Wand of lightning
| / | |
|---|---|
| Name | lightning |
| Appearance | random |
| Abundance | 4% |
| Base price | 175 zm |
| Weight | 7 |
| Type | ray |
| Maximum charges | 8 |
| Monster use | May be used offensively by monsters. |
The wand of lightning shoots shocking bolts, dealing 6d6 damage to non-shock resistant targets. The beam bounces when it hits walls or targets with reflection.
It is especially annoying when monsters zap one against you. A bolt of lightning can destroy almost any ring or wand in your inventory. Some soldier might surprise you with a bolt that destroys your only ring of slow digestion. Only the ring of shock resistance and the wand of lightning itself are immune to this type of destruction.[1]
It is guaranteed to blind you, regardless of whether it hits you or whether you have reflection. That lasts for 1-50 (more) turns, capped at 127; (1-50 if engraving, 0-99 turns if zapping yourself, (ulevel/2+1)d50 if your own bounces).[2]
Like a wand of fire, engraving with a wand of lightning will burn text into the ground, which creates a permanent engraving. Unlike the wand of fire, however, the wand of lightning will blind you. It's less crippling, though, if you also have telepathy or a unicorn horn. However, the wand of lightning is better than the wand of fire in that it won't be destroyed by shock, which can be a factor if you lack reflection (or are dealing with chest traps, returning Mjollnir, energy vortices or electric eels).
Applying a wand of lightning deals quadruple damage[3] to yourself and all surrounding squares. Your inventory is subject to the same effects as though you were zapped with the wand, i.e. your rings and wands may explode. Thus, it is not a very desirable way to inflict damage to monsters near you, unless you have no valuable rings or wands, or are going to die next turn anyway.
Using a wand of lightning while inside a monster (such as a vortex) will blind you, and may cause the affected monster to sub-divide.[citation needed]
References
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