Floating eye

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

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

floating eye G
HP	10-22
HD	9
XP	142
Speed	10
AC	0
EV	1
Will	10
Resistances	rDrown
Vulnerabilities	None
Habitat	Land
Intelligence	Brainless
Uses	Uses nothing
Holiness	Natural
Size	Medium
Type	floating eye, floating eye
Flags	See invisible Flying Unbreathing

A floating eyeball, said to be one of the servitors of Jiyva. It possesses a gaze that can eventually paralyze even the most strong-willed of adventurers. “El ojo que ves no es ojo porque tú lo veas, es ojo porque te ve.” -Antonio Machado, Campos de Castilla. 1912-1917.

Useful Info

Floating eyes are harmless on their own, but when around monsters, are one of the deadliest enemies in the game. They are capable of paralysing for 2-4 turns with their smite-targeted gaze, rendering you easy prey for anything nearby. They can be found rarely in the Dungeon, and occasionally in the Depths and Slime Pits. They can also be summoned by monsters with the Summon Eyeballs spell.

Spells

Spell set I
Slot1	Paralysis Gaze	Magical flag

Tips & Tricks

• An incredibly deadly monster. Being paralysed for 4 turns (which also lowers your EV and SH to practically 0) near any other monster can outright kill you. Most dangerous to EV-based fighters, though anyone should take great caution.
• Unlike some other gaze attacks, they don't require line of fire to gaze at you. If you can see them, you are at risk (unless you are behind a translucent wall). They can fire through iron grates and statues. Willpower provides no protection, either. The only ways to prevent paralysis are to be a Formicid or a follower of Jiyva. You are rendered immune for paralysis for 1-3 turns after a paralysis ends, but this means that you were paralysed in the first place.
• Thankfully, floating eyes are fragile and have terrible willpower of their own. Most mid-level characters can easily one-shot them. However, this fact won't save you if you can't hit the monster in the first place. Piercing and smite-targeted attacks are good; Airstrike, javelins, tin of tremorstones, etc. all work well if the eye is behind an enemy. Note that damage isn't a 100% reliable way to kill enemies, since even if you can't miss, you could always low roll.
• Paralysis Gaze requires 2 casts to function. The first cast charges the ability, the second cast paralyses you. Every turn, floating eyes have a 40% chance to cast the spell. Therefore, floating eyes require a minimum of 2 turns in order to paralyse, but they'll often take more.
  • Floating eyes do not lose charge if you break line of sight. A fully charged floating eye will remain charged until you encounter it again.
• If you don't have a means of killing one quickly, try using a scroll of fear - it has a 98% chance of success. Chasing one off will give you some time to deal with its allies. A scroll of fog will also help by breaking line of sight, giving you time to take out closer enemies or escape.

History

• In 0.31, floating eyes will be replaced with glass eyes. Glass eyes will have Vitrifying Gaze, a spell that inflicts the Fragile status, making the target take 30% more damage from all sources.
• Prior to 0.18, these monsters were known as giant eyeballs. They were slow, but their gaze worked immediately. Also, they didn't appear in the Depths.
• Prior to 0.15, giant eyeballs would randomly generate in Slime and Depths.