Difference between revisions of "Stabbing"

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''This article is about the Stabbing skill. For the weapon [[brand]], see [[Vorpal]].''
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''This article is about stabbing attacks. For the weapon [[brand]], see [[Vorpal]].''
  
The '''Stabbing''' skill enhances the damage of attacks made against [[monster]]s unaware of your presence. The term "stabbing" can also refer to the act of making such an attack.
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Any time that you deliver a melee attack to an enemy which is distracted, asleep, or otherwise unable to defend itself properly, there's a chance that your character will make a '''stabbing''' attack. These attacks ignore [[EV]] and [[SH]] and deal significantly more damage than normal. Characters built around stabbing can deal absurd amounts of damage, often ending fights with powerful opponents in a single hit.
  
==Stabbing odds==
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==Stabbing Odds==
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Your chance of delivering a stab attack varies based on your [[Stealth]] skill, your skill with the weapon you are currently wielding, your [[dexterity]], and the [[status effects]] the enemy is suffering from.
  
A monster has a chance of being stabbed if sleeping, paralyzed, petrified, confused, fleeing, held in a net, friendly, unable to see through your invisibility, or simply unaware of your presence due to your stealth level. The odds are (Stabbing skill + [[Dexterity]] + 1) in 100, or in 90 in the case of invisibility. A monster that is sleeping or paralyzed will always be stabbed, but it is impossible to stab anything when you are confused, your dexterity is zero or you can't see the target. If you pass the stab check, the EV and SH of the victim will be ignored.
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'''Guaranteed to be stabs:'''
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*[[Paralysis]]
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*[[Petrify|Petrified]]
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*[[Sleep]]
  
==Stabbing damage==
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'''90% chance:'''
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*[[Blind]] (or if the player is [[invisible]] and unseen)
  
The Stabbing skill increases your stabbing damage, but not all stabbings are equal. Your stabbing bonus is determined by your Stabbing skill, the stabbing "tier" (the target's state), and your choice of weapon.
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'''(Dexterity + ([[Stealth]] + Weapon skill)/2)% chance:'''
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*[[Confusion]]
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*[[Charm]]ed or otherwise friendly
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*Held in a [[throwing net]] or [[web]]
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*Petrifying
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*Fleeing
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*Awake, but hasn't noticed you yet
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*Distracted by damage from a non-player source
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You cannot make stab attacks while confused, at [[stat zero|zero dexterity]], or if your target is invisible.
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==Stabbing Damage==
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The additional damage from a stab attempt varies based on the target's status effect, the weapon you make the attack with, your skill with the weapon, and your Stealth skill. The enemy's status effect and your weapon are the largest factors, determining which Tier of stabbing damage you'll inflict:
  
 
'''Tiers:'''
 
'''Tiers:'''
*Stabbing attacks against creatures that are sleeping, paralyzed are '''tier 1''' stabbings, the most effective kind.
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*Stabbing attacks against creatures that are sleeping or paralyzed are '''tier 1''' stabbings, the most effective kind.
 
*Creatures that are petrified, petrifying, or held in a net fall under '''tier 2''' stabbings.
 
*Creatures that are petrified, petrifying, or held in a net fall under '''tier 2''' stabbings.
*Creatures that are confused, fleeing, friendly or being invisistabbed fall under '''tier 3''' stabbings.
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*Creatures that are confused, fleeing, friendly, or being invisistabbed fall under '''tier 3''' stabbings.
 
*Creatures that are simply distracted (or haven't noticed you yet) fall under '''tier 4''' stabbings, and are the least effective.
 
*Creatures that are simply distracted (or haven't noticed you yet) fall under '''tier 4''' stabbings, and are the least effective.
  
 
'''Weapons:'''
 
'''Weapons:'''
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*[[Short blades]] gain the biggest damage multipliers from stabbing attempts, and also provide a bonus to damage '''before the stabbing multiplier is applied'''. This extra damage is significantly increased if you are wielding a [[dagger]], but is capped at 30. With sufficiently high skill and dexterity, other short blades can also hit the cap. To get the maximum bonus you need to have DEX × (1 + (Weapon skill + Stealth skill/2)) > 350 with a dagger or 700 with another short blade. Even without this bonus, short blades are still the best for stabbing.
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*[[Long blades]] provide the second-largest bonus after short blades. [[Club]]s, [[spear]]s, [[trident]]s, [[demon trident]]s, [[trishula]]s, and [[felid]] [[unarmed combat]] also fall under this category.
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*All other weapon types get the same, significantly smaller, bonus for stabbing.
  
