Staff of Wucad Mu

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Revision as of 18:28, 22 August 2013 by MoogleDan (talk | contribs) (Updated History for 0.8)
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Version 0.12: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.
Type Magical staves
Name staff of Wucad Mu
Icon Staff of wucad mu.png
Its power varies in proportion to its wielder's intelligence. It can be evoked to restore large amounts of magical energy, but at the risk of damaging the user's mind.

The staff of Wucad Mu is a rare magical staff which can be used to channel MP like an improved staff of channeling.

The staff can be used in combat, functioning as a +9/+9 staff. It can also be evoked to restore a large amount of MP, but successfully doing so comes with the consistent chance of causing Divinations miscast effects. These effects are, at best, nothing, and at worst: 3-24 MP drain, temporary 1-5 INT loss, or confusion for 10 turns.

Success Rate: 4% + (Evocations × 4%) 100% at 24 Evocations
MP Gained: 3-7MP + (Evocations/3) 3-7MP at 0 Evocations, 12-16MP at 27 Evocations
Divinations Miscast Effect Rate: 25% after a successful evocation
Cost: 50 food

You can improve your melee performance with this staff by training Fighting and Staves.

Strategy

While the odds of miscast effects occurring are intimidatingly high, not every miscast effect is a severe miscast. The amount of MP you can channel in a single turn is truly impressive when you get your Evocations skill into the double digits. You can avoid confusion by having clarity, and wearing a ring of sustain abilities or two will prevent some or most of the intelligence damage. Even so, a number of potions of restore abilities will be necessary if this item is to be used consistently.

This weapon is primarily useful for its channeling effects, as it fares rather poorly as a bludgeoning tool, despite its high enchantment. It does work better as a melee weapon than most magical staves, however, and it can finish off weakened, lightly armoured opponents. This may allow a hard-pressed mage to save MP for more dangerous threats, or to avoid an unnecessary mid-fight channel.

History

Prior to 0.12, the enchantments on this weapon depended on intelligence and were capable of reaching up to +22/+13.

Prior to 0.11, this item appeared as an ephemeral quarterstaff when unidentified.

Prior to 0.8, this staff would occasionally cause miscast effects simply by attacking with it.