=== Attacking and Being Attacked === Attacking is simple in Angband. If you move into a creature, you attack him. You can attack from a distance by firing a missile or by magical means such as aiming a wand. Creatures attack in the same way. If they move into you, they attack you. Some creatures can also cast spells from a distance, and others can use various breath weapons such as fire on you from a distance. Creatures in walls can not be attacked by wands and other magic attacks normally stopped by walls. You can attack a creature in a wall normally by trying to move into the wall space containing the creature. However, if the creature is invisible (such as a ghost), you must tunnel into the wall containing the creature. If you just try to move into the wall, you will bump your head and look quite silly. If you are wielding a weapon, the damage for the weapon is used when you hit a creature. Otherwise you get a single punch which does minimal damage. You may wield both a primary weapon for melee combat, and a bow or other missile launcher for launching missiles at the same time (along with a light, an amulet, two rings, a helmet, boots, gloves, a shield, a cloak, and body armor). Be sure not to try and kill a dragon with a shovel, it makes you look silly and probably won't work... 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 shooting it, but you will find the effects may not be what you had hoped. Hits and misses are determined by ability to hit versus 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 classes make it harder to do damage, and so lead to more misses; they also reduce the damage from a strike that actually occurs. === Monster Memories === There are hundreds of different creatures in the pits of Angband, many of which have the same letter symbol and color on the screen. The exact species of a creature can be discovered by looking at it. It is also very difficult to keep track of the capabilities of various creatures. Luckily, Angband automatically keeps track of your experiences with a particular creature. This feature is called the monster memory. You monster memory recalls the particular attacks of each creature (whether or not technically a monster) which you have suffered, as well as recalling if you have observed them to multiply or move erratically, or drop treasure, etc. Otherwise you would simply have to take notes, which is an unnecessary bother. If you have killed enough of a particular creature, or suffered enough attacks, recalling the monster memory may also provide you with information not otherwise available, such as a armor class or hit dice. These are not explained, but may be useful to give the relative danger of each creature. This memory can be passed on to a new character even after you die by means of a reduced save file. === Your Weapon === 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 Angband 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. Angband assumes that your youth in the rough environment near the dungeons has taught you the relative merits of different weapons, and 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 booster weapons, such as bows, have their characteristics added to those of the missile used, if the proper weapon/missile combination is used, and the the launcher multiplier is applied to the total damage, making missile weapons very powerful given the proper missiles, especially if they are enchanted. Although you receive any magical bonuses an unidentified weapon may possess when you wield it, those bonuses will not be added in to the displayed values of to-hit and to-dam on your character sheet. You must identify the weapon before the displayed values reflect the real values used. Finally, some rare weapons have special abilities. These are called ego weapons, and are feared by great and meek. An ego weapon must be wielded to receive the benefit of its abilities. Ego weapons are denoted by the following "names": (note - these descriptions are more or less out of date) (Defender) A magical weapon that actually helps the wielder defend himself, thus increasing his/her armour class, and protecting him/her against damage from fire, cold, acid, lightning, and falls. This weapon also will increase your stealth, let you see invisible creatures, protect you from paralyzation and some slowing attacks, and help you regenerate hit points and mana faster. As a result of the regeneration ability, you will use up food somewhat faster than normal while wielding such a weapon. (Holy Avenger) A Holy Avenger is one of the more powerful of weapons. A Holy Avenger will increase your wisdom and your armour class. 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 basically extremely powerful versions of Blessed Blades and can be wielded by priests with no penalty. (Blessed Blade) A blessed blade will increase your wisdom. If you are a priest, wielding a non-blessed sword or polearm causes a small penalty while attacking and may infuriate your god, decreasing the chances that he will accept your prayers. Blade of Sharpness These weapons are known to score very deadly hits. (Trump Weapon) A trump weapon is a curious object. Its full powers are not known, but it can teleport its wielder, when it chooses to (provided its wielder gives it the permission for a teleport). (Chaotic) These bizarre, feared weapons have been manufactured in the Courts of Chaos, and they are powered by the Logrus itself. They are very unpredictable in combat: the Logrus can provide a number of various effects when it touches your opponent. (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. Weapon of Freezing A magical weapon of ice that delivers a cold critical to creatures not resistant to cold. It will inflict thrice the normal damage when used against such a creature. It also defends you against cold and frost attacks. Weapon of Burning A magical weapon of fire that delivers a heat critical to creatures not resistant to fire. It will inflict thrice the normal damage when used against such a creature. It also defends you against fire and heat attacks. Weapon of Poisoning A magical weapon, coated with poison that delivers a poison critical to creatures not resistant to poison. It also defends you against toxic and poisonous attacks. Weapon of Westernesse A Weapon of Westernesse is one of the more powerful weapons. It slays orcs while increasing your strength, dexterity, and constitution. It also lets you see invisible creatures and protects from paralyzation and some slowing attacks. These blades were made by the Dunedain. (Pattern Weapon) A Pattern Weapon has been embedded with a fragment of the Pattern. As a result, it is very deadly against the minions of Chaos. A rumour has it that they are at least as powerful as Weapons of Westernesse, or