* Short blades provide a bonus to damage '''before the stabbing multiplier is applied'''.This extra damage is significantly increased if you are wielding a [[dagger]], but is capped at 30.  With sufficiently high Stabbing skill and Dexterity, other short blades can also hit the cap. To get the maximum bonus you need to have dex*(1 + stabbing skill) above 350 with a dagger or 700 with another short blade. Even without this bonus, short blades are still the best for stabbing.
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The table below details the total damage bonus from your skills, tier, and weapon type:
* Long blades provide the second-largest bonus after short blades. [[Club]]s, [[spear]]s, [[trident]]s, [[demon trident]]s, [[trishula]]s, and [[felid]] UC also fall under this category.
 
* All other weapon types get the same, significantly smaller, bonus for stabbing.
 
 
 
The table below details the total damage bonus from your Stabbing skill, tier, and weapon type:
 
  
 
{| class="prettytable" style="border:none; margin:0; padding:0;"
 
{| class="prettytable" style="border:none; margin:0; padding:0;"
 
|-
 
|-
! rowspan=2 | Stabbing skill
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! rowspan=2 | Stealth/Weapon Skill Average
 
! colspan=4 | Short Blades
 
! colspan=4 | Short Blades
 
! colspan=4 | Long Blades
 
! colspan=4 | Long Blades
Line 426: Line 442:
 
|}
 
|}
  
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==Other Considerations==
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[[Club]]s and [[rod]]s are unusual weapons to make stabbing attempts with, but they aren't terrible at it; stabbing sleeping opponents with these weapons also inflicts [[confusion]], rendering the enemy vulnerable to further attacks. This is still generally inferior to simply stabbing with a [[dagger]], as a dead enemy is even safer to deal with.
  
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Your Stealth skill is critical to being an effective stabber; along with increasing the damage you deal, it also makes it much easier to approach sleeping enemies, giving you the opportunity to inflict the most powerful stabs in the game. When stealth fails, magic also works well at creating opportunities: [[Ensorcelled Hibernation]], [[Confuse]], [[Confusing Touch]], [[Mephitic Cloud]], [[Petrify]], [[Alistair's Intoxication]], [[Enslavement]], [[Dazzling Spray]]... Alternatively, [[needle]]s of paralysis, sleep, or confusion also get the job done, though their effectiveness is highly dependent on your [[Throwing]] skill.
  
==Other considerations==
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[[The Shining One]] considers stabbing certain foes dishonorable and will put you under penance for it. Thankfully, the game will first provide a warning prompt if your attack would violate his code of conduct ("Really attack the helpless <foo>?"). This restriction only applies to intelligent, non-undead, non-demonic enemies - TSO doesn't mind if you backstab a fleeing [[dragon]] or rip an [[Ice fiend]] open in its sleep.
 
 
The [[Stealth]] skill makes monsters less likely to notice you and thus increases your stabbing opportunities. Monsters can also be made stabbable by putting them to sleep with [[Ensorcelled Hibernation]] or by [[confusion|confusing]] them in a variety of ways, including [[Confuse]] or [[Mephitic Cloud]] spells.
 
 
 
Stabbing is used mainly by [[Enchanter]]s because they have [[Ensorcelled Hibernation]] and [[Confuse]] in their starting spellbook.
 
 
 
[[The Shining One]] considers stabbing dishonorable and will put you under penance for it. The game will provide a warning and a prompt ("Really attack the helpless <foo>?") if your attack would count as stabbing, though. This restriction only applies to intelligent, non-undead, non-demon enemies - TSO does not mind if you backstab a fleeing [[worm]], or rip an [[Ice fiend]] open in its sleep.
 
 
 
==Stabbing aptitudes==
 
 
 
From [[Dungeon Crawl]] [[Stone Soup]] in-game documentation:
 
 
 
{{RaceApt
 
|Hu=<nowiki>0</nowiki>
 
|Fe=<nowiki>3</nowiki>
 
|Ce=<nowiki>-3</nowiki>
 
|Dg=<nowiki>-1</nowiki>
 
|Ds=<nowiki>-1</nowiki>
 
|Dr=<nowiki>0</nowiki>
 
|DD=<nowiki>-1</nowiki>
 
|DE=<nowiki>1</nowiki>
 
|HE=<nowiki>-1</nowiki>
 
|SE=<nowiki>0</nowiki>
 
|Gh=<nowiki>0</nowiki>
 
|Ha=<nowiki>0</nowiki>
 
|Ko=<nowiki>2</nowiki>
 
|Mf=<nowiki>2</nowiki>
 
|Mi=<nowiki>-1</nowiki>
 
|Mu=<nowiki>-2</nowiki>
 
|Na=<nowiki>0</nowiki>
 
|Op=<nowiki>0</nowiki>
 
|Og=<nowiki>-2</nowiki>
 
|HO=<nowiki>2</nowiki>
 
|Sp=<nowiki>4</nowiki>
 
|Te=<nowiki>1</nowiki>
 
|Tr=<nowiki>-2</nowiki>
 
|Vp=<nowiki>1</nowiki>
 
}}
 
  
 
