Dazzling Spray

Version 0.14: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Dazzling Spray
Level	3
School1	Conjuration
School2	Hexes
Source(s)	Book of Conjurations
Casting noise	3
Spell noise	3

This spell fires a spread of scintillating energy bolts from the caster's fingertips which can dazzle the vision of any living creature they strike, leaving them stumbling about blindly.

Spell Details
Damage Formula	2d(4+Power/8)
Max Damage	2d(10.25) ~ 11.25
Max Power	50
Range	6
Targeting	Beam
To-hit
Special	Hits up to 3 targets, may temporarily dazzle them.

Dazzling Spray is a level 3 Conjurations/Hexes spell that fires up to three beams of energy at targets in the same general direction. If there are less than three legal targets within the same roughly 90° arc, then fewer beams will be fired. Along with dealing light irresistible damage which rises with spell power, this spell can also dazzle natural, demonic, and holy monsters for several turns. The success rate of the blinding effect is based on the monster's hit dice, ignoring both magic resistance and your spell power, making it useful even in the late game.

Chance of Dazzling: (85 - 3 × HD)%

Strategy

The exact impact of dazzling varies from creature to creature. Ranged attackers of all sorts are made significantly less effective when dazzled, and anything of animal intelligence or lower will be much less capable of attacking you in melee or pursuing you as you flee. Intelligent melee opponents will be able to find you easily enough, but they'll still suffer accuracy penalties as though you were invisible.

One of the best aspects of Dazzling Spray, however, is how easily it sets enemies up for stabbing opportunities. Even if you haven't trained Stealth at all, a character with significant training in their weapon skill will be able to do significantly more damage when stabbing, especially if wielding a short blade, long blade, or piercing polearm. Also, it's much easier to cast the level 3 spell Dazzling Spray than to cast the level 6 spell Invisibility, and it provides similar benefits, even against enemies with see invisible. Remember, however, that it has no chance of dazzling plants, the undead, or anything non-living.

Once it hits decent spellpower, its damage output makes it useful for softening up approaching foes or clearing cannon fodder out of a band of enemies. Its unusual shape makes it great for hitting multiple scattered targets that a Bolt spell or Fireball would have difficulty with. Just make sure to adjust the spell's aim before firing; the game doesn't always auto-target the maximum number of enemies.

Monster Version

Although no ordinary monsters can cast Dazzling Spray, player ghosts who knew it in life can use a modified version of it. Instead of dazzling your character, it instead inflicts confusion with a chance to resist based on your experience level.

History

In 0.15 the chance of dazzling a monster will be (95 - 5 * HD), reducing the spell's effectiveness against late-game monsters.

Dazzling Spray was added in 0.12.