Damage type
[Damage Type]
Every attack in NetHack has a defined damage type. This determines how the attack of a monster or character affects the target when it hits (as opposed to attack type, which determines how the attack makes contact with the target). There are many damage types and many effects for the wide assortment of monsters in NetHack.[1]
Many damage types actually cause no hit point damage.
If a monster is cancelled, many of its damage types will have no effect.
Magic cancellation can negate the effect of many damage types, but only for certain attack types and damage types.
List of damage types
ID | Name | Blocked by | Effects | Example monsters |
---|---|---|---|---|
AD_PHYS | Physical damage | Armor (partial), Half physical damage (half) | Ordinary physical damage. The most common type. | jackal, hill giant |
AD_MAGM | Magic missile | Magic resistance | A blast of missiles. | gray dragon, Angel |
AD_FIRE | Fire | Fire resistance (hp damage) | May burn up scrolls, potions, spellbooks, and globs of green slime in inventory. Passive fire damage may burn the attacker's weapon. Burns away slime. | fire ant, red naga |
AD_COLD | Cold | Cold resistance (hp damage) | May freeze and shatter potions in inventory. | winter wolf, freezing sphere |
AD_SLEE | Sleep | Sleep resistance | No hit point damage. Puts defender to sleep. | only homunculus, orange dragon, Nazgul |
AD_DISN | Disintegration | Disintegration resistance | No hit point damage. Disintegrates shield, followed by cloak and armor, followed by instadeath. | only black dragon |
AD_ELEC | Shock | Shock resistance | May explode wands and rings in inventory. | blue dragon, grid bug |
AD_DRST | Poison vs strength | Poison resistance | Most common type of poison. May lower strength. May cause instadeath. | green dragon, soldier ant, snake |
AD_ACID | Acid | Acid resistance | On passive attacks only, may also corrode worn or wielded items. | acid blob, yellow dragon, ochre jelly |
AD_BLND | Blind | No hit point damage. Blinds the defender. For some attack types, cancelling the attacker blocks this damage. And for some attack types, a blindfold or certain other equipment blocks this damage. | yellow light, dust vortex, Archon | |
AD_STUN | Stun | Stuns the defender. | only yellow mold, abbot, Baalzebub | |
AD_SLOW | Slow | No hit point damage. Slows the defender. | only skeleton, shade | |
AD_PLYS | Paralysis | Free action | No hit point damage. Paralyzes the defender. | floating eye, gelatinous cube, shade |
AD_DRLI | Drain life | Drain resistance | Drains a level from the defender. May cause instadeath. | vampire, barrow wight, wraith |
AD_DREN | Drain energy | No hit point damage. Against the hero, this drains Pw, and then drains maximum Pw if current Pw is 0. Magic cancellation blocks this attack, but not if hero is engulfed. Against a monster, prevents them from using magical attacks or breath weapons for several turns. | only energy vortex | |
AD_LEGS | Wounded legs | Riding, levitation, or flying | Certain boots block hp damage. Against the hero, causes wounded legs. Against a monster, damage is ordinary physical. | only xan |
AD_STON (touch attack) | Stoning | stoning resistance | No hit point damage. Delayed instadeath. | only chickatrice, cockatrice |
AD_STON (passive attack) | Stoning | stoning resistance, gloves (if punching) or boots (if kicking) | No hit point damage. Instadeath. | only chickatrice, cockatrice |
AD_STON (gaze attack) | Stoning | stoning resistance, blindness, or reflection | No hit point damage. Instadeath. | only Medusa |
AD_STCK | Sticking | No hit point damage. Against the hero: here is stuck to the attacker, unable to move from that tile until the attacker dies or otherwise releases them. Against a monster: damage is ordinary physical. | only lichen, violet fungus, large mimic, giant mimic | |
AD_SGLD | Steal gold | Attacker steals some or all of defender's gold. Attacker then teleports. If against the hero, attacker may also snatch some gold that the hero was standing on. | only leprechaun | |
AD_SITM | Steal one item | No hit point damage. Defender loses one item to attacker. Attacker then teleports or flees. | only monkey, nymph | |
AD_SEDU | Steal multiple items | No hit point damage. Same as AD_SITM. Not to be confused with AD_SSEX or AD_SAMU. | only nymph | |
AD_TLPT | Teleport | Defender is teleported to a random tile on this level, subject to teleport control, unless the level is no-teleport. hp damage is limited so that it will not kill defender. | only quantum mechanic | |
AD_RUST | Rust | Causes a random piece of worn armor to rust, which may fail if it is blessed, rustproof, or not rustable. As a passive attack, tries to rust the gear that made contact. Instadeath for iron golems. | only gray ooze, rust monster | |
AD_CONF | Confusion | No hit point damage. Confuses the defender. | only umber hulk, Yeenoghu | |
AD_DGST | Digestion | Slow digestion | Against the hero: delayed instadeath. Against a monster: instadeath. | only trapper, lurker above, purple worm |
AD_HEAL | Healing | Against the hero: damage is physical unless hero is wearing no armor and wielding no weapon, in which case this damage type heals the hero, may raise the hero's maximum hp, and has other positive effects. Against a monster: damage is ordinary physical. | only nurse | |
AD_WRAP | Wrapping / Drowning | Greased armor or oilskin cloak | Magical breathing prevents instadeath. Against the hero: on the first hit, the attacker swings itself around the hero. On the second hit, if the attacker is in water, the hero drowns in an instadeath. Against a monster: damage is ordinary physical. | eels, kraken, python |
