Swiftness?

[Laraso]

I have a hard time understanding the optimal use of this spell... Getting slowed in combat is not something you want to happen, so it seems it's best used to simply run to the stairs, then wait off the slowness after you climb up. Is there any other situation where it's a good idea to cast?

[tabstorm]

Not really outside of edge cases

[daggaz]

If you have high stealth, it's fairly safe as well to just run back into cleared territory.

[Sojiro]

Unless I'm mistaken, only your move speed is reduced. So if you're fighting (rather than running away) the backlash isn't an issue.

You can use it to close in on a pack of yaktaurs and then hack them apart in close combat. You can also use it to lure a faster monster away from a group without getting banged up too much and fight it out when it runs out (closing a door to avoid the others joining in can help, as well as stealth).

But yeah, it's almost exclusively meant to run away and recover.

[Laraso]

You can use it to close in on a pack of yaktaurs and then hack them apart in close combat. You can also use it to lure a faster monster away from a group without getting banged up too much and fight it out when it runs out (closing a door to avoid the others joining in can help, as well as stealth).

See, my problem with this is that unless I absolutely know that there's nothing else hiding past those yaktaurs, I just wouldn't want to risk charging into the middle of them only for something terrifying to show up on the edge of line of sight once I get there, like Mara or something.

[Siegurt]

I use it to lure critters to a choke point safely (and give myself some extra ranged attacks)

[ThreeInvisibleDucks]

I always memorize the spell and never end up using it. What is a good spot in using it? I'd envision it's when you get next to a monster too dangerous to fight and cast it to create space to bail out upstairs. Are the other tactical uses?

[le_nerd]

A good spot to use it is when you see your first ogre/orc warrior/hydra by round a corner and getting a giant club into the face. You know you can survive a single turn adjacent, but after that you are a goner- pop swiftness, walk away. After that I never use it.

[tasonir]

I'm not sure I like the cast-then-charge-forward use case. Assuming the pack is at the edge of your LOS, there's 6 tiles between you. Let's say the yaks move once and you move 5 times, if you cast swiftness (10 auts) and then move 5 times (8 auts a step, 40 auts) that's the same as just walking 5 times (50 auts). And then if someone dangerous joins the fight, running away will be much harder. If they are closer then you'll have fewer steps to make up the casting time and take longer to get there. If the thing you're approaching is a statue, you can save 2 auts, although backing up and casting out of LOS would be the way to go and save you 12 auts. Might be useful against Roxanne, I suppose. But for anything that can move, this seems unlikely to help you.

Casting swiftness and moving forward might make sense if there's a way to break LOS and cast it without taking any return fire...but if you have such a choke point to hide behind, you probably just want to stay there and let them come to you.

The running away for stairs/choke points/cleared territory use case is valid, and what the spell is designed for. I don't use the spell much myself; it is fairly weak but since it's level 2 it is meant to be.

[Sojiro]

I'm not sure I like the cast-then-charge-forward use case. Assuming the pack is at the edge of your LOS, there's 6 tiles between you. Let's say the yaks move once and you move 5 times, if you cast swiftness (10 auts) and then move 5 times (8 auts a step, 40 auts) that's the same as just walking 5 times (50 auts).

Of course, that's why I don't use it like that. I step back behind a corner, cast the spell, and when they round the corner the long way (so they're 2~4 tiles away) I have more speed.

If you cast it while under fire, the time you waste doing that completely counters the advantage of moving faster.

And then if someone dangerous joins the fight, running away will be much harder.

Yes, that's why I normally only use this when fighting in the middle of explored space. Otherwise the chance I'm going to need to run is too high.

If the thing you're approaching is a statue, you can save 2 auts, although backing up and casting out of LOS would be the way to go and save you 12 auts. Might be useful against Roxanne, I suppose. But for anything that can move, this seems unlikely to help you.

I hadn't though about using it on statues, that's a good idea.

Casting swiftness and moving forward might make sense if there's a way to break LOS and cast it without taking any return fire...but if you have such a choke point to hide behind, you probably just want to stay there and let them come to you.

Sorry, I hadn't realized what I was saying sounded like. It's for when you can break LoS and then you wait for them to come to you, but they won't be 1 step away when they do, so the swiftness can help.

The running away for stairs/choke points/cleared territory use case is valid, and what the spell is designed for. I don't use the spell much myself; it is fairly weak but since it's level 2 it is meant to be.

Yeah, I agree.

I suppose that if you're going to shoot at an incoming target then fight it in melee, you could use it to get some more shooting done. Or if you're going to draw fast mobs to a choke point, it could help. But I don't think the reduced ability to flee is worth it.

[Dharmy]

It's great when stairdancing in Vaults:5 and Tomb. Swift + haste, go down stairs, pull enemies up the stairs, kill enemies, wait off slowness/contam, repeat.

[dynast]

Disregarding air elementalist, theres no ranged background that start with this spell to benefit better from it, and the rangers who dabble into magic end up with blink or passage of golubria instead.

[duvessa]

the rangers who dabble into magic end up with blink or passage of golubria instead.

yeah. it's really dumb that rangers are limited to memorizing only one spell. i hope crawl removes that restriction in future versions

[WingedEspeon]

I like the spell as it stacks with haste so it retains its usefulness late game and it is really good for letting you run away. normally it will get you to the stairs before it runs out, or at least gets you close enough that you can still run up the stairs with nothing following you. If you have enough stealth things will also lose track of you when you run out of their los with it.