Conjure Ball Lightning

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Version 0.14: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.
Conjure ball lightning.png Conjure Ball Lightning
Level 6
School1 Air
School2 Conjuration
Source(s)
Casting noise 6
Spell noise 20 or 25, on each explosion
This spell allows the conjurer to create ball lightning. Using the spell is not without risk - ball lightning can be difficult to control.

Conjure Ball Lightning is a level 6 Air Magic/Conjurations spell which brings into existence several temporary instances of ball lightning (2+1d(2+Power/50), but never more than 8) which home on hostile targets in the area and explode on contact, dealing 3d20 lightning damage to anything in an area of radius 2 or 3 (same chance). They also occasionally fire lightning bolts at nearby targets. Electricity resistance is obligatory, unless one desires YASD.

The following monsters cast Conjure Ball Lightning:

Tips & Tricks

  • Only very few, specific creatures have electricity resistance, making this a great all-around spell for area attacks on large numbers of creatures. It's especially suited for attacking creatures who are adjacent or surrounding the player (since the attack is relatively harmless to the player with rElec).
  • Plants, fungi, bushes (but not trees) will equally attract the Ball Lightning, reducing the spell's effectiveness. When possible, lure your intended target away from any such harmless creatures.
  • Although the formula above says 8 conjured ball lightnings are possible, 3 is the effective limit.
  • Lacking rElec, the player should cast CBL only in the greatest emergency when there is no other alternative and use these precautions: the target enemy must be at the furthest possible range, with no nearby enemy (or plants); the enemy should ideally not be able to blink, summon, nor have ranged casting or projectile ability (any of which might prematurely set off the ball lightnings); the player should move backwards right after casting, to get out of range; should the target be destroyed, the player should remain at a safe distance until all ball lightnings have detonated.

History

Prior to 0.14 Conjure Ball Lightning was a level 7 spell and all ball lightning was permanently confused.

In 0.10, Conjure Ball Lightning was improved so that ball lightnings explode when their duration expires.