Leech

Version 0.27: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

A blade forged in Hell by the sacrifice of countless tortured souls. It fills its wielder with the rage and suffering of those souls, and gorges itself further on drained life force every time it strikes, leaving behind a mess of blood and gore.

the +8 demon blade "Leech"

+8 demon blade

Vampiric brand effect, activated on every hit
Allows evoking berserk
Forces berserk while attacking (5% chance)
rN+
Creates sprays of blood when striking opponents that bleed

Desirability

Leech, like any well-enchanted vampiric demon blade, is a very nice thing to have, though it does carry the risk of sending you berserk at an inopportune moment. Still, the vampiricism does activate on every hit unlike most vampiric weapons, so you'll steadily regain HP in fights with living opponents. You may wish to use a different weapon when facing especially dangerous undead, demonic, or nonliving foes, however.

Undead characters and those who have managed to find a source of clarity can safely ignore this sword's negative side effects. Demonspawn with the Ignite Blood mutation will appreciate how Leech constantly sprays burning blood everywhere.

History

• Prior to 0.25, Leech had -3 AC and EV instead of its berserking properties.
• Prior to 0.19, Leech's AC and EV costs were only -2, and it had -2 Strength, Intelligence, and Dexterity.
• Prior to 0.15, Leech's stat, AC and EV costs were only -1.
• Prior to 0.14, Leech's vampiric effect was only activated on 60% of all attacks, like all other vampiric weapons.