Salamander hide armour

Version 0.26: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Most salamanders' bodies are consigned to the fiery depths from which they sprang. Rarely, though, salamanders preserve the skins of those that have passed. The runes and decorations of the hide suggest that it once belonged to a respected warrior or priest - perhaps even a king. The fiery spirit remains in the skin, enhancing the fire magic of the wearer and surrounding them with a continous ring of flame.

the +3 salamander hide armour

+3 leather armour

rF++
rC--
Surrounds the wearer with a ring of flame clouds

Ring of Flames mechanic

While worn, this armor grants the following additional effects:

• Constantly spawns clouds of flame in the eight squares directly adjacent to the wearer. If the wearer moves, existing clouds that are no longer adjacent will linger for a few turns.
• One spell enhancer for Fire Magic, similar to a ring or staff of fire.
• Immunity to clouds of flame regardless of source. Walking into a square containing a cloud of flames while wearing the salamander hide armour will cause it to disappear.

Desirability

The salamander hide armour is a decent unrand if you're playing a character focused on evasion or spellcasting, as it provides all the fire resistance you will ever need, a constant source of fire damage for anything that gets close, and a free enhancer for your Fire Magic. Fire Elementalists benefit the most, but even Ice Elementalists will appreciate the additional fire damage in melee range; none of your cold spells will ever be blocked by your own ring of flames.

Be wary of the armor's cold vulnerability; the flames will block several kinds of icy ranged attacks, and creatures that specialize in ice rarely enjoy standing in fire, but any cold damage that makes it through the flames will still deal 150% damage. Depending on how many sources of cold resistance you've found, you may wish to use a different set of armour without such a glaring drawback.

History

• Prior to 0.26, the salamander hide armour provided an evocable berserk instead of a Ring of Flames effect, and did not have cold vulnerability.