Paralysis

Version 0.33: This article is up to date for the latest stable release of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

This page is about the status effect. For the monster spell, see Paralyse.

You are paralysed, and completely unable to act.

Paralysis is a status effect which renders a player or monster unable to move or act for a period of time.

Effect

When paralysed:

• Creatures are unable to act.
• EV is set to almost 0, 2 + size_factor for players, and set to 0 EV for monsters.
• SH is set to 0.
• Monsters are vulnerable to high-tier stabs.

Once paralysis ends, players get stun immunity for 1-3 turns, making them immune to paralysis and a few other status effects. Unlike petrification, there is no special damage resistance.

Formicids are immune to paralysis due to their stasis.

Sources

There are several sources of paralysis. Some are resistible, while some are not.

Sources of paralysis that can be resisted 100% of the time:

• The spell Paralyse, including wand of paralysis (2-5 turns for the player, must overcome the victim's willpower)
• The melee attacks of a hornet or jorogumo (1-3 turns; poison resistance blocks 2/3 of the time; poison immunity prevents it.)
• The melee attacks of a formless jellyfish (1 turn; poison resistance blocks 2/3 of the time; poison immunity prevents it.)

Other sources are irresistible for non-Formicids:

• Stunning Burst (1 turn; 50% to resist with electricity resistance)
• Starcursed masses' shrieking, when 5+ are in sight (1 turn)
• Zot traps (2-5 turns)
• Uskayaw's or Zin's wrath (2-5 turns)
• Cancelling Death's Door with Borgnjor's Revivification (2-5 turns)
• Stat zero (2-4 turns, ignores Formicids' stasis)

Strategy

If a monster's paralysis can last for more than a single turn, it should be treated as instant death. Most monsters can kill you if you give them 4-5 free turns. Multiple monsters can definitely kill you in 4-5 turns. Even a single turn can cause a huge spike of damage. Having your EV and SH set to 0 is just the cherry on top; paralysis is nasty even for players with high AC.

Generally, you should avoid paralysis as much as possible. Even a < 1% chance of instant death is too much for streak play.

Tips & Tricks

Most sources of paralysis can be dealt with using one way or another:

• The Paralyse spell requires line of fire. Spells can't be cast when a monster is silenced or waterlogged. Willpower can protect against it, though it takes high will to reach 0% success. Racial willpower matters if you want to reach 0% paralysis. See the table below for more details.

• Hornets are fast enemies which can paralyse on melee. Poison resistance gives a chance to resist the paralysis, but only poison immunity can prevent it. Wands can often kill or polymorph a hornet with some Evocations training. Lignification can make it very unlikely for a hornet to kill you by itself, due to Tree Form's rPois and increased AC.

• Jorogumo are also fast enemies with a paralysis melee attack. Their melee works in the same way as hornets', but jorogumo have much better defenses and willpower, in addition to some dangerous ranged spells.

• Air elementals only paralyse for one turn, but when you're in range of a bunch of dangerous opponents, that can be lethal. Evasive, but relatively frail, try to target them with strong never-missing attacks (e.g. Lee's Rapid Deconstruction, Airstrike, or high Evocations wand of iceblast. A tin of tremorstones can miss, but is very accurate.)

• Zot traps require you or a monster to step on it, and the trap has to be in your LOS in order for it to function. Zot traps have a number of other nasty effects, so should be avoided if at all possible.

History

• Prior to 0.33, paralysis did not grant stun immunity, only immunity to paralysis.
• Prior to 0.29, the Paralyse spell and godly wrath could last from 2-7 turns.
• Prior to 0.27, berserking had a chance to paralyze the player after it ends, and both Trog and berserkitis would protect from it.
• Prior to 0.25, severe Hexes miscast effects could paralyse the player.
• Prior to 0.24, needles of paralysis existed.
• Prior to 0.18, paralysis could be prevented by an amulet of stasis.