# Staggering blow
A staggering blow is an especially powerful strike which may occur when attacking a monster using sufficient skill in bare hands or martial arts.

Contents

1 Description
2 Conditions
3 Strategy
4 Messages
5 See also
6 Other links
7 References

Description
If a staggering blow occurs and does not kill the target monster, it will stun them, removing its movement points; they will also be moved one step away from the player unless there is an obstruction (e.g., a wall).

Conditions
For a staggering blow to happen, all of the following must be true:[1]

You must be attacking in melee without wielding any object.
You must not be wearing body armor or a shield.
You must be in your natural form (not polymorphed).
The target monster must not be huge or gigantic and must not be thick-skinned.
The damage dealt by the attack (with bonuses added) must be greater than 1.
You must pass a random chance dependent on your bare-handed or martial arts skill. The chance is 0% at unskilled, 1% at basic, 2% at skilled, 3% at expert, 4% at master, and 5% at grand master.
Strategy
Staggering blows are most common for Monks, as the role encourages playing without body armor or a shield; their martial arts knowledge lets them deal more than 1 damage with a higher chance, and they can get the highest skill in martial arts.

Messages

<monster> staggers from your powerful strike!
You performed a staggering blow on a monster.
See also
Shattering blow
Other links
Weapons spoiler
References

↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.1, line 1150

</monster>