Randart
Randarts, or random artefacts, are randomly generated equipment. These can have any number of special artefact properties, setting them apart from regularly enchanted weapons of the same type.
Generation
Randarts can spawn just about anywhere except Dungeon:1. While a randart of any individual type is difficult to find (i.e. you cannot rely on finding a randart plate armour, let alone a good randart) randarts themselves are not particularly rare. A typical 3-rune game will produce around 10 to 20 without divine intervention.
You'll often find artefacts in places with "high quality" loot, such as Elven Halls:3 or the Vaults:5. Okawaru and Trog can gift equipment, some of which can be randarts. Xom can gift you anything.
Identifying
Discovering a randart is quite simple. they will look like any other item of the same type, most of the time, but the thing to look for is in the text description. On encounter, a randart will have a strange title in white text, like
- a smoking dagger
Stepping on the item's tile will identify it completely.
Note that randart spellbooks do not have their names in white text. However, they do bear descriptions different from those of mundane books, and their spells are automatically identified.
Properties
Randart weapons always have a brand, while randart jewellery always have a base type, presented first in the list of auto-inscription properties. However, randart armour won't always have an ego. Randart weapons/armour tend to be enchanted, and may go above the usual limits for the item in question.
In addition, randarts can have any of the following properties:
Positive or negative properties:
- ±Str, Dex, or Int. Self-explanatory. The range is -5 to +12 inclusive.
- ±Slay. Works identically to a ring of slaying. The range is -9 to +8 inclusive. Never found on weapons (Enchantment is exactly equal to slaying).
- Fire resistance: ranges from rF- to rF+++.
- Cold resistance: ranges from rC- to rC+++.
- Willpower: ranges from Will- to Will+++.
- Stlth±: Increases or decreases your intrinsic stealth.
- MP±9: Increases or decreases your maximum MP by 9. Never found on antimagic weapons.
Note that the base type of an item still applies. For example, a ring of willpower always gives Will+, so the randart property may give more than the base property.
Positive properties:
- Negative energy resistance: ranges from rN+ to rN+++.
- Poison resistance: only exists as one nonstacking level, rPois.
- Electricity resistance: only exists as one nonstacking level, rElec.
- Corrosion resistance: only exists as one nonstacking level, rCorr.
- SInv: Lets you see invisible.
- +Blink: Can evoke a blink for a small cost in MP. Never found on randarts with -Tele.
- +Fly: Grants the user flight.
- +Inv: Allows the wearer to Evoke Invisibility. Evocation is not particularly easy, with a cost in max HP drain.
- Regen+: Improves regeneration, as an amulet of regeneration. Only appears on armour (and amulets).
Negative properties:
- *Noise: Makes noise when attacking, waking and alerting nearby monsters. The noise is somewhat louder than simply shouting. Only found on melee weapons.
- *Rage: Causes the wearer to randomly go berserk, similar to the berserkitis mutation, but much higher (20%). Only found on melee weapons.
- *Corrode: Causes the wearer to randomly corrode when taking damage. Each worn randart with this property increases the chance. Never appears with rCorr.
- *Slow: Causes the wearer to randomly become slowed when taking damage. Each worn randart with this property increases the chance by 1%.
- ^Contam: Causes a large amount of magical contamination when unequipped. This is likely to cause bad mutations.
- ^Fragile: The artefact can only be equipped once. After unequipping it, it is destroyed.
- ^Drain: Causes the player to be drained when this randart is unequipped.
- -Cast: Inhibits all spellcasting. Only found on armour.
- -Tele: Blocks all forms of teleportation and blinking. Does not prevent banishment or Passage of Golubria. Never appears with +Blink, and only on armour.
These describe the properties that can appear above and beyond the artefact's base type; if you see properties on your randart not listed below, they are a result of that base type, most often in the case of randart jewellery. Note that a randart cannot receive properties that modify the intrinsic properties of its base item. For example, randart fire dragon armour always has rF++ and rC-; it can never have, say, rF+ or rC+.
Randart spellbooks are different from other randarts in that they do not have any sort of special properties; they just have a random assortment of spell, grouped around one or more themes. Themes can include specific magical schools, general spell types such as "offensive spell", "defensive spell", "disabling spell", and specific levels of spells. The randbook's name will usually be a description of its theme (for example, the "Tome of Earthen Intoxication" will contain various Earth and Poison Magic spells).
