Blink

Version 0.28: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Blink
Level	2
School1	Translocation
Source(s)	Book of Minor Magic Book of Spatial Translocations
Casting noise	2
Spell noise	0
Power Cap	50
Flags	Escape, Selfench, Utility

Randomly translocates the caster a short distance. Translocating in this way destabilises the caster temporarily, preventing consecutive blinks for a short period of time depending on spellpower.

Blink is a level 2 Translocations spell which warps you to a randomly selected nearby open tile. This tile must meet the following restrictions:

• The tile may not contain deep water or lava, if and only if this terrain is impassable to you. (traps, excluded tiles, and harmful clouds are all legal, however)
• The tile must be within your line of sight, and unless there are no other compatible squares, not the square you are currently on
  • Translucent walls block LOS for this purpose.
• The tile must not contain any other creatures.

After casting (or invoking) blink, you will be given the temporary -Blink status. At maximum spellpower, this wears off instantly.

Blink is one of the easiest escape spells to learn and find in the game. Hedge Wizards and Warpers begin with this spell in their libraries.

Notes

• The -Blink status will prevent you from casting or invoking blink until the status wears off in a few turns. The duration will be shorter with higher spell power.
  • Powerful translocations, like reading scrolls or any external sources, will ignore this limitation.
• Prevent Teleport Items: Some equipment will actively stop you from blinking or teleporting, such as an artefact with the -Tele property.
• As a formicid, you are under a permanent stasis effect that will prevent blink or teleport.
• Constriction: If you are being constricted by a monster, blinking may fail; you immediately make two escape attempts, and will blink so long as at least one of them succeeds.
• This spells effect can be replicated by Lugonu's Bend Space ability (except that this works even when under stasis or -Tele).
• Randarts that confer +Blink as an ability cost 2 MP to use, and require Evocations skill to use reliably. The ability is otherwise identical to the spell.

Tips & Tricks

• A lifesaver particularly in the earlier game, get this spell or an item with it if at all possible. Since it randomly places you somewhere within your field of vision, the trick is to minimize the number of squares you can see where you don't want to end up.
• It also pays to remember that although a blink won't drop you in lava or deep water, it can and will drop you into a cloud, so take care when blinking around miasma, flame, or any other cloud you really don't want to land in.

Monster Version

Many monsters can cast the spell Blink too. Additionally, some monsters are capable of casting the following Blink variations:

• Blink Close - Blinks the caster to a space closer to a target.
• Blink Away - Blinks the caster to a space farther away from a target.
• Blink Range - Blinks the caster to a space as far away from a target as possible while still remaining within range for their ranged attacks.
• Blink Allies Encircling - Blinks nearby allies (excluding the caster) around a target, surrounding them.
• Blink Allies Away - Blinks nearby allies farther away from a target while maintaining their ability to use ranged attacks.
• Blink Other - Randomly blinks a target.
• Blink Other Close - Blinks a target towards the caster.

Some monsters, most notably phantoms and blink frogs, have a chance to blink when they hit you. Most such monsters have the spell as well, meaning they tend to blink around rather a lot.

The following enemies cast Blink:

• H Arachne
• F Blink frog
• g Boggart
• 5 Crimson imp
• e Deep elf annihilator
• e Deep elf pyromancer
• e Deep elf zephyrmancer
• e Dowan
• e Dowan (enraged)
• q Draconian annihilator
• 9 Electric golem
• O Erolcha
• @ Eustachio
• e Fannar
• G Glowing orange brain
• G Golden eye
• 5 Grinder
• p Hell knight
• Y Hellephant
• m Ilsuiw
• @ Jessica
• M Khufu
• p Killer Klown
• @ Louise
• R Mara
• f Maurice
• m Merfolk aquamancer
• Y Nellie
• @ Nikola
• W Phantom
• F Prince Ribbit
• R Rakshasa
• K Sonja
• Q Tengu conjurer
• v Will-o-the-wisp
• p Wizard (monster)

The following enemies may be able to cast Blink, depending on their spell set:

• & Pandemonium lord (7.5% chance)

History

• Prior to 0.28, the Blink spell did not have a cooldown.
• In 0.27, the Blink mutation was removed.
• Prior to 0.17, the cTele status would turn an uncontrolled blink into a semi-controlled blink.
• Prior to 0.15, blinking in the Abyss would sometimes fail. Warp card could be used to blink.
• Prior to 0.8, a random blink would never place you within a dangerous cloud. This allowed you to steer uncontrolled blinks by casting cloud-producing spells in areas you don't want to go first.