activated every 20+d20 turns to gain temporary resistance to cold. of Resistance A character using a shield of this type gains resistance to acid, cold, fire and electricity. It may also have another, random, resistance or resistance to poison. of Reflection A shield of this type can cause bolt spells to bounce off, preventing damage from the spell and often damaging the caster. The bounce effect happens most, but not all, of the time. of Night and Day A shield of this type protects against damage from light and darkness attacks and prevents the blinding effect of those attacks. of Protection A shield of this type is not affected by acid, fire, cold or electricity, but it does not provide resistance to them. It usually provides a larger than normal bonus to AC. of the Dwarves A shield of this type has a larger bonus to AC than a normal shield, increases the consitution of the wielder and provides a random resistance to one of the four basic elements. Furthermore, it is lighter than a normal shield. --- Armor --- of Resistance Armor of this type provides resistance to acid, cold, fire and electricity. It also provides another, random, resistance and may provide resistance to poison. of Elvenkind Armor of this type provides resistance to acid, cold, fire and electricity. It enhances the stealth of the wearer and provides another, random, resistance. of Uruk-hai Armor of this type gives attack bonuses for to-hit and to-damage. It also provides resistance to acid, cold, fire, electricity and one other, random, resistance. of the Dwarves Armor of this type has a larger bonus to AC than normal armor, increases the constitution of the wearer and provides a random resistance to one of the four basic elements. Furthermore, it is lighter than normal armor. of Olog-hai Armor of this type gives attack bonuses for to-hit and to-damage. It also increases the strength of the wearer and provides a random resistance to one of the four basic elements. of Druid Armor of this type increases the wisdom of the wearer. It also provides a random resistance to one of the four basic elements and another, random, resistance. Robe of Permanence A robe of this type provides resistance to fire, cold, acid and electricity. It sustains all the primary statistics of the wearer and provides resistance to experience draining attacks. It also provides one additional, random, resistance. Robe of The Twilight A robe of this type has a very wide range of abilities. It provides resistance to the four basic elements and almost all of the higher resistances. It sustains all the primary statistics of the wearer and provides resistance to experience draining attacks. It also can protect against paralyzation and reflect bolt spells. The wearer can levitate and see invisible creatures. However, the price is that the wearer's armor class is set to zero. of Morgul Armor of this type provides resistance to cold, poison and nether and may provide an additional, random, resistance. Furthermore, it surrounds the wearer with a sheath of cold air which can damage those that attack the wearer. It also allows the wearer to always sense the presence of nearby undead. However, this armor will drain experience from time to time, spreads curses to equipped items, and has a random, unpleasant, effect. of Demon Armor of this type increases the strength, intelligence and consitition of the wearer. If provides resistance to fire and nether and may provide an additional, random resistance. It allows the wearer to always sense the presence of nearby demons and envelops the wearer in a fiery aura. However, it has a random, unpleasant, effect. --- Caps/Helms/Crowns --- of Brilliance This item will increase and sustain your intelligence, wisdom, and charisma. of the Magi This item will increase and sustain your intelligence. It grants resistance to fire, cold, acid and electricity. It also has an additional, random, ability and provides another, random, resistance. of Might This item will increase and sustain your strength, dexterity, and constitution. It will protect you from paralyzation and some slowing attacks. It provides one, random, resistance. of Lordliness This item will increase and sustain your wisdom and charisma. It provides one, random, resistance. of Seeing This item will grant the ability to see invisible creatures and will also increase your ability to locate traps and secret doors. In addition, it will prevent you from being blinded. Some items of this type confer telepathic abilities. of Infravision This item will increase the range of your infravision and grants infravision if you are a race which does not get it intrinsically. of Light This item provides a permanent light source. It also provides resistance against light attacks. of Darkness This item provides resistance to darkness but also decreases the radius or your light source. of Telepathy This item grants its wielder telepathy. of Regeneration This item will help you regenerate hit points and mana more quickly than normal, allowing you to fight longer before needing to