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Hungry
Starving

Hunger is a debuff with three states: Satiated, Hungry and Starving.

The hunger counter[]

When entering the Dungeon, the Hero starts with a hunger counter set to 10 points (instead of 0).
This counter is updated every T turns, with:

  • T=12 if the Hero is a Rogue,
  • T=10 if the Hero is another class,
  • T multiplied by 1.5 while the Hero is under the Shadowmelded buff.

At each update (every T turns) the counter is increased by 10-satiety points (satiety being the cumulative level of equipped Rings of Satiety).
Consequently, with satiety=10, the Hero will never ever be Hungry or Starving by just walking again (while ring(s) equipped), increasing satiety above 10 is useless.

  • When the counter reaches 260 points, the Hero enters the Hungry state.
  • When the counter reaches 360 points, the Hero enters the Starving state.

Starving[]

Once the Hero is in starving state, the hunger counter is not increased anymore, so the Ring of Satiety is not useful for slowing the rate of hunger down in this state.

Every T turns (same T value as above), the Hero has a 30 % probability of losing 1 HP, except if s/he is paralyzed with only 1 HP remaining (so the Hero cannot die of starvation while being paralyzed).
So, on average and without Shadowmelded buff:

  • a Rogue will lose 1 HP every 40 turns,
  • any other class will lose 1 HP every 33.33… turns.

Satisfying hunger[]

There are many ways to satisfy hunger, i.e. to decrease the hunger counter by a certain number of points:

Satisfaction way Counter decrease
Pasty 360
Well of Health 360
Ration of food 260
Mystery meat 100
Chargrilled meat 100
Frozen carpaccio 100
Overpriced food ration 100
Slaying an enemy as a Warlock 10

The counter cannot go under 0, so decreasing it by more points than its current value is a partial waste.

Worsening hunger[]

Conversely, some events can worsen hunger, i.e. increase the hunger counter by a certain number of points:

Worsening event Counter increase
Metabolism glyph procs 10
Mining dark gold ore with pickaxe 10
Descending/Ascending depths with stairs 10

Once the Hero is in Starving state, the Hunger counter is not increased anymore, even by those events.

Tips[]

  • You will be hungry/starving for most of the game. Don't worry about it too much.
  • Starving takes a while to damage you. Wait until your health is near half before eating a piece of food, or wait until your health is low and drink a Potion of Healing (but be cautious, generally at a health of about 5-10 %, more if there are enemies nearby, is a good time to drink it).
  • The only time it's relatively 'safe' to be Paralyzed is when the Hero is already Starving. (The debuff 'ends sooner' when starving, and 'lasts longer' when satiated.)
    • Take advantage of your Starving state by triggering any Paralytic Gas trap (especially in Room of Traps), whenever you don't have a Levitation potion, a Reach wand, Missile Weapons, or other items to disarm the trap(s) from a safe distance.

History[]

Update Change
1.6.3 Changed: Hungry/Starving triggers (and related values) are greater.
1.7.0 Changed: Ascending/Descending Depths hastens Hunger
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