Orb of fire

Version 0.28: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

orb of fire *
HP	99-200
HD	30
XP	8528
Speed	15
AC	20
EV	20
Will	Immune
Resistances	rF+++ rC+ rElec+++ rPois+++ rMiasma rN+++ rTorm rSticky
Vulnerabilities	Silver
Habitat	Land
Intelligence	Human
Uses	Uses nothing
Holiness	Non-living
Size	Little
Type	orb of fire, orb of fire
Flags	See invisible Flying Unbreathing Insubstantial

A globe of raw primordial fire, capable of impressive pyrotechnics, and of twisting the very flesh of creatures who come into its ken. “There ’s not the smallest orb which thou behold’st But in his motion like an angel sings, Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins.” -William Shakespeare, _The Merchant of Venice_, V, i. 1597.

Useful Info

Orbs of fire are fast, powerful, extremely durable horrors with access to brutal Fire Magic and the ability to inflict bad mutations. These end-game monsters have traumatized many adventurers who died just before reaching the Orb of Zot. They can occasionally be found throughout the Realm of Zot or in certain Ziggurat floors, and are always found in the Orb chamber of Zot:5.

Spells

Spell set I
Slot1	Bolt of Fire (3d40)	Magical flag
Slot2	Fireball (3d43)	Magical flag
Slot3	Malmutate	Magical flag

Strategy

• Buff up! Battling one with haste, might, and/or brilliance will significantly reduce the amount of time it has to roast and mutate you, while a potion of resistance directly reduces the damage you'll take.
• Having rF+++ provides 80% fire damage reduction, making it much easier to survive the Fire Magic onslaught. rF+ can be sufficient with strong offensive abilities, but be prepared to face their incredibly high damage output.
• Avoid fighting more than one at a time. This is a major reason to avoid spending any significant periods of time in the open areas adjacent to the Orb chamber on Zot:5. Unless you manage to catch them at the edge of your LOS, they tend to swarm you even without a melee attack.
• Orbs of fire are immune to fire, electricity, poison, and negative energy, and partially resistant to cold. Irresistable Conjurations such as Orb of Destruction, Iron Shot, and Maxwell's Capacitive Coupling, are effective magical options. A Spellforged Servitor can fire those spells (barring MCC) while simultaneously blocking malmutation attempts.

Tips & Tricks

• Silence has no effect on them, but antimagic does. Worshipers of Trog, Vine Stalkers, hexers and summoners all have easy access to anti-magic, and will greatly reduce the spells you have to face.
• Orbs of fire can fire bolts through other orbs of fire. However, orbs will generally avoid harming their (non-fire-immune) allies.
• While their magic is effective at mowing down summons, allied monsters with rF+++, like Malign Gateway’s eldritch tentacles, are completely immune to anything an orb of fire can throw out. Mind the piercing fire bolts from which you will not be protected.
• Followers of Makhleb have access to one specific summon, which is extremely good against orbs of fire. Balrugs are immune to fire, so orb of fire's fireballs and bolts of fire can't harm them.
• You can hit the orb with Freezing Cloud to create a Fire Magic-soaking wall, reducing the orb's ability to injure you.
• Orbs of fire are chaotic, so those skilled in throwing can use silver javelins to deal tremendous damage to them. Don't bother with Zin's "Recite" ability, however; a 30HD monster can never be Recited to.
• The glowing colors the orb cycles through in console mode indicate merely that it has cast a spell; it bears no relation to the type of spell cast or about to be cast.

History

• Prior to 0.28, they were vulnerable to water.
• In very ancient, pre-Stone Soup versions of Crawl, these monsters were instead called "Swords", as can be seen in this ancient changelog, in a reference to the Chronicles of an Age of Darkness by Hugh Cook. This explains the rather nonsensical (from a thematic standpoint) inclusion of Malmutate in their spell set, since they were originally very different monsters.