Disc of storms

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Version 0.14: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.


Type Miscellaneous item
Name Disc of storms
Icon Disc of storms.png
This extremely powerful item can unleash a destructive storm of electricity. Its effectiveness greatly improves in the hands of one skilled in using magical devices.

A disc of storms is a powerful evocable item which releases uncontrollable and dangerous electrical forces when evoked. Unlike other evocable items, it does not become inert after use, and has no hunger or MP cost; the only thing preventing a player from spamming it endlessly is the fact that the storm it releases can punish you as much as it punishes your enemies. Its success rate rises with Evocations.

The probability for successful evoking it is: (0.7 + Evocations/100)3. See the chart below:

Evocations Success Rate
0 34%
5 42%
10 51%
15 61%
20 73%
27 91%

When the disc is activated, 2d(1 + Evocations/7) effects are zapped at random tiles up to 6 tiles from you (this includes your own tile). Possible effects include:

Using this item also has an Evocations-based chance of creating rain clouds in the area surrounding the caster. This can turn regular tiles into shallow water and shallow water into deep water. These water effects are only temporary, however, and rarely make any tactical difference.

On Success: The disc erupts in an explosion of electricity!
On Failure: The disc glows for a moment, then fades. -OR- Little bolts of electricity crackle over the disc. -OR- Nothing happens.

Strategy

Do not use this item without understanding that you will take damage in the process. With electricity resistance, you can still find yourself taking up to 30 damage per use; without it, much, much more. Characters with small HP pools and who lack electricity resistance should probably set this item aside entirely. Those who do have significant amounts of HP and rElec, however, can get immense amounts of damage output in a very short amount of time when surrounded by enemies; you are effectively casting multiple powerful spells for free in a single action. These are all very loud spells, mind you, so don't be surprised if reinforcements start appearing.

Used in a wide open area, the majority of your bolts will fire wildly, hitting nothing, while your orbs of electricity will detonate, devastating everything nearby. Used in a narrow hallway, the bolts will reflect off the walls, likely multizapping everything nearby (including you). At the end of a dead-end hallway, you'll wind up multizapping yourself repeatedly while hitting almost none of your enemies; avoid using the disc when it's this blatantly suicidal.

Because using it has no cost aside from the turn spent evoking it, a character at full health, suddenly surrounded by opponents, can spam it to good effect. Just make sure you know what you're getting into before attempting this though. Try using it in a safe location at full health, just to get an idea of how much you'll be brutalizing yourself with each use.

History

Prior to 0.12, the disc was unusable if you had electricity resistance.

Prior to 0.9, it appeared unidentified, as a grey disc.