Sculpt Simulacrum

Version 0.31: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Sculpt Simulacrum
Level	6
School1	Alchemy
School2	Ice
Source(s)	Book of Ice Book of the Tundra Book of Winter
Casting noise	6
Spell noise	0
Power Cap	200
Range	1
Flags	Dir or target, Needs tracer

Forms icy simulacra of an adjacent living, demonic, or holy creature. These fragile doppelgangers will take shape over a short period of time, eventually gaining the ability to move and attack the caster's enemies.

Sculpt Simulacrum is a level 6 Ice/Alchemy spell which creates multiple simulacra - frail, icy copies - from an adjacent monster. The simulacra take a few turns to form.

Useful Info

When used against a natural, demonic, or holy monster, it creates 2-3 blocks of ice. There is a power/200 chance to create 3 blocks, otherwise it creates 2. These blocks of ice will turn into a simulacrum of the monster after a short delay. The first block of ice takes 3-5 turns to become a simulacrum. Each block of ice thereafter takes 1-3 turns longer than the previous. If destroyed by an attack, no simulacra is created.

Simulacra are derived undead; their stats depend on which monster you cast Sculpt Simulacrum on. Generally, they are frail, but with strong cold attacks.

Simulacrum last for about 27 turns; spell power does not increase duration.

There is a cap of 5 simulacra. If this cap is reached, the oldest simulacra will be destroyed whenever a new one is formed.

This is not a Necromancy spell, so Gozag and Yredelemnul worshippers can use it without issue. However, the good gods still forbid its use.

Strategy

Simulacra are glass cannons - strong but frail. The following are especially good/bad targets for Sculpt Simulacrum:

• Monsters with multiple attacks. Since each attack gets its own - very large - cold damage boost, having multiple attacks is obviously powerful. Hydras, entropy weavers, and ettins are all fair game, assuming you can survive melee combat against them. The Lernaean hydra as a simulacrum can deal over 1000 damage per turn, but standing next to Lerny is too dangerous for most characters.
• Monsters with constriction (snakes, tentacled monstrosities). Their simulacra can also constrict foes, making them good allies.
• Conversely, avoid targeting physically deficient mages (such as occultists and magical deep elves), as you'll spend 6 MP to create pathetic simulacra.

Also, since simulacra deal cold damage, avoid using Sculpt Simulacrum if most/all monsters in a group are heavily resistant to cold.

History

• Sculpt Simulacrum was added in 0.31, replacing the Simulacrum spell.