Torment
Torment is a difficult-to-resist effect that cuts the HP of its targets by half.
Useful Info
Torment reduces the target's HP by 50% of its current value. It can never bring you below 3 HP. The damage does not account for MP when you have spirit shield (though spirit shield still works to reduce damage).
This damage can be reduced by various means, and a few ways make you entirely immune.
Sources (Player)
You can torment all creatures in LOS, both yourself and monsters, with:
- Reading a scroll of torment
- Using Kikubaaqudgha's Torment ability.
You can torment only monsters in LOS by:
- Drawing a Pain card from the deck of destruction (at power level 2)
- Attacking with the Sceptre of Torment, 20% chance
You can face torment against only yourself in the following ways:
- Incurring Kikubaaqudgha's wrath
- Xom will occasionally torment its followers
- Nemelex Xobeh's wrath may invoke the Torment card against you
- Suffering the death curse of a mummy
The spells Agony and Agony Range (monster only) also halve HP, just like torment, but only against a single target. These spells can be resisted entirely with high willpower.
Sources (Monster)
The following enemies cast Symbol of Torment:
- 1
Brimstone Fiend - z
Curse skull - z
Curse toe - &
Ereshkigal - &
Gloorx Vloq - 1
Ice Fiend - M
Khufu - M
Menkaure - M
Mummy priest - z
Murray - M
Royal mummy - 2
Tormentor - 1
Tzitzimitl
The following enemies may be able to cast Symbol of Torment, depending on their spell set:
- &
Pandemonium lord (3.4% chance)
This monster invokes torment upon its death:
Monsters won't cast Symbol of Torment if their target is immune to it. Friendly monsters, like the ones you can get by casting Summon Greater Demon, won't cast Symbol of Torment while you are in their LOS.
If a monster invokes torment, you will see the message
"The <monster> calls on the powers of darkness!"
Resistance
There are only a few sources of torment resistance, which all stack:
- Negative energy resistance. Each rN+ reduces damage by 10% (or -5% current HP). That's -45% HP at rN+, -40% HP at rN++, and -35% HP at rN+++.
- Kikubaaqudgha can shield you from torment. At max piety, there's a 33% chance to block torment entirely, and an 80% chance to reduce it by a random number (from 1 to damage dealt).
- Being a Gargoyle or in Statue Form halves torment damage.
- The second rank of the demonspawn mutation, Hurl Damnation halves torment damage.
Torment immunity:
- Being undead (Ghoul, Mummy, bloodless Vampire, or through Necromutation).
- The following forms grant full immunity:
- Being Petrified grants full immunity (but prevents you from acting at all).
Also, Death's Door makes you immune to all damage, including torment.
Strategy
Torment is an extremely deadly effect: no matter how strong your character is, losing half your HP stings. It is one of the main threats in extended, though you'll find torment in a few places as well.
Beyond being immune to it, there are a few 'common sense' methods to avoiding torment:
- Blocking LOS from monsters. If they can't see you, they can't torment you! A scroll of fog, simply closing a door, retreating at speed, or teleporting away can be the wisest option if unprepared to deal with multiple torment-capable enemies, especially if there are smiting- or damnation-capable monsters around.
- Fighting torment-capable monsters one at a time. Usually, you can't kill everything in one turn. Fighting monsters alone gives monsters less time to torment you. Use kill holes if possible.
- Prioritize torment-capable monsters. If you have full/near-full HP, torment deals the most damage, so it makes sense to kill uses of torment first.
- Monster specific vulnerabilities:
- Most users of torment are immune to silence. However, mummy priests, royal mummies, and Khufu are affected by silence. Be careful when in Tomb, as more tormenters can show up outside the Silence radius. Take advantage of terrain to prevent this.
- The "tormentor" monster cannot see invisible. Being invisible won't grant immunity, but if a tormentor can't see any enemies, it's much less likely to cast torment. (Note that if a torment-vulnerable summon is in sight, the tormentor will cast as normal.)
History
- Prior to 0.27, the second rank of the Black Mark demonspawn mutation had a 50% chance to completely negate any instance of torment, and the Hurl Damnation mutation had no torment resistance.
- Prior to 0.25, the Pain card did not have a torment effect.
- Prior to 0.23, the Sceptre of Torment did not protect the wielder from its torment.
- Prior to 0.13, stepping on a Zot trap could also invoke torment as a random miscast. When Zot traps were given their own special set of effects in 0.13, torment was not included.
- Prior to 0.8, players could also cast Symbol of Torment as a L6 Necromancy spell. The spell would not work for players immune to torment.