==History==
 
==History==
In [[0.13]] this skill will be replaced with the average value of the [[Stealth]] skill and the appropriate weapon skill.  
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Prior to [[0.13]], Stabbing was a skill of its own, rather than being the sum of your Stealth and weapon skill.
  
 
{{Skills}}
 
{{Skills}}

Revision as of 15:28, 31 October 2013

Version 0.13: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

This article is about stabbing attacks. For the weapon brand, see Vorpal.

Any time that you deliver a melee attack to an enemy which is distracted, asleep, or otherwise unable to defend itself properly, there's a chance that your character will make a stabbing attack. These attacks ignore EV and SH and deal significantly more damage than normal. Characters built around stabbing can deal absurd amounts of damage, often ending fights with powerful opponents in a single hit.

Stabbing Odds

Your chance of delivering a stab attack varies based on your Stealth skill, your skill with the weapon you are currently wielding, your dexterity, and the status effects the enemy is suffering from.

Guaranteed to be stabs:

90% chance:

(Dexterity + (Stealth + Weapon skill)/2)% chance:

  • Confusion
  • Charmed or otherwise friendly
  • Held in a throwing net or web
  • Petrifying
  • Fleeing
  • Awake, but hasn't noticed you yet
  • Distracted by damage from a non-player source

You cannot make stab attacks while confused, at zero dexterity, or if your target is invisible.

Stabbing Damage

The additional damage from a stab attempt varies based on the target's status effect, the weapon you make the attack with, your skill with the weapon, and your Stealth skill. The enemy's status effect and your weapon are the largest factors, determining which Tier of stabbing damage you'll inflict:

Tiers:

  • Stabbing attacks against creatures that are sleeping or paralyzed are tier 1 stabbings, the most effective kind.
  • Creatures that are petrified, petrifying, or held in a net fall under tier 2 stabbings.
  • Creatures that are confused, fleeing, friendly, or being invisistabbed fall under tier 3 stabbings.
  • Creatures that are simply distracted (or haven't noticed you yet) fall under tier 4 stabbings, and are the least effective.

Weapons:

  • Short blades gain the biggest damage multipliers from stabbing attempts, and also provide a bonus to damage before the stabbing multiplier is applied. This extra damage is significantly increased if you are wielding a dagger, but is capped at 30. With sufficiently high skill and dexterity, other short blades can also hit the cap. To get the maximum bonus you need to have DEX × (1 + (Weapon skill + Stealth skill/2)) > 350 with a dagger or 700 with another short blade. Even without this bonus, short blades are still the best for stabbing.
  • Long blades provide the second-largest bonus after short blades. Clubs, spears, tridents, demon tridents, trishulas, and felid unarmed combat also fall under this category.
  • All other weapon types get the same, significantly smaller, bonus for stabbing.

The table below details the total damage bonus from your skills, tier, and weapon type:

