=== Defending Yourself ===
 
In Zangband, 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 wielding 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 you 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 cuts 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. Full details of monsters melee ability may be found in the
section on Monsters (see monster.txt).

Many monsters also have an array of magical spells which they may use
against you and others can use various breath attacks on 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 move down deeper into the dungeon in search of better items,
you will need to steadily improve your defenses against pure damage,
wounds, stunning, bolts, balls, and breaths of various kinds,
reductions of exp and stats, theft, and a variety of miscellaneous
magical attacks.

***** <Armor>
=== 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
armor or by magical means. Note the spell casters receive a penalty
to their maximum mana for wielding armor that is too heavy. In addition,
monks lose much of their bare handed 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 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 Zangband. 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!


***** <ResistingMagic>
=== 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 monster breaths. 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 Zangband 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 attack 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, an {Armor-type} of Resist Acid 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 and it may also be gained from one of the many
possible mutations. This temporary effect is cumulative with the
permanent effect and will increase your protection against these kinds
of attacks.


***** <EgoArtifact>
=== Ego Armor and Artifacts ===

In addition to the ordinary armor items your character may find in
the dungeon, some of them may be endowed with additional powers.
These armors are fall into two types(1) artifacts; and (2) ego armors.
Unlike artifacts which are unique and may only be found once in each
game, it is not unusual to find several ego armors of the same type
during the course of a character's adventures.

In general, artifacts and ego armors 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.

Note: Zangband has extended the original Angband's concept of adding
random abilities to the various Ego types considerably. These can be
either guaranteed or have only a varying chance of being granted. (See
'Randabil.spo' for details of the random powers of Ego Armor).


--- Armor/Shields ---

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 armor, only generally better
     enchanted. It will also make you more stealthy.

of Permanence (Robes Only)
     These robes provide resistance to fire, cold, acid, and
     electricity and cannot be damaged by acid. They also resist life
     draining attacks and sustain all your primary statistics. 

of Reflection (Shields Only)
     These shields reflect missiles and bolt spells preventing damage
     to the player character and often damaging the originating
     monster. The reflection is not 100% effective but nearly so. 

--- Caps/Helms/Crowns ---

of Intelligence
     This item will both increase and sustain your intelligence.

of Wisdom
     This item and will both increase and sustain your wisdom.

of Beauty
     This item will both increase and sustain your charisma.

of the Magi
     This item will both increase and sustain your intelligence, and
     grants resistance against fire, frost, acid, and lightning.

of Might
     This item will both increase and sustain your strength, dexterity,
     and constitution and will also make you immune to any foe's attempt
     to slow or paralyze you.

of Lordliness
     This item will both increase and sustain your wisdom and charisma.

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 also prevent you from being blinded.

of Infravision
     This item will increase the range of you infravision and grants
     infravision if you are a race which does not get it intrinsically.

of Light
     This item provides a permanent 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
     crown because of the regenerative effects.

--- Cloaks ---

of Protection
     These cloaks cannot be harmed by acid, fire, cold or lightning
     attacks but do not grant resistance to these elements.

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.

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.

--- Gloves/Gauntlets/Sets of Cesti ---

of Free Action
     This item will make you immune to any foe's attempt to slow or
     paralyze you. A mage-type spellcaster who wields them will not
     have their mana penalized.

of Slaying
     In addition to its armor bonus, this item will grant a bonus to
     your +to-hit and +to-dam.

of Agility
     This item will increase your dexterity. A mage-type spellcaster
     who wields them will not have their mana penalized.

of Power
     This item will increase your strength and will also grant a bonus
     to your +to-hit and +to-dam.

--- Boots ---

of Levitation
     These boots will grant you levitation.

of Stealth
     These boots will make your character more stealthy.

of Free Action
     This item will make you immune to any foe's attempt to slow or
     paralyze you.

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 relevant dragons.
     Naturally they are all resistant to acid damage. They also
     occasionally allow you to breathe as a dragon would!

Dragon Shields and Helms
     These shields and helms have a chance of granting one or more 
     random resistances.

Other items
     Apart from these there are some very rare, and well made armors
     in the dungeon with not necessarily any special abilities. These
     include Adamantite Plate Mail, Mithril Plate Mail, Mithril Chain
     Mail, Shields of Deflection, and Shadow Cloaks. The first four
     cannot be damaged by acid because of the quality metals they
     contain. Shadow Cloaks grant resistance to both light and darkness
     attacks.


