Potion

Version 0.27: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

An unlabeled flask containing a single dose of unknown liquid. "Then gave I her, - so tutor'd by my art, - A sleeping potion, which so took effect As I intended, for it wrought on her The form of death: meantime I writ to Romeo That he should hither come as this dire night, To help to take her from her borrow'd grave, Being the time the potion's force should cease." -William Shakespeare, _Romeo and Juliet_

Potions are useful consumable items represented by the '!' character. Every potion has a specific effect (beneficial or harmful) when quaffed. You can't drink potions while berserk, in lich form, if you're a mummy, for a short time after casting Ozocubu's Refrigeration, or if you have been injured after sacrificing Drink as a Ru worshipper.

Potion Identification

Apart from using a scroll of identify, there are several ways to determine the identity of potions you've picked up.

Some backgrounds begin with potions identified: fighters start with a potion of might, and wanderers may start with some identified potions in their inventory.

Quaffing a random potion is the most obvious way to figure out its contents, but may be dangerous. You'll want to be somewhere safe with no monsters in sight, in case of a potion of ambrosia, potion of lignification, or potion of berserk rage. Potions of degeneration and potions of mutation are also harmful, but those effects do not wear off by simply passing turns.

Monsters will sometimes drink potions within your line of sight; this identifies the potion, if it was unidentified.

You may also guess at a potion's identity by the size of the stacks in your inventory. Potions of curing are the most common (about 25% of all potions generated), followed by potions of heal wounds (about 13% of all potions generated). This is very unreliable if your highest potion stack is only 2 or 3 since potions are sometimes generated in batches. On the other hand, potions of experience are very rare (less than 1% of all generated potions), so you're unlikely to pick one if you only drink potions when you have two or more of the same type.

Some more notes on potion identification:

• A certain entry vault for the Orcish Mines has multiple potions scattered about in addition to several placed behind a door. Most of these are potions of degeneration.
• The Sewer will often contain some potions of flight.

List of potions

Tile	Potion of ...	Rarity	Description
	ambrosia	Rare	Confuses you, but dramatically increases your health and magic regeneration for several turns.
	attraction	Uncommon	Pulls all monsters in line of sight towards you for several turns.
	berserk rage	Rare	Makes you go berserk for several turns, increasing your speed and melee damage but inducing a period of slowness when it wears off.
	brilliance	Uncommon	Grants Brilliance, increasing spell power and decreasing MP costs for several turns.
	cancellation	Rare	Ends many status effects (both good and bad) and reduces magic contamination.
	curing	Very Common	Removes poison and confusion; also heals 5-11 HP.
	degeneration	Uncommon	Temporarily reduces all attributes (Str, Int, and Dex) by 1-3 points.
	experience	Very Rare	You immediately gain a level and a large amount of XP to apply to your skills.
	flight	Uncommon	Lets you fly for several turns.
	haste	Uncommon	Grants Haste for several turns, greatly speeding your actions.
	heal wounds	Common	Heals 10-37 HP.
	invisibility	Rare	Makes you invisible for several turns.
	lignification	Uncommon	Grants you Tree form for several turns, increasing your defense but leaving you unable to move.
	magic	Rare	Recovers 10-37 MP.
	might	Uncommon	Grants the Might condition for several turns, increasing your melee damage.
	mutation	Uncommon	Removes 2-4 mutations, then gives 1-3 random mutations, then gives one good mutation.
	resistance	Rare	Provides one level each of fire, cold, electricity, poison, and acid resistance for several turns.

History

• 0.26 replaced potion of stabbing with potion of attraction.
• 0.25 reworked potions of might and brilliance and replaced potions of agility with potions of stabbing.
• 0.24 removed potions of blood.
• 0.20 merged potions of beneficial mutation, potions of cure mutation, and potions of mutation.
• 0.18 removed potion of poison.
• 0.17 removed potion of decay and potion of restore abilities. It also made any potion able to be found in a stack, so that information can no longer be used to narrow down the possibilities. Monster quaffing always identifies a potion. Potions of curing and heal wounds now heal rot first, instead of last; effectively, rotting reduces the effectiveness of healing until cured.
• 0.16 removed potion of coagulated blood, potion of confusion, and potion of porridge. It added potion of ambrosia.
• 0.15 removed potion of strong poison and potion of paralysis. Potion of cancellation was added. Prior to this version, thirsty vampires received only half the effect from most potions.
• In 0.14, the basic 40 satiation for all potions was removed, and the potion of slowing was replaced with the potion of lignification. Potions of speed were renamed to potions of haste. Prior to 0.14, known potions that would have no effect could still be quaffed.
• Prior to 0.13, instead of potions of beneficial mutation, there were the potions of gain stat, which gave (as a mutation) increases to individual stats.
• Prior to 0.12, the Evaporate spell could consume potions to generate clouds. You could also identify several unpleasant potions by creating samples of them through Fulsome Distillation.