Forgewright

Version 0.33: This article is up to date for the latest stable release of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

Forgewrights are mages who specialise in the creation of turrets and mechanical companions to fight alongside.

Forgewrights are mages who focus on Forgecraft.

Preferred Species

Barachi, Coglin, Human, Merfolk, Mountain Dwarf, and Vine Stalker are the recommended species if you pick a Forgewright background.

Starting Equipment

Some species may receive different items based on their unique restrictions.

• +0 hammer
• +0 robe
• Potion of magic

Available Spells:

• Kinetic Grapnel
• Construct Spike Launcher
• Launch Clockwork Bee
• Forge Blazeheart Golem
• Forge Lightning Spire

Forgewrights start with the Kinetic Grapnel spell memorised.

Starting Skills and Stats

These are adjusted by your species' aptitudes.

• Dodging: 2
• Stealth: 2
• Spellcasting: 2
• Forgecraft: 4

Choosing Forgewright adds 2 to your starting Strength, 7 to your starting Intelligence and 3 to your starting Dexterity.

Strategy

In general, the starting Forgecraft spells create MP-efficient minions, but require you to be close to your constructs for them to function optimally.

Whether to aim for Blazeheart Golem or Lightning Spire first can depend on aptitudes and other Fire/Air spells you've found: species with a much stronger proficiency for one or the other should likely pick the corresponding spell first, and if you've found Fire/Air spells that you can get along the way, that too can influence the decision. Otherwise, Lightning Spire has the advantage of being ranged and is a much less risky spell (you can't blow yourself up if you get trapped in the wrong position).

The explosions from Forge Blazeheart Golem will anger the good gods if another ally is hit, so beware of that.

Spell Details

• Kinetic Grapnel has relatively poor damage for a level 1 spell, although if it hits, it gives your next melee attack bonus damage/accuracy.
• Construct Spike Launcher has good damage and MP efficiency for its level. It creates a spike trap on an adjacent wall, which damages enemies, even invisible ones.
• Launch Clockwork Bee requires a target to aim at and you to wait a few turns, then summons a strong and fast bee. The bee can only attack a few times, then requires you to "rewind" it by moving into its tile (at the cost of 1 MP). Often, you'll cast Clockwork Bee when an enemy is at max range, then let the enemy approach as you wind up.
• Forge Blazeheart Golem creates a powerful golem that will damage itself when attacking, then explode a turn after it loses all its HP. The golem needs to be standing next to you in order for it to attack and to trigger the explosion. The explosion is very strong, cannot miss, and creates damaging flame clouds, making it great at taking out tough foes. But watch out for enemies with blink (who can blink behind you and block your retreat path) or movement-restricting effects (e.g., throwing nets, constrict).
• Forge Lightning Spire is one of the few ranged options available in the starting book - it creates a turret that fires at enemies, and its bolts can bounce through walls (although this isn't easy to take advantage of).
  • If you have space, a strategy is to construct a spire when an enemy is far, then walk back in order to allow the spire to get free shots, then re-cast the spell once the spire is out of range.
  • In some cases, it's possible to force enemies to eat repeated doublezaps by standing in the way.

History

• This background was added in 0.33, along with the Forgecraft school.