Flux bauble

Version 0.34: This article is up to date for the latest stable release of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

A small glass bauble containing an ominously glowing substance. Crushing it will flood you with transmutational energy, leaving your physical form unstable at a fundamental level. In this state of flux, your melee attacks are much weaker, but each strike will contaminate whatever you hit with transmutational energy - eventually causing significant damage to them as their body twists and deforms. The lack of certainty in your physical form also makes you much harder to hit, though you glow in a way that hinders stealth. The power contained in each bauble is finite, and once it is exhausted by spreading it to enemies, you will return to your previous form.

A flux bauble is a bauble that temporarily changes you into Flux Form.

Shapeshifters start with 3 flux baubles.

Useful Info

When eVoked, a flux bauble turns you into Flux Form, which lasts until a certain number of attacks. Using this bauble takes only 1 turn, and the form can also be ended early in 1 turn.

Flux Form has the following effects:

Combat Bonuses

• Unarmed Combat: 3 base damage (no boost).
• Contaminating Attacks: When you hit an enemy, you contaminate them. The first hit inflicts Corona. The third hit inflicts malmutate, deals heavy damage, and resets contamination. This deals 2d5 damage at 0 skill, 2d15 damage at 5 skill, 2d33 damage at 14 or more skill, with linear scaling in-between.
• Bonus EV: +6-16 EV (depending on skill)
• All melee damage is reduced by -50%.

Restrictions

• Melded Gear: Weapon, shield, body armour, gloves.
• You cannot throw items.
• Glowing: You are revealed if invisible, and your stealth is greatly reduced.

Flux Form does not block any mutations, does not change your size, and gives no innate bonus to HP / AC.

Flux Form has a minimum of 5 Shapeshifting skill, below which you get an HP penalty, and the contamination effect and EV bonus scale down. It has a maximum skill of 14; further skill has no further impact.

Flux form	Felid	Octopode

Strategy

Bonus EV and damage can be helpful in the early game when a fight goes poorly.

Maybe more importantly, this acts as a 1-turn panic button if the main form you're currently using has downsides/vulnerabilities against a current threat. Use this bauble to negate the downside faster than removing your current talisman directly. For example, it can be used while in Death Form to drink a Potion of cancellation or cast Death's Door.

History

• In 0.33, flux baubles were added to the game, replacing flux talismans