Haunt

Version 0.16: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Haunt
Level	7
School1	Summoning
School2	Necromancy
Source(s)	Necronomicon
Casting noise	6
Spell noise	0

This spell calls wraiths and ghosts to haunt the caster's target. They will only attack the creature they are haunting, and will dissipate quickly once their target dies. Calling on the undead exacts a toll on the caster's health.

Haunt is a level 7 Necromancy/Summoning spell, which uses smite-targeting to summon 2 to 6 high level phantasms near an enemy. Each cast of Haunt makes the caster sick; as such, it is best reserved for undead spellcasters or those in lich form (who are immune to such sickness). Alternatively, worshippers of Kikubaaqudgha have a chance to avoid being diseased. If you worship a good god, all the creatures summoned will be hostile. Unlike other summoning spells, Haunt cannot be cast without a valid, hostile target.

The summoned ghosts will only attack the target selected by the caster, ignoring player commands. When the haunt target dies, the remaining ghostlies will expire within a few turns, regardless of how much duration was otherwise remaining (though they will be free to attack other targets during this short window).

Spell power dictates the number of monsters created. The composition of the horde is random with the following weightings:

• W Wraith (41.66% chance)
• W Freezing wraith (16.66%)
• W Phantasmal warrior (16.66%)
• W Shadow wraith (8.33%)
• W Phantom (8.33%)
• W Hungry ghost (8.33%)

The amount of creatures you can summon with this spell is not capped.

Strategy

• Haunt is one of the better spells for dealing with monsters lacking negative energy resistance.
• You can use a ring of sustain abilities to avoid stat loss from sickness, but the use of a ring slot for this may be a waste.

History

Prior to 0.13 this spell could summon flayed ghosts, the ghosts summoned by haunt could attack other targets and it could be cast on friendly targets.