Magic cancellation - Revision history

Umbire the Phantom: touch-ups

2026-04-19T22:12:50Z

touch-ups

Umbire the Phantom: /* Cancelable effects */ more tweaks

2026-01-07T12:22:29Z

‎Cancelable effects: more tweaks

Umbire the Phantom: /* Cancelable effects */ potholes

2026-01-07T12:18:36Z

‎Cancelable effects: potholes

Umbire the Phantom: potholes

2025-12-03T08:10:41Z

potholes

Netzhack: /* Mechanics */ wording

2025-11-10T09:21:38Z

‎Mechanics: wording

Ais523: pipe through disambig

2025-06-28T07:25:25Z

pipe through disambig

YourAdHereCZ: added some links

2025-02-11T20:59:23Z

added some links

Umbire the Phantom: potholes et. al.

2025-01-29T16:34:51Z

potholes et. al.

Umbire the Phantom: pothole

2025-01-16T15:09:31Z

pothole

Umbire the Phantom: Undo revision 175809 by Thidwick (talk) this already applies to current versions lol

2024-07-24T03:39:08Z

Undo revision 175809 by Thidwick (talk) this already applies to current versions lol

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 ==Description==
-Magic cancellation offers a certain amount of protection against "special melee attacks" made against a character - examples include [[poison]] from [[killer bee]] stings, [[lycanthropy]] caused by [[werejackal]] bites, and the [[green slime]]'s [[sliming]] attacks. Having the highest (best) grade of magic cancellation means that only {{frac|10}} of special melee attacks will succeed (assuming they would hit otherwise). This makes magic cancellation a high priority trait. A precise list of the special melee attacks that magic cancellation protects against is provided in the [[#How it works|section below]].
+Magic cancellation offers a certain amount of protection against "special melee attacks" made against a character&mdash;examples include [[poison]] from [[killer bee]] stings, [[lycanthropy]] caused by [[werejackal]] bites, and the [[green slime]]'s [[sliming]] attacks. Having the highest (best) grade of magic cancellation means that only {{frac|10}} of special melee attacks will succeed (assuming they would hit otherwise). This makes magic cancellation a high priority trait. A precise list of the special melee attacks that magic cancellation protects against is provided in the [[#How it works|section below]].
 Magic cancellation must not be confused with [[cancellation]] caused by a wand or spell, nor with [[magic resistance]]. See {{sa|Differences from cancellation and magic resistance|sectionsign=true}} for further details.
@@ Line 147: / Line 147: @@
 ===Cancelable effects===
-Understanding how magic cancellation works requires some understanding of how an attack works in NetHack. An attack has two characteristics: ''attack type'' (e.g. bites and stings) and ''damage type'' (e.g. physical or poisonous). A [[soldier ant]], for instance, has two attacks: a bite which does 2d4 physical damage (i.e. ordinary damage), and a sting which does 3d4 [[poison]] damage. Magic cancellation will ''not'' protect against the 2d4 physical damage from the bite, ''nor'' will it prevent the 3d4 damage caused by the sting. It will, however, protect against the special effects from the [[poison]]ous sting, which randomly include [[hitpoint]] reduction, [[attribute]] reduction, and [[instadeath]].
+Understanding how magic cancellation works requires some understanding of how an attack works in NetHack. An attack has two characteristics: ''attack type'' (e.g. bites and stings) and ''damage type'' (e.g. physical or poisonous). A [[soldier ant]], for instance, has two attacks: a bite which does 2d4 physical damage (i.e. ordinary damage), and a sting which does 3d4 [[poison]] damage. Magic cancellation will ''not'' protect against the 2d4 physical damage from the bite, ''nor'' will it prevent the 3d4 damage caused by the sting. It will, however, protect against the special effects from the poisonous sting, which randomly include [[hit point]] reduction, [[attribute]] reduction, and [[instadeath]].
 There is no obvious pattern to what magic cancellation does and doesn't protect against. Shortly put, magic cancellation protects against ''certain'' attack types that deal a ''certain'' type of damage. This relation is shown in the table below. To be prevented by magic cancellation, both the attack type and damage type must be in the <span style="background-color:#ffdead;">orange area</span> of the table. If either the attack type or damage type is outside the orange area, magic cancellation will have ''no effect'' on the attack.
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 |colspan="4"|
 <references group="note">
-<ref group="note" name="melee_only">Magic cancellation protects against special melee weapon attacks, such as [[level drain]] from a [[barrow wight]]s weapon, but it does ''not'' protect against weapons that are thrown or launched, such as [[poisoned]] arrows and darts.</ref>
+<ref group="note" name="melee_only">Magic cancellation protects against special melee weapon attacks, such as [[level drain]] from a [[barrow wight]]s weapon, but it does ''not'' protect against weapons that are thrown or launched, such as [[Poisoned weapon|poisoned arrows and darts]].</ref>
 <ref group="note" name="never_applies">The type of damage done by every single kick, headbutt, tentacle attack, and grabbing attacks in the game are listed in the rightmost column "Damage type unaffected". And hence they all bypass magic cancellation.</ref>
 <ref group="note" name="not_passive">[[Disenchantment]] by the [[disenchanter]] claw is prevented, but magic cancellation does not however protect against the [[passive]] disenchanting attack, since passive attacks are listed in the leftmost column "Attack type unaffected".</ref>

