Eringya's Noxious Bog

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

Eringya's Noxious Bog
Level	6
School1	Alchemy
Source(s)	Fen Folio Great Wizards, Vol. II
Casting noise	6
Spell noise	0
Power Cap	200
Range	4
Flags	Area, No ghost

Causes the caster to release a torrent of sludge that transforms nearby areas into a toxic bog. The sludge damages and poisons all monsters, even those resistant to poison. The bog cannot form on areas adjacent to multiple solid features, nor on areas that lack solid floor, like deep water or lava. The transformation is temporary and cannot be sustained out of the caster's sight. Spellpower will increase how long the bog lingers.

Eringya's Noxious Bog is a Level 6 Poison Magic/Transmutations spell that temporarily converts tiles near the user into toxic sludge.

Useful Info

When cast, Eringya's Noxious Bog gives the Bog status. All valid floor tiles within a 4-tile radius are converted into toxic sludge. This spell requires open space; tiles that are next to more than one solid feature (like walls, trees, statues) are not converted. Deep water and lava are unaffected. However, it does cover non-solid features such as stairs, escape hatches, shops, and traps, preventing them from being used.

The sludge acts like shallow water, but it will damage and poison non-flying creatures. The bog itself deals 4d6 damage (70% poison, 30% physical). If the bog dealt any damage, it additionally causes an extreme amount of poison. Poison resistance does not reduce chance to poison, only the amount of poison. Bog damage and poison is not impacted by spell power.

For reference, the bog immediately causes max poison on any monster without rPois, and significant poison to those with rPois. Poison-immune creatures are still immune to all poison; they only take the 30% physical damage from the actual bog.

Flying creatures are completely immune to the bog. The caster is immune to the damage, but still gets the penalties (if any) from being in shallow water.

Casting Ignite Poison will create short-lived flame clouds above some bog tiles (33% chance per tile). These in turn will create clouds of steam.

The bog status lasts for 3 + 1d(2 + pow/10) turns. The bog immediately ends if the caster leaves the level. If you leave a bog tile's line of sight, it reverts back to regular tile.

Strategy

Eringya's Noxious Bog is a level 6 dual-school spell, that does not work outside open areas, blocks staircases, has a range of 4, does nothing against flying opponents, cannot hurt pois-immune monsters, and penalizes you if you can't fly/swim. But, even with all these limitations, this spell can be worthwhile.

It combos incredibly well with Ignite Poison. With Bog active, Ignite Poison is incredibly strong and MP-efficient. Anything without poison immunity (or fight) will take massive damage every turn. Even monsters with both rPois and rF+ will die in 2-3 casts.

It's definitely not a spell for everyone. The awkward spell schooling makes it difficult for many characters to actually use.

Tips & Tricks

• While you are slowed by the bog's water, any non-flying non-swimming non-large monsters are penalized in the same way. The bog will make it harder to escape from ranged, but it is not as bad as it initially seems. If all else, a potion of flight works.
• As the bog covers traps, you can use this spell to prevent enemies from stepping on unfortunately-placed traps. However, you won't be able to use it to bypass traps in narrow corridors (such as the entrance to Zot:5's orb chamber).

Trivia

This spell refers to a mage called Eringya; it is the first reference to them in-game since the removal of the spell Eringya's Surprising Bouquet and the now-reintroduced wizlab level Eringya's Formal Garden.

History

• Prior to 0.28, this spell did not place a bog under the caster, as they were not immune. It also did not place a bog in tiles next to any solid features.
• Prior to 0.26, this spell would cause the caster to leave toxic bog tiles behind them as they traveled. Additionally, Ignite Poison always created flame clouds over bog tiles and for a much greater duration.
• Eringya's Noxious Bog was added in 0.25.