Castle of the Winds/Battle Mechanics

No aspects of CoTW’s behaviour change during battle. Battle occurs wherever and whenever a monster or boss attacks the player or vice-versa.

Monsters may be attacked in two ways: physically (by walking into them), or with a spell. Attack spells can be cast by hand, or from the correct scroll, potion, staff or wand.

Monsters can attack the player in a number of ways. Most fight hand-to-hand, in the same way that the player does. Some can throw or shoot projectiles. The Wizard and Necromancer can cast spells similar to those of the player. Others have elemental attacks such as dragon breath. Finally, some have attacks that drain the player, making him or her a temporarily more vulnerable opponent.

Hit Points

Hit points (HP) are a measure of the player’s health; he or she loses HP when hit by a monster, his or her own spell, or a trap. Certain spells will replenish HP to varying extents, but he or she always recovers full health on levelling up. The player dies when his or her HP reach zero.

The player normally recovers one hit point per minute while moving and two while resting. When resting, the player cannot continue moving until he or she sees a monster, or is fully healed. When poisoned, the player loses HP every minute until the poison wears off; it is possible to die of poisoning while resting.

Maximum HP depend on the player’s Constitution and level. A Vampire bite (see Monsters) may temporarily drain the maximum HP, but the potential HP are still present (though invisible). They can sometimes be recovered while sleeping, but will always be recovered with the Restore Drained Hit Points spell sold at the Temple of Odin.

Armour Value

Armour Value is a measure of the difficulty in hitting a character. Most wearable objects increase Armour Value, as do Enchanted items of Protection and (temporarily) the Shield spell.

Chance to Hit and Damage

With a hand-to-hand weapon, the player may either hit or miss on each strike; hits do varying amounts of damage. Chance to hit depends on Dexterity and the specific monster, and is frequently increased by enchanted weapons or Enchanted Gauntlets of Slaying. Damage depends on Strength and the weapon used. A monster’s chance to hit a player depends on his or her Armour Value, and damage depends on the monster.

Attack spells use a different mechanic.

Elemental and draining attacks on both the player and monsters may be subject to resistances and vulnerabilities. “Resistant” means taking half the usual damage, “strongly resistant” one quarter, “very strongly resistant” one eighth or less, and “vulnerable” double.

“Injuredness”

Right clicking a monster will give a rough idea of his or her health. From most to least healthy, the condition may be described as one of:

• Uninjured
• Barely scratched
• Slightly injured
• Injured
• Heavily injured
• Critically injured