Granite talisman

An rough-hewn stone icon. Transforms the user into a slow, stone statue. The caster's melee damage, both unarmed and with weapons, is substantially increased. The caster's stone body is immune to poison and miasma, and gains resistance to electricity and negative energy. Shapeshifting skill increases armour granted. While transformed, any equipped body armour, gloves and boots are melded.

A granite talisman is a talisman that changes you into Statue Form, granting you the durability (and speed) of a statue.

Useful Info

When eVoked, a granite talisman turns you into Statue Form, which lasts until you end the form. Entering or exiting a form takes 5 turns.

Statue Form has the following effects:

Combat Bonuses

HP Bonus: 130% HP
Innate AC: 31 - 38 AC, scales linearly with Shapeshifting past minimum skill. (+1.14 AC per level)
Unarmed Combat: 12 base damage.
All melee damage, including from weapons, is increased by 50% (after AC is applied).

Resistances

Poison immunity
rElec, rN+
rTorment (50% damage from torment, stacks with rN)
Non-living: Unbreathing, lacks blood, immune to sleep and petrification
Vulnerable to Lee's Rapid Deconstruction and Shatter.

Restrictions

Melded Gear: Body armour, gloves, boots.
All actions slowed by +50%, as if you were slowed. This stacks with the slow status.
Species movement delay set to 1.0. It is then slowed by 50% (to 1.5 with no other factors).
If you are an amphibious species, you can stand in deep water, but you get all the normal penalties from both shallow and deep water (statues can't swim).

Statue Form has a minimum Shapeshifting skill of 15, below which you get an HP penalty. It has a maximum skill of 23, where skill has no further impact.

Gargoyles cannot use this item, as they are already made out of stone.

Strategy

Being slow is always dangerous, but Statue Form is very durable. Unlike many forms, you get to keep a shield. And unlike heavy body armour, you have your full, unencumbered EV. With high HP, AC, EV, and decent SH, you'll be tougher than any other form. Overall, a fairly strong form for Unarmed Combat users. Also has great resistances; torment resistance in particular is valuable in extended.

Statue Form only provides offensive bonuses to Unarmed Combat. Other types of characters can use it for its defenses or resistances, but will find it less useful:

Spells aren't explicitly penalized, but all actions (including spellcasting) are slowed by 50%, with no compensation. Thus, spells are less effective at killing things. Of course, spells can still be useful in statue form.
Weapon damage is increased by +50%, but statue form also slows attack speed by the same amount. Because the 50% damage bonus is applied after AC penalty, there's no "bonus" when fighting high AC foes (i.e. enemy AC is also increased by 50%).
Like with spells, ranged weapons are slowed with no damage boost.

In a 3-rune game, these characters generally should focus on Fighting and other defensive skills instead of getting Statue Form up and running. For extended, the torment resistance can give this form more merit.

Tips & Tricks

Translocations spells are great to use in this form. Lesser Beckoning and Vhi's Electric Charge help a slow-moving melee fighter approach enemies. Manifold Assault lets you swing your fists at full-screen range.
Very useful for (15 rune) low turncount speedruns. Since you act at 1.5 delay, you'll regenerate 1.5 decaAut per move, while only taking 1 "turn".