Blink
 Blink
| |
|---|---|
| Level | 2 |
| School1 | Translocation |
| Source(s) | |
| Casting noise | 2 |
| Spell noise | 0 |
| This spell translocates the caster a short distance, however only to spaces you can see. |
Blink is a level 2 Translocations spell which warps you to a randomly selected nearby open space. The space must be somewhere visible, neither deep water nor lava (even if you are levitating), and cannot be behind a translucent wall. Tiles marked as excluded, tiles with traps (known or unknown), and clouds of gas, are nevertheless valid warp destinations. Casting Blink randomly blinks you to an appropriate tile 3-6 steps away, then tries for closer spaces if there is no appropriate site.
Blink is one of the easiest-to-acquire escape spells in the game, and can be made more reliable through teleport control (by way of spell, ring, mutation, or certain randarts). Should you have teleport control active, it will be a semi-controlled blink: you will be prompted to select a direction you would like to go and blink 2-7 spaces away. This incurs light magic contamination. Note that, should you cast the spell, think the better of it, and then cancel the (controlled) Blink, you still expend one turn.
For even better control, the level 7 spell Controlled Blink lets you select the exact tile you blink to. The scroll of blinking has a similar effect.
Exceptions
- The Abyss: Blinking is unreliable here, only working 1/3 of the time. The Controlled Blink spell will succeed half the time (but be degraded to semicontrolled).
- Prevent Teleport Items: Some equipment will actively stop you from blinking or teleporting, such as an amulet of stasis and artefacts with the -TELE property.
- The following blink types will always be random: Lugonu's Bend Space ability, a Level 0 Warp card, blinks while confused, blinks induced by miscast or distortion effects, and a Draconian shifter's Blink Other spell.
- Randarts that confer Blink as an ability cost 1 MP and 50 food to use, and require 9 Evocations skill to use reliably. The ability is otherwise identical to the spell.
Monster Version
Many monsters can cast the spell Blink, and their version can pass through translucent walls. There is no equivalent of Controlled Blink for monsters: ghosts of players who had it will have Blink instead. Some monsters, most notably phantoms and blink frogs, have a chance to blink when they hit you. Most such monsters have the spell as well, meaning they tend to blink around rather a lot.
Tips & tricks
A lifesaver particularly in the earlier game, get this spell or an item with it if at all possible. Since it randomly teleports you somewhere within your field of vision, the trick is to minimize the amount of squares you can see where you don't want to end up. It also pays to remember that altough blink won't drop you in lava or deep water, it can and will drop you into a cloud, so take care when blinking around miasma, flame, or any other cloud you really don't want to get into..