@@ Line 208: / Line 208: @@
 * [[Petrification]]
 * [[Gold stealing]] effects by [[leprechaun]]s
-* [[Item theft]] or [[charming]]
+* [[Item stealing]] or [[charming]]
 * [[Erosion]] (including rust, rot, and corrosion)
 * [[Confusion]]
@@ Line 218: / Line 218: @@
 * [[Seduction]]
 * [[Hallucination]]
-* [[Amulet stealing]] by the [[Wizard of Yendor]]
+* [[Amulet stealing]]
-* [[Intrinsic-stealing]] by [[gremlin]]s
+* [[Intrinsic-stealing]]
 * Random [[clerical spell]], [[magic spell]] or [[breath weapon]] damage
 * Special damage of the [[Riders]]

@@ Line 208: / Line 208: @@
 * [[Petrification]]
 * [[Gold stealing]] effects by [[leprechaun]]s
-* [[Item stealing]]
+* [[Item theft]] or [[charming]]
 * [[Erosion]] (including rust, rot, and corrosion)
 * [[Confusion]]

@@ Line 164: / Line 164: @@
 |valign="top"|
 * [[Passive attack]]s
-* Spitting attacks
+* [[Spitting attack]]s
 * [[Engulfing attack]]s
 * [[Breath attack]]s
@@ Line 173: / Line 173: @@
 * [[Ranged weapon]] attacks<ref group="note" name="melee_only"/>
 |valign="top" style="background:#ffdead;"|
-* Claw
+* [[Claw attack|Claw]]
 * [[Bite]]
 * Kick<ref group="note" name="never_applies"/>
-* Head butt<ref group="note" name="never_applies"/>
+* [[Head butt]]<ref group="note" name="never_applies"/>
-* Touch
+* [[Touch attack|Touch]]
-* Sting
+* [[Sting attack|Sting]]
-* Tentacle attack<ref group="note" name="never_applies"/>
+* [[Tentacle attack]]<ref group="note" name="never_applies"/>
 * [[Holding attack]]s<ref group="note" name="never_applies"/>
 * Melee weapon attacks<ref group="note" name="melee_only"/>

@@ Line 144: / Line 144: @@
 |}
-If all these tests are passed, the player will suffer the special effect. In the case of [[Fire (element)|fire]], [[cold]], and [[shock]], there is further a test for determining if any inventory items are damaged or destroyed.
+If all these tests are passed, the player will suffer the special effect. In the case of [[Fire (element)|fire]], [[cold]], and [[shock]], there is further a test to determine whether any inventory items are damaged or destroyed.
 ===Cancelable effects===

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 * [[Poison]] (hitpoint and attribute reduction, [[instadeath]])
 * [[Paralysis]] (player completely immobilized)
-* [[Drain life]] (player loses levels)
+* [[Drain life (monster attack)|Drain life]] (player loses levels)
 * [[Sticky attack]] (inability to move to another square)
 * [[Lycanthropy]] (player regularly changes form)

@@ Line 174: / Line 174: @@
 |valign="top" style="background:#ffdead;"|
 * Claw
-* Bite
+* [[Bite]]
 * Kick<ref group="note" name="never_applies"/>
 * Head butt<ref group="note" name="never_applies"/>
@@ Line 197: / Line 197: @@
 * [[Disenchanting]] (reduces enchantment on items)
 * [[Dexterity]]- or [[constitution]]-draining [[poison]]
-* [[Power]] draining (reduces power)
+* [[Energy drain]] (reduces power)
 |valign="top"|
 * Ordinary physical
@@ Line 205: / Line 205: @@
 * [[Blind]]ing
 * [[Stun]]ning
-* Leg damage by [[xan]]s
+* [[Wounded legs|Leg damage]] by [[xan]]s
 * [[Petrification]]
 * [[Gold stealing]] effects by [[leprechaun]]s

