Cursed aura (category)/Curses

ToME Version:

1.7.4

Curse Levels

Each of the 5 curses has a power level. This starts at 0, and is increased by 1 for each equipped item which has that curse. This only counts equipment slots that can currently be cursed - if you take points out of Defiling Touch so that less slots are eligible, the curses on items in the slots that are no longer eligible will have no effect (and will not be displayed in the tooltip) until you put the points back in.

At raw talent level 5+, Defiling Touch can be activated to choose one of the 5 curses and surround yourself with an aura that increases the power level of that curse by 2.

At effective talent levels above 5, Dark Gifts adds 1–2.5^cTS (using the talent level minus 5) bonus power levels to all curses, as long as you already have some level(s) in that curse.

Each of the 5 curses has a penalty that applies at any level, and a series of 4 bonuses that can be unlocked, at power levels 1, 2, 3, and 4. However, to unlock a bonus on a curse, the raw talent level of Dark Gifts must also be at least as high as the required power level. e.g. To unlock the third bonus on a curse, both curse power level 3+ and Dark Gifts raw talent level 3+ are required.

Cursed Aura Curse Effects

Curses show up as effects, and the player can hover the cursor over them to see their tooltips.

In addition to unlocking new bonuses, getting a Curse to higher power levels will also increase the effects of both the Curse penalty and all Curse powers unlocked. Details on this scaling are listed for each of the curse effects below. (For cTL scaling, use the curse's power level as the talent level.) For higher-level curse bonuses that have not been unlocked yet, the numbers shown on the tooltip will be for the minimum power level at which that bonus is unlocked.

Additionally, the penalty effects are multiplied by a penalty modifier. Normally this is 1 (100%), but at Defiling Touch talent levels above 5, it is decreased to 0.95–0.55^cTL:0 (using the Cursed Aura talent level minus 4 as the input), which reduces the penalty effects.

The Luck penalties of the Power 2+ curse bonuses all use the same formula. At Dark Gifts raw talent level 5+, they are always reduced to -1. Otherwise, the penalty is -1 for power level <= 2, else -2 for power level <= 3, else -3. This will be listed as Luck Penalty on this page.

Curse of Misfortune

Mayhem and destruction seem to follow you.

• Penalty: Lost Fortune: You seem to find 15–35%^cTL:100% less gold in your journeys.

• Power 1+: Missplaced Endeavours: The endeavours of those around you begin to fail (+25–45%^cTL:100% chance to avoid traps).
• Power 2+: Luck Penalty, +(2*power - 1) Cunning
• Power 3+: Missed Opportunities: Opportunities are fleeting, and those close to you begin to miss them (+10–20%^cTL:25% evasion, using power - 2 as the talent level).
• Power 4+: Unfortunate End: The damage you deal will increase by 40–60%^cTL:100% (using power - 3 as the talent level) if the increase would be enough to kill your opponent. Note that this does not consider die_at, so it may not kill an enemy who has die_at.

Curse of Shrouds

A shroud of darkness seems to fall across your path.

• Penalty: Shroud of Weakness: 1% chance per turn of becoming enveloped in a Shroud of Weakness (reduces damage dealt by (4 + 2*power)%) for 4 turns.

• Power 1+: Nightwalker: (+4% per power) Darkness Resistance, +4–12%^cTL:30% Max Darkness Resistance, (+2 + 2*power) See Invisible
• Power 2+: Luck Penalty, +(2*power - 1) Constitution
• Power 3+: Shroud of Passing: Your form seems to fade as you move, increasing all your resistances by ((power - 1) * 5%) for 1 turn after movement. (This shroud is removed after any non-movement action.)
• Power 4+: Shroud of Death: The power of every kill seems to envelop you like a shroud, increasing all your resistances by ((power - 1) * 5%) for 3 turns.

Curse of Nightmares

Horrible visions fill your mind.

• Penalty: Plagued by Visions: Your mental save has a 20% chance to be reduced by 9–25%^cTL:100% when tested.

• Power 1+: Removed from Reality: +(1+power)% Physical Resistance, +1–5%^cTL:30% Maximum Physical Resistance
• Power 2+: Luck Penalty, +(2*power - 1) Willpower
• Power 3+: Harrow: When a foe attempts to inflict a detrimental effect upon you, your harrowing aura retaliates against a random foe in range 10, dealing (10–40^cTL:100 + mindpower) damage, split between Mind and Darkness.
• Power 4+: Nightmare: Each time you are damaged by a foe there is a chance (current chance listed here) of triggering a radius (2*power - 3) nightmare for 8 turns. The chance grows each time you are struck but fades over time.
  • The chance increases by 4–10%^cTL:25% (using power - 3 for the talent level) each time you take damage (but not if a nightmare triggered this turn already). The chance decreases by 1% per turn. The chance resets to 0% when a nightmare triggers.
  • The nightmare is a map effect. It attempts to summon one Terror as an ally per turn. They last for 3 turns.
  • Each turn, the nightmare also attempts to harm enemies in its radius. There are 10% chances each to slow global speed by 30% for 3 turns, deal Mind damage, and deal Darkness damage. The damage is 10 + mindpower. The chances are independent.

Curse of Madness

You feel your grip on reality slipping.

• Penalty: Fractured Sanity: (-3% per power) Mind Resistance, (-4% per power) Confusion Immunity

• Power 1+: Unleashed: (+3% per power) critical damage, +4–20%^cTL:50% off-hand weapon damage (this is added to the off-hand weapon multiplier, which is 50% by default)
• Power 2+: Luck Penalty, +(2*power - 1) Dexterity
• Power 3+: Conspirator: Your madness is contagious. Every time you critically damage a foe there is a (20 + 10*power)% chance to spread one of your current detrimental mental effects to them.
• Power 4+: Mania: Once per turn, when an attack does more than a certain percentage of your life, the remaining cooldown of all your talents is reduced by 1. The percentage is 15–8%^cL:5% as power varies from 4–8.

Curse of Corpses

An aura of death surrounds you.

• Penalty: Fear of Death: (-2% per power) resistance against damage from the undead.

• Power 1+: Power over Death: +2% + (2% per power) damage against the undead.
• Power 2+: Luck Penalty, (+1 per power) Strength, (+1 per power) Magic
• Power 3+: Living Death: Ghoulish retch heals you. Once every (30 - 2*power, min 16) turns, retch (level (power - 2)) when you fall below a percentage of health: 40–50%^cL:60% as power varies from 3–7.
• Power 4+: Reprieve from Death: Humanoids you slay have a chance to rise to fight beside you as ghouls for 6 turns: 35–50%^cL:100% as power varies from 4–9. The dead enemy's stats, etc, do not affect the ghoul it becomes.

Hate Multiplier

Some talents use a multiplier that scales based on how much Hate the user has, with a set minimum value at 0 Hate and a set maximum value at 100+ Hate. This is usually used for a weapon damage multiplier, but some talents use it for other values too.

While wielding cursed weapons (with any of the 5 curses), the user gets a higher multiplier (but it's still limited to the max value for 100+ Hate), as if they had greater Hate. If the user is dual-wielding, there's an effective +13 Hate bonus if they have a cursed main-hand weapon, plus an effective +7 Hate bonus if they have a cursed off-hand weapon. If the user is not dual-wielding, there's an effective +20 Hate bonus if they have a cursed main-hand weapon.