Cloak of the Thief

Version 0.31: This article is up to date for the latest stable release of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

A pitch-black cloak which allows its wearer to excel in the arts of thievery. As a precaution in case of detection, it also bears enchantments allowing the wearer to make a hasty retreat under cover of fog. “so long suckers! i rev up my motorcylce and create a huge cloud of smoke. when the cloud dissipates im lying completely dead on the pavement” -wint, @dril Twitter. July 26, 2016

the +2 cloak of the Thief

+2 cloak

-2 slaying
See invisible
+50 Stealth
May release clouds of fog and smoke when the wearer takes damage

Desirability

With +2 enchantment, see invisibility, and a stealth bonus, but -2 slaying, the cloak of the Thief is an okay cloak before you factor in the clouds. Slow weapons with high base damage (like heavy weapons) can largely ignore the slaying penalty, but quick blade users may prefer a plain cloak, and most weapons lie somewhere in between. The clouds can potentially allow you to ignore all threats that are not within a 2 tile radius of you, making it easier to escape from ranged enemies. However, this is not reliable, and they can just as easily prevent you from blinking away from a dangerous monster that is already in melee. Clouds also make ranged options less viable, so this cloak is better for melee builds that don't mind the -2 slaying penalty.

History

• Prior to 0.26, the Cloak of the Thief generated clouds by evoking it, rather than automatically when the wearer is injured.
• Prior to 0.15, this cloak only penalized damage (-3), not accuracy, and provided a slightly higher stealth bonus.
• Prior to 0.12, this cloak provided small bonuses to EV and dexterity, as well as evocable invisibility and levitation, but lacked the fog effect.
• Prior to 0.10, the -3 damage slaying penalty was much more severe, as slaying bonuses and penalties were multiplied by your skills.