Dispersal (brand)

Version 0.15: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Any target it hits will blink, with a tendency towards blinking further away from the one who fired it.

The dispersal brand causes ammunition to force enemies that it damages to blink semi-randomly (usually away from the shooter). They are very useful for chasing off dangerous melee opponents who manage to get too close. The effect does not check magic resistance, but does fail if used against a monster with -TELE (e.g. all statues and rooted enemies, such as oklob plants).

If the attack hits a valid target but fails to inflict damage, the target will not blink.

This brand can be found on the following ammo types:

• Arrows
• Tomahawks

Tips & Tricks

• You don't need to keep dispersal missiles quivered to have easy access to them, and probably don't want to be using them for most fights anyway; just hit F and select them from your inventory to fire.
• Missiles with this brand are one use only, mulching after firing.
• You cannot target yourself with this effect.
• The fact that you need to damage your target to cause it to blink means that that stack of dispersal tomahawks you're carrying around is unlikely to help much against anything armoured unless you've put some serious points into Throwing. Dispersal arrows are much more reliable, assuming you have a good longbow.

History

Prior to 0.15, dispersal darts also existed.