Dragon Form (spell)

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

Dragon Form (spell)

Dragon Form is a level 7 Transmutations spell which transforms your character into a form similar to that of a fire dragon for a fairly long duration. You gain the following:

Pros

• Enhanced Unarmed Combat
  • Base UC bite damage = 38 + UC
    • Claws 3 raises base damage to 38; or 32 damage before claws.
  • Two auxiliary attacks: Tail slap and Bite 5
  • Accuracy bonus: +1d10
• Ability to Breathe Fire (similar to Bolt of Fire)
• rF++
• rPois+
• +50% HP
• Natural AC set to 16
• Innate flight
• +10 Strength
• Giant size (resists trampling and constriction)

Cons

• rC-
• All equipment except for rings and amulets melds into your body
• Claws 3 severs hydra heads, causing two to grow back
• Giant size greatly hinders evasion and stealth; base EV set to about 5 (affected by Dodging)

Draconians

Draconian characters in Dragon Form function slightly differently:

• The AC bonus from your draconian scales stacks with the AC bonus from being in Dragon Form.
• You retain your natural breath weapon, if you have one (grey draconians do not gain one).
• You retain any species-specific bonus mutations (such as a green draconian's Stinger or yellow draconian's Acidic Bite)
• Instead of gaining rF++ and rC-, you retain your natural elemental resistances (or lack thereof). Red and white draconians gain rF++/rC- and rF-/rC++, respectively.
  • All Dragon Form draconians get rPois regardless of color.

Strategy

Dragon Form is the 'glass cannon' of Transmutation spells. Despite having +50% HP, Dragon Form is surprisingly vulnerable. The reduction to EV (due to size), lack of a shield, loss of all armour slots, and relatively low AC (compared to Statue Form or a heavy armour character) make you less bulky than you'd think. The vulnerability to silver doesn't help things.

That being said, you are given a phenomenal amount of offensive firepower. With 38 base damage, plus 2 auxiliary attacks, you hit harder than a character with 27 UC skill. Skilled fighters can kill golden dragons in a single bite, and your breath weapon can devastate opponents when you reach higher experience levels. Since Dragon Form is so strong at a base, you don't need to train too much into Unarmed Combat in order to get success from this spell. Overall, this spell can become a powerful killing tool, assuming you don't overestimate yourself.

Unlike many other transmutations, Dragon Form does not impede spellcasting (beyond the inability to wield staves or wear a robe of Archmagi). You can use support spells like Ozocubu's Armour and attack magically however you please.

Tips & Tricks

• Support magic (such as Ozocubu's Armour) still functions normally and can help bolster your lackluster defenses.
• If you can manage to get Dragon Form castable by the time you are ready to take on the various Lair sub-branches, its ability to fly and resistance to poison can prove quite helpful there. This is particularly true in Spider and Swamp (just be careful of hydras, since you'll rip off their heads with your claws). Shoals is less ideal for Dragon Form -- while the ability to fly is always helpful there, silver javelins from merfolk javelineers and Throw Icicle from merfolk aquamancers or Ilsuiw are even more lethal than usual.

Dragon Form

Red	White	Grey	Black	Pale	Mottled	Purple	Green	Yellow

History

• Prior to 0.28, Dragon Form had Bite 3 (as its scaling was nerfed in this version).
• Prior to 0.27, Dragon Form gave 34% GDR.
• Prior to 0.14, players in Dragon Form could trample opponents.
• Prior to 0.13, Dragon form was a Transmutation/Fire spell.
• Prior to 0.10, draconians also received a +30% bonus to Dragon Form's spell success rate.
• Prior to 0.8, draconians did not function differently.