Help understanding item descriptions

[strato]

Hi, I'm really new to Angband (started playing within last week) and don't quite understand the way that weapon damage works. I know this is probably a dumb question, but I've done google searches & searched through help content; haven't found much useful.

If I have a sword (in this case the Long Sword of 'Elvagil'), what does the following mean? (2d5) (+12, +12) <+2>

Armor is slightly less confusing, but I'd appreciate an explanation for that too.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

[Nomad]

If I have a sword (in this case the Long Sword of 'Elvagil'), what does the following mean? (2d5) (+12, +12) (+2)

The first number refers to the dice that are rolled to calculate the basic damage. So if you have 2d5 damage, that means two 5-sided dice are rolled, and the result will be a random number between 2 and 10.

Whenever you see two numbers in brackets with plusses like (+12, +12) on an item, they represent bonuses to hit and to damage (in that order). To-Hit bonuses are not very important to worry about because the calculations are quite complicated and it's hard to really tell how much difference they make. The second number, the damage bonus, is much more important because that's added to the roll of the dice and increases the amount of damage you do with every hit.

The third number - it's usually shown in triangular brackets like <+2> in newer versions of the game, but if you're playing an older version it might be in round brackets - means that the weapon gives you some kind of bonus to your statistics, such as +2 to strength or dexterity, etc.

To see more details about a weapon and any special properties or stat bonuses it has, you can use the Inspect command ('I') and select it from the inventory or the equipment list. Looking at the Inspect screen will tell you the average damage per turn after all the dice rolls and bonuses are added up, and how many blows you can strike per turn with your current stats. (At the beginning of the game when you're not very strong, light weapons like daggers can sometimes be better than big heavy ones with high damage, because you're able to strike multiple blows in a single turn. So it's always worth looking at the Inspect screen to compare different weapons and see which is best.)

Armor will have statistics something like:

Studded Leather Armor (-1) [12, +2] <+1>

The first number in the round brackets is a penalty to hit: the heavier a piece of armor is, the more it reduces your chance of hitting monsters. (But again, bonuses and penalties to hit are not really that important to worry about, because it's hard to tell how much difference they make.)

Numbers in square brackets represent points of AC (Armor Class). The first number is the basic AC, which will always be the same for that particular type of armor (i.e. all Studded Leather Armor has an AC of 12). The second number represents any magical bonus added on top of that, so this example armor has a +2 bonus on top of the standard 12.

Any extra +something number on the end in triangular or round brackets is, again, a bonus to your stats like +1 STR or +1 CON. Use the Inspect command to look at the details of stat bonuses, and see if the armor has any other special properties like resistance to certain types of attacks.

Welcome to the forum! Hope you're enjoying the game.

[strato]

That information is so helpful, thank you.

The first number refers to the dice that are rolled to calculate the basic damage. So if you have 2d5 damage, that means two 5-sided dice are rolled, and the result will be a random number between 2 and 10.

Okay, so would it mean that if it were 2d8, would two 8-sided dice be rolled? If not, what does the 8 stand for?

The third number - it's usually shown in triangular brackets like <+2> in newer versions of the game, but if you're playing an older version it might be in round brackets - means that the weapon gives you some kind of bonus to your statistics, such as +2 to strength or dexterity, etc.

Yeah, I now realize I misread it. It is in triangular brackets. (Updated post)

Welcome to the forum! Hope you're enjoying the game.

Thanks. I certainly am enjoying it (most addicting game I've played).

[Carnivean]

Okay, so would it mean that if it were 2d8, would two 8-sided dice be rolled? If not, what does the 8 stand for?

Yes, that's what it means.

[strato]

Okay, thanks.

[Monkey Face]

Some armor (such as caestus) can also give bonuses to your hit and/or damage outputs. For example, a Set of Caestus (+1, +3) [5, +5] would add +1 to your to hit chances, +3 to your damage/hit, and +10 to your armor class.

Here's an example of how you would calculate damage. Let's say you are wearing that Caestus and wielding a dagger that is 1d4 (+2, +5) and you are strong enough and dexterous enough to get 3 blows per turn. That would mean that each time you hit you would damage your opponent a random number between 1 and 4 +3 for the gloves +5 for the enchantment on the dagger for a total of between 9 and 12. Since you get 3 blows per turn, your actual damage per turn (assuming you successfully hit your opponent all 3 times) would be between 27 and 36. Your average damage per turn would be around 31.5 (probably slightly higher since there is a finite chance of a critical hit which does more damage).

[Ingwe Ingweron]

Some armor (such as caestus) can also give bonuses to your hit and/or damage outputs. For example, a Set of Caestus (+1, +3) [5, +5] would add +1 to your to hit chances, +3 to your damage/hit, and +10 to your armor class.

Here's an example of how you would calculate damage. Let's say you are wearing that Caestus and wielding a dagger that is 1d4 (+2, +5) and you are strong enough and dexterous enough to get 3 blows per turn. That would mean that each time you hit you would damage your opponent a random number between 1 and 4 +3 for the gloves +5 for the enchantment on the dagger for a total of between 9 and 12. Since you get 3 blows per turn, your actual damage per turn (assuming you successfully hit your opponent all 3 times) would be between 27 and 36. Your average damage per turn would be around 31.5 (probably slightly higher since there is a finite chance of a critical hit which does more damage).

All of which, including the critical hit chance, is helpfully calculated for you. Just inspect the weapon and you will see the damage per round and blows per round information. Note that even if you don't have max blows now, you may later when strength and dexterity improve. Thus, a heavy weapon that is underperforming a lighter one may outstrip it later on.

[Odsoc]

I had some leather armour that had a (-2) stat before the main stats, eg (-2) (5,2) What does this mean? Is it good or bad?

[kandrc]

I had some leather armour that had a (-2) stat before the main stats, eg (-2) (5,2) What does this mean? Is it good or bad?

It's a to-hit penalty for restrictive armor. Ignore it. It should not impact your armor decision.

[Odsoc]

It's a to-hit penalty for restrictive armor. Ignore it. It should not impact your armor decision.

Thanks.

So it reduces my hit percentage slighlty because of restricted movement?

[Derakon]

That's correct. The effect is not noticeable.

Way back in the day (several reworks of the melee system ago), I remember finding some full plate armor with a young mage. We're talking before 500' here. Wearing the armor made the game somewhat comical: it imposed such a huge weight penalty on my SP that I could hardly cast anything, and I couldn't hit anything in melee (not that I was great at melee to begin with)...but nothing could hit me, either. I remember spending dozens of turns flailing at an orc without either of us taking any damage.

[Odsoc]

That's quite funny, I see why they changed it.