even the weaker artifacts... Weapon of Slay Dragon A Slay Dragon weapon is a special purpose weapon whose sole intent is to destroy dragon-kind. Therefore, when used against a dragon, the amount of damage done is three times the normal amount. Weapon of Slay Evil A Slay Evil weapon is a special purpose weapon whose sole intent is to destroy all forms of evil. When used against an evil creature, either alive or undead, the damage done is twice the normal amount. Some of these weapons are also Blessed Blades. Weapon of Slay Animal A Slay Animal weapon is a special purpose weapon whose sole intent is to destroy all the dangerous animals in the world. An animal is any creature natural to the world. Therefore an orc would not be an animal, but a giant snake would be. This will inflict twice the normal amount of damage when used against an animal. Weapon of Slay Undead A Slay Undead weapon is a special purpose weapon whose sole intent is to destroy all forms of undead. These weapons are hated and feared by the intelligent undead, for a single blow from this weapon will inflict three times the normal amount of damage. This weapon also gives you the ability to see invisible creatures, which is especially useful against undead, since many of them are normally invisible. Some of these weapons have the additional ability to protect against the life-draining attacks that many undead creatures possess. Weapon of Slay Orc A Slay Orc weapon does treble damage against anything of orcish-kind. Often these are elvish blades. Weapon of Slay Troll A Slay Troll weapon does treble damage against anything of troll-kind. Often these are elvish blades. Weapon of Slay Giant A Slay Giant weapon does treble damage against anything of giant-humanoidal form. Weapon of Slay Demon A Slay Demon weapon does treble damage against anything of Hellish nature such as the Minor and Major Demons. Whips of Fire These are one of the balrogs' favorite weapons, delivering heat criticals just like a weapon of Flame. Weapon of Morgul. These blades are so foully cursed with evil, it is rumored that it is impossible to remove them. BEWARE! Apart from these there are some very rare and well made blades in the dungeon with not necessarily any special abilities. These include Blades of Chaos, Maces of Disruption, and Scythes of Slicing. They can also be ego weapons like the ones above. For example, a Blade of Chaos (Holy Avenger) is much more powerful than many artifact weapons! For artifact weapons, see "rumors.hlp". === Body and Shield Bashes === Weight is the primary factor in being able to bash something, but strength plays a role too. After bashing, a character may be off balance for several rounds depending upon his dexterity. Doors can be broken down by bashing them. Once a door is bashed open, it is forever useless and cannot be closed. Finally, a creature may be bashed. If a shield is currently being worn, the bash is a shield bash and will do more damage. In either case, a bash may throw an opponent off balance for a number of rounds, allowing a player to get in a free hit or more. If the player is thrown off balance, his opponent may get free hits on him. This is a risky attack. It is also a hack. :-) === Your Armor Class === Your armor class (or AC) is a number that describes the amount and the 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 armour or by magical means. 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 manners. One, it makes you harder to be hit for damage. A hit for no damage is the same as a miss. Two, good armor will absorb some of the damage that your character would have taken from normal attacks. Three, 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 Angband. Each piece of armour 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 that 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! Some pieces of armor will possess special abilities denoted by the following names: (these are very out of date!) of Resist Acid. A character using such an object will take only one third normal damage from any acid thrown upon him. In addition, armor so enchanted will resist the acid's effects and not be damaged by it. of Resist Lightning. A character using a resist lightning object will take only one third damage from electrical attacks. of Resist Fire. A character using a resist fire object will take only one third damage from heat and fire. of Resist Cold. A character using a resist cold object will take only one third damage from frost and cold. of Resistance. A character wearing armor with this ability will have resistance to Acid, Cold, Fire, and Lightning as explained in each part above. of Elvenkind. This is the same as Resistance armour, only generally better enchanted. It will make you more stealthy. This armor can also possess extra resistances beyond the four basic elemental ones. Robes of the Magi. These robes are designed especially for wizards. Just like Elvenkind armor, they provide resistance to fire, cold, acid, and electricity and cannot be damaged by acid. They sustain all of your stats and protect you from a good deal of all experience draining. Also like Elvenkind armor, they can have additional special resistances. These robes are so good that their owners are rarely killed, perhaps explaining the incredible rarity. Crown of Might This is the great crown of the warriors. The wearer will have an increased strength, dexterity, and constituion, and will also be immune to any foe's attempt to slow or paralyze him or her. Crown of the Magi This is the great crown of the wizards. The wearer will have an increased intelligence, and will also be given resistance against fire, frost, acid, and lightning. Crown of Lordliness This is the great crown of the priests. The wearer will have an increased wisdom and charisma. Crown of Seeing This is the great crown of the rogues. The wearer will be able to see even invisible creatures, and will have an increased ability to locate traps and secret doors. Crown of Regeneration This crown 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 crown because of the regenerative effects. Crown of Beauty This crown looks impressive and will increase your charisma, but is otherwise not useful. Dragon Scale Mails. These extremely rare pieces of armour come in many different colors, each protecting you against the relevent dragons. Naturally they are all resistant to acid damage. They also occasionally allow you to breathe as a dragon would! Apart from these there are some very rare, and well made armours in the dungeon with not necessarily any special abilities. These include Shields of Deflection, Adamantite Plate Mail, Mithril Plate Mail, Mithril Chain Mail, and Shadow Cloaks. The first four cannot be damaged by acid because of the quality metals they contain.