Throwing

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

The Throwing skill denotes how accurate and powerful your character is with thrown weapons.

Aptitudes

At	Ba	Co	DE	Dg	Ds	Dj	Dr	Fe	Fo	Gr	Gn	Hu	Ko	Mf	Mi	MD	Mu	Na	Op	On	Po	Re	Sp	Te	Tr	VS
-1	0	-1	0	-1	-1	-2	-1	N/A	0	-1	8	0	1	0	0	-2	-2	-1	0	0	2	-1	0	0	-1	-1

Useful Info

Throwing weapons benefit more from skill than other weapons. Like Unarmed Combat, throwing weapons deal (weapon base damage) + (Throwing skill) base damage due to skill (as opposed to the usual +2% bonus for regular weapon skills). For example, 10 Throwing would double the base damage of a javelin (10+10), but the equivalent skill would only increase other weapons by 20%. Note that stones get half the usual bonus.

Throwing weapons are of limited quantity. All throwing implements have a chance to mulch - i.e., be destroyed - when thrown. When this happens, boomerangs, javelins, and large rocks will deal +33% damage. Javelins that mulch will not penetrate.

Unlike proper Ranged Weapons, Throwing is not affected by armour encumbrance.

List of Throwing Weapons

Name	Dam	Delay	Minimum Delay	Size	Mulch %
Dart	None	10	7 (6 skill)	Any	8.33%
Throwing net	None	10	7 (6 skill)	Any	Special
Stone	2	11	7 (8 skill)	Any	100%
Boomerang	6	13	7 (10 skill)	Any	5%
Javelin	10	15	7 (16 skill)	Medium+	5%
Large rock	20	20	7 (26 skill)	Large	4%

Anything not listed above can still be thrown, but it is usually useless to do so, as it will do no damage.

Strategy

Throwing is closer to Evocations than a traditional weapon skill. Since ammunition is so limited, you cannot use Throwing weapons for every fight. However, it can be a very powerful support tool.

Javelins are a key part of any Throwing specialist's arsenal. Javelins penetrate through enemies: they can hit enemies in the backlines, and/or hit multiple enemies at 100% damage. At high skill, javelins can deal massive damage to multiple enemies at once, at full LOS range. More stealthy characters can also appreciate darts for their debuff effects.

Even if you have 0 skill, certain items are worth throwing:

• In the very early game, throwing anything - stones, boomerangs, poison darts - is better than nothing if you have no ranged attack.
• Throwing nets, poison darts, and curare darts offer useful effects, but benefit little from the actual Throwing skill, meaning not much skill is required to be effective. In particular, nets prevent enemies from moving and make them vulnerable to stabs, and curare slows enemies. It can still be worth training a few levels to increase accuracy and throw speed, but it's not 100% required.

Throwing implements are more common in Shoals than Swamp. If the former branch is in your game, you may want to focus a little more on Throwing.

Tips & Tricks

• Javelins can get the silver brand, which is highly effective against chaotic enemies (including malmutaters, the Royal Jelly, and orbs of fire).
• Large species (Trolls and Oni) are able to throw large rocks, which are both plentiful and high damage (20 base damage). They have a much greater reason to train Throwing than the regular-size species.
• Even mage characters will often benefit from throwing in the early dungeon. When attacking sleeping monsters, a hit is almost guaranteed even without any skill in throwing. Therefore, dealing the first ranged hit with a throwing (or ranged) weapon instead of a spell is a useful way to conserve mana. Still, because throwing damage relies on strength, investing a lot of skill as a caster is a weaker choice.

History

• Prior to 0.30, there was no +33% damage bonus when ammo mulched.
• Prior to 0.29, Throwing crosstrained with Slings (skill). Also, Hunters and Arcane Marksmen could start with throwables.
• Prior to 0.28, monsters carried significantly more throwing weapons, and throwing weapons were slightly more likely to generate on the floor.
• Prior to 0.27, monsters consumed throwing ammunition. You could pick up throwing weapons that monsters used, and monsters could mulch them.
• Prior to 0.24, there were more brands for throwing ammunition. Javelins did not penetrate enemies without the penetration brand.
• Prior to 0.18, throwing speed worked differently from other weapons. Throwing weapons had a mindelay of 0.5, and were overall faster to throw, but skill had less of an impact on throw speed.
• Prior to 0.17, throwing speed was penalized by armour encumbrance.
• Prior to 0.15, ranged & throwing combat was significantly different. In general, Throwing was less viable.
• Prior to 0.8, Evaporate used the Throwing skill.

Added Weapons

• 0.24 - Boomerangs, darts
• 0.14 - Tomahawks
• 0.3 - Javelins, throwing nets

Removed weapons

• 0.24 - Blowguns & needles, tomahawks
• 0.15 - Darts
• 0.14 - Spears, daggers, clubs, hand axes (which can no longer be thrown)