Poltergeist - Revision history

Patrick2011b: doom and banes take twice as much XP to remove for undead

2026-03-11T03:15:34Z

doom and banes take twice as much XP to remove for undead

Hordes: 0.34

2026-02-13T18:00:46Z

0.34

Hordes: /* Innate Abilities */

2025-11-23T08:49:11Z

‎Innate Abilities

Hordes: /* Innate Abilities */

2025-11-23T08:16:04Z

‎Innate Abilities

Hordes: mention AC bonus decay

2025-11-23T05:44:41Z

mention AC bonus decay

Hordes: trickster rewording

2025-11-23T05:40:20Z

trickster rewording

Hordes: /* Strategy */ a lot of typo-fixing edits

2025-11-23T05:25:11Z

‎Strategy: a lot of typo-fixing edits

Hordes at 05:23, 23 November 2025

2025-11-23T05:23:24Z

Hordes: /* Strategy */

2025-11-23T05:22:07Z

‎Strategy

Hordes: /* Strategy */

2025-11-23T00:07:35Z

‎Strategy

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 **Poltergeists are vulnerable to [[Dispel Undead]], [[holy]] damage, and [[holy wrath]]-[[brand]]ed weapons. They may not worship the [[good god]]s ([[The Shining One]], [[Zin]], or [[Elyvilon]]). The holy wrath brand will not function on weapons they wield.
 **Poltergeists cannot use the spells [[Borgnjor's Revivification]], [[Death's Door]], or [[Sublimation of Blood]].
 *Poltergeists are '''[[insubstantial]]''', granting immunity to [[throwing net]]s, [[web]]s, [[constriction]], [[petrification]], the -Move from [[Throw Bolas]], and [[sticky flame]].
 *'''[[Floating]]''': Poltergeists' insubstantial bodies float through the air, flying permanently.

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-{{version033}}
+{{version034}}
 {{flavour|Poltergeists are undead spirits who delight in causing trouble for the living. Completely incorporeal, they interact with the physical world by possessing small objects and making them fly through the air. They can use this to fight with weapons as well as the living do, as well as gain the protective benefits of many different hats, boots, gloves, and cloaks at once, though body armour is too large for them to manipulate in this fashion. At higher levels of experience, they can even control these possessed objects at a distance from time to time, harassing their foes with a barrage of unruly armour.
@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 **Poltergeists are vulnerable to [[Dispel Undead]], [[holy]] damage, and [[holy wrath]]-[[brand]]ed weapons. They may not worship the [[good god]]s ([[The Shining One]], [[Zin]], or [[Elyvilon]]). The holy wrath brand will not function on weapons they wield.
 **Poltergeists cannot use the spells [[Borgnjor's Revivification]], [[Death's Door]], or [[Sublimation of Blood]].
-*Poltergeists are [[insubstantial]], granting immunity to [[throwing net]]s, [[web]]s, [[constriction]], [[petrification]], and [[sticky flame]].
+*Poltergeists are '''[[insubstantial]]''', granting immunity to [[throwing net]]s, [[web]]s, [[constriction]], [[petrification]], the -Move from [[Throw Bolas]], and [[sticky flame]].
 *'''[[Floating]]''': Poltergeists' insubstantial bodies float through the air, flying permanently.
 *'''Formless 1:''' Poltergeists may equip any combination of six items of auxiliary armour ([[hat]]s, [[helmet]]s, [[gloves]], [[boots]], [[cloak]]s, and [[scarf|scarves]]). They cannot wear body armour, and cannot train the [[Armour]] skill.
@@ Line 56: / Line 56: @@
 *'''Evocable / throwing items''', like [[wand of acid|wands of acid]]/[[wand of light|wands of light]], a [[phial of floods]], or [[dart]]s (other than poison darts), can inflict debuffs and are relatively common.
 *'''[[God|God choice]]''' can help out significantly when early item luck runs dry.
-**Gods with passive debuffs: Includes [[Hepliaklqana]]'s hexer ancestor, [[Uskayaw]] Line Pass and Solo Time, and [[Ru]]'s aura. [[Xom]] always presents some degree of risk, but can regularly defeat or hinder enemies for free and can provide strong chaos weapons.
+**Gods with passive debuffs: Includes [[Hepliaklqana]]'s hexer ancestor, [[Uskayaw]] Line Pass and Solo Time, [[Ru]]'s aura, and [[Gozag]]'s gold aura (daze only). [[Xom]] always presents some degree of risk, but can regularly defeat or hinder enemies for free and can provide strong chaos weapons.
 **Cheap active ability debuffs: [[Kikubaaqudgha]] provides Sign of Ruin and helps find Necromancy spells. [[Makhleb]]'s Destruction (3 of 4 types have a 50% chance to debuff) and certain demon summons have debuffs. [[Nemelex]] has a variety of cards to inflict statuses, with the deck of destruction having many. [[Fedhas]]' Ballistomycetes can inflict confusion without checking willpower or HD, and oklobs corrode.
 **Indirect: [[Sif Muna]] can help find relevant spells. [[Dithmenos]]' shadow mimic can copy your debuff spells.
 ==History==
-*[[0.33]] added Poltergeists as a replacement for [[Vampire]]s.
+*Poltergeists were added in [[0.33]], as a replacement for [[Vampire]]s.
 {{species}}

