Combat mechanics

Encounter generation

Monster encounters begin when you enter a square of type 05 (random based on dungeon level) or 0A (fixed encounter from a list).

Random encounters generate 1 to 5 groups of monsters, and each group has 1-6 of one type of monster. All of these factors are selected at random, and depend on the dungeon level.

Fixed encounters can have up to 3 groups, any number per group. See monster encounter mechanics for specifics. See also monster statistics.

Distance

Each monster group begins at a certain distance from the party. In a random encounter, each group starts at 0, 5, or 10 m (even chance of each). In a fixed encounter, all groups begin at 0 m.

The monster picture shown is always the last group in the list who starts at 0 m. If no group is generated at distance 0 at the start of the fight, the first monster group will automatically start at 0 m.

Enemies must be at 0 m range to make normal attacks. On their turn, any enemy which cannot hit moves forward 5 m.

Turn order

At the beginning of each turn, a random initiative value is generated to determine turn order for the entire battle. There is a 65/256 (about 25%) chance that the heroes gain the initiative, and a 191/256 (about 75%) that the monsters do.

Within the party, members go in order of position in the party: top left, top right, middle left, etc.

Combat can be thought of as divided into segments. In each segment, one hero takes their turn, and all members of one group of monsters takes their turn. Whichever side won the initiative at the beginning of battle goes first in every segment.

In other words, if the heroes win the initiative, the turn order goes Hero #1, Monster Group #1, Hero #2, Monster Group 2, etc. If the monsters won, it goes Monster Group #1, Hero #1, Monster Group #2, Hero #2, etc.

Hero statistics

In DoA1, the hero’s AC (AS) stat is calculated as Strength/32 rounded down, plus bonuses from items.

In DoA2, the hero’s AC (AS) stat is instead calculated as ((Kondition+Level)/16 + Strength)/16 plus bonuses from items.

However, in both games, the AC (AS) stat appears to have no effect.

In both games, the hero’s WC (RS) stat is calculated as (Luck + Level)/32 plus item bonuses. The spell Magic Armour grants +3 to all party members, while Magic Armour2 grants +2 instead. There is a -2 penalty if suffering from Blinded status.

WC protects the hero from both physical attacks and spells. If their WC is equal to or greater then the opponent’s attack or spell attack stat, the attack misses 15/16 (93.75) of the time. If it’s lower, the enemy attack always hits.

Hero actions

On a hero’s turn, assuming they are alive and not Stoned, they will perform action you selected: attack, use an item, cast a spell, or parry.

Parry effectively adds +3 bonus to WC (RS) against monster attacks this round. This applies to both monster attacks and monster spells.

For any action other than Parry, if the hero is Blinded, they have a Luck/256 chance to succeed; otherwise, the attempt fails.

Hero weapon attacks

Firstly, when attacking or using an item, the hero fails in a number of obvious circumstances: their weapon is unidentified, their class isn’t proficient with that weapon, they’re wielding a two-handed weapon in their right hand but their left hand is not empty, they’re wielding a bow without any arrows, or the enemy is more than 0 m away and they aren’t using a ranged weapon. (There are also a minimum Strength and Dexterity requirements for each weapon, but for all weapons the requirements are set to 0.)

Melee attacks hit the first monster of the targeted group who still has hit points left. Hero weapon attacks never miss. However, if the target group no longer exists, i.e. another hero killed them first, your attack appears to be wasted.

The damage is a random number between 0 and the hero’s Strength score divided by 8 (rounded down); plus 3, plus a fixed damage bonus from the weapon (see items and treasure). The strongest are Arc’s Sword (+80), Killersword and Deathbringer (both +45) and Dragonslayer (+40). Arrows also add a damage bonus.

Monster turn

All monsters of a group take their turn together.

If the monster group is at a distance of 0 m, it will attack. If the monster knows a spell, there’s a 50% chance for each monster to cast the spell instead.

If the monster group is further away, and they know a spell, each monster in the group has a 11/16 chance (about 2/3) to cast a spell. If they do not know a spell, the group will spend their turn approaching 5m closer.

Monster spells

Some monsters possess the ability to cast a single spell, which is always an attack spell.

Each spell either targets all six party members, or picks one target from the front two rows. The spell always hits if the monster’s spell attack stat (byte 06) is greater than the target’s WC (RS). If it doesn’t hit, there is a 1/16 chance to hit anyway.

Monster spell damage uses the same base damage range as the hero’s versions, with a +2 bonus to the upper bound. Heroes’ versions actually include a +3 bonus, so one higher maximum. For example, Shock (internally, 4-6 damage) deals 4-8 damage when used by a monster, but 4-9 when the player casts the same spell. The number on this page includes all relevant bonuses.

For convenience, a full list of spellcasting monsters follows:

Deadly Flash actually works by dealing very high damage (240-480 base, i.e. 240-482 in the hands of the Dark Lord). The maximum possible hero HP is 223, for a level 16 Stembär with maximum stats. The spell is weaker when the heroes use it, since the maximum variance roll for the player is 127, so 240-367 damage, which will defeat the Dark Lord in about 3 to 4 hits if your spellcaster lives that long.

Monster melee attack

Attacking monsters choose one target randomly from the front two rows of the party. The verb used depends on the monster, and is always one of “bites”, “hits”, “picks”, “scratchs”, “slayes”, or “stabs”.

The monster always hits if its Attack stat (byte 05) is higher than the target’s WC (RS). Otherwise, there is a 1/32 chance the monster will get lucky and hit anyway.

If the target is suffering from Blinded status, they have an effective WC (RS) penalty of -2 (to a minimum of 0). If the hero chose the Parry action, they gain an effective WC bonus of +3.

If the monster hits, it deals an amount of damage equal to its base damage (byte 03) plus 0-3. Additionally, some monsters have a 50% chance to impose a status effect:

Blinded

DoA1: Gnom King, Magician, Vampire

DoA2: Invisible

Stoned

DoA1: Dark Lord, Green Dragon, Hellworm, Devil, Phantom

DoA2; Devil, Lord Roa (real)

Poisened:

DoA1: Hellgnom, Pure Worm, Spider, Alien, Great Spider, Ninja, Woodoo Man

DoA2: Big Spider, Pest Baby, Skelleton, Werewolf, Zombi

Fleeing

The chance of successfully fleeing from battle is based entirely on the current dungeon level:

If you successfully flee a random encounter, you remain in the encounter square, allowing you to either return the way you came or bypass the encounter entirely. If you return to the square, a new encounter is randomly created.

Not so for fixed encounters, which return you to the square you were in before, so you can’t push past them. Additionally, any monsters you killed before fleeing will remain defeated, except in DoA1, where a bug prevents fixed encounter enemy count from being saved correctly. See Bugs and How to see the Dungeon of Avalon 1 ending for more details on this bug and how to fix it.

You still receive XP and gold for defeated enemies, even if you flee the encounter.

Experience points and gold

Each monster grants an amount of XP equal to its hit point maximum plus its base damage value, times four. The XP value is divided evenly between all currently alive party members, rounded down.

Each monster also awards a certain amount of gold (see monster statistics). It’s likewise divided among party members and rounded down.

NPCs take a share of XP, but it’s useless since they can’t make use of the level-up trainer. They also take a share of gold, but can’t spend it, and pooling gold doesn’t draw from NPCs.