Staff of Firebolt

This staff unleashes bursts of magical fire. It will ignite flammable terrain, and will damage and burn a creature it hits. Creatures with an immunity to fire will not be affected by the bolt.

Being hit by a bolt of this staff will deal damage, and set the target on fire. As a warning, any flammable terrain or gases that the bolt passes over/through will also be set aflame — so be careful where you and allies are standing.

Being able to set rooms, gasses, etc on fire has many tactical uses, as most monsters will not pursue you through fire, and if the circumstances are right may burn to death. Hovering the mouse over a creature will tell you how much damage the staff will inflict relative to the target's current health; examining the staff will tell you the proportion by which the staff's damage will increase if it is enchanted.

The damage ranges for Staffs of Firebolt and Staffs of Lightning follow the same formulae:

Minimum damage = 0.75 * (enchantment level + 2) rounded down

Maximum damage = (2.5 * enchantment level) + 4 rounded down

This gives the following damage ranges for each staff level:

Enchantment Level	Minimum Damage	Maximum Damage	Average Damage	Recharge Turns
2	3	9	6	250
3	3	11	7	166
4	4	14	9	125
5	5	16	11	100
6	6	19	13	83
7	6	21	14	71
8	7	24	16	62
9	8	26	17	55
10	9	29	19	50

Staffs of Firebolt are somewhat more powerful than Staffs of Lightning because they inflict burning, which will on average deal an additional 14 points of damage to the target, provided that the victim is allowed to burn out before being hit with the next firebolt. This is compensated by the fact that some creatures are immune to fire, and that there are some situations where you cannot safely use a staff of firebolt - for example, when you are standing in a cloud of explosive gas.