Hermit's pendant

Trunk-only: This article pertains to a feature of Crawl which is being tested. It will likely change before the next release, and may even be removed entirely.

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An ascetic once took a sacred vow, forswearing use of magical tools and ownership of everything but this pendant. Which god they made this vow to remains a point of bitter contention among the devout, but their pendant's power - and limitations - are irrefutable.

the Hermit's Pendant
Amulet of faith
Sets the wearer's Invocations skill to 14 and their Evocations skill to 0.

Desirability

Usually, you'll find the the Hermit's pendant early, where you're unlikely to have another amulet. Even as a regular amulet of faith, this item can help you survive the earlygame. The Evocations downside is clear, but many wands remain useful at 0 skill. Meanwhile, 14 Invocations will greatly boost the strength and/or success rates of your divine abilities. It also means that you don't have to train the Invocations skill, saving you some XP.

Note that not all gods benefit from an amulet of faith, and fewer benefit from Invocations skill. As you should expect, the viability of this amulet depends on the god that you pick. Gods like Nemelex and Uskayaw benefit the most from faith and Invocations. But it can also be viable to wear this amulet just for the faith alone.

The only penalty of removing this artefact, is the usual piety decrease from taking off any amulet of faith. It may be wise to take this amulet off if you want to train Invocations past 14, or if you want Evocations skill at all.

This artefact is more likely to spawn in the early game, where it is more likely to be useful.

History

• The Hermit's pendant will be added in 0.30.