Conjure Flame

Version 0.28: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Conjure Flame

Spell Details
Damage Formula	0
Max Damage	0
Max Power	100
Range	0
Targeting
To-hit
Special	Cloud damage: 6 + (3d16)/3 (fire) Cloud duration: 3 + (1dPower)/2 + (1dPower)/2, but no more than 23 turns

Conjure Flame is a level 3 Conjurations/Fire Magic spell which creates a cloud of embers at the caster's position. These embers will burst into flames after the caster's next turn unless the tile is occupied (by either the caster or another creature), in which case they will be smothered. Alternatively, recasting the spell will immediately ignite the embers (and the caster with them).

The resulting cloud of flame will keep many weaker monsters at bay, but mindless, strong, or fire-resistant monsters will march on through. The duration of the cloud is dependent on spellpower. Slow monsters (worms, nagas, etc.) do not take more damage from clouds; they burn on their own subjective turn.

Fire Elementalists start with this spell.

Tips & Tricks

• The timing of the smothering check is after your next turn, regardless of its duration. If your next action is not to either move or recast the spell, the embers will be smothered.
  • While you can guarantee ignition by immediately recasting the spell, doing so means you will find yourself standing in fire for at least one turn. Clouds of fire do enough damage to be extremely dangerous (if not outright lethal) to low-level casters who have just learned the spell, and more experienced mages still won't last long if they keep setting themselves ablaze. Only use this strategy if you know you have the durability to survive it, and try to find a source of fire resistance as soon as possible.
  • Monsters following you have your whole movement duration to catch up to you before the smothering check; if they're standing on the embers by the time you've finished moving, you'll have spent your MP and turns for nothing. For monsters with the same speed as you, simply leave at least 2 tiles of room between you and the monster. When dealing with monsters faster than yourself, however, you will need to cast the spell earlier (perhaps even as soon as you see your opponent) or just resign yourself to recasting the spell and tanking the fire damage. Slow species and followers of Cheibriados in particular must take care or else find themselves burning through their MP for no benefit, though a faster method of leaving your position like blinking or hopping can help.
• Certain icy spells and effects will extinguish any flame clouds they strike, but are consumed in doing so. You can use Conjure Flame to block enemy ice attacks this way.
  • Do note that icy effects that are partially physical in nature (such as Frozen Ramparts, Flash Freeze, or a wand of iceblast) can still pass through flame clouds.
• It's possible to reinforce existing clouds of flame, but creating a new cloud is more efficient (recasting Conjure Flame on an existing cloud only adds 1+1d(Power)/4 (maximum 11) turns) and does not require you to stand in fire.
• If you place a cloud of flame adjacent to a tile with water in it, it will generate clouds of steam, dealing additional damage and blocking line of sight.
• Clouds cannot generate on top of each other -- don't bother trying to use Conjure Flame if you're already standing in other clouds.
• If you have the ability to confuse (eg, Confusing Touch, Mephitic Cloud) and are battling a very powerful monster, you can try dotting the areas around the monster with flame clouds in hopes that it will stumble through the flames. However, it might be simpler to just kill the monster using more direct methods.

Strategy

Conjure Flame is primarily useful for blocking off narrow hallways and creating bottlenecks. Though it can be a powerful tool for both defense and offense, the somewhat cumbersome method of creating flames makes it difficult to use effectively, particularly in open spaces. Some spellcasters may find it simpler to simply blast their enemies from afar with spells like Fireball or wear them down with Sticky Flame rather than spend time, MP, and spell slots on setting fires one tile at a time.

Note that mindless monsters, many beasts, and particularly strong or high-HP monsters will choose to walk through the flames to reach you anyway. You can exploit this by laying several Conjured Flames while retreating in a straight line away from them (preferably down a corridor); your opponent will happily tread through the flames, taking severe damage in the process. If you then use a scroll of fear or cast Cause Fear, they'll attempt to escape... right back through the flames behind them.

Monsters standing in a harmful cloud will always be willing to step from it into another harmful cloud, even if it's worse, as long as they weren't immune to the first cloud. You can exploit this by either creating more dangerous clouds between your Conjured Flame and yourself or by casting a spell like Mephitic Cloud or Poisonous Vapours to prompt a stubborn monster to enter your flames.

When there is a monster adjacent to you standing in a flame cloud, it is generally best to try to keep it there so it continues to burn. Avoid retreating from monsters that are standing in your flames unless they are strong enough to kill you before burning to death or if you're in a dangerous spot. Conjure Flames is also somewhat less effective against monsters that can trample you backwards and give themselves space to escape the fire; if you must use it on tramplers, try to keep your back to a solid object so you can't be moved out of the way.

If a monster refuses to enter your flames and has no ranged attacks, you can freely pummel it from afar with reaching weapons, ranged weapons, and magic. (Remember not to cast fire-neutralizing Ice Magic across the flame!)

History

• Prior to 0.25, Conjure Flame was a range 3 smite-targeted spell that immediately created a cloud of flame in any given unoccupied space, making it more convenient for general use.
• Prior to version 0.17, Conjure Flame had a range of 4.
• Prior to version 0.15, Conjure Flame could set nearby trees ablaze.