Rupert

Version 0.17: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Rupert @
HP	79-160
HD	16
XP	2939
Speed	10
AC	7
EV	8
Will	100
Attack1	21 (hit: plain)
Resistances	None
Vulnerabilities	None
Habitat	Land
Intelligence	Human
Uses	Weapons & armour Starting equipment Open doors
Holiness	Natural
Size	Medium
Type	human, human
Flags	Speaks Warm-blooded Unique Male

A human whose savage roars bring terror to all those who hear them.

Useful Info

Rupert the Wild is a unique human berserker who has a branded two-handed weapon (such as a battleaxe, great mace, or great sword), decent armour, and can see invisible. After spotting you, he'll attempt to disable you from a distance before raging, rushing in, and dealing obscene amounts of damage. Also known as the Sigmund of the Lair, he's very hard to escape (let alone defeat) once he gets going.

Location

• The Dungeon:12-15
• The Lair:3-8
• The Orcish Mines:2-4
• The Snake Pit:1
• The Spider's Nest:1

Spells

Spell set I
Slot1	Paralyse	Vocal flag
Slot2	Confuse	Vocal flag
Slot3	Berserker Rage	Natural flag

Tips & Tricks

• Rupert's spell set makes him a surprisingly dangerous opponent. Finding yourself paralyzed for several turns while he rages and charges in is a quick and frustrating way to die, but fortunately you can block this with high magic resistance, an amulet of stasis, or a wall of summoned allies. His confusion is not as bad, as you can quickly cure it with a potion of curing, but it's still not ideal.
• He thankfully has no resistances, so no backgrounds should find themselves unable to harm him. Sending a swarm of summons to take him out is one of the safest approaches (5-6 ice beasts can take him down easily), but any ranged attacker going all out should be able to take him down (just be ready to blink or teleport away if he gets too close). Melee fighters face the most risk, as his weapon can cleave through most defenses you'll have by the time you reach the Lair, especially if he's got a decent brand on it.
• He's got too much HD for Mephitic Cloud to work reliably on him, enough magic resistance to block most mid-level Hexes, and he's just too dangerous to gradually wear him down with weaker spells. For spellcasters, the best strategy is to hit him with everything you've got as quickly as possible, preferably while Hasted and/or otherwise buffed.
• If you can swim or fly, deep water can keep you safely out of Rupert's reach. Simply wait out any confusion or paralysis, and wear him down with ranged damage or poison. Even pure melee fighters can take him out with a common blowgun and stack of poisoned needles if you catch him on the other side of a lake.
• Rupert has a chance of spawning with one of the rare heavy weapons, such as a triple sword or executioner's axe. It's great if you were looking for one and can get it away from him, but actually doing so is easier said than done.

History

While he and his spell set were unchanged, with the removal of the Berserker Rage player spell and the changing of Crusaders to Skalds, Rupert was restyled as a Trog worshiper in 0.9. The text for his Confuse and Paralyse spells was changed to match: apparently one can induce confusion and paralysis by yelling loud enough.