Holding attack - Revision history

Tomsod: /* Drowning attack */ note that it doesn't apply to mvm

2025-12-27T16:59:26Z

‎Drowning attack: note that it doesn't apply to mvm

Umbire the Phantom: spacing

2025-04-11T10:11:28Z

spacing

Umbire the Phantom: lede

2024-10-08T08:54:28Z

lede

Umbire the Phantom: pothole

2023-12-10T05:20:29Z

pothole

Ion frigate: De-slex - this does seem to be true in THEM

2023-07-12T06:28:47Z

De-slex - this does seem to be true in THEM

Jeesty: /* Grabbing attack */

2020-07-01T06:11:49Z

‎Grabbing attack

Pinkbeast: /* Strategy */ Add the most basic strategy; ce some of the others; remove the suggestion that, if you have an AoMB ready to put on, you burn an AoLS before doing so.

2019-12-19T16:31:25Z

‎Strategy: Add the most basic strategy; ce some of the others; remove the suggestion that, if you have an AoMB ready to put on, you burn an AoLS before doing so.

Ardub23: /* Variants */ Re-added note about SLASH'EM

2019-12-18T22:24:35Z

‎Variants: Re-added note about SLASH'EM

Ardub23: /* Drowning attack */ Cleanup

2019-12-18T22:21:32Z

‎Drowning attack: Cleanup

Show changes

Pinkbeast: punct

2019-02-13T00:00:33Z

punct

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 If you are levitating in a controlled fashion over dry land, stop levitating and the monster will become startled, releasing you.{{refsrc|trap.c|2341}} Starting to levitate will not save you.
 === Strategy ===
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 An amulet of magical breathing provides complete protection from drowning, so if you have one, put it on before moving next to water.
 If fighting from ground, you may wear a [[ring of levitation]], [[levitation boots]], or levitate with [[the Heart of Ahriman]], and stop levitating whenever the holding attack succeeds. This way you will be released, but there is a small chance that you will be held again immediately the next turn. Electric eels can destroy a ring of levitation, so have a spare one.

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:11, 11 April 2025
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	==Grabbing attack==		==Grabbing attack==
−
	The grabbing attack is most famously possessed by [[owlbear]]s. This is reflected by the messages "''<monster> grabs you!''" or "''You are being crushed.''". In the case of [[rope golem]]s, the message is "''You are being choked.''". Apart from the inability to move (and extra damage from being crushed) there are no additional ill effects.		The grabbing attack is most famously possessed by [[owlbear]]s. This is reflected by the messages "''<monster> grabs you!''" or "''You are being crushed.''". In the case of [[rope golem]]s, the message is "''You are being choked.''". Apart from the inability to move (and extra damage from being crushed) there are no additional ill effects.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-:<span class="dablink">''‘Holding’ redirects here. For the container, see [[Bag of holding]].''</span>
+{{otheruses|the attack type|the type of container|bag of holding}}
+A '''holding attack''' prevents the player from moving away from a monster. If the hero being '''held''' tries to move away, they waste that turn and get the message "''You cannot escape from the <monster>!''". The special effects do not apply when attacking another monster. There are three types of holding attacks:
 ==Grabbing attack==

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 An amulet of magical breathing provides complete protection from drowning, so if you have one, put it on before moving next to water.
-If fighting from ground, you may wear a [[ring of levitation]], [[boots of levitation]], or levitate with [[the Heart of Ahriman]], and stop levitating whenever the holding attack succeeds. This way you will be released, but there is a small chance that you will be held again immediately the next turn. Electric eels can destroy a ring of levitation, so have a spare one.
+If fighting from ground, you may wear a [[ring of levitation]], [[levitation boots]], or levitate with [[the Heart of Ahriman]], and stop levitating whenever the holding attack succeeds. This way you will be released, but there is a small chance that you will be held again immediately the next turn. Electric eels can destroy a ring of levitation, so have a spare one.
 Otherwise, be attentive and keep one of the item below in the main inventory. When held, do one of the following:

@@ Line 104: / Line 104: @@
 In [[SLASH'EM]], [[free action]] gives an additional chance of shaking off a grabbing attack based on your luck.
-=== Slash'EM Extended ===
+=== SlashTHEM ===
-In [[Slash'EM Extended]], there is only a 33% chance of a drowning attack being fatal. Also in that variant, even if the player is [[breathless]], [[amphibious]] or lucky to not get instakilled, every time the holding monster gets a turn the player's entire inventory will become [[wet]]. This will blank scrolls, dilute potions, rust and possibly even destroy every rustprone item, and if it is [[lethe]] water, the player's items may be disenchanted or transformed into junk. It is therefore advisable to kill the monster quickly or prevent it from attacking, even as an unbreathing character. Having [[free action]] also helps.
+In [[SlashTHEM]], there is only a 33% chance of a drowning attack being fatal. Also in that variant, even if the player is [[breathless]], [[amphibious]] or lucky to not get instakilled, every time the holding monster gets a turn the player's entire inventory will become [[wet]]. This will blank scrolls, dilute potions, rust and possibly even destroy every rustprone item, and if it is [[lethe]] water, the player's items may be disenchanted or transformed into junk. It is therefore advisable to kill the monster quickly or prevent it from attacking, even as an unbreathing character. Having [[free action]] also helps.
 ==References==

