Stabbing
This article is about stabbing attacks. For the removed potion, see potion of stabbing.
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 blow.
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:
High-tier stabs
You are guaranteed to stab an opponent under these conditions:
Low-tier stabs
You have a 1 + dex + (Stealth + Wpn_skill)/2 % chance to stab under these conditions:
- Petrifying
- Held in a throwing net or web
- Blind (or if the player is invisible and unseen)
- Fleeing
- Charmed or otherwise friendly
- Confused
- 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 (and you cannot see invisible). The Shining One considers stabbing foes dishonorable, and prevents its followers from doing so.
50% of stabbing attempts with the Spriggan's Knife are treated as if the target is sleeping.
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.
Tiers:
- Stabbing attacks against creatures that are sleeping, paralyzed, or petrified are high-tier stabs.
- All other stabbing attacks are low-tier.
Weapons:
Short Blades are the most effective weapon for stabbing. Felid claws and any melee weapon wielded while wearing the hood of the Assassin are considered equivalent to Short Blades for purposes of stabbing damage.
In addition to having higher multipliers, short blades provide bonus 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.
The table below details the total damage multiplier from your skills, tier, and weapon type:
| Stealth/Weapon skill average | Short Blades | Others | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High-Tier | Low-Tier | High-Tier | Low-Tier | |
| 1 | +19.2% | +4.6% | +8.3% | +2.1% |
| 2 | +40.0% | +9.4% | +16.7% | +4.2% |
| 3 | +62.5% | +14.2% | +25.0% | +6.2% |
| 4 | +86.7% | +19.2% | +33.3% | +8.3% |
| 5 | +112.5% | +24.2% | +41.7% | +10.4% |
| 6 | +140.0% | +29.4% | +50.0% | +12.5% |
| 7 | +169.2% | +34.6% | +58.3% | +14.6% |
| 8 | +200.0% | +40.0% | +66.7% | +16.7% |
| 9 | +232.5% | +45.5% | +75.0% | +18.8% |
| 10 | +266.7% | +51.0% | +83.3% | +20.8% |
| 11 | +302.5% | +56.7% | +91.7% | +22.9% |
| 12 | +340.0% | +62.5% | +100.0% | +25.0% |
| 13 | +379.2% | +68.4% | +108.3% | +27.1% |
| 14 | +420.0% | +74.4% | +116.7% | +29.2% |
| 15 | +462.5% | +80.5% | +125.0% | +31.2% |
| 16 | +506.7% | +86.7% | +133.3% | +33.3% |
| 17 | +552.5% | +93.0% | +141.7% | +35.4% |
| 18 | +600.0% | +99.4% | +150.0% | +37.5% |
| 19 | +649.2% | +105.9% | +158.3% | +39.6% |
| 20 | +700.0% | +112.5% | +166.7% | +41.7% |
| 21 | +752.5% | +119.2% | +175.0% | +43.8% |
| 22 | +806.7% | +126.0% | +183.3% | +45.8% |
| 23 | +862.5% | +133.0% | +191.7% | +47.9% |
| 24 | +920.0% | +140.0% | +200.0% | +50.0% |
| 25 | +979.2% | +147.1% | +208.3% | +52.1% |
| 26 | +1040.0% | +154.4% | +216.7% | +54.2% |
| 27 | +1102.5% | +161.7% | +225.0% | +56.2% |
Strategy
- "Pure" Stealth is less viable than other choices. The enemy always has a chance to wake up... and training only Stealth means you can't deal with anything that wakes up. Plus, enemies often spawn in packs, and if one enemy detects you, they all wake up.
- Thus, many stabbers will rely on magic to incapacitate their enemies. Hexes spells (like Ensorcelled Hibernation, Confusing Touch) as well as spells in certain other schools (Mephitic Cloud, Petrify, etc.) give you opportunities to stab. A wand of paralysis is a limited, but powerful way to disable enemies. Gods like Uskayaw can work in a similar way. And any means of having allies can let you get distraction stabs here and there.
History
- Prior to 0.27, stabs would bypass some of your target's AC, depending on your Stealth and weapon skills. This was converted into a flat bonus to stabbing damage instead of a reduction to AC.
- Prior to 0.20, The Shining One would inflict penance for stabbing intelligent foes that were not demons or undead.
- In 0.19, four tiers of stabbing attacks were replaced by just two tiers. Stabs against distracted and petrified targets were buffed: +50% damage and +100% damage, respectively. Petrifying and net stabs got -50% to damage, and invisible stabs had their proc chance reduced.
- Prior to 0.16, Long Blades were slightly more effective at stabbing than most other weapons, and clubs and rods could stab for special effects.
- Prior to 0.13, Stabbing was a skill of its own, rather than being the average of your Stealth and weapon skills.
