Spellbinder

Version 0.30: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

A weapon said to have once been used to keep unruly imprisoned wizards in line; it violently disrupts their ability to use magic, inflicting wild and unpredictable residual magical effects on those it strikes.

the +5 demon whip "Spellbinder"

+5 demon whip

Antimagic brand
+40 Will
Evil
Inflicts miscast effects on the target related to the target's spells on hit.

Desirability

Predictably enough, Spellbinder is great against magical opponents. Antimagic hinders the casting of magical opponents, including silence-immune creatures like demons and orbs of fire. On top of that, spellbinder causes additional damage, which more than makes up for its lower enchantment.

It doesn't do anything special against mundane opponents, or enemies like Asterion or Mlioglotl who have divine abilities. Against them, Spellbinder is a +5 demon whip that lowers your max MP; decent, but a regular demon whip or eveningstar is better. Overall, you'll want another weapon for 'general' use, but Spellbinder is a great swap for its antimagic.

As an evil weapon, worshipers of the good gods will be penalized if they attack with it.

History

• Prior to 0.25, miscast effects could potentially harm creatures other than their target.
• Prior to 0.15, Spellbinder's enchantment level was +3, +6.
• "Spellbinder" was added in 0.14.