Staff of Wucad Mu
| Type | Magical staves |
|---|---|
| Name | staff of Wucad Mu |
| Icon | 
|
| Its power varies in proportion to its wielder's intelligence. It can be evoked to restore large amounts of magical energy, but at the risk of damaging the user's mind. |
The staff of Wucad Mu is a rare magical staff whose melee power varies with its owner's intelligence and which can also function to channel MP like an improved staff of channeling. Equipping it will cause it to auto-identify.
The staff can be used in combat, functioning as a quarterstaff with an intelligence-based enchantment bonus to both accuracy and damage. It can also be evoked to restore a large amount of MP, but successfully doing so comes with the consistent chance of causing Divinations miscast effects. These effects are, at best, nothing, and at worst: 3-24 MP drain, temporary 1-5 INT loss, or confusion for 10 turns.
Enchantments: +(Intelligence-3) to hit, +(Intelligence/2) to damage (MAX: +22, +13)
Success Rate: 4% + (Evocations × 4%) — 100% at 24 Evocations
MP Gained: 3-7MP + (Evocations/3) — 3-7MP at 0 Evocations, 12-16MP at 27 Evocations
Divinations Miscast Effect Rate: 25% after a successful evocation
Cost: 50 food
You can improve your melee performance with this staff by training Fighting and Staves.
Strategy
While the odds of miscast effects occurring are intimidatingly high, not every miscast effect is a severe miscast. The amount of MP you can channel in a single turn is truly impressive when you get your Evocations skill into the double digits. You can avoid confusion by having clarity. Wearing a ring of sustain abilities or two will prevent some or most of the intelligence damage. Even so, a number of potions of restore abilities will be necessary if this item is to be used consistently.
Although primarily useful for its channeling effects, this staff can be surprisingly good for melee. Anyone with maxed intelligence (followers of Cheibriados, demigods, obsessive INT pushers) may see truly absurd bonuses. The low base damage of the weapon means you shouldn't go toe-to-toe with a Pan lord, but it can usefully finish off weakened opponents. This may allow a hard-pressed mage to save MP for more dangerous threats, or to avoid an unnecessary mid-fight channel.
History
Prior to 0.11, this item appeared as an ephemeral quarterstaff when unidentified. In 0.12 and beyond, it will have its pluses fixed at +9, +9, as opposed to depending on intelligence.
