Willpower
Magic resistance (MR) is the ability to resist hostile enchantments such as Slow, Confusion, Banishment to the Abyss and Disintegration.
The higher a being's MR, the less likely that it will be affected by an enchantment cast on it. Beings that are magical in some way (such as elves or sirens), magic-users, and those that are non-natural tend to have higher MR than other creatures.
Monster MR is partly based on hit dice, so monsters with high hit dice tend to be highly resistant to magic. Most monsters with one hit die have a 50% chance to fail to resist outright, in addition to the normal saving throw. Finally, some monsters are outright immune to magical enchantments – for instance, most nonliving creatures.
Contents
Resistible Enchantments
Some of these effects can come from potions, weapon brands, clouds, or spells that are not considered enchantments.
- Slow, Wand of slowing
- Wand of paralysis
- Confuse, Confusing Touch, Mass Confusion, Wand of confusion (but not Alistair's Intoxication)
- Teleport Other, Wand of teleportation, Dispersal spell (only teleportation, blink away cannot be resisted)
- Polymorph, Wand of polymorph
- Enslavement, Wand of enslavement, Crusade card
- Banishment, Damnation card
- Vitriol card
- Enslave Soul
- Agony
- Pain
- Wand of disintegration
- Blink Other (but not Blink Other Close)
- Petrify
- Corona
- Porkalator
- Ensorcelled Hibernation, Metabolic Englaciation
- Sleep
- Inner Flame
- Cause Fear, Scroll of fear, Banshee card
- Control Undead
Most of the time, the enchantment power of a spell is its spellpower. However, mass enchantments, like Cause Fear, Mass Confusion, Metabolic Englaciation, or Control Undead get a +50% bonus to their enchantment power (after spellpower stepdown). Other spells, like Pain, Agony, Corona, Slow and Teleport Other also get bonuses to their enchantment power.
Notes
- Many of these enchantments can be resisted via other means. For instance, life protection counters the effects of Agony (but not the Pain spell). Undead, nonliving, and plant monsters cannot sleep.
- Polymorph will not be resisted by (very) ugly things, which will always change color. Shapeshifters can only resist it if they are currently in the form of something immune to magic.
Saving throws
Resisting an enchantment is dependent on the resisting creature's MR and the spell power of the enchantment it is resisting. The formula is:
If 1d100 + 1d101 is less than 102 + MR - the spell's power, the enchantment is resisted.
This is sometimes referred to as a "saving throw", after the die-based resistance system employed in Dungeons & Dragons.
Resistance Descriptions
Neither the player's nor monster's MR is never given explicitly, but a rough suggestion of how magic resistant they are can be seen by pressing the @ key for the player, and examining a monster's description.
Magic resistance adjectives are as follows:
| MR description | MR number |
|---|---|
| not resistant | <10 |
| slightly | 10-29 |
| somewhat | 30-59 |
| quite | 60-89 |
| very | 90-119 |
| extremely | 120-149 |
| extraordinarily | 150-189 |
| incredibly | 190-239 |
| uncannily | 240-299 |
| almost entirely | >=300 |
Player Resistance
As a practical matter, "extraordinarily resistant" is enough to completely resist most dangerous enchanters in the game (such as Kirke, deep elf demonologists, and even ancient liches).
Player resistance is determined as below:
Experience level * racial multiplier plus the following:
- randart MR
- 30 for each armor of magic resistance
- 40 for each ring of magic resistance
- level of MR mutation * 30
- 50 if in lichform
- 70 when using Trog's hand
- Everything is divided by two, if the player is under the effect of a scroll of vulnerability
Racial multipliers are as follows:
- 7: spriggan
- 6: purple draconian, deep dwarf, felid
- 5: naga, mummy
- 4: elves, mountain dwarf, demigod, vampire, demonspawn, ogre
- 3: humans and every other race
History
In 0.13, Phantasmal warriors will apply the effect of a scroll of vulnerability with their melee attacks. Also, Blink Other will ignore MR.
