Talk:Holding attack

• do you need to move towards a monster that is holding you in order to hit it with your weapon? for example, if you step on a magic trap that blinds you and generates a rope golem, could it take up to eight turns of choking to free yourself? --195.50.80.61 11:13, July 28, 2010 (UTC)

Yes, no. You move on the monster's square to attack it, but it only takes very few turns to free yourself: engrave "ElberethElbereth" with a fast method (dust) after unblinding yourself. If you can't yet unblind yourself, you are probably best off running for the nearest corridor or corner before the golem grabs you (stethoscope, telepathy). If you're blind and already choking, you could pray right away to unblind yourself, then engrave ElberethElberethElb in the dust. Tjr 12:01, July 28, 2010 (UTC)

Drowning attacks

Most times a sea monster attacks you, it simply "brushes against your <leg>". The article doesn't describe how often the first step of the drowning occurs. From my source diving:

• First, the monster must hit you with the AD_WRAP attack. Your AC helps prevent this from landing in the first place.
• You must not be polymorphed into a creature with a holding attack of your own - STCK, WRAP, and HUGS.
• You must not be stuck to another monster.
• There is a 9 in 10 chance that the monster will simply brush against your leg. This never does damage and won't wear off grease.
• On that 1 in 10 remaining chance, the eel will either "swing itself around you", or be stopped by your grease. Grease is always effective but has a 50% chance to wear off at this stage.

And if all of that happens, you are now stuck to the creature. You will always drown on the creature's next turn if it is standing over water and you can't survive underwater. As a minor aside that I haven't verified, the player should still die on land, so if it leaves a bones the recipient doesn't need to go swimming to get the equipment.

Correct me if I'm wrong on any count before I update the article. Source for most of this is mhitu.c, 1220. the sticks function for the STCK, WRAP, HUGS immunity is in mondata.c, 297. -- Qazmlpok 03:16, 12 April 2011 (UTC)

Where does magic cancellation come in? In my observation, MC3 significantly reduces the drowning rate. --Tjr 19:47, 12 April 2011 (UTC)

It doesn't. The code checks for cancellation but not MC - this is consistent with the articles on cancellation and magic cancellation as well. I'm pretty sure AC is the only protection besides grease (and proper discretion, of course), but I'm not positive AC is a factor.

One other addition; in SLASH'EM there is a rnl() < 5 chance of avoiding the initial holding attack if you have free action. -- Qazmlpok 20:59, 12 April 2011 (UTC)