Potion of ambrosia

Version 0.29: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

A strange substance, produced by ghost moths. Consuming it causes regeneration of health and magic, along with total befuddlement. The two effects are fundamentally linked - the regeneration ends the moment the confusion does.

Type	Potion
Name	Potion of ambrosia
Icon

Quaffing a potion of ambrosia immediately inflicts 3-10 turns of confusion (bypassing clarity), during which time you also benefit from greatly increased HP and MP regeneration (+3-5 HP and MP per turn on top of standard regeneration). Ending the confusion will end the ambrosia effect. However, extending your confusion through any means does not extend the duration of the regenerative effects.

Ambrosia bypasses -Regen from Inhibited Regeneration. However, the potion's HP regeneraton is reduced by the No Potion Heal mutation and stopped by the Robe of Vines.

Strategy

• Potions of ambrosia are situational items, combining a curious form of healing with near-uselessness in combat. They are most useful when you have a few free turns before combat starts:
  • Inside the Abyss or during the orb run, where continuous monster spawns makes it hard to regenerate normally.
  • During a big encounter, when you had just killed all enemies in sight, but there's more to come. Combine with a scroll of fog if necessary. This is most useful for characters in a desperate need for MP.
  • If you can blink and are in a near-death situation where you need HP/MP, cannot outrun your opponents, and ambrosia is your only practical source of healing: blink, quaff the ambrosia, benefit from the 3-5 turns of ambrosial healing, then quaff a potion of curing to end your confusion.
  • Ambrosia is very effective at negating lethal doses of poison you might encounter early on.
• Note that confusion will set your SH to zero. A two-handed axe user won't mind, but most characters shouldn't use this in combat.
• While Vine Stalkers receive no HP benefit, their MP will still regenerate as normal, which works with their innate spirit shield.

History

• Prior to 0.18, clarity made potions of ambrosia useless.
• Potions of ambrosia were added in 0.16. They are based upon the ambrosia food item found in 0.14 and earlier.