Robe of Folly

Version 0.30: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

A dull grey robe. It is enchanted to provide mages with immeasurable power, and more than a little overconfidence...

the +4 robe of Folly

+4 robe

Brilliance (Boosts spellpower and halves mana costs)
-∞ Will
+8 intelligence

Desirability

With a massive boost to every aspect of spellcasting, the robe of Folly is a tempting piece of armour for any spellcaster. However, its drawback of setting your willpower to 0 should not be taken lightly -- an encounter with an opponent capable of banishing or paralysing you can very easily get you killed. Even confusion can be devastating.

Many will find this robe not worth the risk when seeking to successfully retrieve the Orb and escape. Still, it allows casters to inflict fantastic amounts of carnage by spamming powerful, wide-range spells like Ozocubu's Refrigeration or Starburst; if you do choose to make use of it, just don't be surprised when this robe becomes your folly.

Note that some Lair rune branches (the Spider's Nest, Snake Pit, and Shoals) do not have immediately threatening enchantments. Mesmerisation, for example, is still hard to deal with, but not immediately life-threatening. But even in these branches, you can find certain uniques like Louise and Rupert with deadly hexes, and any humanoid monster can pick up a wand of paralysis (if this wand has generated).

Unlike regular robes of Archmagi, potions of brilliance do nothing while you're wearing this robe.

History

• Prior to 0.27, the robe of Folly had Archmagi instead of Brilliance, reduced will by -80, had +5 intelligence, and had a 50% chance to curse on equip.
• Prior to 0.14, the robe of Folly's magic resistance penalty was -100 instead of -80.
• Prior to 0.12, the robe of Folly was a strictly bad artifact. It was a -1 robe that completely prevented spellcasting instead of having an MR malus.