Mayhem

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

It causes witnesses of the wearer's kills to go into a frenzy, attacking everything nearby with great strength and speed.

Mayhem is an ego found only on orbs. Characters wielding an orb of mayhem have a 50% chance of inflicting frenzy on another monster whenever they kill a foe. Frenzied monsters are neutral, attack the closest thing (friend or foe), and gain immense power and speed (might and haste).

Strategy

Mayhem offers no benefit unless fighting multiple enemies, and even then it'll only trigger after an enemy is killed. Furthermore, it can backfire - for example, it can frenzy your own summons, or enrage the only enemy left alive. In addition, it only has a 50% chance to activate per kill and prevents use of a shield. Therefore, for the majority of a 3-rune game, it is not a general purpose item.

Mayhem can be useful to equip when tackling areas you know will be filled with monsters, such as Vaults:5 or a Ziggurat. It can be potentially useful in the late-game, once the character can safely handle lone enemies but need help against group fights (which are common in the late-game). Blaster casters and other ranged characters are better suited for mayhem, since they are least exposed to the downsides of frenzy.

It is especially strong when doing Mega-Zigs, since frenzied enemies are unable to cast deadly spells like Silence and can distract other enemies in the process.

Tips & Tricks

• There are a few ways to deal with dangerous frenzied monsters that target you. Spriggans can easily outrun even hasted monsters, other characters can teleport away, and you can dispel frenzy with Yara's Violent Unravelling or a wand of quicksilver.

History

The mayhem ego, along with orbs themselves, was introduced in 0.28.