Alchemist

Version 0.31: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Alchemists start with knowledge of poison-based magic, which is extremely useful in the shallower levels of the Dungeon where few creatures are immune to it.

Alchemists are mages who focus on Alchemy. They start with many spells that involve poison.

Preferred Species

Merfolk, Demonspawn, Djinni, Spriggan, Tengu, Deep Elf, and Naga are the recommended species if you pick a Venom Mage Background.

Starting Equipment

Some species may receive different items based on their unique restrictions.

• +0 robe
• Potion of magic

Available Spells:

• Sting
• Poisonous Vapours
• Mephitic Cloud
• Olgreb's Toxic Radiance
• Sticky Flame

Alchemists start with the Sting spell memorised.

Starting Skills and Stats

These are adjusted by your species' aptitudes.

• Dodging: 2
• Stealth: 2
• Spellcasting: 2
• Conjurations: 1
• Alchemy: 3

Choosing Alchemy adds 7 to your starting Intelligence and 5 to your starting Dexterity.

Strategy

In the early game, Alchemists can struggle against enemies with poison resistance. Sting can deal with oozes, but anything tougher will require Sticky Flame. So until you can cast Sticky Flame, try to avoid foes with rPois if possible.

Spell Details

Sting is a decent spell. It deals some physical damage on its own, but its guaranteed chance to poison (if it hits) will probably kill any foe on the first 2 floors. Mercury Vapours is a nice upgrade; it never misses, allowing you to reliably deal with early game enemies, and has a chance to inflict weakness.

Learn Mephitic Cloud the instant you hit level 3. Confusion is a very strong status, preventing all spells, and monsters only have a 1/3 chance to successfully move towards you. However, this spell is quite loud, attracting other enemies to you. The clouds will affect you if used too close; either have poison resistance, or aim behind an enemy. Having 2-3 points into both Air Magic and Conjurations is helpful; its a little tough to cast by training Alchemy alone.

Olgreb's Toxic Radiance is a powerful crowd controlling tool. It inflicts less poison than Poisonous Vapours, but it affects all vulnerable monsters in your line of sight. While Vapours is better against single targets, OTR excels against groups, especially in the mid-dungeon and Orcish Mines. A frisky VM may want to go into Orc before Lair (though watch out for many threats: wargs are rPois, while paralysis, stone giants, and many melee threats are still scary).

History

• Alchemist was introduced in 0.31, replacing Venom Mage.