***** <Resistances>
=== The Resistances ===

This section describes the various attack-types available to monsters
and how they may be resisted.

Acid
    Acid resistance will cut damage from acid attacks by two-thirds.
    Temporary resistance will cut further damage by another two-thirds.
    This means that a character with both permanent and temporary
    resistance will only take one-ninth of the original damage. Acid
    resistance will also protect your wielded equipment from being
    corroded by acid but will not protect items in your inventory from
    being destroyed by acid if they are susceptible to such attacks.

Fire
    Fire resistance will cut damage from fire attacks by two-thirds.
    Temporary resistance will cut further damage by another two-thirds.
    This means that a character with both permanent and temporary
    resistance will only take one-ninth of the original damage. Fire
    resistance will not protect items in your inventory from being
    destroyed by fire if they are susceptible to such attacks.

Cold
    Cold resistance will cut damage from cold attacks by two-thirds.
    Temporary resistance will cut further damage by another two-thirds.
    This means that a character with both permanent and temporary
    resistance will only take one-ninth of the original damage. Cold
    resistance will not protect items in your inventory from being
    destroyed by fire if they are susceptible to such attacks.

Electricity
    Electricity resistance will cut damage from fire attacks by
    two-thirds. Temporary resistance will cut further damage by another
    two-thirds. This means that a character with both permanent and
    temporary resistance will only take one-ninth of the original
    damage. Electricity resistance will not protect items in your
    inventory from being destroyed by fire if they are susceptible to
    such attacks.

Poison
    Poison resistance will cut damage from poison attacks by
    two-thirds. Temporary resistance will cut further damage by another
    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 - this is prevented if you
    have confusion resistance

Light
    Light breaths 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.

Dark
    Dark breaths damage the player and cause blindness as a
    side-effect.  Dark resistance reduces the damage and also
    prevents blindness caused from dark attacks (but not from other
    attacks. In addition, some high-level monsters can cast Darkness
    Storms, these are a particularly dangerous form of attack but are
    resisted if you gave Dark 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
    breaths.

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 Zangband 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
    this you will need an item granting anti-teleportation).

Chaos
    Chaos attacks are one of the most dangerous attack types in
    Zangband. They have a relatively high maximum damage, and may also
    confuse the player, cause hallucination, 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
    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 and to-AC bonuses on your wielded equipment being
    reduced. Disenchantment resistance will reduce the damage you take
    and will prevent the disenchantment of your equipment.

***** <Unresistable>
--- Unresistable Attacks ---

There is no resistance to the following types of attacks although some
of their side-effects may be resisted.

Toxic Waste
    Resist poison will resist the damage from Toxic Waste attacks but
    you may still suffer some side effects unless you also have chaos
    resistance.

Time
    Time attacks damage the player, drain experience and may reduce one
    or more of your primary statistics.

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 damage or effects.

Mana and Disintegration
    There is no resistance to the mana and disintegration attacks.

***** <Immunities>
--- Immunities ---

It is also possible that you may find items which grant immunity
to one or (very occasionally) more of the low resistances ie. 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.

***** <Miscellaneous>
--- 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>
=== Recovering from Attacks ===

You cannot combat with the creatures in Zangband 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: Potions and Staves
of Cure Light Wounds, Potions of Cure Serious Wounds, Potions of Cure
Critical Wounds, Potions, Staves and Rods of Healing, Potions of
*Healing* and Potions of Life, from weakest to strongest. Both the Life
and Nature realms contains spells to heal the player.

Cure Light/Serious/Critical Wounds
     these generally restore a small amount of hitpoints and may also
     remove temporary bad effects like confusion, blindness, poison and
     cuts. The amount of hitpoints healed and the number of other bad
     effects cured increases from Light to Serious to Critical.

Healing
     restores 300 hitpoints and removes all temporary bad effects with
     the exception of fear and cures all wounds.

*Healing*
     restores 1000 hitpoints and removes all temporary bad effects and
     cures all wounds

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. The Life realm has
a spell called Restoration which restores any drained experience.

--- 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
Last update: January 13, 2000