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 The grabbing attack is most famously possessed by [[owlbear]]s.  This is reflected by the messages "''<monster> grabs you!''" or "''You are being crushed.''". In the case of [[rope golem]]s, the message is "''You are being choked.''". Apart from the inability to move (and extra damage from being crushed) there are no additional ill effects.
 The grabbing attack will connect if the monster's previous two attacks both hit, or always if the monster is already holding you. It is impossible for the initial grabbing attack to succeed if you are wearing a non-cursed [[oilskin cloak]] or if your outermost item is [[greased]]; this is part of the reason why items of [[armor]] are largely [[wish]]ed for greased. No damage is done if the initial grabbing attack is deflected by grease. Bear in mind that [[grease]] has a 50% chance of disappearing with each grabbing attack it deflects.
 The following monsters possess a grabbing attack:

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 === Strategy ===
 One way to almost completely protect yourself against the attack is to blessed-genocide all {{white|;}} monsters, and possibly also genocide pythons (which are {{white|S}}). Some players do it as soon as possible; others do it on the [[Plane of Water]] to make the whole level clean. However, couatls also can drown the player and cannot be genocided.
-If you can, always have your outermost cloak, body armor, or shirt greased. This protects you against a drowning attack by preventing grabbing. Grease your cloak (or body armor, if you don't wear a cloak) as soon as you find a [[can of grease]]. However, holding attacks sometimes remove the grease, so you should be attentive to it.  If you fight more than one monster with holding  attack, there is a tiny chance that one of them would remove the grease, and another one grab you at the same turn.
+If you can, always have your outermost cloak, body armor, or shirt greased. This protects you against a drowning attack by preventing grabbing. Grease your cloak (or body armor, if you don't wear a cloak) as soon as you find a [[can of grease]]. However, holding attacks sometimes remove the grease, so you should be attentive to it.  If you fight more than one monster with a holding attack, there is a tiny chance that one of them will remove the grease and another one grab you immediately afterwards.
 If you wear an oilskin cloak, there is no need to grease it.  It completely protects you from any drowning attacks by preventing monsters from grabbing you.
-An amulet of magical breathing provides complete protection from drowning. If you prefer to wear an amulet of life saving, get the amulet of magical breathing ready, and wear it immediately after you are drowned and saved by the amulet of life saving. If you wear an amulet of life saving, and keep the amulet of magical breathing in a container, take it out whenever you are held by a drowning monster.
+An amulet of magical breathing provides complete protection from drowning, so if you have one, put it on before moving next to water.
 If fighting from ground, you may wear a [[ring of levitation]], [[boots of levitation]], or levitate with [[the Heart of Ahriman]], and stop levitating whenever the holding attack succeeds. This way you will be released, but there is a small chance that you will be held again immediately the next turn. Electric eels can destroy a ring of levitation, so have a spare one.

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:24, 18 December 2019
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	== Variants ==		== Variants ==
		+
		+	=== SLASH'EM ===
		+
		+	In [[SLASH'EM]], [[free action]] gives an additional chance of shaking off a grabbing attack based on your luck.
		+
		+	=== Slash'EM Extended ===

	In [[Slash'EM Extended]], there is only a 33% chance of a drowning attack being fatal. Also in that variant, even if the player is [[breathless]], [[amphibious]] or lucky to not get instakilled, every time the holding monster gets a turn the player's entire inventory will become [[wet]]. This will blank scrolls, dilute potions, rust and possibly even destroy every rustprone item, and if it is [[lethe]] water, the player's items may be disenchanted or transformed into junk. It is therefore advisable to kill the monster quickly or prevent it from attacking, even as an unbreathing character. Having [[free action]] also helps.		In [[Slash'EM Extended]], there is only a 33% chance of a drowning attack being fatal. Also in that variant, even if the player is [[breathless]], [[amphibious]] or lucky to not get instakilled, every time the holding monster gets a turn the player's entire inventory will become [[wet]]. This will blank scrolls, dilute potions, rust and possibly even destroy every rustprone item, and if it is [[lethe]] water, the player's items may be disenchanted or transformed into junk. It is therefore advisable to kill the monster quickly or prevent it from attacking, even as an unbreathing character. Having [[free action]] also helps.

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:00, 13 February 2019
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−	At first stage, the monster tries to get hold of you. Even if the attack formally succeeds (that is, passes through your AC), most of the time the monster "brushes against your leg", but there is a 1 in 10 chance that instead the monster "swings itself around you!". [[Python]]s are an exception to this rule, as they possess both a drowning attack and a regular crushing hug. The crushing hug has different success chances than the drowning attack and does not produce the "swings itself around you" message, ~~however~~ the python is still able to drown you regardless of how it is holding you.	+	At first stage, the monster tries to get hold of you. Even if the attack formally succeeds (that is, passes through your AC), most of the time the monster "brushes against your leg", but there is a 1 in 10 chance that instead the monster "swings itself around you!". [[Python]]s are an exception to this rule, as they possess both a drowning attack and a regular crushing hug. The crushing hug has different success chances than the drowning attack and does not produce the "swings itself around you" message; however, the python is still able to drown you regardless of how it is holding you.

	After the monster got hold of you, the next time its attack succeeds, it will drown you, thus killing you. This may take as little as one turn, but typically takes several turns.		After the monster got hold of you, the next time its attack succeeds, it will drown you, thus killing you. This may take as little as one turn, but typically takes several turns.