Force Lance

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

For the unrand polearm, see Force Lance (unrand).

Fires a shaft of concussive force. If the impact deals damage, it may knock the target back.

Force Lance is a monster-only spell which is short ranged and deals moderate damage, but can knock its target back several spaces and (if the target is a monster) briefly stun it (4-9 auts). If this movement would push a creature into impassable terrain (walls, deep water, or lava), it will stop moving and take an additional small amount of impact damage. These effects can only occur if Force Lance damages the target, and small targets are easier to knock back than large ones. Force Lance cannot move stationary monsters like statues or oklob plants.

The maximum knockback distance is 2 + 6×HD/25.

Strategy

While usually only a minor nuisance, melee-focused players should be wary of this spell when fighting monsters with powerful ranged or summoning abilities. In particular, the last floor of the Elven Halls may see you fighting deep elf knights (who frequently have this spell) alongside deep elf demonologists, annihilators, sorcerers, elementalists, and high priests, all of which can make powerful use of a few extra turns out of melee range. If you can't isolate them, try to engage from a position with your back against a wall - the extra damage is usually trivial compared to the lost time.

The following enemies cast Force Lance:

• e Deep elf knight (3d14 damage)
• v Polterguardian (3d14 damage)
• R Rakshasa (3d14 damage)
• N Salamander mystic (3d15 damage)
• * Wretched star (3d14 damage)

The following enemies may be able to cast Force Lance, depending on their spell set:

• & Pandemonium lord (3.4% chance)

History

Force Lance
Level	4
School1	Translocation
School2	Conjuration
Source(s)	Book of the Warp
Casting noise	5
Spell noise	5

Spell Details
Damage Formula	2d(6+Power/6)
Max Damage	2d(22.66) ~ 23.66
Max Power	100
Range	4
Targeting	Beam
To-hit	10+Power/7
Special	Can knock back and stun its target

• Prior to 0.25, Force Lance was a level 4 Translocations/Conjurations spell available to players.
• Prior to 0.16, Force Lance was strictly a Conjurations spell, was less accurate, and did not knock enemies back as effectively.
• Prior to 0.14, Force Lance was a level 5 spell.
• Prior to 0.13, Force Lance was a level 2 spell in the book of Conjurations with less range and damage.
• Force Lance was added in 0.12.