Devious

Version 0.33: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

It has an increased chance to perform stab attacks against vulnerable targets, and temporarily increases the wielder's EV and slaying each time they do so.

The devious brand does the following:

• This brand gives +10% chance to perform low-tier stabs against valid

targets and gives a stacking boost to slaying and EV each time any stab is performed.

• This stacks up to 3 times, giving +4 EV and +3 slaying per

stack, and will be maintained so long as the wielder continues to attack (though is otherwise short-lived).

In the same spirit as Protection brand, when in the hands of monsters, this brand gives a flat +8 EV and +6 slaying, since monsters cannot stab things at all.

Sources

They generate naturally, and early uniques that spawn with a dagger (Jessica, mainly) has one sometimes.

Strategy

Characters who enjoy stabbing sleeping foes get major bonuses from the devious brand. They grant temporary bonuses upon stabbing enemies, and even though they don't stack, they still can delete orc warriors and stronger, without any major Short Blades skill.

History

Added in 0.33- A trunk version