1 === Attacking and Weapons===
3 Attacking is simple in Bakabakaband. If you move into a creature, you
4 attack it. If you are wielding a weapon (including digging implements
5 which are considered to be weapons) when you do so, the damage for the
6 weapon is used when you hit a creature. Otherwise, you will attack with
7 your bare hands which does minimal damage (unless you are playing a
10 Melee can do more damage per turn than any other form of attack, and
11 the basic equipment (a weapon) is easy to find. On the other hand,
12 melee only works against adjacent monsters and takes a great deal of
13 training and equipment to come into its own deeper in the dungeon.
14 Upgrading to weapons with higher base damages is vital but heavy
15 weapons are harder to master. You will have to find a compromise,
16 depending on class, experience level, and available equipment (use the
17 'C'haracter screen to see how various weapons affect your melee skill).
19 You may wield both a primary weapon for melee combat, and a bow or
20 other missile launcher for launching missiles at the same time. Most
21 classes will benefit from carrying an assortment of attacking magical
24 ***** <DistanceAttack>
25 --- Attacking from a Distance ---
27 You can attack creatures from a distance by firing a missile from a bow
28 or other missile launcher, by throwing an object or by using magical
29 items such as wands, rods and staffs. If you have chosen to play a
30 spell casting class, you may be able to learn some spells which allow
31 you to attack a creature from a distance. You can use distance attacks
32 even when your target is next to you.
34 Whenever you give a command to fire a weapon, cast a spell, or use an
35 attacking magical device (unless the spell or device has an area
36 effect), you will be prompted for a direction. You may choose any of
37 the eight movement directions or press '*' to enter targeting mode. A
38 detailed explanation of targeting mode can be found in the section on
39 Command Descriptions (see commdesc.txt#ThrowFire [b]).
41 You may also wish to make use of the use_old_target option which
42 automatically selects the last target. This prevents you from having to
43 target the same monster every time you attack it. An explanation of
44 this option is found the section on User Interface Options (see
45 option.txt#UserInterface [c]).
48 --- Attacking Monsters in Walls ---
50 You should note that some creatures, for example ghosts, can pass
51 through the dungeon walls. You can attack a creature in a wall with
52 your weapon by trying to move into the wall space which contains the
53 creature. If the creature is invisible and you do not have the ability
54 to see invisible creatures, you must tunnel into the wall space
55 containing the creature.
57 Bolt spells do full damage to a creature in a wall, but ball spells
58 will be stopped and blow up just in front of a wall and do only half
59 damage. Inversely, when you have ghost like form and are in a wall,
60 you will take only half damage from ball spells and breaths of
61 monsters, which is a very important privilege.
66 Carrying a weapon in your backpack does you no good. You must wield a
67 weapon before it can be used in a fight. A secondary weapon can be kept
68 by keeping it in the backpack, and switching it with the primary weapon
71 Weapons have two main magical characteristics, their enchanted ability
72 to hit and their enchanted ability to do damage, expressed as
73 `(+#,+#)'. A normal weapon would be `(+0,+0)'. Many weapons in Bakabakaband
74 have bonuses to hit and/or do damage. Some weapons are cursed, and have
75 penalties that hurt the player. Cursed weapons cannot be unwielded
76 until the curse is lifted. Identifying a weapon will inform you of the
77 magical bonuses and penalties and whether or not it is cursed.
79 Bakabakaband assumes that your youth in the rough environment near the
80 dungeons has taught you the relative merits of different weapons, and
81 displays as part of their description the damage dice which define
82 their capabilities. Any damage enchantment is added to the dice roll
83 for that weapon. The dice used for a given weapon is displayed as
84 "#d#". The first number indicates how many dice to roll, and the second
85 indicates how many sides they have. A "2d6" weapon will give damage
86 from 2 to 12, plus any damage bonus. The weight of a weapon is also a
87 consideration. Heavy weapons may hit harder, but they are also harder
88 to use. Depending on your strength, dexterity, character class, and
89 weapon weight, you may get several attacks per turn.
93 === Missile Launchers ===
95 Firing a missile while wielding the appropriate launcher is the only
96 way to get the "full" power out of the missile. You may of course throw
97 an arrow at a monster without firing it from a bow, but you will find
98 the effects may not be what you had hoped. Slings will fire pebbles or
99 shots, bows will fire arrows and crossbows will fire bolts. Missiles of
100 varying type and quality can be bought in the town and may be found
101 throughout the dungeon.
103 Missile launchers, have their characteristics added to those of the
104 missile used, if the proper weapon/missile combination is used, and the
105 launcher multiplier is applied to the total damage, making missile
106 weapons very powerful given the proper missiles. This is especially
107 true if both the launcher and the missile are enchanted.
