Devious

Version 0.34: This article is up to date for the latest stable release of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

It has an increased chance to perform stab attacks against vulnerable targets, and temporarily increases the wielder's EV and slaying each time they do so.

The devious brand, exclusive to Short Blades, does the following:

• Gives +10% chance to perform low-tier stabs against valid targets.
• When stabbing, temporarily provides +4 EV and +3 slaying, stacking up to 3 times. This boost will be maintained so long as the wielder continues to attack (though is otherwise short-lived).

When wielded by monsters, it instead gives a flat +8 EV and +6 slaying at all times.

Sources

Devious can only exist on Short Blades. It is available through both random generation and through a scroll of brand weapon.

Strategy

Devious relies heavily on having a way to inflict low-tier stabs - unlike other brands like electrocution or chaos, it does not help if no enemy at all can be stabbed. Provided there is a reliable way to stab at least one enemy in a group, devious offers a strong buff to both offense and defense.

Hexes and certain other spells like Mephitic Cloud can reliably provide stabbing opportunities, but check either willpower or HD. Certain gods like Uskayaw, Dithmenos, and Gozag offer ways to stab any enemy, but require worshipping that god and have specific conditions (Uskayaw and Gozag require damage and kills, respectively, and Dithmenos an active ability).

History

• Devious was introduced, along with the other weapon-type exclusive brands, in 0.34.