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 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, and fails to slow if turns ≤ 0. There is a minimum of 2-5 turns (randomized per cast) if turns > 0. 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 reduce damage - but it isn't consistent. With a 1/7 chance to englaciate, it isn't likely to help against shafts or teleport trap situations.
• 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 allies without cold resistance, so Summoners may find it counter-intuitive.

As cold-blooded creatures are slowed for longer, this artefact is particularly good in the Lair (and other places with cold-blooded creatures).

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++.