Spell slot flag

Version 0.28: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Many of the monsters you'll encounter in DCSS know spells, but they have access to these spells in different ways. Depending on the source of a monster's spells, it may or may not function under various circumstances. The spell slot flag attached to each spell will let you know when a spell will be cast and how you can go about disabling it. Some spells can be subject to multiple flags.

Natural flag

This spell is a natural process, such as a dragon's breath or an electric eel's electricity, and not really a spell. It cannot be affected by Antimagic, Sap Magic, or Silence.

Vocal flag

Much like Natural "spells", this is a natural ability and not truly magical in nature, but it requires spoken words to perform. It is unaffected by antimagic and Sap Magic, but cannot be cast while silenced.

Wizard flag

This spell requires spoken words to cast, and is not something innately available to the caster. It can be affected by the antimagic brand and the Sap Magic enchantment and cannot be cast while silenced. Trog appreciates killing monsters with Wizard spells.

Summons created by these spells won't necessarily have the same god as the summoner.

Magical flag

This spell is an innate magical ability of a creature. It requires no spoken words, but is still magical in nature. It can be affected by the antimagic brand, but not by Silence or Sap Magic.

Priest flag

These are similar to Wizard flagged spells, but the magical force comes from a higher power, not the caster. This spell cannot be cast while silenced, but Antimagic and Sap Magic have no impact on it.

Emergency flag

This spell slot will be used only when a monster is very clearly losing a fight (when its health is very low in comparison to the player's).

Noisy flag

This spell creates noise when cast, even if the spell does not normally make noise.

Breath flag

Casting this spell leaves the caster breathless for a time. This spell has a breath timer which must reach 0 before it can be cast again.

Instant flag

This spell doesn't use the caster's turn -- the caster may move or act normally after casting the spell.

History

• 0.28 replaced the No Silent flag with the Vocal flag.
• 0.18 merged the Demonic flag with the Magical flag.
• These flags were added in 0.16, greatly clarifying the interaction between monster spells, holiness, and effects which interfere with magic.