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 *'''[[Floating]]''': Poltergeists' insubstantial bodies float through the air, flying permanently.
 *'''Formless 1:''' Poltergeists may equip any combination of six items of auxiliary armour ([[hat]]s, [[helmet]]s, [[gloves]], [[boots]], [[cloak]]s, and [[scarf|scarves]]). They cannot wear body armour, and cannot train the [[Armour]] skill.
-*'''Trickster''': When inflicting debuffs on an enemy in [[LOS]] (not counting poison or constriction), Poltergeists gain <code>3 + XL / 6</code> AC for the first debuffed enemy, then +1 AC for every enemy thereafter. If the bonus is already at +15 AC or more, the chance to get AC is halved. In addition, there is a cap at <code>6 + XL * 4/5</code>. This bonus decays over time, at a rate of -1 AC per 3.0 [[decaAut]].
+*'''Trickster''': When inflicting debuffs on an enemy in [[LOS]] (not counting poison or constriction, but including debuffs from [[allies]]), Poltergeists gain <code>3 + XL / 6</code> AC for the first debuffed enemy, then +1 AC for every enemy thereafter. If the bonus is already at +15 AC or more, the chance to get AC is halved. In addition, there is a cap at <code>6 + XL * 4/5</code>. This bonus decays over time, at a rate of -1 AC per 3.0 [[decaAut]].
 Poltergeists have a base [[Strength]] of 4, [[Intelligence]] of 10 and [[Dexterity]] of 9 (before Background modifiers) and have normal base [[magic points]].

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 *'''[[Floating]]''': Poltergeists' insubstantial bodies float through the air, flying permanently.
 *'''Formless 1:''' Poltergeists may equip any combination of six items of auxiliary armour ([[hat]]s, [[helmet]]s, [[gloves]], [[boots]], [[cloak]]s, and [[scarf|scarves]]). They cannot wear body armour, and cannot train the [[Armour]] skill.
-*'''Trickster''': When inflicting debuffs on an enemy in [[LOS]] (not counting poison or constriction), Poltergeists gain <code>3 + XL / 6</code> AC for the first enemy, then +1 AC for every enemy thereafter. For every AC past +15 AC, the chance to get +1 AC is halved. In addition, there is a cap at <code>6 + XL * 4/5</code>. This bonus decays over time, at a rate of -1 AC per 3.0 [[decaAut]].
+*'''Trickster''': When inflicting debuffs on an enemy in [[LOS]] (not counting poison or constriction), Poltergeists gain <code>3 + XL / 6</code> AC for the first debuffed enemy, then +1 AC for every enemy thereafter. If the bonus is already at +15 AC or more, the chance to get AC is halved. In addition, there is a cap at <code>6 + XL * 4/5</code>. This bonus decays over time, at a rate of -1 AC per 3.0 [[decaAut]].
 Poltergeists have a base [[Strength]] of 4, [[Intelligence]] of 10 and [[Dexterity]] of 9 (before Background modifiers) and have normal base [[magic points]].

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 *'''[[Floating]]''': Poltergeists' insubstantial bodies float through the air, flying permanently.
 *'''Formless 1:''' Poltergeists may equip any combination of six items of auxiliary armour ([[hat]]s, [[helmet]]s, [[gloves]], [[boots]], [[cloak]]s, and [[scarf|scarves]]). They cannot wear body armour, and cannot train the [[Armour]] skill.
-*'''Trickster''': When inflicting debuffs on an enemy in [[LOS]] (not counting poison or constriction), Poltergeists gain <code>3 + XL / 6</code> AC for the first enemy, then +1 AC for every enemy thereafter. For every AC past +15 AC, the chance to get +1 AC is halved. In addition, there is a cap at <code>6 + XL * 4/5</code>.
+*'''Trickster''': When inflicting debuffs on an enemy in [[LOS]] (not counting poison or constriction), Poltergeists gain <code>3 + XL / 6</code> AC for the first enemy, then +1 AC for every enemy thereafter. For every AC past +15 AC, the chance to get +1 AC is halved. In addition, there is a cap at <code>6 + XL * 4/5</code>. This bonus decays over time, at a rate of -1 AC per 3.0 [[decaAut]].
 Poltergeists have a base [[Strength]] of 4, [[Intelligence]] of 10 and [[Dexterity]] of 9 (before Background modifiers) and have normal base [[magic points]].

