Staff of Dispater

Version 0.29: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

A legendary staff, granting power to unleash damnation -- although not without draining the wielder's vitality in the process.

the +4 staff of Dispater

+4 staff

Provides an ability to launch damnation
Evil

Mechanics

The staff gives you an ability to cast Hurl Damnation. However, it comes at a cost to HP and MP:

Spell Power: Evocations×8
Damage: 3d(8+Spell Power/5)
Cost: 10% HP, 4 MP
Restrictions: You cannot use this item if you are under the effects of Death's Door.

Desirability

The staff of Dispater is a powerful artefact staff which contains dangerous demonic magic. It can only be acquired by slaying Dispater, the lord of the Iron City of Dis. It is considered an evil item, so the good gods frown on its use.

Very few things can resist damnation damage (it's mainly just the demons that use damnation themselves), making the staff of Dispater a useful weapon against all manner of end-game monsters. Damnation is particularly helpful against monsters with high defenses (whether high AC, EV, resistance/immunity to multiple elements, or a combination of the above). Of course, if you have this staff, you've managed to successfully kill one of the lords of Hell; chances are you have other ways of fighting highly durable creatures that don't cost you HP every time you use them.

You can improve your melee performance with this staff by training Fighting and Staves, though by the time you're capable of killing Dispater, you'll have found any number of weapons that are far more effective than an unbranded +4 staff.

See Also

Damnation
Category:Damnation resistance

History

• In 0.30, the staff of Dispater will be converted into an unrand orb.
• Prior to 0.28, the staff could be activated from the evoke menu instead of the abilities menu. Also, the cost of firing damnation was changed from 14 HP and 4 MP to 10% HP and 4 MP.