109 Hits and misses are determined by your ability to hit versus your
110 target's armor class. A hit is a strike that does some damage; a miss
111 may in fact reach a target, but fails to do any damage. Higher armor
112 class makes it harder to do damage, and so leads to more misses; it
113 will also reduce the damage from a strike that actually occurs.
115 The varying types of missile launchers each have their own strengths
116 and weaknesses. Which can be summarized as follows:
118 Shots per turn Multiplier
122 Light Crossbow: 0.83 3
123 Heavy Crossbow: 0.75 4
125 Bows tend to be good at dealing constant streams of damage. A sling is
126 good for killing many small monsters - it even does more damage per
127 round than a short bow if you can carry enough ammunition. Crossbows
128 deal enormous amounts of damage in one shot. However, the reload time
129 is such that a longbow will deal more damage over time.
131 Certain classes automatically receive additional shots as they become
132 more experienced. Rangers and Cavalry receive some additional shots
133 with a bow. Rogues receive some extra shots with a sling. Archers and
134 Warriors receive some additional shots with any missile launcher.
138 == Ego Weapons and Artifacts ===
140 In addition to the ordinary weapons your character may find in the
141 dungeon, some of them may be endowed with additional powers. These
142 weapons fall into two types: (1) artifacts; and (2) ego weapons. Unlike
143 artifacts which are unique and may only be found once in each game, it
144 is not unusual to find several ego weapons of the same type during the
145 course of a character's adventures.
147 In general, artifacts and ego weapons may boost one or more of your
148 primary statistics, may confer certain abilities upon your character,
149 may grant resistance to certain forms of attack and may be especially
150 deadly against certain types of creature. Take note that if your weapon
151 has two attributes that make it deadly to your opponent (for example
152 you are fighting a demon and your weapon slays both evil and demons
153 (demons are evil)), only the most effective slay will apply.
156 A magical weapon that actually helps the wielder defend himself,
157 by increasing his/her armor class, and providing resistance
158 against damage from fire, cold, acid and lightning attacks. It also
159 grants levitation, increases your stealth, let you see invisible
160 creatures and protects from paralyzation and some slowing attacks.
161 It also helps you regenerate hit-points and mana faster.
164 A Holy Avenger is one of the more powerful of weapons. It will
165 increase your wisdom and your armor class and prevent you from
166 becoming afraid. This weapon will do extra damage when used against
167 evil, demonic and undead creatures, and will also give you the
168 ability to see invisible creatures. These weapons are also blessed
169 and so can be wielded by priests with no penalty.
171 Weapon of Westernesse
172 A Weapon of Westernesse is one of the more powerful weapons. It
173 slays orcs, trolls and giants while increasing your strength,
174 dexterity, and constitution. It also allows you to see invisible
175 creatures and protects from paralyzation and some slowing attacks.
178 A Trump Weapon is especially deadly against evil creatures and will
179 increase your ability to discover hidden dungeon features. It will
180 help you regenerate hit-points and mana faster and at the same time
181 will reduce your rate of food consumption. It provides resistance
182 to nexus and protects from paralyzation and some slowing attacks.
183 In addition it may cause you to teleport randomly and can be
184 activated for teleport once every 50+1d50 turns.
187 A Pattern Weapon has been embedded with a fragment of the Pattern.
188 It will increase your strength and constitution and also has a
189 chance of increasing your dexterity. It is especially effective
190 when used against evil, undead and demonic creatures. It will allow
191 you to see invisible creatures and protects from paralyzation and
192 some slowing attacks.
195 A blessed blade will increase your wisdom and can be wielded by
196 priests with no penalty.
198 Weapon of Extra Attacks
199 These weapons will grant the user additional attacks per round.
201 Weapon of Sharpness (edged weapon only)
202 These are known to occasionally score vorpal hits (see below) and
203 will also increase your ability to tunnel through the dungeon
206 Weapon of Earthquakes (hafted weapon only)
207 These weapons may cause an earthquake when they strike an opponent
208 which potentially may cause other monsters in the area to take
209 damage from falling rocks and will destroy a small portion of the
210 surrounding dungeon. They also increase your ability to tunnel
211 through the dungeon walls.
214 These weapons have a chance of being granted unusually high damage
218 These digging implements increase your ability to tunnel through
219 the dungeon walls, and have the acid brand (see below).
221 --- The Elemental and Other Brands ---
224 These bizarre, feared weapons have been manufactured in the Courts
225 of Chaos, and are very unpredictable in combat often producing
226 chaotic effects when they strike your opponent. Effects include
227 *destruction*, teleport away and vampiric drain among others. A
228 Chaotic weapon grants resistance to chaos attacks and cannot be
229 damaged by acid, fire and electricity.
