Damnation (unrand)

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

An unholy crossbow, forged in the fires of Gehenna. It imbues the bolts it fires with the raw power of its namesake.

the +6 arbalest "Damnation"

+6 arbalest

Causes fired bolts to explode with damnation (2d14) when striking a target
Evil

Desirability

Damnation's base enchantment is decent, and those who have the appropriate skill will find it quite powerful, especially against groups of enemies. The bursts of damnation themselves have perfect accuracy and ignore AC and all resistances except for the exceedingly rare damnation resistance, making it particularly helpful against monsters with very high defense like curse skulls. Of course, damnation also ignores all of your resistances, so try not to use it at point-blank range. Portal Projectile can come in handy for safely firing at tricky arrangements of enemies.

Bear in mind that the explosions Damnation generates are significantly louder than normal crossbow shots, so expect to wake up nearby foes.

Damnation can be found in many Gehenna:7 vaults, but may also be generated randomly.

History

• Prior to 0.29, Damnation dealt 3d14 damnation damage, but always mulched bolts that it fired, in addition to the other ranged weapon changes.
• Prior to 0.27, Damnation's bolts would explode wherever they landed, not requiring a hit target. By aiming at the ground with f. instead of ff, users could set off explosions near evasive enemies, or fire at adjacent enemies without worrying about recoil damage.
• Prior to 0.19, Damnation provided rF++ and +40 MR at the cost of rC- in addition to damnation damage.
• In 0.18, both the crossbow and its damage type were renamed to Damnation from Hellfire. The damage type dealt extra against fire vulnerability, but ignored fire resistance.
• Prior to 0.15, Hellfire was a +6, +9 crossbow.
• Prior to 0.14, it had the flame brand.