| Item Classes | ||
| " Amulets | [ Armor | |
| % Comestibles | $ Coins | |
| * Gems | ! Potions | |
| = Rings | ? Scrolls | |
| + Spellbooks | ` Statues and Boulders | |
| ( Tools | / Wands | |
| ) Weapons | ||
Armor is an important concern for the hero entering the dungeon and is one of the primary things between you and death. Wearing armor will improve one's armor class, reducing it by the amount shown in the "AC" column in the table below. Some types of armor may also provide "magic cancellation", as shown in the "MC" column below. There are 7 slots for armor: helm, cloak, body armor, shirt, shield, gloves/gauntlets, and boots. Some armor items reduce one's ability to cast spells successfully, particularly shields and metal suits.
BUC[]
If you put on cursed armor, or if it is cursed while you are wearing it, you will be unable to take it off. (The item will be identified as cursed when you try to remove it.) Cursed gloves will also prevent you from putting on or removing rings, and a cursed cloak or suit of body armor will prevent you from wearing or taking off body armor and shirts.
The inconvenience of cursed armor is amplified by the fact that armor generated cursed often also has negative enchantment, and that armor with negative effects tends to be generated cursed most of the time. This is why it is a good idea to check the BUC of a piece of armor before wearing it.
The effects of blessed armor are minor. Blessed armor is more resistant to curses, because it must be made unblessed before it can become cursed. Blessed armor also has a chance of resisting some sources of erosion.
Blessings and curses do not affect the magical abilities of most pieces of armor. A notable exception is a cursed oilskin cloak, which will only protect you from grabbing attacks 2/3 of the time. Similarly, any grease present on cursed armor will only prevent grabbing or mind-flaying attacks 2/3 of the time.
Monsters (pets) and armor[]
Some types of monsters can wear armor and profit from a subset of its magical capabilities. Pets are of main interest here.
- Extrinsic player-type magic resistance is also conveyed to monsters in addition to intrinsic monster magic resistance. Note its scope is smaller than intrinsic magic resistance, e. g. you can retame monsters in gray dragon scale mail.
- Reflection works the same way for monsters as for you.
- Magic cancellation works as for the player.
- Speed boots make a monster only "fast", not "very fast".
- Resistances from dragon scale (mail) work as for you, but not acid resistance from an alchemy smock (poison resistance from a smock does apply for monsters).
- If a monster is polymorphed while wearing dragon scale (mail), it will always turn into the appropriately colored dragon. Since polymorphing is permanent, this results in the armor being lost.
- Monster spellcasting does not seem to be penalized by shields and metal items, in contrast to player spellcasting.
- A (master) mind flayer's attack will be deflected by helmets as for you.
- Autocursing headgear does not become cursed on wearing.
- Levitation and fumbling from worn items are not implemented.
- Jumping boots are wasted, as monsters will not jump.
- Gauntlets of power have no effect on damage calculation in inter-monster combat.
Monsters know armor enchantment and will switch to maximize total armor value, taking into account the base AC an item confers, the enchantment, and erosion, but not the BUC status.[1] However, tame monsters do not pick up any cursed objects.
