Ability

Version 0.28: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

For unique monster abilities, see Special ability

An ability is a power that a player character may have, and may choose to use at any time. Abilities can be unleashed by pressing the a key.

Abilities can be:

• Natural abilities, such as a Naga's Spit Poison ability
• Powers given by mutations, such as Demonspawn's Hurl Damnation
• Powers given by an item, such as an artefact's +Blink.
• Powers given by a god, such as Elyvilon's Heal Self.

Abilities have both a cost and a chance of success. They may also depend on the player's state; eg. vampires cannot transform into Bat Form while full of blood. Abilities based on sound or speech are stopped by silence.

Ability Costs

Unlike spells, which almost always only cost MP, abilities can have multiple costs. These include:

• HP
• MP
• Permanent MP (Deep Dwarf's Heal Wounds)
• Piety
• Cooldown (Exhaustion, Breath, -Hop...)
• Delay
• Drain
• Pain

History

• Prior to 0.26, many abilities were regulated with a food cost.
• Prior to 0.17, ability scores were capped at 72, now at 125.