Crimson imp

Version 0.11: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

crimson imp 5
HP	9-18
HD	3
XP	48
Speed	10
AC	3
EV	14
Will	36
Attack1	4 (hit: plain)
Resistances	damnation, rPois+, rN+++, rTorm, rRot
Vulnerabilities	Cold, Holy, Holy wrath
Habitat	Land
Intelligence	Normal
Uses	Weapons & armour Starting equipment Open doors
Holiness	Demonic
Size	Little
Type	crimson imp, crimson imp
Flags	Speaks Flying Regenerates Silence immune

A small, ugly minor demon. Its fanged maw seems locked in a permanent malign grin, and its horns protrude obscenely from its scaly pate. "The Devil, too, sometimes steals human children; it is not infrequent for him to carry away infants within the first six weeks after birth, and to substitute in their place imps." -Martin Luther

Useful Info

Crimson imps are tier-5 demons, and likely the first demons players will encounter. They are annoying pests that regenerate quickly, blink often, and, to add insult to injury, are impossible to catch with a throwing net. They will also pick up and use any melee or missile weapons their size will allow. On their own, they are mostly harmless (at least compared to other demons), but when they get hold of a branded weapon or stack of throwables, they can seriously complicate a fight with other monsters.

Tips & Tricks

• If you can't kill it, just run; it will blink, giving you an opportunity to get away. Leading it upstairs before doing so will remove the pest entirely, a technique called imp parking. Most early characters can eventually kill an imp with enough successive solid hits (especially cold ones), but it's not always worth the effort. Aside from their random blinking, they do not flee when injured, so you can patiently whittle away at it until you overcome its regeneration. Just beware of other wandering monsters joining the fight, and be careful what you throw at it; they'll happily lob hand axes and such right back at you, but javelins are too large for them to wield.
• On the same note, be very careful fighting these guys around centaurs. Should you kill the centaur and leave its bow and arrows just lying there, the imp will happily pick them up and become a blinking, regenerating (albeit slower) centaur. Make sure to pick up at least the bow, and ditch it once you kill the imp or are well away from the stack of arrows.
• A wand of polymorph other will often polymorph them into something that's easier to actually kill, but any of the other imps are more dangerous, and if you're simply trying to get around their fire resistance, be aware that iron imps are nearly as bad in that regard.

History

Prior to 0.10, "crimson imps" were named "imps."