@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
 ==Strategy==
 Ways of inflicting debuffs include:
-*Spells: [[Hexes]] are the most obvious to use due to the +4 aptitude, though they still have good +1 apts for [[Necromancy]] and [[Alchemy]] that can both debuff and either provide allies or deal direct damage. While Hexes will eventually fall off lategame due to higher will and infinite will enemies, the +4 aptitude makes it cheap to invest (and easy to switch(. In addition, it can bridge into [[Summonings]], as both [[Summon Mana Viper]] and [[Sphinx Sisters]] are part Hexes.
+*'''Spells''': [[Hexes]] are the most obvious to use due to the +4 aptitude, though they still have good +1 apts for [[Necromancy]] and [[Alchemy]] that can both debuff and either provide allies or deal direct damage. While Hexes will eventually fall off lategame due to higher will and infinite will enemies, the +4 aptitude makes it cheap to invest (and easy to switch(. In addition, it can bridge into [[Summonings]], as both [[Summon Mana Viper]] and [[Sphinx Sisters]] are part Hexes.
-*Weapons of [[Draining_(brand)|draining]] and [[chaos]] are much better, as they can both inflict status debuffs. Chaos can set up [[stab]]s, but could give an enemy a positive effect.
+*'''Weapons of [[Draining_(brand)|draining]] and [[chaos]]''' are much better on Poltergeists than other species, as both brands can both inflict status debuffs. Chaos can set up [[stab]]s, but could give an enemy a positive-for-the-defender effect.
-*Certain items, like a [[wand of acid]]/[[wand of light]], [[phial of floods]], or [[dart]]s (other than poison darts), can inflict debuffs.
+*'''Evocable / throwing items''', like [[wands of acid]]/[[wand of light|wands of light]], a [[phial of floods]], or [[dart]]s (other than poison darts), can inflict debuffs and are relatively common.
-*[[God|God choice]] can help out significantly when early item luck runs dry.
+*'''[[God|God choice]]''' can help out significantly when early item luck runs dry.
-**'''Gods with passive debuffs:''' Includes [[Hepliaklqana]]'s hexer ancestor, [[Uskayaw]] Line Pass and Solo Time, and [[Ru]]'s aura. [[Xom]] always presents some degree of risk, but can regularly defeat or hinder enemies for free and can provide strong chaos weapons.
+*Gods with passive debuffs: Includes [[Hepliaklqana]]'s hexer ancestor, [[Uskayaw]] Line Pass and Solo Time, and [[Ru]]'s aura. [[Xom]] always presents some degree of risk, but can regularly defeat or hinder enemies for free and can provide strong chaos weapons.
-**'''Cheap active ability debuffs:''' [[Kikubaaqudgha]] provides Sign of Ruin and helps find Necromancy spells. [[Makhleb]]'s Destruction (3 of 4 types have a 50% chance to debuff) and certain demon summons have debuffs. [[Nemelex]] has a variety of cards to inflict statuses, with the deck of destruction having many. [[Fedhas]]' Ballistomycetes can inflict confusion without checking willpower or HD.
+**Cheap active ability debuffs:''' [[Kikubaaqudgha]] provides Sign of Ruin and helps find Necromancy spells. [[Makhleb]]'s Destruction (3 of 4 types have a 50% chance to debuff) and certain demon summons have debuffs. [[Nemelex]] has a variety of cards to inflict statuses, with the deck of destruction having many. [[Fedhas]]' Ballistomycetes can inflict confusion without checking willpower or HD, and okhlobs corrode.
-**'''Indirect:''' [[Sif Muna]] can help find relevant spells. [[Dithmenos]]' shadow mimic can copy your debuff spells.
+**Indirect: [[Sif Muna]] can help find relevant spells. [[Dithmenos]]' shadow mimic can copy your debuff spells.
 **[[Gozag]]'s gold distraction aura '''does not''' count as a debuff, and is thus worse off for Poltergeists than most other species.