ToME Wiki
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Attacking and Being Attacked
Introduction
Attacking is simple in ToME; attempting to move over a creature attacks it. It is also possible to attack from a distance by firing a missile or by magical means (wand, rod, spell, etc). Creatures attack in the same way. This means that if you do not wish to melee with a creature, it is wise to keep distant from it. This strategy is not perfect -- some monsters, such as dragons, have a way to attack from a distance.
Some creatures, such as Ghosts, have the ability to pass through walls. To attack creatures (that you can see) who are currently in a wall, attempt to move over it (even if you cannot pass through walls, the attack will still happen). Monsters will take less damage from attacks while they are in walls. Also, if you cannot see the monster (e.g. if you are blind, or it is invisible and you do not have see invisible), this will not work: you'll have to try to tunnel. Most spells and magic devices cannot target monsters in walls. In situations like this, it is usually wise to lure the monster out of the wall before attacking it.
The player's attacks
To-hit
- Your strength grants a bonus or penalty to-hit.
- Your class might grant a bonus or penalty to-hit.
- Your skill with specific kinds of weapons gives a bonus to-hit (e.g.: Swordmastery gives a to-hit bonus when using swords)
- Enchantments on your weapon grant a bonus or penalty to-hit Certain objects may also grants a bonus or penalty to-hit.
- Your Tactic setting may give bonuses o penalties to-hit (to change it, press 'C' and then 't'or'T').
- Other temporary effects (berserk, etc) might affect your chance to hit.
- The armor rating of the monster you're attacking makes a big difference
Blows
- Your strength and dexterity affect how many blows you get.
- Your class and level might affect how many blows you get.
- The weight of the weapon very likely will affect how many blows you get.
- Enchantments on your weapon might also affect how many blows you get (this is rare).
- Certain very rare objects may also affect how many blows you get.
Damage
- The base damage of your weapon is rolled.
- Strength grants a bonus or penalty.
- Your class might grant a bonus or penalty.
- Combat and Weaponmastery skills increase your melee damage, while Ranged-masteries increase the damage multiplier of slings, bows, crossbows or boomerangs(see below).
- Enchantments on your weapon might also grant a bonus or penalty.
- Your Tactic setting may give bonuses o penalties to damage (to change it, press 'C' and then 't'or'T').
- Temporary effects also might grant a bonus or penalty.
So, each blow you are entitled to is checked for a hit. If this is the case, the damage is then applied to the monster. Note that unless you have some barehanded combat training or are possessing a monster, melee without a weapon will result in a single blow that does base damage of 1d1. This might, however, be useful in attacking certain rare monsters that destroy weapons.
Combat with a bow/sling is similar, except ammo is used (which will eventually run out, requiring replacement). Bows don't have a base damage rating (ammo does), instead having a damage multiplier. Bows can, however, be enchanted, and enchantment on bows and arrows is cumulative (meaning that well-enchanted bows and arrows can be one of the more effective weapons in the game. They do, however, tend to be very expensive, as non-artifact arrows frequently break after being fired). Using ammo without the appropriate bow generally has poor results.
Armor
As the armor class of a monster greatly affects how hard it is for it to be hit, your armor class affects how hard it is for it to hit you. A high armor rating will make it much easier to survive deep in the dungeon. For a warrior style class (Unbelievers, Fighters, Archers, etc), it is generally wise to wear as much and as powerful armor as possible (subject to weight limitations, of course). Spellcasting classes, however, have limits on how much armor they can wear before it disrupts their motion and makes it hard for them to cast spells properly. For many of these classes, gloves are especially bad for spellcasting. Monks and Rogues skilled at dodging will often find heavy armor cumbersome, too. Armor has a base rating and an enchantment rating. The base rating is constant for the type of armor (e.g. paper armor always has a base rating of 4), and the enchantment depends on the item. There are also ways to further enchant armor you have. Certain very powerful enchantments grant resistances.
Resistances and typed attacks
Many kinds of monsters, traps, and other effects do damage that has a type. Types can have side effects in addition to the raw damage they deal. Certain enchanted items can grant resistances, reducing the raw damage and possibly reducing or eliminating the side effects. Some monsters also have resistances, so watching the messages when attacking a monster can often reveal that a particular attack is ineffective.
Low attacks
- Fire - Destroys weapons, armor, scrolls, and staves. May reduce strength.
- Cold - Shatters potions.
- Elec - Reduces dexterity, destroys rings.
- Acid - Reduces bonuses on equipped armor, reduces charisma.
Middle attacks
- Poison - Player becomes poisoned.
- Light - Blinds player, perma-lights area.
- Dark - Blinds player, darkens area.
- Confusion - Confuses player.
High attacks
- Nether - Drains experience.
- Nexus - Scrambles statistics, teleports player randomly.
- Disenchantment - Reduces bonuses on equipped items.
- Chaos - Polymorphs monsters or corrupts player.
- Sound - Shatters potions.
- Shards - Cuts player.
Unresistable attacks
- Water - Stuns player.
- Ice - Stuns player, shatters potions.
- Plasma - Stuns player, otherwise same as fire attacks.
- Force - Pushes player a few squares back.
- Inertia - Slows player, pushes them a few squares back.
- Gravity - Same as Inertia.
- Disintegration - Destroys items on ground, destroys walls.
- Mana - Destroys items on ground.
Monster Memory
The thousands of different creatures in ToME have many different characteristics, including spells, resistances, health, attacks, and speed. The information you have learned about each monster from your encounters with them is recorded in the monster memory (accessed with '/' or by 'l'ooking at a monster). It is possible to eventually learn all the characteristics of any given monster by interacting with them enough, but this is not always desirable. Certain spells may help you learn faster, as well as research centres in town.