Simulacrum (spell)

Version 0.30: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

This article is about the spell. For the monster, see Simulacrum (monster)

Simulacrum (spell)

Simulacrum is a level 6 Ice/Necromancy spell which creates simulacra from a dying monster.

Useful Info

Casting Simulacrum irresistibly grants the Simulacrum enchantment on a single living, demonic, or holy monster anywhere in line of sight for 20 + 1d(pow/10) turns. When the monster dies, it will create 1 + 1d(pow/40) (1-6) simulacra. Simulacra last for a finite duration or until you leave the floor they were created on.

The simulacrum created will have the same HD as the original monster. They deal 80% their original physical damage, but a great amount of additional ice damage, so the damage output of creatures with multiple attacks is greatly increased. When killed, simulacra leave behind only a short-lived freezing cloud.

Simulacrum takes priority over Animate Dead and Necrotise. Infestation overrides Simulacrum, while Death Channel works alongside it. Simulacrum does not work with Gozag (who turns corpses into gold, first) or Yredelemnul.

Tips & Tricks

• Simulacra often have extremely large damage output, but are outstandingly frail. Be mindful of fire attacks, which are capable of wiping out your horde in a few turns.
  • Monsters with multiple attacks/turn are very strong, as their cold damage is amplified. Hydras, entropy weavers, and ettins are all fair game. The Lernaean hydra as a simulacrum can deal over 1000 damage per turn. Monsters with constriction (snakes, tentacled monstrosities) are also good targets, as constriction is kept in undeath.
  • Avoid using this spell on physically deficient mages (like wizards or magical deep elves), as you'll spend 6 MP to create pathetic simulacrum. Animate Dead or Infestation will be more efficient.
  • Slimes of all flavours tend to be impressive as simulacra. Due to the mass of slimes in the Slime Pits, it's easy to create a big army.
• Simulacra are immune to cold, which means spells such as Ozocubu's Refrigeration can be cast safely without angering them. Polar Vortex is off-limits, however, as a portion of its damage bypasses cold resistance.

Monster Version

Monsters have access to Bind Souls, which is a similar effect. They cast it on their own allies (still hostile monsters), it works on every target in sight, but it can only create one simulacra per monster. Bind Souls takes priority over your own Simulacrum spell.

See Also

• Derived undead

History

• In 0.31, this spell will be replaced with Sculpt Simulacrum, a level 6 Ice Magic/Alchemy spell that targets an adjacent monster and creates 2-3 ice blocks nearby. After 3-5 turns, an ice block will turn into a simulacrum of the target, and every 1-3 turns after, another block of ice will do the same. The spell can be cast repeatedly, and there will be no limit to the number of blocks of ice, though a maximum of 5 simulacra can be active at once.
• Prior to 0.30, this spell would create 1 + 1d(pow/20) simulacra per monster.
• Prior to 0.29, Simulacrum would create multiple undead from a corpse you were standing on. The amount depended on the size of the corpse. This also meant that simlacrum of corpseless monsters (including holy and demonic) could not be created.
• Prior to 0.19, simulacra's duration was significantly longer.
• Prior to 0.17, the spell would turn all corpses in line of sight into Simulacra. Some monsters were also able to cast the spell.
• Prior to 0.16, you needed to wield a chunk of meat to cast Simulacrum.
• Between versions 0.11 and 0.14, Simulacrum could be cast on wielded carnivorous food items.