Sting

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Revision as of 15:47, 17 July 2023 by Ge0ff (talk | contribs) (monsters no longer have this spell (except for player ghosts?))
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Version 0.30: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.
Sting.png Sting
Level 1
School1 Alchemy
School2 Conjuration
Source(s) Book of Cantrips
Young Poisoner's Handbook
Casting noise 1
Spell noise 1
Power Cap 25
Range 3
Flags Dir or target, Needs tracer
Briefly transforms one of the caster's limbs into a long insectoid stinger, which lashes out at the target. The stinger's impact will always poison a susceptible target. Even resistant targets have a chance to be poisoned and immune monsters will be damaged by the physical impact of the stinger.
Spell Details
Damage Formula 1d(3+Power/5)
70% poison, 30% physical
Max Damage 1d8
Max Power 25
Range 3
Targeting Beam
To-hit 8+Power/5
Special

Sting is a level 1 Transmutation/Poison Magic spell, which deals damage on impact, then inflicts the poison status. Its impact damage is 70% poison; normal monsters take full damage from it, resistant monsters take 53%, and immune monsters take 30%.

Venom Mages start with this spell memorized.

Strategy

Sting is decent at softening up targets from a short distance. If you've poisoned the enemy, you can start walking back; the poison will be enough to kill most D:1 and D:2 enemies.

Poisonous Vapours is usually an upgrade - it never misses and can poison enemies from full screen range. However, players with low (4-6) max MP may prefer Sting, due to its lower MP cost. The MP concerns quickly fade away, though.

While Sting can do damage to poison immune creatures, it's very low (max. 1d3). In a similar vein, Sting is acceptable against endoplasms, but struggles against poison resistant enemies that are any stronger.

History