Destroy armor (monster spell)
Destroy armor is a monster spell that is used in NetHack, and tends to be cast by mid-level and stronger spellcasting monsters such as liches and golden nagas.
Description
Destroy armor can be used by any monster that can cast mage spells and is at least level 9.[1] [2] When cast, the spell will target a piece of worn armor, using a weighted random selection, and destroy it. The process is the same as for an uncursed scroll of destroy armor. Magic resistance completely nullifies the effects of this spell.[3]
Strategy
The presence of this spell makes it 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 a strong enough caster closes 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
EvilHack
In EvilHack, the destroy armor spell is reworked: it now erodes a target piece of armor, destroying it upon inflicting enough erosion, and can also remove erosion-proofing even from inherently proofed materials such as dragonhide and mithril. One to three levels of erosion can occur per casting, with magic resistance lowering 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 immune.
