Warlock's mirror

Version 0.24: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

A handheld array of hexagonal mirrors, synthesized from a truly exotic substance and polished to a blinding sheen. A skilled user will find that it can reflect almost anything, even spells that pierce through lesser materials and hexes with no physical manifestation at all.

the +3 warlock's mirror {reflect}

+3 buckler

Reflection ego
Can also reflect piercing attacks and enchantments

Chance to reflect magical effects = 2*SH / (2*SH + 40)

Desirability

The warlock's mirror is a fairly useful shield. As a buckler, almost all characters can make use of it (only ogres, trolls, and felids are incapable of wearing it) and it requires relatively little Shields skill to negate its penalty. In addition to blocking and potentially reflecting mundane physical attacks, the warlock's mirror can also reflect piercing effects (such as bolt spells or breath weapons) and enchantments (such as Hexes).

The ability to reflect harmful Hexes or bolts can be a truly useful one, especially in areas where such things are common. Even if an enemy happens to be immune to a reflected spell (such as an ancient lich's Confuse or an orb of fire's Bolt of Fire), you still avoided a potentially dangerous effect and, in the case of reflected bolts, the enemy standing behind the caster might not be so fortunate. However, the warlock's mirror is only a buckler, so a more skilled shield-user may prefer to use a larger shield and/or one with a useful resistance for greater protection (especially since a more mundane reflection ego is still quite good and easily obtained with an amulet of reflection)

The chance to reflect a magical effect increases with your SH score, starting at around 24% at 6 SH (the amount most characters will have with 0 Shields skill) and gradually increasing to 50% at 20 SH. Higher chances of reflecting effects are possible as SH increases further, but attaining such high SH scores with a mere buckler grows more and more difficult.

You can increase your SH by:

• increasing your Dexterity or Shields skill
• wearing an amulet of reflection (the mirror already has a reflection ego, but the extra SH from the amulet still applies)
• having the Large bone plates mutation
• worshiping Qazlal
• using The Shining One's Divine Shield ability

History

• In 0.25, the warlock's mirror will also be able to reflect piercing physical projectiles like javelins.
• The warlock's mirror was introduced in 0.18.