Ignis

Version 0.28: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

This page is about the god that was introduced in 0.28. For the defunct monster, see Ignis (monster).

"The flames of Ignis gently warm you."

Ignis the Dying Flame offers followers power over fire in many forms. All of Ignis' power is offered unconditionally to any who would deign to worship, but once used, it can never be replenished. Ignis' other worshippers deserted long ago; the divine fire burns low, and soon it will go out. Followers can armour themselves in flame, call a swarm of foxfires against their foes, or let Ignis' heat lift them to another level of the dungeon. However, the guttering flames of Ignis' power will only sustain a limited number of invocations before only flickering embers remain. No matter how depleted, Ignis will always grant followers resistance to fire.

Cinder Acolytes begin play worshipping Ignis.

Racial restrictions

Demigods cannot worship Ignis, or any other god.

Appreciates

• Any worship at all: Followers are immediately granted 130 piety.
  • Cinder Acolytes start with 150 piety, while the faded altar bonus also boosts piety to 150. Therefore, only non-Monks converting from a rare Temple vault will actually receive that amount.
• There is no way to gain further piety with Ignis during regular play. Leaving and rejoining will not restore any spent piety.

Deprecates

• Abandonment.
• Piety will not decrease over time. However, piety will be depleted by using Ignis' abilities.

Altar

Ignis is not guaranteed to spawn in the Dungeon. There is one version of the Temple with an Ignis, and like all gods, Ignis is available through a faded altar. Even then, actually picking Ignis over a god that will be useful in the long term is questionable. The primary and only guaranteed way to find Ignis is by starting out as a Cinder Acolyte.

Given Abilities

Piety Level -: "Last Ember"

• Fire Resistance: Gain 1 rank of fire resistance. (Passive).
• Rising Flame: After 2-4 turns, Ignis will launch you through the ceiling to the level above you, creating a shaft underneath you after you ascend. The first floor of a branch will launch you to the floor of the branch's entrance. Does not work on the first floor of the Dungeon or in the Abyss, Pandemonium, or a portal level - including Ziggurats. (Free, usable only once).
  • The shaft functions like a normal shaft trap, dropping you randomly 1-3 floors down, agnostic of where you used Rising Flame.

Piety Level *: "Glowing Coal"

• Fiery Armour: Gain +7 AC, and deals 2d4 fire damage to creatures that attack you in melee. Lasts for around 120 turns. (12-16 piety).
• Foxfire Swarm: Create foxfires in every empty tile within a two-tile radius from you; these act in a similar manner to the Foxfire spell. (24-32 piety).

Piety Level **: "Thurifier"

• No abilities given.

Piety Level ***: "Hearthfire"

• No abilities given.

Piety Level ****: "Furnace"

• No abilities given.

Piety Level *****: "Raging Flame"

• No abilities given.
• This is the piety level ordinary worshippers start with.

Piety Level ******: "Inferno"

• No abilities given.
• This piety level can be reached only by a Monk praying at a faded altar.

Punishments

The wrath of Ignis is now weaker than that of most other gods. Apostates will find their resistance to fire stripped away completely, and will be periodically assaulted by fire elementals, find their enemies strengthened by fire, or even have the floor burned out from beneath them. Experienced and cautious adventurers will likely overmaster these assaults. Ignis' wrath lasts for a relatively short duration.

Upon abandoning Ignis, your fire resistance will have a maximum of zero until Ignis' wrath ends. You'll then occasionally experience one of the following forms of divine retribution:

• Durably summons multiple fire elementals to deal with you, with adjusted stats.
• Gives the strongest non-religious monster in your line of sight the fire champion status, granting them extra fire damage and increased movement speed.
• Triggers a shaft under you.

Once Ignis' wrath ends, the god will cease to exist. All altars will be removed from the dungeon, if any were present.

Strategy

As you would expect from a starting god, Ignis is a massive boon in the early-game; just make sure to use its abilities while they are still relevant. D:3 orc priest pack giving you trouble? A Foxfire Swarm (up to 24 individual Foxfires) is almost certainly bound to kill them. 24 Foxfires will fare somewhat worse against a hydra, but won't do well against mid-level groups or much stronger foes. A huge portion of otherwise extremely dangerous threats in the upper dungeon can be avoided through one of Ignis' invocations. Even then, Rising Flame is a superior scroll of teleportation -- useful anywhere, with little risk of danger if you've cleared the floor above you.

And, as you would expect from a god with finite piety, Ignis is a god designed to be abandoned. Their wrath is weak, but not so weak to be a pushover. It's powerful enough to discourage switching gods as soon as you find the Temple, but you may not want to stick with Ignis for so long after. Consider your character's strength by the time you finish Lair or the main portion of the Dungeon.

Tips & Tricks

• An amulet of faith has no effect for followers of Ignis.
• Fiery Armour is meant to be used proactively; using it before a threatening fight (that you know you can win with its help) is powerful, and may save you piety from using the otherwise stronger Foxfire Swarm.
• Foxfire Swarm is held to the same limitations of the Foxfire spell (can not pass through you, won't spawn if something is on the tile), though it remains tactically effective in more situations simply due to the number of Foxfires.
  • The swarm is somewhat less effective on monsters with decent AC; it checks it (up to) 24 times, after all. By corollary, it is still pretty strong against later low-AC foes like (Two-headed) ogres and hydrae.
• Ignis' support allows you to choose a god much later than a usual character, and the Cinder Acolyte background's flexibility gives many options in terms of god choice. As usual, consider your character and what the dungeon has given you before (re)-devoting your faith.
  • Gods like Yredelemnul and Zin, with their stronger midgames and unique piety systems (making it easier to catch up), are natural choices. Ignis also can help one survive the wait when trying to find Jiyva.

History

Ignis was added in 0.28.