Electrocution

Version 0.13: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

The electrocution brand gives weapons a 33% chance to inflict 9 + 1d15 HP of electricity damage per hit. If the victim is standing in water, any adjacent creatures in the water (including the wielder!) will also be damaged lightly. Electricity resistant monsters do not take any extra damage.

When wielded, electrocution weapons make a crackling sound if you can hear it; otherwise you will notice sparks flying from it. Either way, the weapon is identified.

Tips & Tricks

• Be careful with this weapon when in water. Its backlash damage is considerably less than it inflicts on its main target, but can be dangerous, especially if you have allies around and follow a god who frowns upon them being injured or killed by you.
• Since the brand inflicts a flat rate of damage independent of the damage your weapon does, electrocution brands work best on a fast weapon with low base delay (demon whips, quick blades, spears, whips, etc.)
• Early on, adding 10-24 damage on a hit can devastate dangerous enemies. However, the brand has trouble remaining competitive in the late game. A number of dangerous late game monsters resist electricity, which means this brand does nothing, and since you've probably got it on a small, quick weapon you're all of a sudden shooting with a potato gun. A pain weapon coupled with decent Necromancy skill is an alternative option for flat damage on fast weapons, and will reliably outperform electrocution, but comes with its own enemy immunity issues.
• Although this brand is supposed to make a significant amount of noise when it activates, a glitch in the game currently prevents this from happening.

History

Before 0.13 this brand had no effect on flying monsters, considerably harming its utility.