Names
Randarts have randomly generated names - either a name generated from Crawl's database files, or from the name generator (which also names Pan lords, shopkeepers, and a few other things). They are always unusual and sometimes entertaining.
The name of a randart is mostly irrelevant. Randarts named after gods (like the +6 broad axe of Okawaru's Hope) won't contradict the god's flavour; an artefact with Cheibriados' namesake will not have the speed or rampaging brands, for instance. There is no information leak, as it's impossible to know the name of an artefact without already knowing all of its properties.
Randarts can occasionally be named after the player. While rare, this is not an amazing coincidence or anything: artefacts simply have a small chance of being named after the player. While amusing, these names are just as irrelevant as any others.
Strategy
While randarts can be very powerful, they vary in quality. One can very broadly divide them into six categories; these definitions, of course, change from character to character:
- Nice to Uber: These include the so-called "uber-randarts" (+5 boots of Yendor {rF+++ rElec Will+ Str+8}), but also some that don't quite qualify for that distinction but are still things you'd almost always want to use. Things like the amulet of Amarra {rF+ rPois Regen+ Slay+3} or the +3 gloves of Okawaru's Hope {rC+++ rN+ SInv} would fall into this category.
- Good for a while: Most of the time, these are weapons with high enchantments and neutral to useful properties, but poor base types. Such an example might be the +6 scimitar of Fun {freezing, rC+ SInv}. A nice weapon, but outclassed by an enchanted demon blade or double sword, or even a +9 branded scimitar when it comes to the end game.
- Swaps: These are the mixed randarts that give a tactically useful property, but things you would not want to wear all the time. The ring of Plog {rElec rN+ Will-- Str-5} might be useful to swap to for rElec or rN+, but the willpower and strength malus make it highly undesirable to wear constantly.
- Not useful to you: Randarts you can't wear or wield fall into this category, as do those that you could in theory but can't really use in practice: an executioner's axe of speed is an awesome weapon, but a Deep Elf Conjurer is unlikely to be able to use it. However, weapons with useful resistances can be useful to casters who don't plan on using melee that much.
- Dross: These are randarts that are just boring, not much better or worse than their regular branded counterparts. The ring of the Moon {rF+ Str+2} provides minimal benefit over a plain ring, while the +0 helmet of Xizic {Slay-1 Dex+2 Int-3} isn't exactly great for anyone. Unfortunately, far too many randarts fall into this category. This is where it is most important to keep a sense of perspective: it would be a bad idea to wear the randart helmet given above in place of a hat of willpower, or even a +2 helmet. Wear this type of randart if you have nothing better to put in that slot.
- Bad: These are generally quite obvious. They range from "mixed but mostly bad" things like the amulet of Torgh {Acrobat Str-2 rC-} to truly spectacular failures like the -2 hat of a Thousand Suns {Dex-2 Slay-2} or the ring of the Sun {Fly Slay-5 *Slow *Rage}. Usually there is absolutely no reason to prefer randarts like these to a unbranded mundane item of the same type.
A factor that goes into what category a randart falls into, one that is often overlooked, is the slot and base type the randart itself is. The +6 plate armour of Wixzils {rN+ Dex+3 Slay+1} is probably inferior to a +10 plate armour of fire resistance. But the the +3 gloves of Wizzils {rN+ Dex+3 Slay+1} is actually quite good, since it's superior to any mundane gloves you can get. Basically, be sure to consider what normal items you could substitute for your randart when considering how good it is.
Most randarts are not actually that useful, due to the sheer randomness of their properties. Pick out the best of them, and discard the rest. Don't carry or stash randarts because they're rare or because you might use them "at some point." Chances are, if you're not using it now and can't think of any specific situation in which it'll be useful, it's probably junk (i.e., in the last three categories given above).
History
- Prior to 0.30, scarves, orbs, and magical staves could not spawn as randarts.
- Prior to 0.29, negative enchantments for randarts were capped at -7.
- Prior to 0.28, (rand)arts could not appear on D:2 and D:3.
- Prior to 0.27, randarts would not identify when you stepped on their tile; making some randart properties dangerous to wear-identify.
- Prior to 0.14, noisy randarts could generate noise even when you weren't attacking.
