Wisp Form

Version 0.30: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

You have been transformed into an insubstantial wisp of gas. You are highly evasive and are resistant to fire, cold, electricity and acid, and immune to poison, and negative energy. Any equipped weapons, armour and jewellery are melded, and you are unable to cast spells. The effectiveness of your melee attacks while in this form is based on experience level instead of on Unarmed Combat skill.

Wisp Form is a bad form that can be forced on the player character when they are polymorphed. It has the following characteristics:

Pros

• 5 + 0.5×XL AC
• Unarmed Combat base damage set to 5 and uses XL instead of Unarmed Combat skill
• rF++
• rC++
• rElec
• rPois
• Non-living holiness (Torment immunity)
• rN+++
• rCorr
• Insubstantial (immune to constriction, petrification, Sticky Flame, and Leda's Liquefaction; take less damage from Shatter)
• Tiny size, increasing EV
• Unbreathing
• Permanent flight

Cons

• You can't use weapons, armour, or jewellery.
• You can't cast spells.

Strategy

While somewhat dubious, Wisp Form may be useful in the Tomb. Its full suite of resistances (with mobility) is incredibly useful for stealing the rune and getting out. Using a scroll of teleportation can get you closer. A potion of haste and invisibility and a few scrolls of blinking should increase your chances of stealing the rune and getting back upstairs safely. Of course, this comes at the risk of the form running out. A wand of polymorph on the stairs of Tomb:2 can be used until you become a wisp.

Wisp Form

History

• Prior to 0.27, wisp form would randomly blink you. Also, the form granted extra speed (0.8 movement delay, i.e. Felid speed).
• Prior to 0.26, the form had rot resistance.
• Prior to 0.22, wisp form, along with most other bad forms, disallowed the use of wands.
• Prior to 0.20, players in the wisp form had a 10% chance to move as if confused. Although, you wouldn't bump into walls or into allies.
• Prior to 0.15, wisp form allowed the player to blink as an ability, but prevented you from reading scrolls. It also granted perfect conservation, protecting your consumables from item destruction.
• Wisp Form was added in 0.12.