Protection

Version 0.30: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Weapon: It grants its wielder temporary protection when it strikes (+7 to AC).

Shield: It protects its wearer from harm (+3 to AC).

The protection brand/ego does the following:

On weapons, whenever an enemy is hit, the wielder gains +7 AC for a short time.
On shields, grants a permanent +3 AC bonus.

Desirability

The damage output sacrificed by choosing a defensive brand is significant, but - especially in the early game when characters often have little defence - 7 points of AC can contribute greatly to survivability.

Shields of protection are objectively stronger than plain shields. You may prefer a resistance, but since shield egos are rare, a shield of protection can be your best option.

History

Prior to 0.19, weapons of protection provided a passive bonus (+5 AC) instead of a temporary +7 AC on hit.
Prior to 0.6, ranged weapons would generate with the protection brand instead of evasion.

Brands
Melee weapons	General	Antimagic • Chaos • Distortion • Draining • Electrocution • Flaming • Freezing • Heavy • Holy wrath • Pain • Protection • Reaching • Spectral • Speed • Vampiric • Venom
	Weapon type	Devious • Valour • Concussion • Sundering • Entangling • Rebuke
	Artefact	Curare • Deathbane • Dragon slaying • Reaping • Silver
Launchers		Antimagic • Chaos • Draining • Electrocution • Flaming • Freezing • Heavy • Holy wrath • Penetration • Speed
Throwing weapons		Atropa • Curare • Datura • Disjunction • Poisoned • Silver