Torment

Version 0.31: This article is up to date for the latest stable release of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

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. Specifically, torment deals damage equal to 50% * current HP - 1, rounded down, so it leaves targets at 1-2 points above half health. It can never bring targets below 3 HP. This damage can be reduced by various means, and a few ways make you entirely immune.

Torment's "50% HP" does not account for your MP if you have spirit shield. However, spirit shield works as normal after the 50% HP is calculated. For example, if you have 200 HP and 20 MP, torment would deal 99 damage, bringing you to 110 HP and 11 MP.

Sources (Player)

You can torment all creatures in LOS, both yourself and monsters, with:

• Reading a scroll of torment
• Using Kikubaaqudgha's Torment ability.
• Incurring Kikubaaqudgha's wrath.

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:

• 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:

• * Lurking horror

Monsters won't cast Symbol of Torment if their target is immune to it. Friendly monsters, such as those summoned from the sceptre of Asmodeus, 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% (i.e. -5% of your current HP). That's -45% current 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 Death Form).
• The following forms:
  • Tree Form
  • Wisp Form
  • Dithmenos' Shadow Form
• Being Petrified (though this prevents you from acting at all).

Also, Death's Door makes you immune to all damage, including torment.

Monsters with rN+++ (including all undead, demonic, nonliving, and holy monsters) are immune to 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 the extended, though you'll find torment in a few earlier 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.
• Prioritizing torment-capable monsters. If you are around full HP, torment is likely to deal more damage than any regular attack, so it makes sense to kill users of torment first.
• Monster specific vulnerabilities:
  • Most users of torment are immune to silence. However, mummy priests, royal mummies, Menkaure, and Khufu are affected by silence. Be careful when in Tomb, as more tormentors 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.