Painful Status Effects

During your adventures, you will often be afflicted with temporary 
conditions that limit your effectiveness. These conditions are called 
status effects, and the most notable ones are explained before.

Status effects can be caused by monster attacks, by traps, or by any of 
a number of other causes. A status effect always wears off after a 
while... but not necessarily before you die. The good news is that most 
status effects can be cured, prevented or both - and that many monsters 
find status effects just as debilitating as you do.


Confusion

Confusion is the newbie-killer, the little-death that brings total 
obliteration. A confused player cannot read scrolls, use magical 
spells, or even reliably move in the intended direction. You can still 
use magical devices - though not aim them - which means that once you 
find a Staff of Teleportation you can escape bad situations while 
confused. In the earliest part of the game, though, you probably don't 
have a Staff of Teleportation yet; during this phase of the game, 
confusion is extremely deadly for the unprepared.

Strategies for Handling Confusion in the Early Game

Confusion may take a very long time to wear off, but is actually not 
that hard to cure - Mushrooms of Cure Confusion are cheap and reliably 
found in the Mushroom Store (0), and Potions of Curing also remove all 
confusion. Carrying these items becomes a good idea very early: in 
wilderness mode you should buy mushrooms of Cure Confusion as soon as 
you have completed Warrens (earlier if you can afford it), while with 
wilderness off (Beginner Mode or coffee-break mode) you should have 
them by DL 7.

Not only do you have to be prepared with these items, though, but some 
monsters hit to confuse in melee; if your confusion was originally 
caused by such a monster, curing it might not do much good as you will 
likely just be re-confused the next turn. This is called confusion 
lock, and is best solved (in the absence of a Staff of Teleport) by 
quaffing a Potion of Speed before you start bingeing on mushrooms or 
potions of curing. The extra speed makes immediate re-confusion less 
likely; and even one turn with a clear head is (probably) enough for 
you to read a Scroll of Teleportation.

If all other options are exhausted, you can try to just melee while 
confused; as unreliable as it is, sometimes you will get lucky.

Acquiring your first Staff of Teleportation makes confusion much less 
dangerous, although carrying Mushrooms of Cure Confusion still remains 
a good idea. Once you find your first source of confusion resistance, 
you can drop the confusion-specific mushrooms and rely solely on 
Potions of Curing; one level of confusion resistance is not enough for 
full protection (see [a] below) but works most of the time, and also 
causes confusion to wear off much faster.

After playing for a while, you will learn which early-game monsters 
confuse, and can avoid them or develop strategies against them that 
deprive them of the opportunity.

Turning the Tables

Many monsters, even some high-level uniques, are susceptible to 
confusion; and confused monsters are even less effective than a 
confused player. A confused monster cannot cast spells at all, cannot 
use its breath attacks, and will wander about aimlessly (possibly even 
stumbling into other monsters by mistake)... though you should still 
remain careful; just as you can get lucky hitting things while 
confused, so can a monster. Also, the monster's confusion sometimes 
wears off just when it's least convenient for you.

Confused monsters are indicated by the brown coloring of their health 
bars (e.g. p[*********]).


Paralysis

Being paralyzed inactivates you completely; all you can do is watch as 
the surrounding monsters bash your face in, and hope the paralysis ends 
with you still alive. Needless to say, this situation is best avoided.

Resistance to paralysis follows different rules from most status 
effects, and is based on your level of Free Action with some support 
from your Saving Throw. One source of Free Action gives some protection 
and causes paralysis to wear off faster. Two sources of Free Action 
give complete protection against early-game monsters (up to native 
level 41) and good protection against high-level monsters. Having three 
sources of Free Action provides immunity to paralysis, except in the 
special cases of starvation and the Ancient Foul Curse.

In the very early game, paralysing monsters are few and (with the 
exception of the immobile Cloakers) not very dangerous, so Free Action 
is not immediately necessary. Usually, you will want at least one 
source by around DL 25, or by the time you enter the Old Man Willow 
quest, whichever comes earlier. The effectiveness of "imperfect" Free 
Action (one level of protection in the early game, or one or two levels 
in the late game) depends on the level of the attacking monster as well 
as your saving throw. The better your saving throw is, the less of a 
risk you are taking by not having three levels of Free Action.

