Wands, Staves and Rods

Wands, staves (sometimes, incorrectly, called staffs) and rods are all sticks or shafts made of wood or metal, and designed to be held in the hands. Wands and rods are generally small enough to be held in one hand, while staves are longer and heavier, and may be carried in one hand but need two hands to wield.

When unidentified, wands staves and rods will be described by reference to the material of which they are made. These descriptions are consistent (within one game; they are randomly assigned for each new game), so, for example, if you find an Ashen Staff, it will be the same as any other Ashen Staff.

While there are overlaps in function between the three types, some general points can be made.

Wands and Staves

Wands, as a rule, have targeted abilities: they need to be pointed at something, on which the effect takes place. This in nearly all cases is a monster, but there are other types as well.

Staves, generally, have area effects: they work either on everything that the character can see, or on everything on the visible part of the current dungeon level. Thus staves include most detection abilities, as well as abilities that can affect a group of creatures. Staves also may have personal effects - effects on the user - such as healing abilities.

Charges

Both wands and staves have charges - a specified number of uses that can be made before they become exhausted. The initial number of charges in a wand or staff is not fixed, but the more powerful the item, the lower it is likely to be. The number of charges in a wand or staff can only be found by using some means of Identification, or by using it repeatedly until it is empty.

If your character is carrying more than one wand or staff of the same type, they will only stack (be put together in the same inventory slot) if the number of charges is known; carrying two wands or staves like this allows the magical energy to leak between them, so separating them later will result in each having an equal number of charges. For example, if you have a Wand of Light with 5 charges, and find another with 11 charges, putting them together and then dropping or selling one will result in each now having 8 charges.

Emptied wands and staves can be recharged, but there is a chance recharging will fail, and failure will result in the destruction of the item.

Rods

Many rods duplicate the effects of wands and staves, but with the crucial difference that rods do not have charges. Rather, once a rod has been used, it will charge up with magical energy over time, and can then be used again. This has both advantages - they never run out of charges - and disadvantages - sometimes in combat you may want to re-use an effect rather more quickly than the rod recharges.

Rods of the same type can be stacked without limit; if you are carrying multiple rods, and some of them have been used, the inventory entry will read (for example): 3 Rods of Frost Bolts (1 charging)

Using a Wand, Staff or Rod

• Wands: use the 'a' command (for 'aim')
• Staves: use the 'u' command ('use')
• Rods: use the 'z' command ('zap')

If you have more than one useable item available to choose from, you will need to select the correct one. The effects of unknown items will normally be immediately apparent, but in some cases, if there is nothing nearby to activate it (e.g. you use a Staff of Detect Invisible, and there are no invisible creatures in the visible area of the dungeon), you will not receive any information, and the item will remain unidentified.