rest. You will use food faster than normal while wearing this headgear because of the regenerative effects. of Basilisk This item will increase the range of your infravision. It also provides resistance to poison and protects you from paralyzation and some slowing attacks. of Demon This item will increase your intelligence. It also provides resistance to fire and nether and may provide an additional, random resistance. It allows you to always sense the presence of nearby demons and surrounds you with an aura of fire. However, it has a random, unpleasant, effect. --- Cloaks --- of Protection These cloaks cannot be harmed by acid, fire, cold or lightning attacks but do not grant resistance to those elements. They usually have a larger than normal bonus to AC. of Stealth These cloaks will make your character more stealthy. of Aman These cloaks cannot be harmed by acid, fire, cold or lightning attacks but do not grant resistance to these elements. They also make your character more stealthy and provide one random resistance. of Immolation These cloaks cannot be harmed by acid or fire attacks. They also grant resistance to fire and give out a fiery aura. of Electricity These cloaks cannot be harmed by acid or electricity attacks. They also grant resistance to electricity and give out an electric aura. of the Bat These very powerful cloaks grant speed, stealth, infravision, levitation, the ability to see invisible and resistance to darkness. However, in return for those abilities, you will have large penalties to to-hit and to-damage. --- Gloves/Gauntlets/Sets of Cesti --- of Free Action This item will protect you from paralyzation and some slowing attacks. A mage-type spellcaster who wears them will not have his or her mana penalized. of Slaying In addition to its armor bonus, this item will grant a bonus to your to-hit and to-damage. of Agility This item will increase your dexterity. A mage-type spellcaster who wears them will not have his or her mana penalized. of Power This item will increase your strength and will also grant a bonus to your to-hit and to-damage. It also provides one random resistance. of Genji This item will increase your dexterity and grant a bonus to your to-hit. It can decrease the penalty for wielding two weapons at once, one in each hand. of Magic Mastery This item will increase your ability to use magical devices. A mage-type spellcaster who wears them will not have his or her mana penalized. --- Boots --- of Levitation These boots will grant you levitation. Some provide one random resistance. of Stealth These boots will make your character more stealthy. of Free Action These boots will protect you from paralyzation and some slowing attacks. of Jumping These boots can be activated to instantly teleport you a short distance. of Speed These boots will make your character more speedy. --- Special Items --- Dragon Scale Mails. These extremely rare pieces of armor come in many different colors, each protecting you against the dragons of that color. They can not be damaged by acid, fire, cold or electricity. They also occasionally allow you to breathe as a dragon would! Dragon Shields, Helms, Boots and Gloves These items have a chance of granting one or more random resistances. They all can not be damaged by acid, fire, cold or electricity. --- Other items --- Apart from these there are some very rare, and well made, pieces of armor in the dungeon. Adamantite Plate Mail, Mithril Plate Mail, and Mithril Chain Mail are not damaged by acid because of the quality metals they contain. Mirror Shields have the ability to reflect bolt spells. Elven Cloaks make the wearer more stealthy and make it easier to find traps or secret doors. Shadow Cloaks provide resistance to light and darkness attacks. All of those could also be ego items or artifacts. There are also legendary pieces of armor (artifacts) which 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. ***** === The Resistances === This section describes the various types of attack available to monsters and how they may be resisted. Acid Acid resistance will cut damage from acid attacks by two-thirds. Temporary resistance will also reduce damage by two-thirds. This means that a character with both permanent and temporary resistance will only take one-ninth of the original damage. Double resistance prevents the destruction of acid-sensitive belongings. Fire Fire resistance will cut damage from fire attacks by two-thirds. Temporary resistance will also reduce damage by two-thirds. This means that a character with both permanent and temporary resistance will only take one-ninth of the original damage. Fire resistance helps protect belongings from fire damage; double resistance prevents the destruction of fire-sensitive belongings. Cold Cold resistance will cut damage from cold attacks by two-thirds. Temporary resistance will also reduce damage by two-thirds. This means that a character with both permanent and temporary resistance will only take one-ninth of the original damage. Cold resistance helps protect belongings from