It is possible for monsters to be paralyzed, but this never becomes 
part of the average player character's toolkit. Only powerful magic can 
paralyze monsters, and even then, only briefly.


Stunning

Stunning is a common side-effect of many elements (like water, plasma, 
gravity and sound), and quite a few monsters hit to stun in melee. 
Unlike confusion and paralysis, which have binary effects, stunning 
operates on a scale; heavy stunning is bad news, but a mild daze should 
not worry you too much. The level of stunning is roughly indicated by 
the labels Dazed, Light Stun, Stun, Heavy Stun, Massive Stun and 
finally Knocked Out.

Being stunned increases the fail rates on your spells, scrolls and 
magic devices, and decreases your effectiveness in combat. As a general 
rule, you should always drink a Potion of Curing or cure stunning in 
some other way as soon as you reach the Heavy Stun level, sometimes 
earlier. Being knocked out is exponentially worse than the other levels 
of stunning; much like paralysis it puts you out of action altogether, 
and death tends to rapidly follow. Getting knocked out is to be avoided 
at any cost.

Stunning cannot be resisted directly, but resistance to Sound gives you 
a save against it when it occurs as a side-effect of elemental damage. 
Stunning has very similar effects on monsters as it does on you: 
increased spell fail rates and reduced melee effectiveness. It is 
possible for monsters to be knocked out, although that tends to wear 
off rapidly. Some monsters and player-monster races, as well as player 
Golems, have immunity to stunning.

Stunned monsters are indicated by the light blue coloring of their 
health bars (e.g. U[*********]). If a monster is both confused and 
stunned, it has a brown health bar; confusion gets higher priority.


Fear

There are many sources of fear, ranging from special spells and melee 
attacks through the sight of particularly horrifying monsters to simply 
taking so much damage you can't help feeling uneasy. Like stunning, 
fear operates on a scale, and the top end of the scale is best avoided.

Fear does not affect spell or device fail rates directly, but in 
practice does do so indirectly: sometimes you will be too frightened to 
get the spell off. Fear can also cause you to quit a round of melee 
before its natural end (sometimes before hitting the monster at all), 
and extreme fear can cause you to tremble in hopeless terror for an 
entire turn. Apart from this loss of turns, fear does not affect the 
reading of scrolls, making a Scroll of Teleportation a more reliable 
escape while afraid than staves or spells with the same effect.

   Fear Scale
   
   Uneasy      low chance to fail fear checks
   Nervous     moderate chance to fail fear checks
   Scared      moderate chance to fail fear checks, low chance to miss 
               three-tenths of a turn
   Terrified   high chance to fail fear checks, moderate chance to miss 
               three-fifths of a turn
   Petrified   very high chance to fail fear checks, high chance to 
               miss an entire turn
   
Fear resistance works very differently from all other resistances, 
being more similar to See Invisible. Each level of fear resistance 
gives an additional roll to survive a fear check; the probability of 
any single roll being successful depends on your level, your charisma, 
and (depending on the situation) other factors such as the monster you 
are fighting, the dangerousness of the level and how afraid you already 
were. The level of Craven characters is discounted somewhat for this 
calculation, and Craven characters also start with vulnerability to 
fear, giving them one fewer roll.

Fear resistance is not absolutely needed, but is generally a good idea, 
especially in the midgame and late game. Most, though not all, monsters 
can feel fear. Frightened monsters will try to run away from you, and 
(like you) can miss turns in cases of extreme fear. Frightened monsters 
remain capable of casting spells. Frightened monsters are indicated by 
the violet coloring of their health bars (e.g. f[*********]). Fear has 
the second-lowest priority of any health bar color.


Blindness

Blindness is a common side effect of light- and darkness-based attacks, 
and can also result from monster spells or melee or the use of some 
magical devices. While blind, you cannot read scrolls, read spellbooks, 
see the area around you or even see monsters.

