Sticky Flame

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Sticky flame.png Sticky Flame
Level 4
School1 Alchemy
School2 Fire
Source(s) Everburning Encyclopedia
Book of Flames
Casting noise 4
Spell noise 1
Power Cap 100
Range 1
Flags Dir or target, Needs tracer
Unleashes a short-ranged spray of incindiary goo that clings to an adjacent creature and deals armour-ignoring fire damage over several turns. If the victim is allowed to move, it will put out the fire prematurely.

“Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm
for the rest of his life.”
-Terry Pratchett, “Jingo”. 1997.

Spell Details
Damage Formula 2d(1.5+Power/24) fire
Max Damage 2d(5.67)
Max Power 100
Range 1
Targeting Touch
To-hit Never miss
Special Sticky Flame status; avg. 4 damage/turn.

Sticky Flame is a level 4 Conjurations/Fire Magic spell which causes the target to burn for several rounds.

Useful Info

Sticky Flame deals direct fire damage, then inflicts the Fire status (covered in liquid flames). This status deals 2d4 fire damage per turn (avg. 5 dmg),[1] and causes targets to become backlit, decreasing dodge chance and revealing invisible creatures.

The duration of the Fire status depends on "enchantment level", where each level gives 4-5 turns of duration. Enchantment level, in turn, depends on victim's HD (max. 4 levels[2]). Therefore, the total amount of damage from the status can be calculated as follows:

total damage = (avg dmg / turn) * (turns / level) * (levels)
= 5 damage/turn * 4.5 turns/level * 4 levels = 90

Entering water (even when flying) will immediately end the Fire status. Insubstantial creatures are immune to the Fire status, but still take impact damage from the spell.

Strategy

A moderately strong "killdudes" spell. It's good for those who don't mind getting in melee range. Against melee enemies, you can cast Sticky Flame, retreat a few tiles, and re-apply the spell. Make sure to have an open path to retreat to. While this leaves you open to attacks of opportunity, they happen less often than a usual melee attack. Alternatively, hybrid characters can cast Sticky Flame to open a fight, then attack normally in melee.

The main downside is the 1-tile range, which isn't great for squishy casters. Many monsters, such as hydras, are too dangerous to engage in melee. Fast species (Spriggan and Felid) have an advantage, since they can kite monsters without attacks of opportunity. For other species, having the Swiftness spell is nice.

Tips & Tricks

Monster Version

Most monsters use Sticky Flame Range, which is identical apart from having a range of 4.

Player ghosts and spellforged servitors will cast the range-1 spell, however.

History

  • mon-ench.cc:1532 (0.30.0)
  • mon-ench.h:8 (0.30.0)
  • Retrieved from "http://crawl.chaosforge.org/index.php?title=Sticky_Flame&oldid=72325"