Concussion

Version 0.34: This article is up to date for the latest stable release of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

It pushes those it hits backwards, briefly stunning them in the process. If it pushes them into a solid feature, they will instead take an additional one-third of any damage that pierces their armour.

The concussion brand, exclusive to Maces & Flails, does the following:

• Pushes monsters backwards and stuns them, with duration proportional to weapon delay to prevent stunlocks.
  • If a monster is the primary target, the player will follow.
  • If the monster is knocked into a solid feature, they take an extra 0-75% damage (avg. 37.5%) instead of being stunned.
  • No effect if there is another creature behind your target.

Sources

Concussion can only generate and exist on Maces & Flails. It is available through both random generation and through a scroll of brand weapon.

Strategy

Concussion has a heavy player-side risk. Since it causes the player to move forward for every attack, it can cause positioning errors, e.g., moving too far forward and attracting new enemies, or moving yourself so you exit a chokepoint. However, in most cases, it is easy to swap to a different weapon if concussion's push is inappropriate. Alternatively, it is possible to lure enemies in a cleared location so these errors are less likely to be punished.

Still, concussion is unique as it forces the player to move and attack at the same time, which can be useful in its own right. For example, if an enemy blocks the stairs or an important tile, concussion can push it off. If attacked from enemies at different angles, the other enemies will have you chase you as you push a target away.

History

• Concussion was introduced, along with the other weapon type specific brands, in 0.34.