Ballistomycete spore

Version 0.13: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

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

giant spore * File:Giant spore.png
HP	1
HD	1
XP	1
Speed	15
AC	0
EV	10
Will	4
Attack1	1 (hit: plain)
Resistances	rPois+, rN+++, rTorm, rDrown
Vulnerabilities	None
Habitat	Land
Intelligence	Plant
Uses	Uses nothing
Holiness	Plant
Size	Small
Type	fungus, giant spore
Flags	Levitate

A deceptively fast, floating ball filled with gas and spores, prone to burst at the slightest disturbance.

Useful Info

Giant spores are fast-moving, suicidal creatures which explode into a cloud of spores on contact with the player or when killed. The explosion has a diameter of about 5 squares and does 3d15 damage, confuses you, and destroys random food in your inventory, so take care to kill these creatures from a distance. They have only 1 HP, so any successful attack will destroy them.

Their explosions will damage and confuse any monsters caught in the blast as well, so they can be used to your advantage. Wherever they explode, one or more ballistomycetes may spawn.

Giant spores leave trails of mold on the tiles behind them. These trails will lead to other ballistomycetes and giant spores, and killing an active ballistomycete will temporarily highlight a section of the trail which leads to the next active target. Killing the entire colony will reward you 500 XP, along with the message:

Having destroyed the fungal colony, you feel a bit more experienced.

Tips & Tricks

• Magic Dart never misses its target, and is thus a surefire way to halt an oncoming spore. Their evasion isn't unbeatable though, so most ranged attacks will work with a little skill.
• A giant spore's explosion can easily kill low level characters. Blinking away if it manages to get too close is not a bad idea.
• Do not try polymorphing a giant spore: it will probably become an oklob plant, which is much worse.
• If you get the message "You hear an explosion", a giant spore has just exploded somewhere else on the level. You'll probably want to look for the ballistomycete colony before it spreads any further.