cold damage; double resistance prevents the destruction of cold-sensitive belongings. Electricity Electricity resistance will cut damage from electric attacks by two-thirds. Temporary resistance will also reduce damage by two-thirds. This means that a character with both permanent and temporary resistance will only take one-ninth of the original damage. Electricity resistance helps protect belongings from damage due to electricity; double resistance prevents the destruction of electricity-sensitive belongings. Poison Poison resistance will cut damage from poison attacks by two-thirds. Temporary resistance will also reduce damage by two-thirds. This means that a character with both permanent and temporary resistance will only take one-ninth of the original damage. Poison resistance will also protect you from becoming 'poisoned' but characters will not be healed of their 'poisoned' status if they become resistant to poison after already being poisoned. This must be cured by other means. Confusion Confusion resistance will reduce the damage taken from confusion attacks and breaths. It will also prevent your character from becoming 'Confused' (if you are confused you will be unable to read scrolls, cast spells or prayers and will have a dramatically reduced ability to use magical devices). In particular, water attacks may confuse as a side effect. That can be prevented if you have confusion resistance. Light Light attacks damage the player and cause blindness as a side effect. Light resistance reduces the damage and also prevents blindness caused from light attacks (but not from other attacks). Darkness Darkness attacks damage the player and cause blindness as a side effect. Darkness resistance reduces the damage and also prevents blindness caused from darkness attacks (but not from other attacks). In addition, some high-level monsters can cast Darkness Storms. Those are a particularly dangerous form of attack but are resisted if you have darkness resistance. Blindness Resist blindness will protect you from spells which blind and from being "hit to blind" (a few monsters can do this) as well as from the blindness (but not the damage) caused by light and darkness attacks. Sound Sound resistance reduces damage from sound attacks and also the stunning side effects of sound and some other attacks. (Sound, plasma, water, force, gravity and shards attacks may all stun the player as may ice bolt attacks). Sound resistance does not protect against stunning from melee attacks. Fear Fear resistance gives immunity to attacks which make your character 'Afraid' (being afraid prevents your character from participating in melee combat but does not otherwise affect you). Shards Shards resistance will reduce the damage taken from shards attacks (this includes a Cyberdemon's Rocket Launchers). It also prevents the cuts that come from these attacks (and also ice bolts). Some shards attacks may also stun the player, this is prevented if you have sound resistance and not by shard resistance. Nexus Nexus attacks are one of the most annoying attacks in Hengband but will rarely kill you directly. A Nexus attack will damage the player and may teleport the player, teleport-level the player or swap two of your primary statistics around. Nexus resistance will reduce the damage taken from such attacks and prevent the side effects but will not prevent you from being teleported by non-nexus attacks (for that you will need an item granting anti-teleportation). Chaos Chaos attacks are one of the most dangerous attack types in Hengband. They have a relatively high maximum damage and may also confuse the player, cause hallucinations, reduce your character's experience and cause you to mutate. Chaos resistance will the damage taken from such attacks and negate all side effects. Nether Nether is another dangerous attack type. Nether attacks are common deeper in the dungeon, have a high maximum damage and will also cause your character's experience to be drained. Nether resistance will reduce the damage taken and the experience loss. It will not reduce the experience loss from non-nether attacks (for this you need hold-life). Gravity Gravity attacks damage the player and also cause you (and monsters they hit) to be teleported a short distance. A side effect of this is that since the effect is calculated on each spot in turn, it is possible to be blinked into a spot which hasn't been calculated yet but is in line to be affected by the breath - the net result is to be hit twice, blinked twice and damaged twice by the same breath. Gravity attacks may also stun your character. Levitation provides resistance to the damaging effect of gravity, resist teleportation prevents the blinking around and resistance to sound prevents you from becoming stunned. Disenchantment Disenchantment attacks damage the player and may result in the to-hit, to-dam, to-AC, pval bonuses on your wielded equipment being reduced. Disenchantment resistance will reduce the damage you take and will prevent the disenchantment of your equipment. Toxic Waste