Difference between revisions of "Summon Drakes"

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(Updated strategy to accommodate the actual dragons, added History and Crystal Ball)
(No waffling: the threat from this spell is the death drakes. The others are just annoying popcorn (except *maybe* the rare shadow or storm dragon))
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*[[Shadow dragon]] (1.5%)
 
*[[Shadow dragon]] (1.5%)
  
Fortunately, you only encounter this spell in the late game, at which point most of these monsters are individually not terribly dangerous. However, they can [[slow]] you, [[rot]] you,[[sick]]en you, [[confuse]] you, and burn your [[scroll]]s, and you usually end up having to face a variety of them at once along with the summoner himself (and any other draconians he may be traveling with). As a general rule, try to kill off the caller first in any encounter to keep things simple. If he's already started summoning allies, base your actions off of your resistances; most players will want to prevent [[rot]] or [[confusion]] above all else. Just remember that killing off the summons will be pointless if the summoner just keeps calling in reinforcements.
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Fortunately, you only encounter this spell in the late game, as it is one of the more threatening spells in the game. It allows [[draconian caller]]s to summon [[death drake]]s (the other monsters range from popcorn to moderate threats, as compared to the typical Zot monster), which will quickly fill the area with miasma clouds that will [[slow]], [[poison]], and [[rot]] you. As a general rule, try to kill off the caller first in any encounter to keep things simple. If he's already started summoning allies and you are unable to melee him, use whatever means necessary to escape ([[teleport]] is not a bad idea on Zot:1-4, but on Zot:5 you'll usually want to resort to whatever means of increasing your movement speed you have available).  Attempting to wade your way through hordes of drakes while slowed, rotting, and possibly poisoned is simply never worth the trouble.
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Gaining rotting resistance is quite difficult.  [[Zin]]'s Vitalisation ability will protect you, as will having [[Necromutation]] active. Other than that, you have to be undead: [[Ghoul]]s, [[Vampire]]s, and [[Mummies]] usually have nothing to fear from this spell (although Mummies will want to be sure to have sufficient fire resistance for the [[lindwurm]]s and [[ice dragon]]s).
  
 
The following enemies cast Summon Drakes:
 
The following enemies cast Summon Drakes:

Revision as of 10:10, 1 April 2013

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


Summon Drakes is a monster-only spell which summons several of the following reptiles into existence:

Fortunately, you only encounter this spell in the late game, as it is one of the more threatening spells in the game. It allows draconian callers to summon death drakes (the other monsters range from popcorn to moderate threats, as compared to the typical Zot monster), which will quickly fill the area with miasma clouds that will slow, poison, and rot you. As a general rule, try to kill off the caller first in any encounter to keep things simple. If he's already started summoning allies and you are unable to melee him, use whatever means necessary to escape (teleport is not a bad idea on Zot:1-4, but on Zot:5 you'll usually want to resort to whatever means of increasing your movement speed you have available). Attempting to wade your way through hordes of drakes while slowed, rotting, and possibly poisoned is simply never worth the trouble.

Gaining rotting resistance is quite difficult. Zin's Vitalisation ability will protect you, as will having Necromutation active. Other than that, you have to be undead: Ghouls, Vampires, and Mummies usually have nothing to fear from this spell (although Mummies will want to be sure to have sufficient fire resistance for the lindwurms and ice dragons).

The following enemies cast Summon Drakes:

History

Prior to 0.12, this spell could not summon any full dragons or lindwurms.