232 These foul weapons have been created by Death magic. They lust for
233 blood, and if such a weapon scores a hit, it greedily sucks life
234 from the hapless victim, transferring the life energy to its
235 master and healing them in the process.
238 A magical weapon of acid that will inflict damage with 2.5 times
239 the normal dice when used against a creature that is not resistant
240 to acid. It also provides resistance against acid attacks.
243 A magical weapon of lightning that will inflict damage with 2.5
244 times the normal dice when used against a creature that is not
245 resistant to electricity. It also provides resistance against
249 A magical weapon of ice that will inflict damage with 2.5 the
250 normal dice when used against a creature that is not resistant to
251 cold. It also provides resistance against cold attacks.
254 A magical weapon of fire that will inflict damage with 2.5 the
255 normal dice when used against a creature that is not resistant to
256 fire. It also provides resistance against fire attacks.
259 A magical weapon, coated with poison, that will inflict damage
260 with 2.5 times the normal dice to creatures not resistant to
261 poison. It also provides resistance against toxic and poisonous
265 This weapon will attack monsters with your mana power and will
266 inflict damage with 3.5 times the normal dice.
268 --- Weapons of Slay {Monster-Type} ---
270 Weapon of Slay Animal
271 This weapon is especially effective against natural creatures and
272 will inflict damage with 2.5 times the normal dice against such
276 This weapon is especially effective against evil creatures and
277 will inflict damage with two times the normal dice against such
281 This weapon is especially effective against human type beings and
282 will inflict damage with 2.5 times the normal dice against such
285 Weapon of Slay Undead
286 This weapon is especially effective against undead creatures and
287 will inflict three times the normal dice against such
288 creatures. It will also provide resistance to life draining
292 This weapon is especially effective against demonic creatures and
293 will inflict damage with three times the normal dice against such
297 This weapon is especially effective against orcs and will inflict
298 damage with three times the normal dice against such creatures.
301 This weapon is especially effective against trolls and will
302 inflict damage with three times the normal dice against such
306 This weapon is especially effective against giant humanoids and
307 will inflict damage with three times the normal dice against such
310 Weapon of Slay Dragon
311 This weapon is especially effective against dragons and will
312 inflict damage with three times the normal dice against such
315 --- Weapons of *Slay* {Monster-Type} ---
317 Weapon of *Slay* Animal
318 This weapon is especially effective against natural creatures and
319 will inflict damage with four times the normal dice against such
320 creatures, and allows wielder to sense the presence of natural
321 creatures. It will also increase your intelligence and allow you
322 to regenerate hit-points and mana faster.
324 Weapon of *Slay* Evil
325 This weapon is especially effective against evil creatures and
326 will inflict damage with 3.5 times the normal dice against such
327 creatures, and allows wielder to sense the presence of evil
328 creatures. It will increase your wisdom and will also be a
331 Weapon of *Slay* Human
332 This weapon is especially effective against human type beings and
333 will inflict damage with four times the normal dice against such
334 beings, and allows wielder to sense the presence of Humans. It
335 will increase your dexterity.
337 Weapon of *Slay* Undead
338 This weapon is especially effective against undead creatures and
339 will inflict damage with five times the normal dice against such
340 creatures, and allows wielder to sense the presence of undead
341 creatures. It will increase your wisdom and will also provide
342 resistance to both nether and life-draining attacks. Finally, it
343 will allow you to see invisible creatures.
345 Weapon of *Slay* Demon
346 This weapon is especially effective against demonic creatures and
347 will inflict damage with five times the normal dice against such
348 creatures, and allows wielder to sense the presence of demonic
349 creatures. It will also increase your intelligence.
352 This weapon is especially effective against orcs and will inflict
353 damage with five times the normal dice against such creatures, and
354 allows wielder to sense the presence of orcs. It will also
355 increase your dexterity.
357 Weapon of *Slay* Troll
358 This weapon is especially effective against trolls and will
359 inflict damage with five times the normal dice against such
360 creatures, and allows wielder to sense the presence of trolls. It
361 will also increase your strength.
363 Weapon of *Slay* Giant
364 This weapon is especially effective against giant humanoids and
365 will inflict damage with five times the normal dice against such
366 creatures, and allows wielder to sense the presence of giant
367 humanoids. It will also increase your strength.
369 Weapon of *Slay* Dragon
370 This weapon is especially effective against dragons and will
371 inflict damage with five times the normal dice against such
372 creatures, and allows wielder to sense the presence of dragons.