All this makes blindness sound very bad on paper, but it is actually 
one of the least problematic status effects; it is easily cured, not as 
debilitating, long-lasting or lock-prone as confusion, and like 
confusion it allows the use of devices. Blindness also does not affect 
telepathic sight, allowing characters with telepathy to simply continue 
normal melee while blind. Blindness can be resisted, but for most 
characters blindness resistance is something that's nice to have, not 
something that is absolutely needed.

Blindness as a concept is not usually applied to monsters. When it is, 
it is just a synonym for confusion, but this can only be seen in 
exceptional circumstances; light or darkness attacks that might blind 
the player, for example, will never confuse a monster.


Slowness

Temporary slowness can be caused by traps, monster spells, monster 
melee, or elements like inertia and gravity. Being slowed turns your 
speed indicator purple [e.g. Slow (-10)]. There are two different types 
of slowness - binary slowness, which reduces your speed by 10, and 
incremental slowness, which can reduce your speed by anywhere from 1 to 
10. The two types of slowing partly but not fully combine, for a 
maximum speed penalty of 12. Neither type of slowness can be resisted 
through equipment, although one specific source of binary slowness (the 
"Slow" monster spell) can be resisted through free action or saving 
throw, and Hermes demigods are immune to slowing.

Potions of Vigor cure both types of slowness (as well as stunning), but 
have no other use and are therefore generally only carried when slowing 
attacks are specifically expected.

Most monsters can be slowed, but uniques are immune. Slowed monsters 
are indicated by the dark gray coloring of their health bars (e.g. 
f[*********]). Slowness has the lowest priority of any health bar 
color.

Temporary haste is the opposite of slowness: a bonus of +10 to speed. 
Potions of Speed do not cure slowness, but cancel out its effect by 
providing temporary haste.


Cuts/Wounds

Cuts are a common side effect of melee, breath and spell attacks. While 
bleeding, you lose some HP every turn (how much HP you lose depends on 
the seriousness of the cut) and your HP regeneration is set to zero. 
Cuts other than Mortal Wounds heal on their own over time, but a 
sufficiently bad wound might kill you before it heals.

The seriousness of a cut is (very roughly) indicated by the labels 
Graze, Light Cut, Bad Cut, Nasty Cut, Severe Cut, Deep Gash and Mortal 
Wound. Mortal Wounds do not heal on their own and must be cured by 
magic, making them the only exception to the rule that all status 
effects wear off given enough time. How rapidly lesser wounds heal 
depends on how serious they are, as well as your Constitution.

Many devices and potions, including Potions of Curing, fully or 
partially heal cuts. Severe cuts and above are generally best cured, 
although in the heat of a battle it frequently happens that something 
else (like killing whoever caused the cut, or using Healing to also 
recover HP) takes higher priority than the cut.

It is not possible to resist cuts directly, but resistance to Shards 
gives you a save against them when they occur as a side-effect of 
elemental damage. Monsters do not suffer cuts, and nonliving races and 
some player-monster races are also immune to them. Blood-Knights 
receive special bonuses from cuts, and are allowed to regenerate while 
bleeding, although they still also suffer cut damage.


Poisoning

Poisoning is caused by two elements: poison and toxic waste. These 
elements do not cause any damage immediately, but are very damaging 
over time, the damage is just delayed. Like cuts, poisoning causes some 
damage every turn; the more poisoned you are, the more damage you take. 
Poisoning, like bleeding, sets HP regeneration to zero.

The level of poisoning is indicated by a poison counter, which takes 
the form Poison:609. Suffering poison damage always reduces the counter 
by the equivalent amount; for example, next turn you might suffer 152 
damage and the counter would be reduced to Poison:457. In this respect 
poison differs from cuts, where the damage taken and the amount of 
cutting healed are decoupled.

Poison resistance reduces the initial poisoning (50% poison resistance 
reduces the initial poisoning to half), but has no further effect on 
the damage taken. Thus, once Poison:609 shows up, it is too late for 
poison resistance: you will suffer 609 damage (over time) unless the 
poisoning is cured.

