Wand

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Version 0.18: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.
A stick. Maybe it's magical.

"[The principle of selection] is the magician's wand, by means of which he may summon into life whatever form and mould he pleases."

-William Youatt, _Sheep: their breeds, management, and diseases; to which is added the Mountain Shepherd's Manual_, ch. III. 1837.

A wand is a magical device that contains several charges of a specific spell or effect.

A player may zap a wand in the inventory with the V key (that is, evoking it). This releases its magical effect at a target of the player's choice, and one charge of the wand will be depleted. A wand does not normally show how many charges it has left; this information can be gathered either by identification or by using a wand with sufficient Evocations skill. If the number of charges of a wand is unknown, zapping the wand will waste several charges. However, the game will record wand usage, so that the player can see how many times a wand has been zapped. Unlike rods, a wand does not have to be wielded to be used, and can even be used while the player's wielded weapon and shield are cursed.

A wand with no charges left is empty, and will not function (but will still waste a turn as you discover this). Wands can be recharged using a scroll of recharging, even if not emptied. Deep dwarves possess a racial ability that also lets them recharge wands, though at a permanent MP cost.

A wand's spell power equals 15+2.5×Evocations, though this is still limited by the spell power caps for the spell cast. For monsters zapping wands, the power is normally 30+hit dice, although this can vary greatly depending on the type of wand. Some monsters, particularly uniques, may start with wands in their inventory.

Xom is greatly entertained (200) when you use a wand of random effects on yourself or others.

List of wands

Image Wand Description Max charges:
initial / upon recharge
Usable by monster
Wand-i-acid.png Acid Corrodes the target temporarily 16 / 24 No
Wand of confusion.png Confusion Confuses the target temporarily 16 / 24 Yes
Wand of digging.png Digging Creates a tunnel through the targeted wall tile 16 / 24 Yes
Wand of mindburst.png Disintegration Disintegrates the target or object 16 / 24 Yes, but damage is reduced to 2/3 of normal
Wand of charming.png Enslavement Charms the target temporarily 16 / 24 No
Wand of flame.png Flame Shoots a puff of flame at the target 28 / 24 Yes
Wand of hasting.png Hasting Speeds up the target's movement and actions temporarily 8 / 9 Yes, on self
Wand of heal wounds.png Heal wounds Significantly heals the target 8 / 9 Yes, on self
Wand-i-iceblast.png Iceblast Casts a field explosion of cold 8 / 9 No
Wand of lightning.png Lightning Shoots a lightning bolt at the target 16 / 12 Yes
Wand of paralysis.png Paralysis Paralyzes the target temporarily 16 / 24 Yes
Wand of polymorph.png Polymorph Target reforms as a random creature 16 / 24 Yes
Wand of random effects.png Random effects Randomly selects any other wand and duplicates its effect 28 / 24 No
Wand of slowing.png Slowing Slows the target temporarily 16 / 24 Yes
Wand of teleportation.png Teleportation Teleports the target after a few turns 16 / 9 Yes, on self and player

Images

Wand bone.png Wand brass.png Wand bronze.png Wand copper.png
Wand glass.png Wand gold.png Wand iron.png Wand ivory.png
Wand lead.png Wand plastic.png Wand silver.png Wand wood.png

High-tier wands

Some wands are considered too dangerous to be generated in the inventory of monsters with HD less than 5. Monsters with the No HT wand flag are also excluded. Ijyb is the exception to this rule.

History

Prior to 0.18, wands' charge differences were not easily visible even if identified.

0.18 removed the wand of cold, draining, [Wand of fire|fire]], fireball, frost, invisibility, and magic darts, but introduced wands of acid and iceblast. Wands of fire, cold and draining were high-tier wands.

Prior to 0.16, wands were not automatically identified when picked up. However, zapping a wand with an unknown number of charges did not waste any charges.

Prior to 0.15, wands weighted 10.0 aum each.