Lantern of shadows
| Type | Miscellaneous item |
|---|---|
| Name | lantern of shadows |
| Icon | 
|
| An unholy device which calls forth flickering shadows to assist its wielder. It shrouds the wielder in unnatural darkness, making them unstealthy and significantly reducing the power of their spells. |
The lantern of shadows is a "weapon" which reduces your line of sight, but with a number of penalties.
Useful Info
When wielded in the weapon slot, the lantern of shadows does the following:
- Reduces your LOS by 2 tiles (from 8 to 6). This stacks with other source of LOS reduction.
- Creates neutral shadows, who are attracted to the lantern and will flutter around it. The shadows will remain (and stay friendly) for a while after the lantern is unwielded. The shadows follow you around levels.
- Greatly reduces your spell power. It acts as a two negative spell enhancers, i.e. it is equal to losing 2 sources of Archmagi.
- Stealth score is reduced to 0.
While wielding the lantern, MP is drained over time, as shadows are produced.
The lantern is not a proper weapon; attacking in melee causes you to "clumsily bash", as if you tried to melee with a scroll, ranged weapon, etc.
Strategy
This item is most useful for escapes. Monsters cannot attack when outside your LOS, so the LOS reduction is helpful when covering your retreat. However, it is finnicky, to say the least. With no weapon, no stealth, and reduced spell power, it weakens your combat. It's a niche swapout, at best.
The shadows can be strong for the early Dungeon, but they are outclassed by late Lair.
History
- The lantern of shadows was removed in 0.18.
- Prior to 0.16, lantern of shadows didn't drain MP while in use, and didn't cease to function once its wielder runs dry.
- Prior to 0.13, the spawn rate of shadows did not scale with Evocations. Also, summoned shadows were friendly instead of neutral.
- Prior 0.9, an unidentified lantern of shadows always appeared as a bone lantern.
