Petrify

Version 0.21: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Petrify
Level	4
School1	Alchemy
School2	Earth
Source(s)	Book of Sloth Book of Transmutation
Casting noise	3
Spell noise	0
Power Cap	100
Range	6
Flags	Wl check, Dir or target, Needs tracer

Petrifies a targeted creature. If successful, the target is slowed down for a while until it is temporarily turned into stone. In this state, the target will take less damage upon being hit.

Petrify is a level 4 Earth/Transmutation spell that first slows, then petrifies its target a few turns later.

Effect

If the target fails a magic resistance check, it will gain the petrifying status, slowing down and turning to stone soon after. Successfully casting Petrify on a target that is already petrifying causes immediate petrification.

Petrified victims are unable to move or act for several turns; during this time, they cannot dodge attacks or use shields, and are rendered vulnerable to stabbing attempts and the Lee's Rapid Deconstruction and Shatter spells. However, because the victim is now made of stone, it receives significantly less damage: -50% while petrified, -33% while petrifying (after AC).

Earth elementals, gargoyles, catoblepae, statues, and insubstantial creatures cannot be petrified by any means. Players can become immune by being gargoyles, activating Zin's Vitalisation, or by being in Statue, Wisp, or Shadow Form. Potions of cancellation, Elyvilon's Purification, and Ru's Draw Out Power all cancel the petrifying status effect. Unfortunately, being completely petrified leaves you unable to act; at that point, your only recourse is to hope you survive until the status wears off.

Strategy

• Stopping opponents with Petrify can be extremely useful for making escapes. Individual pursuers can be frozen in place while you run to a safe place to heal. Petrifying the lead monster of a pack that's chasing you through a narrow hallway will stop all the others behind it. When successful, Petrify is generally more effective and longer lasting than Confusing Touch, Slow, and Conjure Flame for escaping foes, since it prevents your target from moving altogether and persists even if you leave line of sight.
• Petrify has nice synergy with Lee's Rapid Deconstruction (and to a lesser extent with Shatter): petrified targets have the same vulnerability to these spells as statues. If you wait until the target is entirely petrified, hitting it with LRD will create an explosion of shrapnel, which can be quite useful against groups of monsters.
  • Of course, this vulnerability also applies to players, meaning you should take great pains to avoid being petrified when monsters that can cast LRD or Shatter are around. Jorgrun is particularly dangerous, having both Petrify and LRD.
• Casting this spell multiple times on the same target will speed the petrification process up. Two successful applications will turn most targets to stone immediately.

Monster Version

A few monsters also have access to Petrify, which works much the same way as the player version.

The following enemies cast Petrify:

• L Ancient lich
• l Basilisk
• g Jorgrun
• 9 Nargun

The following enemies may be able to cast Petrify, depending on their spell set:

• & Pandemonium lord (3.4% chance)

Additionally, some monsters have other abilities that can result in petrification:

• Y Catoblepas (Petrifying Cloud)
• Any creature with a chaos-branded attack or weapon

History

Prior to 0.12, petrifying monsters that flew using wings (harpies, hippogriffs, etc.) would ground them. Petrifying such enemies over deep water or lava would kill them instantly.