Lehudib's Crystal Spear

Version 0.20: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

For the obsolete unrandom artefact, see Lehudib's crystal spear (unrand).

Lehudib's Crystal Spear
Level	8
School1	Conjuration
School2	Earth
Source(s)	Book of Annihilations
Casting noise	8
Spell noise	8

Spell Details
Damage Formula	10d(2.3+Power/10)
Max Damage	10d23
Max Power	200
Range	3
Targeting	Beam
To-hit
Special	N/A

This spell hurls a lethally sharp bolt of crystal.

Lehudib's Crystal Spear is a level 8 Conjurations/Earth Magic spell which launches a massively powerful projectile at a single target, dealing irresistible damage. Much more than merely an upgraded version of Iron Shot, this is the ultimate single target damage spell, found only in the Book of Annihilations. High intelligence combat casters of all walks may wish to branch into Earth Magic merely for the sake of this spell and its irresistible damage. At maximum power it can deal up to 230 damage, though it's strongly biased towards the still-staggering average of around 117: 10d22 with a 30% chance of 10d23.

However, the spell's drawbacks are significant. Along with being a two-school level 8 spell (and thus being very difficult to cast without significant skill training), it has a high MP cost, very short range, can be blocked or evaded, and is a miserable option when taking on multiple foes at once; save it for taking out the hardiest foes very quickly (orbs of fire, Pandemonium lords, fiends, hell sentinels, etc.), then switch to a lesser spell for clearing out the rest. Also, don't be afraid to settle for Iron Shot if your intelligence isn't terribly high; it's still a very respectable option for taking out dangerous single foes.

Monster Version

Certain feared monsters can also cast Lehudib's Crystal Spear, often with the ability to one- or two-shot unprepared or fragile adventurers. Even the weakest casters can inflict up to 69 damage with it, while the most powerful (ancient liches) can deal up to 144. It is entirely possible for a monster to cast this multiple times in a row, so make these enemies a very high priority in combat.

The monster version of this spell functions identically to the player version, except with a much more variable damage output:

monster_spell_damge = 3d(16 + power / 10)
  where power = 12 * monster_hit_dice

The following enemies cast Lehudib's Crystal Spear:

• L Ancient lich (3d48 damage)
• e Deep elf annihilator (3d34 damage)
• & Dispater (3d35 damage)
• q Draconian annihilator (3d35 damage)
• V Jory (3d37 damage)
• 8 Roxanne (3d32 damage)
• D Serpent of Hell (Dis) (3d36 damage)

The following enemies may be able to cast Lehudib's Crystal Spear, depending on their spell set:

• & Pandemonium lord (5.2% chance)

History

Prior to 0.14, there was also an unrand spear known as Lehudib's Crystal Spear. This was removed when spears were no longer viable throwing weapons.