Armor and Levels

Armor

How Armor Affects Combat

Gaining Armor During Combat

Levels

Minion Levels

Experience Level

How Levels Affect Combat

Armor

How Armor Affects Combat. A minion with an armor value of N means the minion ignores the first N points of damage in each combat round, and is not damaged.

• Each minion has a maximum armor value and a current armor value (similar to maximum and current hit points).
• The armor value displayed in a minion's stats is its maximum armor value.
• At the start of each combat round, all minions reset their current armor value to their maximum armor value.
• During each round, current armor and incoming damage soak off (cancel each other out, 1 point for 1 point).
• A minion with N armor will soak off (cancel out) the first N points of combat damage per round.
• If the minion takes N or less total damage in one round, the minion is unharmed. (The armor absorbs all of the damage.)
• Any additional damage above N in the same round will be subtracted from the minion's current hit points.
• Armor is not damaged or reduced by combat. Some spell effects can give penalties to armor.

Gaining Armor During Combat. Some combat-triggered effects can cause a minion to gain armor during a combat, i.e. in the middle of a combat round. (Example: Gorgon's Gaze or Cockatrice's Gaze.) Such armor gains are added to the minion's maximum armor value, but are not added to the minion's current armor value for that combat round. At the start of the next combat round, the minion's current armor value is reset to its maximum armor value, and then the minion gets the benefit of the gained armor ... but first he has to survive until then!

Levels

Minion Levels. Levels reflect a minion's combat skill and experience.

• The minimum minion level is 0. Any additional level penalties are ignored.
• The maximum minion level is 5. Any additional level bonuses are ignored. Only spells can get you this high.
• All newly-trained recruits begin at level 1. Some spells create weak recruits that start at level 0.
• Most monsters are level 1 or 2.

Experience Level. Most recruits can gain one experience level. This reflects a recruit's intelligence and ability to learn.

• The first time a recruit kills a victim by combat damage, it qualifies for an experience level.
• At the start of the next turn, the recruit gets +1 level permanently.
• A recruit can gain only 1 experience level. It may gain additional levels from other spells.
• Exception: Some spells create “veteran” recruits that already have an experience level. These recruits start at level 2, but cannot gain another experience level.
• Monsters never gain an experience level.

How Levels Affect Combat. A minion of higher level takes less damage in combat against minions of lower level.

Compare the attacker's level to its victim's level.

• Every minion's first attack in each combat always hits, regardless of level difference.
• If the attacker is N levels below its victim's level, the attacker's next N attacks miss, and its N + 1st attack hits. This cycle repeats throughout each combat.
• When the attacker switches to a different victim, any previous misses carry over to the new victim.
• If the attacker has multiple attacks per round, it takes fewer rounds to progress through its cycle of misses.

v2.20.00 Last updated 2009/03/22