Resist poison will resist the damage and side effects from Toxic Waste attacks. Otherwise, you will suffer fearful side effects include reducing stats and changing your race. ***** --- Unresistable Attacks --- There is no resistance to the following types of attacks although some of their side effects may be resisted. Time Time attacks damage the player, drain experience and may reduce one or more of your primary statistics. Some kinds of magic or very rare items grant resistance to time attacks, but you usually won't have any resistance. Plasma Plasma can damage you, stun you and burn your equipment. Fire immunity (not resistance) prevents burning of equipment, sound resistance prevents the stunning, but there is no resistance to the damage. Inertia Inertia will damage you and slow you down by -10 speed. There is no resistance to the damage or the slowing. Mana There is no resistance to this attack. It also destroys all items on the ground. Disintegration There is no resistance this attack. It also destroys all non-permanent walls and any items on the ground. ***** --- Immunities --- It is also possible that you may find items which grant immunity to one or (very occasionally) more of the low resistances, i.e. acid, fire, cold and electricity. In this case, when wielded, you will take no damage from attacks of the relevant kind and, in addition, your equipment and inventory are safe from being damaged or destroyed by the attack. In addition, free action, fear and blindness resistance may be thought of as immunities since having they protect totally from the respective form of attack. (Warning) Even if you have free action, you may be paralyzed in special circumstances. It can be caused by hunger, casting a spell when you have insufficient mana or, more importantly, the blood curse cast by an Amberite. ***** --- Miscellaneous --- The following are not properly resistances but may be sensibly included on this page. Free Action Free action is immunity to paralysis: this is foolproof except in the special case of the Ancient and Foul Curse which requires a successful saving throw as well as free action to avoid should it attempt to paralyze you. Spells, potions of paralysis and being hit-to-paralyze are completely protected against. Hold-life Hold Life is protection from experience draining. It is 90% foolproof: 10% of draining attacks will still drain you, but by less than would otherwise have been the case. ***** === Recovering from Attacks === You cannot combat with the creatures in Hengband and expect to come out unscathed every time. When a monster inflicts damage on you, you will need to take steps to recover from the damage as soon as possible. --- Healing Items --- Healing is available in multiple forms including, from weakest to strongest: Potions and Staffs of Cure Light Wounds, Potions of Cure Serious Wounds, Potions of Cure Critical Wounds, Potions of Curing, Potions, Staffs and Rods of Healing, Potions of *Healing* and Potions of Life. Both the Life and Nature realms contain spells to heal the player. Cure Light Wounds Restores 2d8 hitpoints and removes cuts, blindness and berserk. Cure Serious Wounds Restores 4d8 hitpoints and removes cuts, blindness, confusion and berserk. Cure Critical Wounds Restores 6d8 hitpoints and removes cuts, blindness, confusion, stun, poison and berserk. Curing Restores 50 hitpoints and removes cuts, blindness, confusion, stun, poison and hallucination. Healing Restores 300 hitpoints and removes cuts, blindness, confusion, stun, poison and berserk. *Healing* Restores 1200 hitpoints and removes cuts, blindness, confusion, stun, poison and berserk. Potions of Life Restores 5000 hitpoints (about 5 times more than you'll ever have), restores all drained stats and experience, and removes all bad effects except hunger. These are very rare; save them in your home for a dangerous fight. --- Restoring Items --- From time to time your primary statistics and/or experience may be drained. Statistics can be restored by quaffing a Potion of Restore {name of stat} or a Potion of {Name of stat} or by eating a Mushroom of Restoring. Some towns may provide this service for a fee. Experience may be restored by quaffing a Potion of Restore Life Levels or using a Rod of Restoration. You may also regain it in the normal course of your adventuring or by quaffing a Potion of Experience. Some spells regain lost experience points. --- Other --- There are also other items in the dungeon which may help you to recover from various things that monsters may do to you. For example, some mushrooms may help you recover from confusion, a Potion of Heroism will prevent you from becoming afraid, a Potion of Slow Poison will reduce the effects of becoming poisoned, etc. Most objects' names give a clear idea of the benefits and dangers of using them and so an exhaustive list is not provided in this document. -- Original : (??), Leon Marrick and Chris Weisiger Updated : (??) Updated : Zangband DevTeam Updated : Hengband 1.0.11 Updated : Hengband 3.0.0, English translation backwardsEric