373 It will also increase your constitution.
376 --- Missile Launchers ---
379 These missile launchers have an unusually high bonus to hit.
382 These missile launchers have an unusually high bonus to dam.
384 Launcher of Extra Might
385 These missile launchers have an unusually high damage multiplier.
387 Launcher of Extra Shots
388 These missile launchers grant additional shots per round.
392 Ammunition of Hurt Animal
393 This ammunition is especially effective against natural creatures
394 and will do 1.7 times the normal damage against such creatures.
396 Ammunition of Hurt Evil
397 This ammunition is especially effective against evil creatures and
398 will do 1.5 times the normal damage against such creatures.
400 Ammunition of Hurt Dragon
401 This ammunition is especially effective against dragons and will do
402 three two the normal damage against such creatures.
404 Ammunition of Shocking
405 This ammunition will inflict 1.7 times the normal damage when
406 used against a creature that is not resistant to electricity.
409 This ammunition will inflict 1.7 times the normal damage when
410 used against a creature that is not resistant to fire.
413 This ammunition will inflict 1.7 times the normal damage when
414 used against a creature that is not resistant to cold.
416 Ammunition of Slaying
417 This ammunition will have unusually large damage dice.
419 Ammunition of Wounding
420 This ammunition will have unusually large bonuses +to-hit and
425 Apart from these there are some very rare and well made blades in the
426 dungeon. These include Blades of Chaos (which grant resistance to
427 chaos), Maces of Disruption (which are especially effective against
428 undead creatures) and Scythes of Slicing (which may score vorpal hits).
430 Note on Vorpal Weapons: A weapon with the vorpal flag will have a
431 1-in-6 chance of doing additional damage each time it strikes. If it
432 passes the roll it has a chance of doing it again. This continues until
433 a roll is failed. The calculations are nasty but the net effect is an
434 average 22% increase in damage output.
438 === Magical Aids to Physical Combat ===
440 There are several magical means of increasing your physical combat
441 ability. The most common of these are potions of heroism and berserk
442 strength and various scrolls (blessing, holy prayer, etc.). Typically,
443 these grant small cumulative bonuses to your combat skill. Some magic
444 realms contain equivalent spells.
450 The Monk and ForceTrainer are designed to be barehanded fighters
451 rather than using a weapon like the other Bakabakaband classes. As a
452 Monk's level increases the number of attacks they get per round
453 increases and new, increasingly powerful attacks become
454 available. Higher level attacks have a chance to stun the Monk's
457 While the type of attack that a Monk uses for each blow is chosen at
458 random from the list of available attacks, at higher levels there is a
459 bias towards the attacks which do greater damage. This is because at
460 these levels, the game will roll several times for each blow with the
461 highest attack type chosen.
464 ***** <MonkAttackTypes>
465 --- Monks Attack Types ---
467 Attack Name Min.lvl Damage Stun Notes
468 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
472 Knee 5 2d4 * Likely to stun male opponents
475 Ankle Kick 11 3d6 - May slow down the opponent
480 Eagle's Claw 28 7d9 -
481 Circle Kick 32 8d10 10
483 Flying Kick 39 8d12 12
484 Dragon Fist 43 9d12 16
485 Crushing Blow 48 10d13 18
489 === Basic Tactics ===
494 Not recommended in Bakabakaband: monsters move at irregular speeds.
499 Requires a large room, Phase Door, and some type of missile weapon.
500 Stand at one end of the room, your enemy at the other. Fire your
501 missile weapon at him until he gets close, and then Phase Door. Fire
502 again, until he gets close, and repeat. By the time you run out of
503 ammunition, he should be dead or weak enough for you to finish him HTH
509 Requires Teleport items. Fight the monster until you're almost dead,
510 teleport out, find him, and resume fighting. This is dangerous, because
511 you could teleport right next to some nasty that will kill you. Also,
512 it is not generally useful for killing unique monsters, as they
513 regenerate damage very quickly, and by the time you find them again,
514 they will have healed what you did to them.
517 The Anti-Summoning Corridor
518 ---------------------------
519 Requires a little time to set up. This can be done just about anywhere.
520 Dig a twisting corridor into the rock, and station yourself at one end
521 of it. When your opponent arrives, he won't be able to summon any
522 monsters next to you. This is a very important technique for fighting
523 many higher-end monsters which very quickly bring in a horde of other
528 Original : (??) Chris Weisiger and Leon Marrick
530 Updated : Zangband DevTeam
531 Updated : Bakabakaband 1.5.2
533 ***** Begin Hyperlinks
534 ***** [b] commdesc.txt#ThrowFire
535 ***** [c] option.txt#UserInterface