Wand
| A stick. Maybe it's magical.
"[The principle of selection] is the magician's wand, by means of which he may summon into life whatever form and mould he pleases." -William Youatt, _Sheep: their breeds, management, and diseases; to which is added the Mountain Shepherd's Manual_, ch. III. 1837. |
A wand is a magical device that contains several charges of a specific spell or effect.
A player may zap a wand in the inventory with the V key (that is, evoking it). This releases its magical effect at a target of the player's choice, and one charge of the wand will be depleted. A wand does not normally show how many charges it has left; this information can be gathered either by identification or by using a wand with sufficient Evocations skill. If the number of charges of a wand is unknown, zapping the wand will waste several charges. However, the game will record wand usage, so that the player can see how many times a wand has been zapped. Unlike rods, a wand does not have to be wielded to be used, and can even be used while the player's wielded weapon and shield are cursed.
A wand with no charges left is empty, and will not function (but will still waste a turn as you discover this). Wands can be recharged using a scroll of recharging, even if not emptied. Deep dwarves possess a racial ability that also lets them recharge wands, though at a permanent MP cost.
A wand's spell power equals 15+2.5×Evocations, though this is still limited by the spell power caps for the spell cast. For monsters zapping wands, the power is normally 30+hit dice, although this can vary greatly depending on the type of wand. Some monsters, particularly uniques, may start with wands in their inventory.
Xom is greatly entertained (200) when you use a wand of random effects on yourself or others.
List of wands
| Image | Wand | Description | Max charges: upon recharge |
Usable by monster |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Acid | Corrodes the target temporarily | 15 | No |
|
Confusion | Confuses the target temporarily | 24 | Yes |
|
Digging | Creates a tunnel through the targeted wall tile | 24 | Yes |
|
Disintegration | Disintegrates the target or object | 24 | Yes, but damage is reduced to 2/3 of normal |
|
Enslavement | Charms the target temporarily | 24 | No |
|
Flame | Shoots a puff of flame at the target | 48 | Yes |
|
Hasting | Speeds up the target's movement and actions temporarily | 9 | Yes, on self |
|
Heal wounds | Significantly heals the target | 9 | Yes, on self |
|
Iceblast | Casts a field explosion of cold | 15 | No |
|
Lightning | Shoots a lightning bolt at the target | 15 | Yes |
|
Paralysis | Paralyzes the target temporarily | 15 | Yes |
|
Polymorph | Target reforms as a random creature | 24 | Yes |
|
Random effects | Randomly selects any other wand and duplicates its effect | 48 | No |
|
Slowing | Slows the target temporarily | 48 | Yes |
|
Teleportation | Teleports the target after a few turns | 9 | Yes, on self and player |
Images
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High-tier wands
Some wands are considered too dangerous to be generated in the inventory of monsters with HD less than 5. Monsters with the No HT wand flag are also excluded. Ijyb is the exception to this rule.
History
Prior to 0.18, wands' charge differences were not easily visible even if identified.
0.18 removed the wand of cold, draining, [Wand of fire|fire]], fireball, frost, invisibility, and magic darts, but introduced wands of acid and iceblast. Wands of fire, cold and draining were high-tier wands.
Prior to 0.16, wands were not automatically identified when picked up. However, zapping a wand with an unknown number of charges did not waste any charges.
