Destroy armor (monster spell)
Destroy armor is a monster spell that appears in NetHack.
Description
Destroy armor is a melee-range spell that can be used by any monster of at least level 9 with the ability to cast mage spells.[1][2] The spell is only used against the hero, and when cast it will target and destroy a piece of worn armor using a weighted random selection: if any armor is worn on the torso, only the outermost worn layer of cloak, body armor, or shirt is eligible to be destroyed.[3] Having magic resistance completely nullifies the effects of this spell.[4]
Strategy
The destroy armor spell tends to be cast by mid-level and stronger spellcasting monsters such as liches and golden nagas, and is one reason it is highly recommended to have magic resistance by the time you enter the mid-game - while the spell can be avoided by keeping out of melee range of the caster, only magic resistance will fully protect your valuable armor if they close in.
Messages
- Your cloak crumbles and turns to dust!
Your armor turns to dust and falls to the <floor>!
Your shirt crumbles into tiny threads and falls apart!
Your helmet turns to dust and is blown away!
Your gloves vanish!
Your boots disintegrate!
Your shield crumbles away! - A corresponding piece of armor was destroyed by the spell.
- A field of force surrounds you!
- The spell was completely negated by magic resistance.
- Your skin itches.
- You were hit by the spell, but are not wearing any armor.
Variants
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, the destroy armor spell can be used against other monsters, but will never be used against a monster that is not wearing armor. Instead of destroying armor immediately, the spell disenchants a piece of armor by 1d4 points using the same selection rules for random armor, and only destroys targeted armor if its AC and DR values are both 0 or less before disenchantment. Having magic resistance completely nullifies the spell as in NetHack; if the targeted piece of armor is either a quest artifact or else grants disintegration resistance, the spell is also nullified.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, the destroy armor spell is reworked: if the spell targets an erosion-proofed piece of armor, it will remove that proofing even if the armor is made of an inherently proofed material, such as dragonhide and mithril - otherwise, the spell erodes the targeted piece of armor, or else destroys that armor if it is thoroughly eroded. One to three levels of erosion can occur with each cast, and removing erosion-proofing counts towards this; magic resistance lowers the armor damage to one level per casting. Blessed armor has a small chance of resisting, while crystal plate mail, quest artifact armor and The Hand of Vecna are completely immune.
