Earth Elementalist

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

Earth Elementalists know the Sandblast spell. More earthen spells are in their set of starting spells.

Earth Elementalists are mages with a preference for Earth Magic.

Preferred Species

Deep Elf, Spriggan, Gargoyle, Demigod, Ghoul and Octopode are the recommended species if you pick an Earth Elementalist Background.

Starting Equipment

Some species may receive different items based on their unique restrictions.

• +0 robe
• Potion of magic

Available Spells:

• Sandblast
• Passwall
• Stone Arrow
• Brom's Barrelling Boulder
• Petrify

Earth elementalists start with the Sandblast spell already memorised.

Starting Skills and Stats

These are adjusted by your species' aptitudes.

• Dodging: 2
• Stealth: 2
• Spellcasting: 2
• Conjurations: 1
• Earth Magic: 3

Choosing Earth Elementalist adds 7 to your starting Intelligence and 5 to your starting Dexterity.

Strategy

An Earth Elementalist's bread and butter consists of two fairly standard damage spells. They have standard beam targeting, aren't countered by a specific resistance, and are perfectly serviceable in the damage department. But what differentiates EE from a more boombastic school, like Fire Elementalist, is Earth Magic's tendency toward utility. Bombard has a chance to move you away from your target, while Borgnjor's Vile Clutch constricts a line of enemies.

Spell Details

Sandblast is your level 1 spell. It deals more damage than most level 1 spells, but it's low range, inaccurate, and slow to cast. For reference, enemies will get 3 attacks for every 2 Sandblasts. Also, it is poor against foes with high AC.

At level 3, you gain Stone Arrow. It's a competent damage spell - nothing special, though no monster resists it. Sandblast is still useful, however. It deals a similar amount of damage, but costs 1 MP instead of Stone Arrow's 3 MP. The advantage of Stone Arrow is that it's cast at normal speed, so it deals more damage per turn. Once you get a decent MP reserve, you should rely on Stone Arrow for its faster kill speed.

Brom's Barrelling Boulder is a more complex damage spell. It creates a boulder that knocks back enemies, dealing damage each time. It is damaged each time it collides with an enemy; it also explodes when it hits a wall or leaves your line of sight. These features make Brom's Barrelling Boulder less consistent than Stone Arrow, but more useful for kiting.

Petrify offers an entirely different kind of spell for EE, being very similar to Hexes. After a few turns, your opponent will be unable to act. It enables a playstyle of stabbing - and it can work for a while in the stead of more conventionally offensive spells.

It's often easy to forget that Passwall exists, but it can be a lifesaver in quite a few situations. It takes a few turns to act, but you'll pass through walls, to the other side. It remains useful in various niches for most of the game, including the orb run.

Tips & Tricks

• You can create passwall-able corridors with a wand of digging, for future use.

History

• Prior to 0.31, Earth Elementalists started with 1 in Transmutations instead of Conjurations. Brom's Barrelling Boulder was also introduced in this version.
• In 0.29, most backgrounds were buffed; all Mage backgrounds gained a potion of magic. They also lost 30 stones (which were required for Sandblast).
• Prior to 0.27, Earth Elementalists started with the Book of Geomancy, and had Lee's Rapid Deconstruction.
• Prior to 0.19, Earth Elementalists started with 20 stones instead of 30. The increase was to compensate for the fact that sandblast now requires a stone for every cast.
• Prior to 0.14, Earth Elementalists only started with 1 level of Spellcasting.