============================== Non-magical Combat ============================= Without using magic, you may attack monsters hand-to-hand (melee), with missile weapons, or by throwing objects at them. Rogues may steal from monsters and druids use various barehanded attacks. -- Theory of Non-magical Combat -- Oangband non-magical combat takes some getting used to. However you attack a monster, whether in melee or by shooting or throwing missiles, the weapon or object's base number of damage dice are _cumulatively multiplied_ by any and all applicable modifiers. Actual damage is determined by rolling the final number of dice. Example: -you hit a critter with a dagger (1d4): roll one die. -it's a weapon of slay Troll, and critter is a Troll: roll two dice. -you get a critical hit for 2x damage: roll four dice. -you have a total bonus to Deadliness of 100%: roll eight dice. roll eight dice, each of four sides, and you'll end up doing something close to 20 points of damage. -- Melee Combat -- 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. As you will shortly discover, up- grading to weapons with higher base damages is vital but heavy weapons are very hard to master. You will have to find a compromise, depending on class, exper- ience level, and available equipment (use the 'C'haracter screen to see how various weapons affect your melee skill). Magical aids to combat (Bless, Heroism, and Berserk) can make all the difference when fighting tough monsters. Managing Weapons and Shields: Most melee weapons fit comfortably in one hand, keeping your shield arm free. If you have a shield on your arm, you can automatically take advantage of opportunities to bash, gain a significant amount of standard protection (shield have a high base armour class), and sometimes even deflect non-magical missiles or partially protect against shards. Other weapons require two hands (but many of these can be wielded in one hand by very strong players). Any shield worn is transferred to your back. This reduces armour protection, removes the special shield abilities above, but has no effect on magical resistances or other attributes. Attacking: If you move your character into a square containing a monster, you will attack that monster. If you are wielding no weapon, and are not a Druid (who actually much prefer to fight barehanded), you will do very little damage. If you are wielding a weapon, things are a little diff- erent. Number of Blows: On your character screen ('C') is displayed the number of blows you can get per turn. If you are wielding no weapon, you get two blows. If your weapon is too heavy for you to wield properly, you get one blow. Otherwise, you get between two and four blows, depending solely on weapon weight, Dexterity, and Strength. Your Weapon: All weapons have damage dice, displayed after their name. When you hit a monster with a Dagger (1d4), you start off rolling one die with four sides. In addition to damage dice, weapons may also have magical bonuses to Skill and to Deadliness (e.g. a Dagger (1d4) (+6, +5)), and various brands and slays (e.g. a Dagger of Fire (1d4) (+10, +10)). For full information on possible weapon qualities, see the help file "equip.txt". What Happens When You Hit a Monster: If you hit a monster with a dagger, you start off rolling one die. One after the other, critical hits, brands/slays, and the Deadliness bonus multiply the number of dice you roll. Get a good hit in with a Dagger of Fire while wearing a Ring of Deadliness, and you can easily end up rolling 6 dice or more (6d4). Let's look at the damage dice multi- pliers in turn: Combat Skill: Your total combat skill not only allows you even to hit a monster, but also determines how often you get critical hits. The more skilled you are, the better those critical hits. Although critical hits are vital for any serious fighter using any weapon in Oangband, weapons with low base damages (less than 2d5) benefit even more (up to twice as much). It is quite easy for a Rogue to stick a dagger in his foe for four or six times normal damage. You know you just got a critical hit when you get any combat message other than "you hit" (or punch) "the <>". Brands and Slays: Some remarkable weapons do extra damage to various kinds of monsters; a Dagger of Fire, for instance, would do extra damage to creatures not immune to fire. Same story for all the other special brands you may find. Slays, in contrast, do extra damage to particular monster races, so wield that Mace of Orc Slaying if you come upon any orcs. Only the best applicable ego-quality is used; they do not combine. Deadliness: (formerly called the plus to damage) As you descend deeper into the dungeon, a character relying on melee will need to play careful attention to Deadliness. It acts as a percentage bonus (you may inspect your current bonus on the character screen). High-level characters may have bonuses of 200% displayed on their character screens, and therefore triple the number of dice they roll on every blow with the Deadliness multiplier alone. Shield Bashes: When fighting hand-to-hand, you will occasionally get in a shield bash, if you are wearing a shield on your arm. The frequency of shield bashes depends on Dexterity, melee combat skill, and the level of monster you are fighting. Warriors and Paladins get in more shield bashes. The effectiveness of shield bashes depends mostly on strength and shield size and weight. When you bash a monster, you will inflict damage, and possibly stunning or even confusion. You may also stumble, and lose normal melee blows. Special Notes: In order to attack a creature that you can't see in a wall or door, you must issue the Tunnel or alter adjacent grid command. -- Shooting Missiles -- Shooting missiles: Ranged fire with missile launchers is a non-magical method of doing damage at a safe distance. As in melee, lighter weapons are much easier to effectively use, but heavier weapons can do enormous damage in skilled hands. Skill and Deadliness bonuses are used from all equipped items other than your melee weapon. As in melee, magical aids to combat (Bless and Heroism) can