Shadow Form

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

This invocation turns you into a swirling mass of dark shadows. While in this form, you are permanently invisible and are immune to poison, draining, torment, and hostile enchantments. All incoming damage is halved, and you will bleed smoke on any incoming attack. However, your ability to deal damage in melee will be halved, your spellcasting power will be greatly hampered, and your skills will be further drained when taking damage.

Shadow Form is a transformation available through worshiping Dithmenos. It costs 9 MP, 10-15 piety, and lightly drains your skills when activated.

Pros

• Invisibility without magical contamination
• Immunity to poison
• Immunity to draining
• Immunity to torment
• Immunity to hostile enchantments
• 50% damage reduction
• You bleed smoke when taking damage

Cons

• Your attacks do 50% less damage
• Two negative spellpower enhancements (equivalent to wielding a lantern of shadows)
• Taking damage further drains your skills

Strategy

Shadow Form is best used to escape from dangerous situations, as it cripples your offensive capabilities. The combination of invisibility and bleeding smoke clouds should allow you to shake off most pursuers in short order. Should you be chased by something that can see invisible and keep up with you, some other method of escape is recommended (such as Haste, Swiftness, or a teleport). The initial skill drain is relatively light (about 0.3 skill points) and can be fixed easily, but taking lots of damage while in Shadow Form may leave you heavily drained (though you are immune to outside sources of draining).

Shadow Form