Table of Armor and Properties[]
| Name | Cost | Weight | AC | Material | Effect | MC | Appearance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shirts | |||||||
| Hawaiian shirt | 3 | 5 | 0 | cloth | Shop | -- | |
| T-shirt | 2 | 5 | 0 | cloth | Shop | -- | |
| Suits | |||||||
| leather jacket | 10 | 30 | 1 | leather | -- | ||
| leather armor | 5 | 150 | 2 | leather | -- | ||
| orcish ring mail | 80 | 250 | 2 | iron | 1 | crude ring mail | |
| studded leather armor | 15 | 200 | 3 | leather | 1 | -- | |
| ring mail | 100 | 250 | 3 | iron | -- | ||
| scale mail | 45 | 250 | 4 | iron | -- | ||
| orcish chain mail | 75 | 300 | 4 | iron | 1 | crude chain mail | |
| chain mail | 75 | 300 | 5 | iron | 1 | -- | |
| elven mithril-coat | 240 | 150 | 5 | mithril | 3 | -- | |
| splint mail | 80 | 400 | 6 | iron | 1 | -- | |
| banded mail | 90 | 350 | 6 | iron | -- | ||
| dwarvish mithril-coat | 240 | 150 | 6 | mithril | 3 | -- | |
| bronze plate mail | 400 | 450 | 6 | copper | -- | ||
| plate mail (tanko) | 600 | 450 | 7 | iron | 2 | -- | |
| crystal plate mail | 820 | 450 | 7 | glass | 2 | -- | |
| Dragon Suits | |||||||
| dragon scales | 500 | 40 | 3 | dragon | Resist% | -- | |
| dragon scale mail | 900 | 40 | 9 | dragon | Resist% | -- | |
| Cloaks | |||||||
| mummy wrapping | 2 | 3 | 0 | cloth | Vis | 1 | -- |
| orcish cloak | 40 | 10 | 0 | cloth | 2 | coarse mantelet | |
| dwarvish cloak | 50 | 10 | 0 | cloth | 2 | hooded cloak | |
| leather cloak | 40 | 15 | 1 | leather | 1 | -- | |
| cloak of displacement | 50 | 10 | 1 | cloth | Displ | 2 | *piece of cloth |
| oilskin cloak | 50 | 10 | 1 | cloth | Water | 3 | slippery cloak |
| alchemy smock | 50 | 10 | 1 | cloth | Poi+Acd | 1 | apron |
| cloak of invisibility | 60 | 10 | 1 | cloth | Invis | 2 | *opera cloak |
| cloak of magic resistance | 60 | 10 | 1 | cloth | Magic | 3 | *ornamental cope |
| elven cloak | 60 | 10 | 1 | cloth | Stlth | 3 | faded pall |
| robe | 50 | 15 | 2 | cloth | Spell | 3 | -- |
| cloak of protection | 50 | 10 | 3 | cloth | Prot | 3 | *tattered cape |
| Helms | |||||||
| fedora | 1 | 3 | 0 | cloth | -- | ||
| dunce cap | 1 | 4 | 0 | cloth | Stupid | conical hat | |
| cornuthaum | 80 | 4 | 0 | cloth | Clair | 2 | conical hat |
| dented pot | 8 | 10 | 1 | iron | -- | ||
| elven leather helm | 8 | 3 | 1 | leather | leather hat | ||
| helmet (kabuto) | 10 | 30 | 1 | iron | *plumed helmet | ||
| orcish helm | 10 | 30 | 1 | iron | iron skull cap | ||
| helm of brilliance | 50 | 50 | 1 | iron | Int+Wis | *etched helmet | |
| helm of opposite alignment | 50 | 50 | 1 | iron | Align | *crested helmet | |
| helm of telepathy | 50 | 50 | 1 | iron | ESP | *visored helmet | |
| dwarvish iron helm | 20 | 40 | 2 | iron | hard hat | ||
| Gloves | |||||||
| leather gloves (yugake) | 8 | 10 | 1 | leather | *old gloves | ||
| gauntlets of dexterity | 50 | 10 | 1 | leather | Dex | *padded gloves | |
| gauntlets of fumbling | 50 | 10 | 1 | leather | Fumble | *riding gloves | |
| gauntlets of power | 50 | 30 | 1 | iron | Str | *fencing gloves | |
| Shields | |||||||
| small shield | 3 | 30 | 1 | wood | -- | ||
| orcish shield | 7 | 50 | 1 | iron | red-eyed | ||
| Uruk-hai shield | 7 | 50 | 1 | iron | white-handed | ||
| elven shield | 7 | 40 | 2 | wood | blue and green | ||
| dwarvish roundshield | 10 | 100 | 2 | iron | large round | ||
| large shield | 10 | 100 | 2 | iron | -- | ||
| shield of reflection | 50 | 50 | 2 | silver | Reflect | polished silver | |
| Boots | |||||||
| low boots | 8 | 10 | 1 | leather | walking shoes | ||
| elven boots | 8 | 15 | 1 | leather | Stlth | *mud boots | |
| kicking boots | 8 | 15 | 1 | iron | Kick | *buckled boots | |
| fumble boots | 30 | 20 | 1 | leather | Fumble | *riding boots | |
| levitation boots | 30 | 15 | 1 | leather | Lev | *snow boots | |
| jumping boots | 50 | 20 | 1 | leather | Jump | *hiking boots | |
| speed boots | 50 | 20 | 1 | leather | Speed | *combat boots | |
| water walking boots | 50 | 20 | 1 | leather | WWalk | *jungle boots | |
| high boots | 12 | 20 | 2 | leather | jackboots | ||
| iron shoes | 16 | 50 | 2 | iron | hard shoes | ||
Appearance
- Those listed with an asterisk (*) are randomized within their armor category.