Stealth/Weapon Skill Average Short Blades Long Blades Others
Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4 Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4 Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4
1 +19.2% +9.4% +4.6% +3.1% +11.9% +6.8% +3.8% +2.7% +8.3% +4.2% +2.1% +1.4%
2 +40.0% +19.2% +9.4% +6.2% +24.4% +13.7% +7.6% +5.3% +16.7% +8.3% +4.2% +2.8%
3 +62.5% +29.4% +14.2% +9.4% +37.5% +20.9% +11.6% +8.1% +25.0% +12.5% +6.2% +4.2%
4 +86.7% +40.0% +19.2% +12.6% +51.1% +28.3% +15.6% +10.8% +33.3% +16.7% +8.3% +5.6%
5 +112.5% +51.0% +24.2% +15.9% +65.3% +35.9% +19.6% +13.6% +41.7% +20.8% +10.4% +6.9%
6 +140.0% +62.5% +29.4% +19.2% +80.0% +43.8% +23.8% +16.5% +50.0% +25.0% +12.5% +8.3%
7 +169.2% +74.4% +34.6% +22.5% +95.3% +51.8% +28.0% +19.3% +58.3% +29.2% +14.6% +9.7%
8 +200.0% +86.7% +40.0% +25.9% +111.1% +60.0% +32.2% +22.2% +66.7% +33.3% +16.7% +11.1%
9 +232.5% +99.4% +45.5% +29.4% +127.5% +68.4% +36.6% +25.2% +75.0% +37.5% +18.8% +12.5%
10 +266.7% +112.5% +51.0% +32.9% +144.4% +77.1% +41.0% +28.1% +83.3% +41.7% +20.8% +13.9%
11 +302.5% +126.0% +56.7% +36.4% +161.9% +85.9% +45.5% +31.1% +91.7% +45.8% +22.9% +15.3%
12 +340.0% +140.0% +62.5% +40.0% +180.0% +95.0% +50.0% +34.2% +100.0% +50.0% +25.0% +16.7%
13 +379.2% +154.4% +68.4% +43.6% +198.6% +104.3% +54.6% +37.2% +108.3% +54.2% +27.1% +18.1%
14 +420.0% +169.2% +74.4% +47.3% +217.8% +113.8% +59.3% +40.3% +116.7% +58.3% +29.2% +19.4%
15 +462.5% +184.4% +80.5% +51.0% +237.5% +123.4% +64.1% +43.5% +125.0% +62.5% +31.2% +20.8%
16 +506.7% +200.0% +86.7% +54.8% +257.8% +133.3% +68.9% +46.7% +133.3% +66.7% +33.3% +22.2%
17 +552.5% +216.0% +93.0% +58.6% +278.6% +143.4% +73.8% +49.9% +141.7% +70.8% +35.4% +23.6%
18 +600.0% +232.5% +99.4% +62.5% +300.0% +153.8% +78.8% +53.1% +150.0% +75.0% +37.5% +25.0%
19 +649.2% +249.4% +105.9% +66.4% +321.9% +164.3% +83.8% +56.4% +158.3% +79.2% +39.6% +26.4%
20 +700.0% +266.7% +112.5% +70.4% +344.4% +175.0% +88.9% +59.7% +166.7% +83.3% +41.7% +27.8%
21 +752.5% +284.4% +119.2% +74.4% +367.5% +185.9% +94.1% +63.1% +175.0% +87.5% +43.8% +29.2%
22 +806.7% +302.5% +126.0% +78.4% +391.1% +197.1% +99.3% +66.5% +183.3% +91.7% +45.8% +30.6%
23 +862.5% +321.0% +133.0% +82.5% +415.3% +208.4% +104.6% +69.9% +191.7% +95.8% +47.9% +31.9%
24 +920.0% +340.0% +140.0% +86.7% +440.0% +220.0% +110.0% +73.3% +200.0% +100.0% +50.0% +33.3%
25 +979.2% +359.4% +147.1% +90.9% +465.3% +231.8% +115.5% +76.8% +208.3% +104.2% +52.1% +34.7%
26 +1040.0% +379.2% +154.4% +95.1% +491.1% +243.7% +121.0% +80.3% +216.7% +108.3% +54.2% +36.1%
27 +1102.5% +399.4% +161.7% +99.4% +517.5% +255.9% +126.6% +83.9% +225.0% +112.5% +56.2% +37.5%

Other Considerations

Clubs and rods are unusual weapons to make stabbing attempts with, but they aren't terrible at it; stabbing sleeping opponents with these weapons also inflicts confusion, rendering the enemy vulnerable to further attacks. This is still generally inferior to simply stabbing with a dagger, as a dead enemy is even safer to deal with.

Your Stealth skill is critical to being an effective stabber; along with increasing the damage you deal, it also makes it much easier to approach sleeping enemies, giving you the opportunity to inflict the most powerful stabs in the game. When stealth fails, magic also works well at creating opportunities: Ensorcelled Hibernation, Confuse, Confusing Touch, Mephitic Cloud, Petrify, Alistair's Intoxication, Enslavement, Dazzling Spray... Alternatively, needles of paralysis, sleep, or confusion also get the job done, though their effectiveness is highly dependent on your Throwing skill.

The Shining One considers stabbing certain foes dishonorable and will put you under penance for it. Thankfully, the game will first provide a warning prompt if your attack would violate his code of conduct ("Really attack the helpless <foo>?"). This restriction only applies to intelligent, non-undead, non-demonic enemies - TSO doesn't mind if you backstab a fleeing dragon or rip an Ice fiend open in its sleep.

History

Prior to 0.13, Stabbing was a skill of its own, rather than being the sum of your Stealth and weapon skill.

Skills
Weapons Short BladesLong BladesRanged Weapons

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