Orb of Destruction

Version 0.31: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Orb of Destruction
Level	7
School1	Conjuration
Source(s)	Book of Dangerous Friends Book of the Spheres
Casting noise	7
Spell noise	0
Power Cap	200
Range	LOS
Flags	Dir or target, Needs tracer, Not self

Conjures an orb made of pure destructive magic. Compared to most other projectiles, these orbs travel at a relatively slow pace. The orbs home onto their targets, yet because of their huge inertia, especially agile opponents may be able to outmanoeuvre them. The orbs need some time to stabilize, and a nascent orb will deal reduced damage. Residents of the dungeon are able to maintain the orb until it impacts a target, but when cast by you the orb will dissipate upon leaving your line of sight.

Spell Details
Damage Formula	9d(5 + power/12)
Max Damage	9d21
Max Power	200
Range	LOS
Targeting	Special
To-hit	Never misses
Special	Creates physical orb. Damage multiplied by distance*0.3, if dist<4.

Orb of Destruction (OoD, or Iskenderun's Orb of Destruction, IOOD) is a level 7 Conjurations spell which launches a tangible orb of energy to attack your enemies.

Useful Info

A conjured globe of pure magic that homes onto a designated target, albeit with massive inertia. A smart and agile person may move out of its path, causing it to miss its target. It cannot be avoided by Dodging skill, and is able to make sharp turns to hit adjacent targets.

Creates an Orb of Destruction in a specified direction. It occupies a tile on the dungeon and has 300% speed (move delay 3.33). Attacks do not have an effect on an orb, except for another OOD collision, which will disintegrate both of them. If both colliding orbs have traveled 2 or more tiles, it will create a damaging and massively loud 3x3 explosion. Orbs can collide even if they are travelling in the same direction.

Orbs have a specified "angle" and "position", and are not limited to the 8 dungeon directions. The orb hits when it reaches the target's tile, irrespective of the 2 variables. When casting the spell, the angle will be offset by a random amount. This might make it hit dungeon walls and dissipate harmlessly, so this spell is not entirely accurate in a hallway. With higher spellpower, the orb will be offset by a smaller amount.

Orbs will softly home towards a target (less than 45 degrees/tile). They will not turn sharply, except for a special rule. If you are adjacent to an OOD and move to another adjacent square, you'll trigger an "en passant" and the orb will trigger anyway.

The orb cannot be evaded by using EV, but it can be blocked or reflected. Its damage output is also reduced by being too close:

• Range 1: 30% damage
• Range 2: 60%
• Range 3: 90%
• Range 4+: 100%

Creatures killed by this spell are typically blown apart into gory chunks, although any dragon capable of leaving scales (which excludes trolls) will not explode when it dies.

Orbs are unable to pass through allies "you can fire through", such as Fedhas plants or Hepliaklqana ancestor; the orb will collide and deal no damage to them.

Monster Version

Orb of Destruction is similar between players and monsters. However, your orb will dissipate the turn after it leaves your line of sight, but an enemy's orb will continue to move around until it hits something.

The following enemies cast Orb of Destruction:

• L Boris (9d18 damage)
• L Lich (9d17 damage)
• s Orb spider (9d11 damage)

The following enemies may be able to cast Orb of Destruction, depending on their spell set:

• & Pandemonium lord (5.2% chance)

Strategy

Orb of Destruction is a spell that can win you the game. It is a moderately powerful, irresistible attack spell that ignores EV. Against most enemies in the game, you can fire an OOD at range 7, retreat 1 tile, fire another OOD, then repeat until you kill them (or if they get too close). Monsters will never intentionally try to dodge the orbs.

However, orbs are fiddly. It's unreliable in a corridor, and weak against adjacent enemies. In a tight hallway, you should use a different spell. Bombard combos well - it's a short range spell that works in corridors. Note that there's some redundancy between the two, as both spells fill a similar niche (irresistible attack spell). If you're low on spell levels, you may want to use one over the other.

Tips & Tricks

• Watch out when firing multiple orbs in a row, especially when hasted, due to orb collisions. When hasted, you should fire an orb, then back up (or wait a turn), then fire another orb.

• Great spell for stair dancing. When going upstairs, the orb gets to move for 2.5 turns before you finish going up. You can fire an OOD at an enemy 4-5 tiles away, climb up, and it'll usually hit.

• Each cast of OOD creates a trail of short-lived purple clouds behind it. These are harmless, but can get in the way of any cloud spells you may wish to cast.

• Orb of Destruction isn't terribly loud... unless two orbs collide. Should this occur, be prepared for a swarm of curious enemies making a bee-line for you. This is an excellent technique for attracting half a dungeon level, or a dangerous unique, to one area of the dungeon.

• When launching an orb in wide hallways, situate yourself on the wall opposite from the one your target is nearest:

   Example 1:                  Example 2:                         
        ###########                 ###########
        .@....M....                 ......M....
        ...........                 .@.........
        ###########                 ###########
   Bad: Risks hitting wall.    Better: Much less risk.

• Fast characters (namely spriggans) can kill enemies from partially outside line of sight with this spell. The enemy needs to be in LOS the turn before it is hit. You also need LOS on the turn you cast in order to actually aim it, though you can fire blindly in a straight direction.

• Try not to randomly blink once you've fired an orb; else the orb could hit you instead.

Defending Against IOODs

• Moving out of the way is the simplest way to avoid orbs of destruction, though the orbs' ability to home in on you makes this more difficult than it sounds. The orb's swerving means you can't just move diagonal once its adjacent to you. Walk perpendicular to the orb's path and start moving early, as you'll need some space to pull this off. In tight quarters without much empty space to maneuver in, ducking behind cover, such as around a corner or behind another monster, can also be effective.

• Summoned creatures, undead thralls, or temporary allies can take the hit for you. Switch positions with your minion before the orb hits. You can even create a Fulminant Prism and it'll block the hit.

• Blinking at the last possible moment has a decent chance of putting you out of the orb's current trajectory, and if there's a wall behind you, the orb will be destroyed. Controlled blinking with a scroll of blinking is significantly safer, but teleporting usually takes too long (unless it's via a teleport trap).

• Firing your own orb at the caster will usually result in the orbs colliding and exploding violently. A bit expensive and dangerous in close quarters, but effective.

• Characters with high SH will occasionally block orbs, negating them entirely. This isn't something to rely upon, but it's nice when it happens.

• Being adjacent to the caster reduces the orb's damage tremendously.

• Note that you can never run faster than the orb. It has move delay of 3.33; even a hasted spriggan has a move delay of 4. Your only options are to block it or get out of the way.

History

• Prior to 0.29, enemy OODs were influenced by random energy.
• In 0.28, Orbs of Destruction were penalized more for short range. The power formula was also changed, making the spell a bit weaker.
• Prior to 0.20, Orb of Destruction could destroy dungeon features like doors, statues, or rock walls.
• Prior to 0.14, Orb of Destruction was available in the Book of Annihilations.