Combat

Eventually, all investigators have to face their fears and
do battle with the mythos. Whenever an investigator
enters combat with a monster, resolve the following
steps, in order.

# Horror Check

First, the alien nature of the mythos creature threatens to overwhelm
the investigator’s mind. This is represented by a
Horror check.

A Horror check is a skill check based on the investigator’s
Will value, as adjusted by any special modifiers.
This value is further modified by the monster’s horror
rating (found in the lower-left corner of its combat side).
The difficulty of this check is always 1 unless the monster
has a special ability that states otherwise.
If the investigator passes the check, usually nothing happens.

## Horror Damage

If the investigator fails the check, he loses the amount of
Sanity shown underneath the monster’s horror rating. This is termed
**Horror damage**. The player discards the appropriate number of Sanity tokens
from his investigator sheet. An investigator reduced to
zero Sanity tokens is driven insane.

A few monsters have the special Nightmarish ability. These monsters are
so horrendous that the investigator loses some sanity
from Horror damage even when passing a Horror check.

# Fight or Flee

Next, the investigator must choose: He may either
attempt to flee or fight the monster.

## Flee

The investigator tries to evade the monster, using an
Evade check just as described in Evading Monsters.

If he passes the check,
he eludes the monster and the battle immediately ends. Both the investigator
and the monster remain in the same location.
If he fails the check, the monster deals its combat damage
to the investigator and the battle continues (see
“Monster Damage,” below).

## Fight

If the investigator fights the monster, he makes a
Combat check. A Combat check is a skill check using
the investigator’s Fight value, as adjusted by any special bonuses
they may have to combat, for instance from weapons or spells.
This value is further modified by
the monster’s combat rating (printed in the lower-right
corner of its combat side). The difficulty of this check is
equal to the monster’s toughness, which is represented
by the number of “blood drop” icons that appear in the
lower center of the monster’s combat side.

If the investigator passes the Combat check, he defeats
the monster. The investigator’s player removes the
marker from the board and places it in front of him as a
monster trophy. If the investigator fails the check, the
monster deals its combat damage to him.

**Important:** If a monster’s toughness is greater than 1,
partial success has no effect on it. A monster must be
completely defeated in one Combat check or it ignores
all successes the investigator rolled.

## Combat Damage

Each time an investigator fails to evade or defeat a monster,
the monster deals its **combat damage** to the investigator.
The amount of combat damage a monster deals is
printed below its combat rating as a group of red hearts.
The investigator loses Stamina equal to this number. The player discards the
appropriate number of Stamina tokens from his investigator
sheet. An investigator reduced to zero Stamina
tokens is knocked unconscious.
Note that some monsters have abilities that add some
special effect to their combat damage or take its place. For example, the
Nightgaunt drops the investigator through the nearest
open gate instead of causing the investigator to lose
Stamina tokens.

If the investigator remains conscious, sane, and in the
same space as the monster after this step is resolved, the
combat continues. Return to step 2, Fight or Flee, and
continue the combat until it is resolved.

# Using Weapons and Spells in Combat

Investigators can gain a valuable edge in combat by
using weapons. spells, or both. The biggest advantage of
weapons is that they automatically grant bonuses on
Combat checks - no additional skill checks are required
to use them. However, Physical weapons grant only Physical
Combat bonuses, which have no effect at all against
many mythos monsters which have Physical Immunity and a lesser effect
against those with Physical Resistance.

Spells, on the other hand, grant Magical Combat
bonuses. These are effective against most monsters
in Arkham Horror. An investigator must successfully
cast a spell to gain its benefits (see Casting Spells).
If an investigator fails to cast a spell, it
provides no bonuses for the combat at all. In other
words, spells are more powerful and versatile than
weapons, but they are not always a sure thing.

Magical weapons are effective against most monsters, including
those with Physical Immunity or Physical Resistance, but there are
some monsters with Magical Immunity or Magical Resistance against
which they are ineffective.

## Weapon and Spell Hand Limits

There is a limitation on the number of weapons and
spells an investigator may use at once. This limitation is
represented by “hand” icons printed in the lower-left
corner of each weapon and spell card. Each investigator
may use any combination of weapons and spells and add
their skill bonuses together, as long as their combined
number of hand icons does not exceed two, although Marie Lambeau
has a third hand that may only cast spells. Note that a
spell requires the number of hands printed on the card,
even if the investigator fails to cast it.

A spell or weapon that gives you a bonus (even one that
says it lasts until the end of combat) only continues to
give you the bonus while you devote the required number
of hands to it. You can choose to switch
weapons/spells in later combat rounds, but as soon as
you “release” a spell or weapon, it stops working for
you. Similarly, spells that are refreshed (such as at the
beginning of each combat round in the final battle) cease
to work and must be re-cast.

A few weapons or spells require no hands, and can be used
in conjunction with up to two hands of other weapons or spells.

# Surprise

When a monster surprises your investigator, you may
not evade it; you must fight the monster.
You may not attempt to flee during the first round of a
surprise combat.