- Boots with the appearance "snow boots" make ice act like normal terrain (but the Fumble armor property still happens at its normal rate).
- Gloves and boots with the appearance "riding gloves" and "riding boots" give a (non-cumulative) bonus to the chance of successfully saddling a steed.
- Helmets with the appearance "visored helmet" provide defence against the blinding attack of ravens and the spitting attack of cobras.
Materials
| Material | Erosion | Hinders spellcasting? |
|---|---|---|
| bronze | corroded | yes |
| cloth | burnt, rotten | no |
| dragon hide | - | no |
| glass | - | no |
| iron | rusty, corroded | yes |
| leather | burnt, rotten | no |
| mithril | - | yes |
| silver | - | yes |
| wood | burnt, rotten | no |
Effects
| Acd | Gives acid resistance. |
| Align | Changes your alignment, removes protection, and auto-curses. |
| Clair | A Wizard gets clairvoyance and +1 charisma, others block clairvoyance and get -1 charisma. |
| Dex | Adds armor's enchantment to your dexterity. |
| Displ | Gives displacement. |
| ESP | Gives telepathy. |
| Fumble | You will occasionally fumble. |
| Int+Wis | Adds armor's enchantment to your intelligence and wisdom. |
| Invis | Gives invisibility. |
| Jump | Gives jumping at will. The special restrictions for Knights do notapply while this item is worn. |
| Kick | Kicking does additional damage, and grants martial arts bonuses. |
| Lev | Causes levitation. Does NOT prevent you being drowned by monsters. |
| Magic | Gives magic resistance. Does NOT affect magic cancellation. |
| Poison | Gives poison resistance. |
| Prot | An armor with good AC adjustment and magic cancellation. The protection intrinsic it confers doesn't have any effect beyond this. |
| Reflect | Gives reflection. |
| Resist% | Provides resistance according to the color of the dragon:
|
| Shop | If not covered by body armor or cloak, shopkeepers buy and sell at the same rate as inexperienced (level < 15) tourists (buy at 1/3 of and sell at 4/3 of the normal price). |
| Sleep | Gives sleep resistance. |
| Speed | Gives you the speed extrinsic, the same as a potion of speed or spell of haste self. |
| Spell | Spellcasting is more likely to succeed, and reduces the penalty for metallic armour. |
| Stlth | Gives stealth. |
| Str | Increases your strength to 25. |
| Stupid | Your intelligence and wisdom are fixed at 6; auto-curses; shopkeepers buy and sell at the inexperienced Tourist rate. |
| Vis | Overrides invisibility so you are again visible. |
| Water | Protects metal body armor from rusting/corroding (1/3 chance of protection if cursed) and prevents grabbing attacks. |
| WWalk | Allows you to walk on water. Does NOT prevent you being drowned by monsters. |
Strategy[]
Excepting elven armor and a wizard's cornuthaum, armor may only be safely enchanted up to +5 provided that you start from +3 and use a blessed scroll. Elven equipment and cornuthaums may be safely enchanted to +7 provided that you start from +5. Reading a blessed scroll of enchantment while wearing a +5 item, or a +7 elven item, might get you a higher bonus, or might overload and vaporize the item. Thus, by using armor alone, one can reach AC -47, or 57 points of protection, or even higher if one over-enchants. In practice, it is often somewhat below this, as characters give up a better AC for other protections and advantages. For example, a +5 shield of reflection will give 7 AC and reflection, but SDSM will give 14 and reflection, and allow two-weaponing. High boots and iron shoes will give 2 AC, but speed boots will give 1 and "very fast" speed. A cloak of protection gives AC 3, but other cloaks have other benefits.
The typical combination of armor in an ascension kit is
- Helm of telepathy/brilliance or elven leather helm.
- Cloak of magic resistance, displacement, or robe; oilskin cloak in sack. CoD is used if and only if you already have magic resistance from some other source.
- Either gray or silver dragon scale mail.
- Either shirt; no great difference.
- Shield of reflection, possibly, if you don't wish to (or can't) two-weapon and don't mind the spell failure penalty.
- Gauntlets of power for combat; gauntlets of dexterity for spellcaster.
- Speed boots or jumping boots; water walking boots in a bag.
References[]
| This page is based on a spoiler by Dylan O'Donnell. The original license is:
Redistribution, copying, and editing of these spoilers, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
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