Boris

Version 0.31: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

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

Boris L
HP	101-205
HD	22
XP	3196
Speed	10
AC	12
EV	10
Will	Immune
Attack1	25 (hit: plain)
Attack2	15 (touch: drain experience)
Resistances	rC++ rElec rPois+++ rDrown rMiasma rN+++ rTorm
Vulnerabilities	Holy
Habitat	Land
Intelligence	Human
Uses	Weapons & armour Starting equipment Open doors
Holiness	Undead
Size	Medium
Type	lich, lich
Flags	Evil See invisible Unbreathing Speaks Unique Male

An ancient and powerful lich. Like all true liches, Boris is immortal, and will regenerate his desiccated skeletal remains even if completely disintegrated. The same cannot be said for his many victims over his many centuries, from which he collects and channels their dying woes and regrets.

Useful Info

Boris, Master of Life and Death is a unique lich, armed with a variety of powerful Conjurations. Although he's generally less dangerous than an ancient lich or dread lich, he generates early enough to be a serious threat.

Unlike other uniques, Boris can generate multiple times in one game. If killed (and has not yet reappeared), he has 16.7% chance of appearing on (almost) any new floor you explore (in the place of a regular hostile monster).

Location

• The Elven Halls:3
• The Depths
• The Vaults
• The Crypt
• The Tomb

Boris will also occasionally appear among the enemies that spawn during the orb run. If you have the Orb, he will gain permanent haste and brilliance effect.

Spells

Spell set I
Slot1	Iron Shot (3d37)	Wizard flag
Slot2	Bolt of Cold (3d32)	Wizard flag
Slot3	March of Sorrows	Wizard flag
Slot4	Orb of Destruction (9d18)	Wizard flag

Tips & Tricks

• Boris is capable of one- or two-shotting careless characters. If you aren't confident you can handle him, run. Thankfully, he doesn't have haste.
• Like all liches, Boris is weak to Silence and antimagic, but immune to most hexes.
• Players can kite Boris if they have potions of haste; of his spells, only Orb of Destruction has full screen range, which you can dodge.
• The clouds of excruciating misery created by March of Sorrows will devastate players without negative energy resistance. If you don't resist them, step out of them as soon as possible!
• To avoid Orb of Destruction, you can move out of the way, Blink, and/or create summons. You can create your own OOD to negate it, but this creates an extremely loud noise. You can also get into melee range - staying in melee greatly reduces the strength of the orb.
• He lacks any summoning or area-of-effect spells, meaning that your own high-level summons should be able to bring him down. In addition, your summons will shield you from Iron Shot and Orb of Destruction.
• Don't kill Boris. If you want to avoid encountering him again and again, just leave him where he is and he won't bother you again until you return to his floor. However, should you enter Pandemonium or the Ziggurat after Boris has been killed but before he has reappeared, you will have a 16.7% of meeting him on every Pan/Zig level (even if you left him alive on a previous Pan/Zig level). In any case, Boris can not reappear in: The Depths, The Vaults, The Tomb, The Crypt.

Trivia

• Although never explicitly stated in game, examination of flavor text reveals that he once had a powerful artefact dagger called Morg and a familiar named Natasha. Reuniting him with his lost possessions doesn't have any special effect, however.
• Boris and Natasha together are a reference to the characters from "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends".

History

• In 0.32, Boris will drop a randart robe each time you kill him.
• Prior to 0.31, Boris had Invisibility in place of March of Sorrows. He also spawned on fewer floors and didn't appear in the Elven Halls at all.
• Prior to 0.27, Boris did not gain buffs if you had the Orb.
• Prior to 0.25, Boris would not spawn as part of the orb run.