Potion of ambrosia

Version 0.16: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

A strange substance, produced by ghost moths. Consuming it causes regeneration of health and magic, along with total befuddlement. The two effects are fundamentally linked - the regeneration ends the moment the confusion does.

Quaffing a potion of ambrosia immediately inflicts you with 3-10 turns of confusion, during which time you also benefit from a greatly increased HP and MP regeneration rate (+3-5 HP and MP per turn on top of standard regeneration). Unlike most sources of regeneration, this effect even functions for deep dwarves and bloodless vampires. However, any source of clarity renders the potion completely ineffectual, and extending your confusion through any means will not extend the duration of the regenerative effects.

Strategy

Potions of ambrosia are situational items at best, combining a curious form of healing with near-uselessness in combat. Deep dwarves and vampires will obviously want to collect them for their healing benefits between fights, but others may have difficulty coming up with safe uses for them. In the early game they can be very effective at negating lethal levels of poison or for recovering health during a long, drawn-out fight with phantoms and other moderate threats, but later on they may be worth ignoring, particularly for characters relying heavily on shields for defense.

History

Potions of ambrosia were added in 0.16. They are based upon the ambrosia food item found in 0.14 and earlier.