Magic points

Version 0.32: This article is up to date for the latest stable release of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

Magic points or Mana points (usually abbreviated to MP) is the amount of magical energy which a given character has. It is used for spellcasting, and for invoking divine powers, mutations, and intrinsic abilities. Having your MP fall to zero is not lethal, though you won't have any MP to use on abilities.

Every spell uses (Spell Level) MP per cast. Other types of abilities can have their own cost, usually ranging from 1 to 10 MP per use.

Your base maximum MP is a function of your experience level, your species, and the either 1. your Spellcasting skill, or 2. half of your Invocations skill (The higher of the two; Spellcasting skill is twice as effective as Invocations for MP). Some items like rings of magical power or artefacts with the {MP+} property can increase a given character's reserves of magical power.

A typical character starts with 0-7 MP (e.g. 0 for a Minotaur Fighter, 7 for Deep Elf Hedge Wizard) and eventually grows to many times that (30-40 for a typical level 20 character, or 50-60 when using extra items).

Djinn do not use MP. Whenever they would spend MP, they spend HP instead; otherwise, they are unaffected by any mechanic that involves MP.

Regeneration

Your base magic regeneration rate (BMRR) is 7 + MMP/2. This is doubled if you have the Mana Regeneration mutation. The following modifiers are then applied to determine total magic regeneration rate (TMRR):

• An amulet of magic regeneration gives +40 MP regen.
• The Amulet of Vitality gives +80 MP regen.
• Armataurs gain a temporary MP regen bonus when rampaging.
• Jiyva adds anywhere between 40 and 80, depending on piety level.

Every turn (10 auts) you accumulate regeneration points equal to your TMRR. When you accumulate 100 points, you restore 1 MP, and excess regeneration points are carried over to the next turn. If your action lasted longer/shorter than 10 aut, then the regeneration is scaled with time taken.

Strategy

MP is a very important stat for spellcasters. Early- or mid-game rings of magical power are extremely useful, since MP costs are low and your base mana pool is small. However, as your MP hits around the 40+ mark, the value of +9 MP decreases.

Methods of MP restoration:

• Resting.
• Consumables: Potions of magic recover a decent amount of magic, but are rare. Potions of ambrosia offer significant HP and MP regeneration for a duration, but confuses you for the entirety of it; if you cure the confusion, the ambrosia will end too.
• Casting Sublimation of Blood, which restores your MP at the cost of your own health. (Remember to save 2 MP for this!)
• Wearing an amulet of magic regeneration.
• God abilities: Ru, Sif Muna, Gozag, and Nemelex offer ways to actively recover your mana, with varying degrees of reliability.
• God passives: Vehumet lets you recover MP when killing monsters. The Shining One offers a similar power that only works against unholy and demonic enemies. Worshipers of Jiyva recover MP unusually quickly.
• Channeling items: An orb of energy or the Staff of Wucad Mu may refund MP you spend, but with a chance of backfiring.
• Biting an enemy as a Vine Stalker.
• Being a demonspawn can grant you access to the Mana Shield mutations, which will grant you improved MP regeneration, especially when you are low on MP. The Powered by Pain mutations might replenish MP whenever you take damage. Or you could get both.

Formula

• Highest Skill = max(Spellcasting, Invocations/2)
• MP = Scale*(min(XL, 23) + Highest Skill + min(8, Highest Skill, XL)/2) + Species Modifier
• Sources of MP scaling:
  • High MP mutation: +10% per level
  • Low MP mutation: -10% per level
  • Elyvilon's Divine vigour: up to +50%
• Sources of flat MP bonuses (applied after scaling):
  • rings of magical power: +9 MP each
  • artefacts with the {+MP} property: usually +4-12 each -- may vary for some unrands
• Wielding a weapon of antimagic divides MP by 3. This is applied after all other modifiers.

MP modifiers

From Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup in-game documentation:

At	Ba	Co	DE	Dg	Ds	Dj	Dr	Fe	Fo	Gr	Gh	Gn	Hu	Ko	Mf	Mi	MD	Mu	Na	Op	On	Sp	Te	Tr	Vp	VS
0	0	0	2	2	0	N/A	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	-1	0	1

Demigods additionally start with the High MP mutation.

History

• Prior to 0.32, the MP property of randarts was always +9 or -9.
• Prior to 0.26, Evocations increased max MP.
• 0.17 simplified MP calculations. The base formula was:

XL + Permanent MP + (XL*Species modifier + 1)/3 + (XL*Species modifier + 1)/3 + max(Spellcasting*XL*3/14 + Spellcasting, Invocations*XL/6.5 + Invocations/3, Evocations*XL/6)

Then a stepdown function was applied and MP was capped at 50. Species aptitudes used to be multiplicative, but are now additive.

• Before 0.14, the formula was:

Unscaled MP = XL + Permanent MP + (XL*Species modifier + 1)/3 +
max(Spellcasting*XL/4, Invocations*XL/6, Evocations*XL/6)

where Permanent MP was a constant determined by the player's background and species.