Majin-Bo

Version 0.31: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

A staff inhabited by a mighty demon, tricked and trapped in this form long ago. To survive, she now offers great arcane power in a terrible bargain: in exchange for a tiny portion of the caster's life essence, taken alongside the magic used every time its wielder casts a spell, she will redirect the life essence of creatures damaged by the spell to the caster.

the +6 Majin-Bo

+6 bo (modified staff: 11 base damage, +1 accuracy, 1.2 base delay)

Vampiric brand
MP +6
Intelligence +6
Injures you each time you cast a spell (1 HP for every 1 MP)
Vampiric spells (100% chance to recover 1d<damage> HP on direct damage if Vampiric would apply)

Desirability

The Majin-Bo is an extraordinarily powerful item in the hands of an experienced conjurer. With vampiric melee attacks and spells, your HP recovery is great. The +6 intelligence and MP are useful, too. Even if you don't use magic, it is a decent weapon; its base type is equal to a demon whip with 0.6 mindelay.

However, the Majin-Bo drains your HP for every spell, regardless of the outcome. Vampirism only works if the target has no negative energy resistance. It is worse than useless against targets with rN+, including demons and undead. Vampirism only triggers on direct damage, so Hexes and Summonings specialists will see little benefit. And if you miss, you won't be stealing HP. Still, one cannot deny the appeal of this weapon, particularly for hybrids and characters with powerful attack spells.

Djinn have the most to gain from spell vampirism, as it becomes an effective MP steal. However, they have the most to lose - the Majin-Bo's HP cost means that spells now cost double to cast.

If the Majin-Bo's effect would bring you to 0 HP, the staff will leave you at 1 HP and let you cast your spell normally (with spell vampirism).

History

• Prior to 0.30, Majin-Bo was a +6 quarterstaff.
• Prior to 0.29, Majin-Bo only had a 60% to activate spell vampirism on cast.
• Prior to 0.27, Majin-Bo would prevent you from casting entirely if you would be reduced to 0 HP.
• Prior to 0.26, Majin-Bo had Archmagi instead of spell vampirism.
• Prior to 0.18, the Majin-Bo never spoke occasionally.
• The Majin-Bo was added in 0.15.