Flame Wave

Version 0.30: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Flame Wave
Level	4
School1	Conjuration
School2	Fire
Source(s)	Book of Flames Book of Scorching
Casting noise	0
Spell noise	12
Power Cap	100
Range	3
Flags	Area

Blasts the caster's surroundings with a wave of fire. If the caster maintains focus and supplies the spell with magical power (by waiting in place and not taking any other actions), more and larger flame waves will radiate outward.

Flame Wave is a Level 4 Conjuration/Fire Magic spell that creates fire around the caster.

Fire Elementalists start with this spell in their library.

Useful Info

Flame Wave is a channeling spell. It deals fire damage to adjacent creatures (creatures in a 1-tile radius), then gives the Wave status. Subsequent turns can be spent waiting (hitting '.' or tab), which will cast the spell again. This only costs 1 MP, but deals the same damage and increases the radius by 1. This can be done twice, for a total spell cost of 6 MP.

Changing position by any method (whether by moving, blinking, teleporting, or being moved by monster attacks like trample or Primal Wave) will interrupt Flame Wave.

Vehumet's range increase will allow this spell to be channeled an additional time, hitting everything within 4 tiles from the caster.

Strategy

Flame Wave deals decent damage to a whole area, and due to the channeling mechanic, it's reasonably MP-efficient. The main downside is short range, meaning monsters will often be in melee with you. Don't get too greedy; while Flame Wave can hit 8 enemies at once, it also means that you'll be hit by 8 enemies at once.

Despite being a "wave" spell, Flame Wave is effective at corridor combat, too. Compared to other Fire Magic, it can't directly damage you (unlike Fireball, Inner Flame, and Kindle Blastsparks), and it does more damage per mana than Scorch.

Tips & Tricks

• An amulet of the acrobat will improve your EV while you channel the spell, which can help with survivability.
• Flame Wave is strong enough to light trees on fire. Using it in forested areas can create massive, deadly infernos, but be careful not to set yourself ablaze in the process.
• Like other fire spells, Flame Wave creates steam over any water tile. Using it twice when surrounded by water (Swamp, Shoals) creates a short-lived, LOS-blocking barrier of steam.

Spell Details
Damage Formula	2d(4.5+Power/6)
Max Damage	2d21
Max Power	100
Range	1-3
Targeting	Area
To-hit	Never miss
Special	Channeled up to twice; to cast at 1 MP, +1 range.

History

• Prior to 0.29, Flame Wave dealt 2d(4.5+Power/8) damage.
• Flame Wave was introduced in 0.28.