Warper

Version 0.31: This article is up to date for the latest stable release of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

Warpers specialise in translocation magic, and are experts in travelling long distances and positioning themselves precisely and use this to their advantage in melee or missile combat. They start with a scroll of blinking, a selection of translocation spells, some dispersal boomerangs, a simple weapon of their choice, and leather armour.

Warpers specialize in Translocations. While their school of magic lacks destructive power, they enter the Dungeon with a bit more combat training than most mages.

Preferred Species

Draconian, Armataur, Spriggan, and Felid are the recommended species if you pick a Warper Background.

Starting Equipment

Some species may receive different items based on their unique restrictions.

• +0 weapon of choice (hand axe, spear, short sword, falchion or mace, or unarmed)
• 7 darts of dispersal
• +0 leather armour
• Scroll of blinking

Available Spells:

• Blink
• Lesser Beckoning
• Vhi's Electric Charge
• Teleport Other
• Manifold Assault

Warpers do not start with a spell memorised.

Starting Skills and Stats

These are adjusted by your species' aptitudes.

• Fighting: 2
• Chosen Weapon's Skill: 2
• Throwing: 1
• Armour: 1
• Dodging: 2
• Spellcasting: 2
• Translocations: 3

Choosing Warper adds 3 to your starting Strength, 5 to your starting Intelligence and 4 to your starting Dexterity.

Strategy

Warpers lack the focus of a Fighter or Conjurer - they are a melee start with a few utility (Translocations) spells. While none of their spells are usable at XL 1, having these spells available can be helpful in the long run.

At first, focus more on being able to kill foes reliably - beginner Translocations won't help you kill enemies. This means melee skills, or any possibly Ranged Weapons you find. Warpers should be comfortable with wearing heavier armour, foregoing their mage half until they can comfortably fight things. Warpers don't start with particularly good gear in any one offensive category, but are compensated with a really strong escape item, a scroll of blinking.

Once you get your spells up, dangerous early monsters like ogres can be softened up from a distance with boomerangs or any heavier Throwing weapons you've found. If they get too close, you can Blink away or use your weapons of dispersal. Once you've found some decent equipment, then you can focus on higher-level spells or branch out into other kinds of magic.

Starting as a Warper is a good choice for players who wish to worship Cheibriados later, since you'll likely have an alternate means of escape online by the time Cheibriados starts slowing you down. Being a Warper also works well for characters who wanted to use medium or heavy armour, since most of their spells are simple enough that even big dumb bruisers can cast them well if they work at it.

Spell Details

Warper spells are useful to have, but not essential to start training for immediately.

Blink remains useful for the entire game. It teleports you to a random location, meaning it most likely will create space from your opponent. Its random nature means it isn't a reliable escape, so use it before things get hairy. Lesser Beckoning is another spell like Blink. With enough Translocations investment, you can drag enemies back into melee range.

Vhi's Electric Charge allows you to charge up to enemies. For every tile you travel (up to 4), you'll get an attack boost.

Teleport Other can help you avoid or delay dangerous fights. Like Hexes, it checks willpower. Gell's Gravitas and Lesser Beckoning allow you to control the position of enemies. Gravitas pulls monsters toward each other, while Beckoning brings enemies close.

Manifold Assault is an expensive spell to get running, and at first you won't have enough MP for it to work. But it allows attacking multiple enemies in your line of sight, which is just as powerful as it sounds.

History

• Prior to 0.30, Warpers had Gell's Gravitas rather than Vhi's Electric Charge.
• In 0.29, Warpers gained 2 more boomerangs of dispersal.
• Prior to 0.27, Warpers started with the book of Spatial Translocations, which had Passage of Golubria instead of Manifold Assault.
• Prior to 0.19, the book of Spatial Translocations had Apportation, a level 1 spell that Warpers would start with memorised.
• Prior to 0.15, warpers started with a stack of darts, a stack of darts of dispersal, and 50 gold.