@@ Line 144: / Line 144: @@
 |}
-If all these tests are passed, the player will suffer the special effect. In the case of [[fire]], [[cold]], and [[shock]], there is further a test for determining if any inventory items are damaged or destroyed.
+If all these tests are passed, the player will suffer the special effect. In the case of [[Fire (element)|fire]], [[cold]], and [[shock]], there is further a test for determining if any inventory items are damaged or destroyed.
 ===Cancelable effects===
@@ Line 183: / Line 183: @@
 * Melee weapon attacks<ref group="note" name="melee_only"/>
 |valign="top" style="background:#ffdead;"|
-* [[Fire]] (burns scrolls and boils potions)
+* [[Fire (element)|Fire]] (burns scrolls and boils potions)
 * [[Cold]] (shatters potions)
 * [[Shock]] (detonates rings and wands)
@@ Line 238: / Line 238: @@
 *[[Lich]] magic spells
 |valign="top" style="background:#ffdead;" colspan="2"|
-* [[Fire]] damage from a [[fire ant]] bite
+* [[Fire (element)|Fire]] damage from a [[fire ant]] bite
 * [[Cold]] damage from a [[lich]] touch
 * [[Shock]] damage from an [[electric eel]] bite
@@ Line 281: / Line 281: @@
 Magic cancellation is not the same as [[magic resistance]]. Magic resistance is an [[extrinsic]] that protects against [[spell]], [[wand]], and [[trap]] effects and damage.
-Magic cancellation is also different from intrinsic [[resistance]]s against [[fire]], [[cold]], and [[shock]] damage. If you suffer fire damage while [[fire resistant]], you won't be dealt hit point damage, but there is still a chance of items such as [[scroll]]s, [[spellbook]]s, and [[potion]]s being destroyed. Magic cancellation on the other hand won't prevent the damage, but it will reduce the probability of item-destroying effects occurring.
+Magic cancellation is also different from intrinsic [[resistance]]s against [[Fire (element)|fire]], [[cold]], and [[shock]] damage. If you suffer fire damage while [[fire resistant]], you won't be dealt hit point damage, but there is still a chance of items such as [[scroll]]s, [[spellbook]]s, and [[potion]]s being destroyed. Magic cancellation on the other hand won't prevent the damage, but it will reduce the probability of item-destroying effects occurring.
 ==Noteworthy interactions==

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 *[[Hallucination]] caused by a [[black light]] exploding
 *[[Erosion]] due to [[brown pudding]] bites
-*[[Nymph]] stealing claw
+*[[Nymph (monster class)|Nymphs]]' theft attacks
 |-
 |colspan="4"|

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 The most common source of magic cancellation is [[armor]]. Each piece of armor has a magic cancellation number (MC number) ranging from 0 (worst) to 3 (best). Note that magic cancellation from armor is ''not'' cumulative&mdash;the player's magic cancellation is the maximum of that provided by any single piece of armor worn. This means that if you are wearing a [[chain mail]] with MC 1, ''and'' a [[dwarvish cloak]] with MC 1, then your magic cancellation is still 1.
-Magic cancellation can also be granted by [[protection]], either [[intrinsic]] or [[extrinsic]].  Extrinsic protection augments your magic cancellation by 1, to a maximum of 3.  Intrinsic protection or temporary protection from the [[spell of protection]] counts as magic cancellation 1, but doesn't stack with armor sources or extrinsic protection.  The sources of extrinsic protection are the [[ring of protection]], the [[Tsurugi of Muramasa]], and the [[Mitre of Holiness]]; more than one such source provides no additional benefit.  Intrinsic protection is granted when you get an [[AC]] bonus by donating to an [[aligned priest]] or by a [[favor]] when [[pray]]ing.  Intrinsic protection may be lost by a [[gremlin]]'s special attack or eating a [[disenchanter]] corpse; if so, donating the appropriate amount to an aligned priest will restore it, even if it would fail to improve your AC.  [[High priest]]s have extrinsic protection, and [[aligned priest]]s and monsters represented by {{monsym|Angel}} have intrinsic protection.
+Magic cancellation can also be granted by [[intrinsic]] or [[extrinsic]] [[protection]]: Extrinsic protection augments your magic cancellation by 1, to a maximum of 3; intrinsic protection or temporary protection from the [[spell of protection]] counts as magic cancellation 1, but doesn't stack with armor sources or extrinsic protection. The sources of extrinsic protection are the [[ring of protection]], [[the Tsurugi of Muramasa]], and [[the Mitre of Holiness]]; more than one such source provides no additional benefit. Intrinsic protection is granted when you get an [[AC]] bonus by donating to an [[aligned priest]] or by a [[favor]] when [[pray]]ing. Intrinsic protection may be lost by a [[gremlin]]'s special attack or eating a [[disenchanter]] corpse; if so, donating the appropriate amount to an aligned priest will restore it, even if it would fail to improve your AC. [[High priest]]s have extrinsic protection, and [[aligned priest]]s and monsters represented by {{monsym|Angel}} have intrinsic protection.
 The following list contains all the sources of magic cancellation:
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 |}
-{{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|A worn [[amulet of guarding]] adds +2 to magic cancellation.
+{{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|A worn [[amulet of guarding]] adds +2 to magic cancellation.}}
 ==Mechanics==