Hailstorm
Version 0.27: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.
 Hailstorm
| |
|---|---|
| Level | 3 |
| School1 | Conjuration |
| School2 | Ice |
| Source(s) | Book of Frost Book of the Tundra |
| Casting noise | 4 |
| Spell noise | 0 |
| Power Cap | 100 |
| Range | 3 |
| Flags | Area |
| Conjures a cannonade of hail. The eye of the storm is wide enough that monsters adjacent to the caster are unaffected. Due to the strong impact and cutting edges a significant portion of its damage bypasses cold resistance. |
Hailstorm is a Level 4 Conjurations/Ice Magic spell that drops hail on all tiles that are 2-3 spaces away from the caster (marked with 'x'):
......... .xxxxxxx. .xxxxxxx. .xx...xx. .xx.@.xx. .xx...xx. .xxxxxxx. .xxxxxxx. .........
This spell deals up to 3d20 damage at max spellpower, making it an excellent unavoidable direct damage spell if you can adapt to its awkward range. While it deals cold damage, it is only 40% resistible, making it usable against even creatures immune to cold damage like ice beasts or simulacra.
Strategy
- Hailstorm has excellent synergy with Frozen Ramparts and Ozocubu's Armor.
- Conjure Flame, Iskenderun's Mystic Blast, Fedhas Madash's Wall of Briars, and other abilities that can prevent enemies from closing to melee range are excellent choices for keeping your targets right in the line of fire. It's even better if you can contrive to stand just inside the entrance to a corridor, meaning the bulk of the spell will hit everything beyond the single tile monsters can hit you from.
- If the opportunity presents itself, allowing weaker enemies to stand next to you will force stronger ones to stand helplessly 2-3 tiles away. Be warned; strong pack creatures or intelligent monsters can generally force their way to the front, so this tactic may not always work.
- While Hailstorm is most useful when fighting large groups of monsters, don't forget that it deals perfectly respectable damage that ignores evasion; using it against even a single target can prove worthwhile.
History
- Prior to 0.27, Hailstorm didn't affect creatures made entirely out of ice - ice beasts, ice statues, and simulacra.
- Hailstorm was added in 0.25, replacing Throw Icicle in player spell lists.