AD_WERE | Lycanthropy | Protection from shape changers or wielding Werebane | Against the hero: causes lycanthropy. Against a monster: damage is ordinary physical. | only werecreatures |
AD_DRDX | Poison vs dexterity | Poison resistance | Against the hero: lowers dexterity, may cause instadeath. Against a monster: hp damage, may cause instadeath. | only quasit |
AD_DRCO | Poison vs constitution | Poison resistance | Against the hero: lowers constitution, may cause instadeath. Against a monster: hp damage, may cause instadeath. | only rabid rat |
AD_DRIN | Drain intelligence | Greased helm | Against the hero: lowers intelligence, causes amnesia, may cause instadeath. Against a monster: hp damage. | only mind flayer, master mind flayer |
AD_DISE | Illness | Immunity to sickness | Against the hero: illness, which may cause delayed instadeath. Against a monster: no effect. | only Scorpius, Juiblex, Demogorgon |
AD_DCAY | Rot | Against the hero: rots a random piece of worn armor; as a passive attack, rots the item that made contact. Against a monster: same. Instadeath for wood golems and leather golems. | only brown pudding | |
AD_SSEX | Seduction | No hit point damage. Against the hero: seduction attack; changed to AD_DRLI if sysconf option SEDUCE is not set. May cause instadeath. Against a monster: behaves as AD_SITM. | only incubus and succubus | |
AD_HALU | Hallucination | blindness or wielding Grayswandir | Against the hero: causes hallucination. Against a monster: causes confusion. | only black light |
AD_DETH | Death's special attack | Magic resistance (instadeath) | Against the hero: damages both hit points and permanent hit points; may cause instadeath. Against a monster: no effect. | only Death |
AD_PEST | Pestilence's special attack | Immunity to sickness | Against the hero: causes illness, which may cause delayed instadeath. Against a monster: no effect. | only Pestilence |
AD_FAMN | Famine's special attack | Against the hero: drains nutrition, but not if the hero is already fainting, and abuses constitution. Against a monster: no effect. | only Famine | |
AD_SLIM | Sliming | Unchanging | Against the hero: may cause delayed instadeath. Against a monster: may cause instant change to green slime. | only green slime |
AD_ENCH | Disenchanting | Against the hero: disenchants one item. If a passive attack: disenchants the item that made contact. Against a monster: damage is ordinary physical. | only disenchanter | |
AD_CORR | Corrosion | Corrodes one item. If a passive attack: corrodes the item that made contact. | only black pudding | |
AD_CLRC | Clerical spell | Against the hero: attacker casts a clerical spell appropriate to the attacker's level. Against a monster: no effect. | aligned priest, high priest, Master Kaen | |
AD_SPEL | Mage spell | Against the hero: attacker casts a mage spell appropriate to the attacker's level, which may cause instadeath. Against a monster: no effect. | lich, orc shaman, Wizard of Yendor | |
AD_RBRE | Random breath weapon | This damage type resolves to a random damage type between AD_MAGM and AD_ACID. | only the Chromatic Dragon | |
AD_SAMU | Steal the Amulet | Against the hero: attacker steals a valuable item such as the Amulet of Yendor, any other unique item, or any quest artifact. Against a monster: no effect. | only quest nemeses, the Wizard of Yendor | |
AD_CURS | Steal intrinsic | Against the hero: removes a random intrinsic. Against a monster, may cancel the defender. Instadeath for clay golems. | only gremlin |
Effect of cancellation
If the attacker is cancelled, then several attack types are blocked, and most special damage types are blocked. Cancellation is effective if either the attack type or the damage type are blocked.
These damage types are not blocked: ordinary physical damage, magic missile, disintegration, digestion, drain intelligence, illness, rider special damage types, steal the Amulet.
For example, if a dragon is cancelled, its breath attack is blocked, and will do no damage, no matter what the damage type.
Effect of magic cancellation
Magic cancellation (not to be confused with cancellation) is a property that the hero may have which blocks certain attacks. Magic cancellation is effective only if the attack has both an eligible attack type and an eligible damage type. And even then, there is only a probability of blocking the attack.
These damage types are eligible for magic cancellation: fire, cold, sleep, shock, poison (vs strength, vs dexterity, and vs constitution), slow, paralysis, drain life, drain energy, sticking, teleport, lycanthropy, sliming, disenchanting.
History
Starting with NetHack 3.6.0:
- Half physical damage blocks more instances of physical damage than it did in NetHack 3.4.3.
- Grease protects against all types of erosion.
- Passive fire damage may burn the attacker's weapon.
- Passive attacks no longer erode armor covered by other armor.
- AD_DREN implemented, actually draining energy (energy vortices).
Starting with NetHack 3.6.1:
- AD_SAMU may take any quest artifact. In earlier versions, AD_SAMU would not take a quest artifact belonging to a role different from the hero's role.
Starting with NetHack 3.6.2:
- If hero survives sliming via lifesaving, hero continues adventuring in slime form.
- If AD_TLPT succeeds in teleporting, hit point damage is limited so that defender will not die from hit point loss.
Starting with NetHack 3.6.3:
- Hallucination partially blocks passive AD_GAZE attacks.