Inner Flame

Version 0.25: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Inner Flame
Level	3
School1	Hexes
School2	Fire
Source(s)	Book of Flames Book of Debilitation
Casting noise	3
Spell noise	0 (15 or 20 when the monster explodes, depends on the size of the monster)

Fills an enemy with an intense fire. This fire is released any time the target is hit, and explosively released upon death. The size of the explosion caused is dependent on the size of the target.

Inner Flame is a level 3 Hexes/Fire Magic spell which gives a monster the Inner Flame status effect for 25 to 35 turns. The target may negate the spell if you cannot overcome its magic resistance. Since the spell doesn't deal direct damage, allies are not turned hostile if you affect them. Whenever the afflicted target is injured, a flaming cloud is generated at their position for three turns. On death, the victim will explode like a Fireball, dealing heavy fire damage to all adjacent squares and leaving clouds of fire. The amount of damage and radius of the explosion is dependent on the monster's size:

• Tiny monsters have a radius 1 explosion and deal 3d15 damage.
• Little through big monsters (i.e. most creatures in the game) have a radius 1 explosion and deal 3d20 damage.
• Giant and Huge monsters have a radius 2 explosion and deal 3d25 damage.

If a corpse would be created by the exploding monster, chunks get strewn about instead as with a wand of disintegration.

Strategy

Used correctly, you can deal tremendous damage to multiple enemies early in the game with Inner Flame. Used incorrectly, you'll probably blow yourself to bits.

• Obviously, the best way to avoid blowing yourself up is to kill the afflicted monster from a distance. Fire Elementalists can use their spells, and Arcane Marksmen can use their ranged weapon. Other classes can make use of similar methods; even an attack wand will do in a pinch, if you use Inner Flame on a weakened foe.
  • Fire resistance will reduce the damage you take from a badly-timed kill, allowing you to survive things blowing up in your face.
• If the target is behind some other creatures, make use of smite-targeted attacks (such as Portal Projectile) or one of the various piercing attacks (javelins or Bolt spells - attack wands come in handy here).
• Poison damage will continuously trigger the flaming cloud effect, making very short work of enemies vulnerable to both.
• Inner Flame works best when used on a member of a group of monsters, such as a band of orcs, swarm of killer bees, or herd of yaks. You can also use it against strong, solitary enemies like a unique or player ghost, either directly for bonus fire damage, or by luring in and exploding weaker monsters.
• Activating Inner Flame in an open space gives the explosion room to hit the most other creatures. Alternatively, set it off in a corridor to kill off the front line and create a wall of flames to block the rear guard from reaching you, similar to Conjure Flame.
• When your god doesn't mind you injuring your own allies, feel free to use this spell on your undead, enslaved, or summoned minions and send them in to kamikaze your opponents.
• Be careful of using this spell with allies or neutral monsters around, because any creature injured in the explosion will turn hostile.

History

Prior to 0.25, monsters afflicted with Inner Flame did not generate clouds of flame on themselves when injured. The spell was also ineffective on summoned creatures.