Boggart

Version 0.26: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

boggart g
HP	13-27
HD	4
XP	117
Speed	12
AC	0
EV	12
Will	40
Attack1	5 (hit: plain)
Resistances	None
Vulnerabilities	None
Habitat	Land
Intelligence	Human
Uses	Weapons & armour Starting equipment Open doors
Holiness	Natural
Size	Little
Type	boggart, boggart
Flags	See invisible Warm-blooded

A malevolent and dangerous little sprite. The shadowy illusions it summons may not be real, but they'll kill you all the same, if you don't get their master first. “He thinks every bush a boggart.” -John Ray, _A Compleat Collection of English Proverbs_. 1768. “A BOGGART intruded himself, upon what pretext or by what authority is unknown, into the house of a quiet, inoffensive, and laborious farmer; and, when once it had taken possession it disputed the right of domicile with the legal mortal tenant, in a very unneighbourly and arbitrary manner. In particular, it seemed to have a great aversion to children. As there is no point on which a parent feels more acutely than that of the maltreatment of his offspring, the feelings of the father and more particularly of his good dame, were daily, ay, and nightly, harrowed up by the malice of this malignant and invisible boggart.” -C.J.T., _Folk-lore and Legends: English_ 1890.

Useful Info

Boggarts are weak, fragile pack creatures who rely on their mastery of illusions to destroy their enemies. Although next to harmless themselves, boggarts will quickly turn invisible and begin casting Shadow Creatures when enemies appear, flooding the screen with powerful, deadly opponents. They can be found primarily in the Depths and the Vaults, though they may appear elsewhere (such as in the forest at the end of the Lair).

Spells

Spell set I
Slot1	Shadow Creatures	Wizard flag
Slot2	Invisibility	Wizard flag
Slot3	Blink	Wizard flag

Tips & Tricks

• When you first encounter a boggart, expect to see others nearby as they almost always travel in a pack. Multiple boggarts can quickly turn a perfectly safe room into an overwhelmingly dangerous fight with the promise of further reinforcements as soon as you make a dent in their summons. As such, never attempt to fight your way through a boggart's summons, and always make killing them quickly a high priority. They're fairly fragile, rarely needing more than two decent hits to kill, and as soon as a boggart dies, its summons will vanish.
• Having a source of see invisible makes invisible boggart hunting much easier.
• Boggarts have only moderate willpower. Someone with a bit of Evocations or Hexes training should be able to paralyze, polymorph, confuse, or otherwise disable a boggart with to prevent them from summoning. However, killing them outright is usually the faster approach.
• Casters with area-of-effect spells like Olgreb's Toxic Radiance, Fireball, or Freezing Cloud should try to clear boggarts out quickly. Others can make use of attack wands, such as acid or iceblast, or evocables like a tin of tremorstones or condenser vane. They have low health and poor will, so a wand of disintegration with its long range is ideal.
• Once a boggart has started summoning, smite-targeted attacks are ideal for taking it out without having to fight through an army. Spells like Portal Projectile, Borgnjor's Vile Clutch, and Airstrike or invocations such as Qazlal's Upheaval or Beogh's Smite are all good examples. For those without such tactics and without easy access to area-of-effect or piercing attacks, duck around a corner if possible so you only see a few creatures at a time. Eventually, the boggart will blunder into your reach.
• If you simply don't have the means to safely take care of boggarts after they've called up an army, run or even teleport away. Their summons will eventually despawn, giving you another shot at killing them.
• If you open a door and suddenly find yourself face-to-face with several boggarts, close it. They'll walk up to the door and open it instead of immediately summoning monsters, meaning at the very least you'll be able to close to melee range more quickly.

History

• Prior to 0.14, they were able to cast Confuse and Slow, and were slightly less likely to cast Shadow Creatures. They were also much more fragile, almost never surviving even a single attack.