make all the difference, but note that Berserkers make lousy archers and throwers. Setting up to Shoot: Slings shoot shots and seeker shots, bows shoot arrows and seeker arrows, and crossbows shoot bolts and seeker bolts. Simply equip the weapon and keep plenty of the ammo on hand and you're ready. The Quiver Slots: Ammo is best kept in special quiver slots. You may "wield" up to ten different groups of ammo, then fire them just as you would those in the backpack. Ammo in the quiver will use space in your backpack. Attacking: You shoot at a monster by typing 'f' (or 't' in the roguelike command set), then selecting a missile you would like to fire. This activates the targeting interface described in the help file "cmddesc.txt". Number of Shots: On your character screen ('C') is displayed the number of shots you can get per turn. The number of shots depends on class and level, plus any bonus shots that the weapon provides. Unlike in melee, extra shots are not fired all at once (to avoid wasted ammo). Instead, each shot takes less time, making monsters appear to move in slow motion. Your Launcher and Ammo: All launchers have a multiplier to damage, for example a Longbow (x3) would multiply the damage dice of the ammo it fires by three. Like melee weapons, launchers can have plusses to Skill and to Deadliness. Unlike such weapons, they can have bonuses to shots, bonuses to their damage multiplier, and cannot impart slays and brands. Ammo also can have bonuses to Skill and to Deadliness, and occasionally possess the same kinds of slays and brands you can find on melee weapons. For full information on possible missile weapon and ammo qualities, see the help file "equip.txt". What Happens When You Hit a Monster: Here, archery and melee are virtually identical, with the biggest difference being that missile weapons have a damage multiplier. After that is figured in, everything works the same. Like in melee, Skill is essential to fighting effectively, having the right slays for tough targets is very handy, and Deadliness can make all the difference in the long run. --- Throwing Objects --- Throwing objects requires less skill than using missile weapons, and can be an important combat method in Oangband. On the other hand, most thrown objects do not benefit from Skill and Deadliness bonuses from other equipped items. For novice adventurers, throwing flasks of oil can be a life-saver, and there are rumours of objects deep in the dungeon that can do large amounts of damage when thrown. Perhaps the most effective use of a high throwing skill is whipping daggers, darts, spears, throwing axes, and throwing hammers at your foes. Such items do benefit from other Skill and Deadliness bonuses. Attacking: To throw an object, you use the 'v' command and select any item in your backpack, on your person, or on the floor. This activates the targeting interface described in the help file "cmddesc.txt". Number of Throws: You may never throw more than one item per turn. Your Thrown Object: All objects have damage dice, but most do not display them. If you think an object should do nasty things to your foes, it's certainly worth trying to throw it at them, just to see if anything happens. Whether or not they display them, all thrown objects may benefit from bonuses to Skill and Deadliness, should they possess any. In addition, throwing weapons may have the same kind of elemental brands and monster slaying abilities as other weapons do. If they possess such special qualities, they may also be perfectly balanced and do even more damage. What Happens When You Hit a Monster: Here, throwing and melee are broadly similar, with four differences: Firstly, throwing weapons have a damage multiplier, which increases as you gain experience levels (it ranges from 2 to 6, or 4 to 12 with perfectly balanced weapons). Secondly, no thrown object other than the special throwing weapons may take advantage of bonuses to Skill or Deadliness granted by your equipment. Thirdly, only throwing weapons can get critical hits when thrown. Finally, thrown objects may break, but throwing weapons only do so rarely. === How to Steal and Set Traps === Only Rogues may steal and set traps. If you type the alter command ('+' in either keyset), enter a direction and target a visible monster, you will attempt to steal. If you target a totally bare floor square, you will set a monster trap. Stealing is lucrative but risky. All monsters that drop anything will have at least some treasure on them. Humans, humanoids, and dragons are the juiciest targets, and most other smart bipedal creatures, nagas, or wraiths are fairly well-off too; the higher the monster level, the larger the purse. Uniques are especially rich. High-level monsters and other thieves are harder to steal from, but sleeping monsters are easier. But burglary is not all fun and games. Every time you steal on a level, the monsters get warier. Steal too often, and you may very quickly get hunted down. Monster traps are trivial to set and disarm. They do a reasonable amount of damage, increasing with player level and monster HPs, but seldom kill a monster of any power outright. Traps may be disarmed or flown over. Only one monster trap may exist on a level at any one time, so disarm an old trap to use your trap gear elsewhere. If your trap is buried in rubble, you will not be able to make any more on that level. === Listing of Druid Blows and their Damage Potential === Name number of dice, sides to each die "punch", 1, 5 "kick", 2, 4 "knee", 1,12 "chop", 2, 7 "uppercut", 3, 6 "boot", 3, 9 "bang on", 6, 4 "slam", 4, 9 "grapple with", 13, 3 "hammer", 9, 6 "head butt", 3,24 "strangle", 8,10 "roundhouse kick", 5,19 "assault", 10,11 "crush", 11,11 "double-kick", 21, 6 "thunderclap belt", 8,19 "blizzard gouge", 14,11 "tsunami whirl", 7,26 "stormwind chop", 10,22 There are twenty possible druid attacks. The highest level attack a druid is capable of depends on his experience level: for example, a 25th level druid can use the first 10 attack types. In combat, druids will automatically pick one at random, biased towards those with the largest damage.