Flux talisman

Version 0.32: This article is up to date for the latest stable release of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

A canister holding an ominously glowing substance. Its user becomes unstable at a fundamental level, inflicting dangerous levels of magical contamination on foes with each touch. Sufficient contamination causes a highly localized meltdown, dealing enormous damage which increases with the user's Shapeshifting skill. However, this instability makes the user unable to use weapons, shields or body armour. They also glow, reducing stealth and preventing invisibility, and their melee damage is reduced, as their limbs sometimes destabilize mid-swing.

A flux talisman is a talisman that changes you into Flux Form.

Shapeshifters start with this item.

Useful Info

When eVoked, a flux talisman turns you into Flux Form, which lasts until you end the form. Entering or exiting a form takes 5 turns.

Flux Form has the following effects:

Combat Bonuses

• Unarmed Combat: 3 base damage (no boost).
• Contaminating attacks: When you hit an enemy, you contaminate them. The first hit inflicts Corona. The third hit inflicts malmutate, deals heavy damage, and resets contamination. This deals (0 to 10) damage at 0 skill, (0 to 30) damage at 7 skill, (0 to 50) damage at 14 or more skill, with linear scaling in-between.
• Bonus EV: +4 EV.
• All melee damage is reduced by -33%.

Restrictions

• Melded Gear: Weapon, shield, body armour.
• You cannot throw items.
• Glowing: You are revealed if invisible, and your stealth is greatly reduced.

Flux Form does not block any mutations, does not change your size, and gives no innate bonus to HP / AC.

Flux Form has a minimum of 7 Shapeshifting skill, below which you get an HP penalty, and the contamination effect scales down. It has a maximum skill of 14; further skill has no further impact.

Strategy

A form that's between Beast Form and the stronger forms. At the min. skill of 7, the contam proc is better than having electrocution. While your actual melee damage is reduced, your overall damage output is still good, and the Corona / malmutate status are very nice to have.

The Corona effect makes Flux Form particularly useful against early enemies that can turn invisible (orc wizards, sky beasts, etc).

History

• Flux talismans were introduced in 0.31, along with talismans themselves.