Skin of Zhor

Version 0.30: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

The smelly skin of some strange animal, native to cold and distant lands. It radiates the chill of its native habitat, slowing creatures from warmer climes.

the +4 skin of Zhor

+4 animal skin

Passive Metabolic Englaciation
rC+++
See invisible

Mechanics

When one or more hostile monsters are in LOS, there's a 1/7 chance per 1.0 decaAut that Metabolic Englaciation will be cast, with a power of 30. This requires no action from the player, no MP, no skills to be trained, and will not cause monsters to notice you. However, due to the low power, it can be resisted by high HD monsters.

With a power of 30, Metabolic Englaciation slows for (3d31)/6 - HD/2 - 0.5 turns. It fails to slow if turns ≤ 0, otherwise there's a minimum of 2-5 turns (randomized per cast). Therefore, the chance to slow is given below:

HD	Chance to Slow
5	97.7%
10	78.1%
15	51.2%
20	13.6%

Desirability

The skin of Zhor passively slows down enemies. This enables kiting tactics: against melee enemies, walk away, and you'll get free chances to englaciate. As slow also reduces monsters' attack speed, it helps against any vulnerable enemy. The cold resistance is also nice to have (especially for Ice caves).

However, this artefact isn't perfect.

• As a +4 animal skin, it offers minimal AC. Heavy melee brutes should stay away; even casters may prefer a more reliable armour, like troll leather armour or swamp dragon scales, instead. The slow definitely helps to reduce damage - but it isn't consistent. With a 1/7 chance to englaciate, it can take a while to kick in after you've been shafted or teleported.
• It does not affect all monsters. Creatures with any sort of rC+ are fully immune to Metabolic Englaciation, while those with high HD have a good chance to resist. In the late-game, few enemies will be slowed, severely limiting this armour's usefulness.
• It also affects your allies without cold resistance, which makes this armour less useful to Summoners.

That being said, the slow effect is powerful and costs no time. Casters and EV-based fighters can make good use out of this armour. It is particularly strong in the Lair, as it is filled with cold-blooded creatures, who are slowed for longer. It's also nice in places with swarms of low-HD enemies, namely the Spider's Nest.

History

• Prior to 0.23, the skin of Zhor did not provide passive Metabolic Englaciation. It also lacked SInv.
• Prior to 0.14, the skin of Zhor only provided rC++.