Mana viper

Version 0.23: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

For a list of all snakes, see list of snakes.

mana viper S
HP	32-66
HD	9
XP	580
Speed	14
AC	3
EV	14
Will	100
Attack1	23 (bite: antimagic)
Resistances	rPois+
Vulnerabilities	None
Habitat	Land
Intelligence	Animal
Uses	Uses nothing
Holiness	Natural
Size	Medium
Type	snake, mana viper
Flags	Cold-blooded See invisible

A violet-scaled serpent with faintly glowing eyes. It thirsts for magic as well as flesh, and its bite can drink dry the magical reservoirs of even a powerful mage in no time. “The latter lived in the country, and before his house there was an oak, in which there was a lair of snakes. His servants killed the snakes, but Melampus gathered wood and burnt the reptiles, and reared the young ones. And when the young were full grown, they stood beside him at each of his shoulders as he slept, and they purged his ears with their tongues. He started up in a great fright, but understood the voices of the birds flying overhead, and from what he learned from them he foretold to men what should come to pass.” -Pseudo-Apollodorus , _Library and Epitome_, 1.9.11. circa 150 BC. trans. Sir James George Frazer, 1913. “A snake, with mottles rare, Surveyed my chamber floor, In feature as the worm before, But ringed with power.” -Emily Dickinson, “In Winter In My Room”. circa 1860.

Useful Info

Mana vipers are unnatural snakes with an antimagic melee attack, making them particularly dangerous to anyone whose offense relies heavily on spells. They are primarily found in the Snake Pit, but some royal mummies can also summon them.

Tips & Tricks

• Mana vipers on their own are annoying, but not particularly dangerous compared to the other inhabitants of the Snake Pit. Even accompanied by other opponents, melee and ranged weapon specialists and Trog worshipers will barely notice them. However, any character whose ability to take down foes is tied to their MP supply should try to prevent a mana viper from reaching them in melee range.
• You can summon your own mana vipers to fight alongside you with the spell Summon Mana Viper, a particularly useful summon for taking down enemy spellcasters.

History

Mana vipers were added in 0.14.