Torpor snail

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

For a list of all gastropods, see list of gastropods.

torpor snail wTorpor snail.png
HP 39-80
HD 10
XP 423
Speed 7
AC 8
EV 1
Will 80
Attack1 25 (bite: plain)


Resistances rDrown
Vulnerabilities None
Habitat Amphibious
Intelligence Animal
Uses Uses nothing
Holiness Natural
Size Large
Type elephant slug, torpor snail
Flags No skeleton
Web immune
A ponderous gastropod with a rock-hard shell. It is said to be in some way connected with the god Cheibriados; its very presence slows the movements of unwary adventurers, leaving them easy prey for its terrifying, ever-gnashing radulae.

“Snail, snail, slug-slow,
To me thy four horns show;
If thou dost not show me thy four,
I will throw thee out of the door,
For the crow in the gutter,
To eat for bread and butter.”
-Silesian rhyme. Quoted by S.W. Singer in _Notes and Queries_, no. 69.
1851.

Useful Info

Torpor snails are massive gastropods which slowly drag themselves toward their prey, pounding you for moderate damage when in melee. While almost any character could easily outrun a torpor snail under ordinary circumstances, they naturally inflict the slow status effect on you and your allies simply by being within your line of sight. Torpor snails can be found in the Lair and the Spider's Nest.

Tips & Tricks

  • Unless you are a Formicid, you'll want to dispatch these foes quickly when they're encountered along with other opponents. Treat them like a milder version of floating eyes; while slow is less deadly than paralysis, it still greatly increases the danger of any encounter, and it ignores your willpower.
  • Charming them will not only stop your slow, but it'll also slow enemies. However, their willpower is quite high. A scroll of vulnerability will lower it to reasonable levels. Without charming, using polymorph will at least stop their slow effect.
  • If you can't see it, it can't affect you. Reading a scroll of fog or walking past a corner will break the effect, allowing you to deal with anything that pursues you at normal speed (at least until the snail catches up).

History

  • Prior to 0.29, allied or charmed torpor snails would not slow enemies. However, they only had 40 willpower.
  • In 0.17, their meat became edible.
  • Torpor snails were added in 0.15.