Lurking horror

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

lurking horror *
HP	1-2
HD	1
XP	0
Speed	12
AC	0
EV	10
Will	10
Attack1	1 (hit: plain)
Resistances	rPois+++ rDrown rMiasma rN+++ rTorm rSticky
Vulnerabilities	None
Habitat	Land
Intelligence	Brainless
Uses	Uses nothing
Holiness	Non-living
Size	Small
Type	lurking horror, lurking horror
Flags	Flying Unbreathing Insubstantial No experience gain

A formless mass of negative energy, bound to bring terrible torment once the forces holding it together dissolve. The alien presence of intruders to the Abyss is sure to unravel it, yet it seems perversely drawn toward them; still, it seems somehow reluctant to move while being observed.

Useful Info

Lurking horrors are orbs of potent negative energy which are simultaneously attracted to and repulsed by you. On contact with a creature, or on death, it will torment everything it can see. They can be found in the Abyss and certain Abyss-themed vaults.

Every turn, if a lurking horror is in your line of sight, it can only move if distance < 1d(LOS_range + 1) - 1. So when encountered at the edge of LOS, it is likely to not move, but the closer you get, the more likely it is to charge at you.

Tips & Tricks

• Characters with torment resistance can simply ignore them. Anyone else can attempt to leave them behind, as the shifting nature of the Abyss may cut off their ability to pursue you. However, if you have to turn around due to a dead end or a dangerous opponent you wish to flee, you'll almost certainly have to deal with the thing.
• If you can damage it beyond your line of sight, you can kill it safely. Lee's Rapid Deconstruction and Fireball can accomplish this if cast around a blind corner, as can a wand of iceblast. Be aware that most spells of this sort are noisy and may attract other forms of unwanted attention.
  • If there are no corners nearby, you can limit your line of sight with a scroll of fog. Remember that you can cast spells and zap wands through opaque clouds using Shift-<Direction>.

History

• In 0.28, lurking horror movement was updated and made simpler. Previously, lurking horrors, in addition to distance, were more likely to move when there was more open space.
• Lurking horrors were added in 0.12.