Potion

Version 0.31: 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 Death Form, if you're a Mummy, or during -Potion (after being damaged with the No Unsafe Potions mutation). Monsters cannot drink potions.

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.
	enlightenment	Uncommon	Increases willpower and lets you fly for several dozen turns.
	experience	Very Rare	You immediately gain a level and a large amount of XP to apply to your skills.
	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 2-3 mutations, then gives 1-3 random mutations, then a 50% for one good mutation.
	resistance	Rare	Provides one level each of fire, cold, electricity, poison, and acid resistance for several turns.

Rarity

Rarity per individual potion, rounded to the nearest tenth.

• Very Common: 18.4%
• Common: 10.0%
• Uncommon: 6.4%
• Rare: 3.3%
• Very Rare: 0.2%

Potion Identification

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

You may guess at a potion's identity by the size of the stacks in your inventory. Potions of curing and potions of heal wounds are the two most common types of potions. Therefore, if you get multiple of the same potion, it is more likely to be one of these two. Note that potions can come in batches of 2 or 3, which are treated as one item for purposes of rarity. This is, of course, nonconclusive - but may be useful to know in a dire situation.

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, with effects that do not wear off by simply passing turns.

Some more notes on potion identification:

• Many backgrounds begin play with an identified potion.
• Certain vaults may contain pre-identified items.
• The Sewer will often contain a potion of enlightenment.

See Also

• Scroll

History

• Prior to 0.31, monsters could drink potions.
• In 0.28, potion rarities were changed to be more consistent.
• Prior to 0.17, some potions could not be found in a stack of 2-3 identical potions. This could be used to narrow down potion types.
• Prior to 0.15, Thirsty Vampires did not receive full effects from potions.
• Prior to 0.14, potions provided 40 satiation. You could drink otherwise useless potions to satiate hunger.
• 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.

Obsolete Potions

• Potion of flight - 0.31, renamed to potion of enlightenment
• Potion of stabbing - 0.26, replaced by potion of attraction.
• Potion of agility - 0.25, replaced by potion of stabbing.
• Potion of blood - 0.24, with removal of Vampire hunger.
• Potion of beneficial mutation and potion of cure mutation - 0.20, merged with potion of mutation.
• Potion of poison - 0.18.
• Potion of decay - 0.17.
• Potion of restore abilities, potion of coagulated blood, and potion of porridge - 0.16.
• Potion of strong poison - 0.15.
• Potion of paralysis - 0.15.
• Potion of slowing - 0.14, replaced with potion of lignification.
• Potion of gain strength, potion of gain intelligence, and potion of gain dexterity - 0.13, replaced by potion of beneficial mutation.
• Potion of water and potion of levitation - 0.12.