Sticky Flame

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

Sticky Flame
Level	4
School1	Alchemy
School2	Fire
Source(s)	Everburning Encyclopedia Book of Flames
Casting noise	4
Spell noise	1
Power Cap	100
Range	1
Flags	Dir or target, Needs tracer

Unleashes a short-ranged spray of incindiary goo that clings to an adjacent creature and deals armour-ignoring fire damage over several turns. If the victim is allowed to move, it will put out the fire prematurely. “Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life.” -Terry Pratchett, “Jingo”. 1997.

Spell Details
Damage Formula	2d(1.5+Power/24) fire
Max Damage	2d(5.67)
Max Power	100
Range	1
Targeting	Touch
To-hit	Never miss
Special	Sticky Flame status; avg. 5 damage/turn.

Sticky Flame is a level 4 Conjurations/Fire Magic spell which causes the target to burn for several rounds.

Useful Info

Sticky Flame deals direct fire damage, then inflicts the Fire status (covered in liquid flames). This status deals 2d4 fire damage per turn (avg. 5 dmg). It also causes targets to become backlit, decreasing dodge chance and revealing invisible creatures.

The duration of the Fire status depends on "enchantment level", where each level gives 4-5 turns of duration. Enchantment level, in turn, is equal to 0.5 + 1d(impact_dmg)/2 (max. 4 levels).

Therefore, the total amount of damage from the status, on average, can be calculated as follows:

damage = (avg dmg / turn) * (turns / level) * (avg levels)
= 5 damage/turn * 4.5 turns/level * (pow/96 + 1.37) levels
= (pow/4.26) + 30.93

Entering or being in water (even when flying) will immediately end the Fire status. Insubstantial creatures are immune to the Fire status, but still take impact damage from the spell.

Strategy

A moderately strong damage spell. It's good for those who don't mind getting in melee range. You can open a fight with Sticky Flame, then use Flame Wave (or a melee attack). Against melee enemies, you can also cast Sticky Flame, retreat a few tiles, then re-apply the spell. While this leaves you open to attacks of opportunity, they happen less often (33%) than a usual melee attack.

The main downside is the 1-tile range, which isn't great for squishy casters. Many monsters, such as hydras, are too dangerous to engage in melee. For most species, having the Swiftness spell is helpful. Fast species (Spriggan and Felid) can kite monsters with this spell, but they can also kite enemies with just about anything else.

Tips & Tricks

• Sticky Flame can be used to reveal invisible monsters (use Z on a suspected tile). Useful against unseen horrors and flickering sky beasts.

Monster Version

Most monsters use Sticky Flame Range, which is identical apart from having a range of 4.

Player ghosts and spellforged servitors will cast the range-1 spell, however.

History

• Prior to 0.29, the Fire status dealt 2d4 - 1 damage per turn. However, attacks of opportunity didn't exist, so the spell was more viable to normal speed species.
• Prior to 0.28, Fire Elementalists started with this spell.
• Prior to 0.27, the Fire status wasn't dispellable.
• Earlier versions had more ways for players to gain resistance to sticky flames:
  • Prior to 0.25, Tiamat's dragonskin cloak had a 50% chance of providing sticky flame resistance when hit by sticky flames
  • Prior to 0.20, mottled draconians and players wearing mottled dragon scales were always resistant
• Prior to 0.22, Sticky Flame would spread between adjacent sheep and dream sheep.
• Prior to 0.15, Sticky Flame's enchantment level depended on the victim's HD rather than the power of the spell.