Monster abilities

This page is a list of all special abilities that monsters in ADOM feature.

Melee-range combat abilities

Poisoning melee attack

Monsters with this ability have a chance to poison the PC on successful hits. Having intrinsic poison resistance will not allow the PC to completely resist this effect, but will greatly reduce the damage from poison.

All monsters with this ability are vulnerable to thrown potions of cure poison which will stun them for a number of turns. Such potions are one of the most common in Ancardia and may be a great help against powerful monsters such as the Snake From Beyond or Keriax.

Monster memory will identify monsters with this ability with the following line:
It/He/She is using poison. or They are using poison.

The full list of monsters with poisoning melee attack can be viewed here.

Corrupting melee attack

Monsters with this ability will increase the PC's accumulated corruption points when the PC receives damage from their attacks; if these corruption points reach certain levels the PC will gain a new corruption. 

How much corruption a PC receives from a corrupting melee attack seems to vary depending on the species of the monster. For example, whilst the PC will need to take a *lot* of attacks from a chaos rat or vapor rat to gain another corruption, attacks from corruptors and particularly the greater balor will corrupt the PC a lot more. 

Note that all monsters that can corrupt by touch will take damage and lose their ability to corrupt (and other powers) if hit with a thrown potion of cure corruption. Also, they recover HP if the PC delivers a non-lethal blow to them with a weapon 'of corruption' or whilst under the effects of the essence of cHaOs corruption.

The monster memory will identify monsters with this ability with the following line:
It/He/She has a corrupting touch. or They have a corrupting touch.

The full list of monsters with corrupting melee attack can be viewed here.

Penetrating melee attack

Monsters with this ability will penetrate PC's armor on every successful hit thus cancelling damage reduction bonus. Such monsters present a significant threat to PCs relying on high PV and having low DV.

Monsters with penetrating melee attack typically come in two varieties: slow heavy-hitters with one or two very strong attacks per round or fast combatants with multiple light-to-moderate attacks per round. Both types are able to best the PC — a single critical strike from heavy-hitters may deplete all of PC's hit points, while fast penetrating monsters will prevent the PC from escaping.

Monster memory will not display any line to signify the ability to penetrate armor.

The full list of monsters with penetrating melee attack can be viewed here.

Paralyzing melee attack

Monsters with this ability may paralyze the PC if their melee attack injures him/her. The effect is not guaranteed to occur; it is possible that luck plays a role in determining whether or not the PC gets paralyzed by an attack.

The paralyzing melee attack is one of the most feared of all monster abilities, as every paralyzing attack received from a monster extends the duration of the paralysis further and the PC can do nothing to defend himself/herself during this state. As long as the monster can keep repeatedly paralyzing the PC, this can lead to an inevitable and frustrating death in a process known as chain paralysis.

The monster memory will identify monsters with this ability with the following line:
It is able to paralyze by touch or They are able to paralyze by touch.

The full list of monsters with a paralyzing melee attack can be viewed here.

Sickness-inducing melee attack

Monsters with this ability may cause the PC to become sick if their melee attack injures him/her. Generally, the chance of an attack causing sickness is very low, but still a significant danger.

The monster memory will identify monsters with this ability with the following line:
It is able to cause sickness or They are able to cause sickness.

The full list of monsters with a sickness-inducing melee attack can be viewed here.

Sleep-inducing melee attack

Monsters with this ability may cause the PC to fall asleep if their attack injures him/her. Like with the paralyzing melee attack ability, the effect does not seem to be guaranteed to occur.

Whilst the mechanics of paralysis and sleep are very similar, this ability is much less feared than the paralyzing melee attack ability since only homunculi (and possibly cooshoos) have it. It can still kill sick PCs, though.

The monster memory will identify monsters with this ability with the following line:
It is able to make you fall asleep by touching you or They are able to make you fall asleep by touching you.

Aging melee attack

Monsters with this ability will increase the PC's age if their attack injures him/her. The ability is exclusive to undead monsters (though shadow wyrms were not classed as being undead until v. 1.2.0).

Unnatural aging is undesirable for many PCs since it decreases Strength, Dexterity and Toughness at certain levels (usually in exchange for Learning and Willpower), and dangerous for some races that have much shorter life spans than others. The effects can only be reversed by drinking potions of youth or from pools.

The monster memory will identify monsters with this ability with the following line:
It is able to age someone by touching them or They are able to age someone by touching them.

The full list of monsters with an aging melee attack can be viewed here.

Spellcraft

Magic missile

Main article: Glowing balls

This spell will launch a glowing ball fire-based projectile at the PC.