Mushrooms of Cure Poison are the only common poison cure that is fully 
effective. Potions of Curing reduce poisoning but may not remove it 
completely. It is not necessary to use mushrooms, but players without 
mushrooms need poison resistance more. By DL 35 you should always have 
some way to mitigate poison damage, through either resistance and 
Potions of Curing or through mushrooms.

Monsters do not suffer poisoning as a status effect; rather, they take 
the damage from poison and toxic waste immediately, in the same way as 
any other elemental damage. The damage is also slightly lower for 
monsters.


Unwellness

Disease attacks are the most common cause of unwellness, which is 
functionally simply a temporary reduction of your DEX and CON. The 
reduction starts at 4 points, and gets progressively smaller over time 
until you feel good again. Unwellness usually only appears some time 
after the initial contagion, and may occasionally cause uncontrollable 
sneezing - both of these mechanics are probably all too familiar to 
many players...

There is no way to really resist unwellness, although poison resistance 
helps a bit when it's caused by a disease attack. Unwellness can be 
cured, but only with Potions of *Healing* and Life, which in practice 
are too valuable to be used for that purpose; it is better to just wait 
the unwellness out. Androids are immune to unwellness, and monsters do 
not suffer from it.


Hallucination

No status effect is wilder than hallucination, which fills the screen 
with random symbols and substitutes silly names for monsters' regular 
names. Hallucination disables the monster list (Y/[) and some 
class-specific abilities like smithing on Weaponsmiths, but otherwise 
allows normal use of items and spells.

Most sources of hallucination can be resisted through resistance to 
Chaos. Hallucination is usually best cured, although it is not that 
debilitating; despite the random symbols, hallucinating players can 
usually still guess where the monsters are, and hit them or fire at 
them accordingly. The main risk is that if monsters are summoned, the 
player has no immediate way to assess their danger level.

Monsters do not suffer hallucinations... or maybe we just don't notice 
any difference when they do.


Polymorph

Polymorph is a rare monster spell that temporarily changes your race. 
Your temporary race is selected randomly and indicated in brackets, for 
example [Snotling]; and until the polymorph wears off, you will be 
treated as a member of your new race for (almost) all intents and 
purposes. Here, for example, you would receive the stat, skill and 
life-rating penalties of a Snotling... but also the Snotling ability to 
get special buffs from mushrooms. You would not inherit Snotlings' 
ultra-low experience factor.

Polymorph can be resisted only through Saving Throw. Being temporarily 
polymorphed is not exclusively bad, though; it can be bad, but 
occasionally it even helps. Polymorph is listed here with the bad 
status effects because new players sometimes get spooked by it, afraid 
they are permanently stuck in their new form.

Although not a status effect, a full and permanent race-polymorph is 
possible, but will never be triggered by the Polymorph Other spell. 
Permanent race-polymorph can be caused by Toxic Waste attacks 
(prevented by having 55% poison resistance), by the Polymorph power or 
object activation (in which case you are usually hoping for it!), or by 
most of the chaos patrons (the only two who never do this are Chardros 
and Hionhurn). Some exotic situations, like running out of life points 
with HP left, can also trigger a permanent race change.

Monsters do not suffer temporary polymorphs but can be polymorphed 
permanently, either with the Polymorph spell/device effect or through 
attacks based on Chaos or Toxic Waste.


Resisting Status Effects

Many status effects can be prevented or greatly mitigated by having an 
appropriate resistance. Typically, your resistance level is compared to 
a 33-sided die; thus, for example, 30% confusion resistance gives you a 
30 in 33 (about 91%) chance of resisting that status effect, and 40% 
confusion resistance means you are safe. Blindness, hallucination 
(chaos), elemental stunning (sound) and elemental cuts (shards) follow 
the same rule, as do many elemental side-effects that are not status 
effects.

As noted above, fear and paralysis follow their own rules; and 
poisoning cannot be completely prevented except through immunity.


Original   : FrogComposband 7.1.liquorice