Vampiric Draining

Version 0.27: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Vampiric Draining
Level	3
School1	Necromancy
Source(s)	Book of Debilitation Book of Necromancy
Casting noise	3
Spell noise	0
Power Cap	100
Range	1
Hated By	Elyvilon The Shining One Zin
Flags	Dir or target, Not self

Steals the life of an adjacent living creature and grants it to the caster.

Vampiric Draining is a level 3 Necromancy spell which deals negative energy damage to an adjacent monster and heals you for half the damage dealt. This spell can only be cast effectively on natural monsters. Casting it on plants, constructs, or monsters with life protection will do nothing. Also bear in mind that the spell can only be cast in melee range, and strong monsters can often injure you for more than you are healed. Still, it has fairly high damage output and utility for a 3rd level spell, and it can be used by bloodless vampires and deep dwarves for healing.

Spell Details
Damage Formula	2d(6 + power/14)
Max Damage	2-40 Negative Energy
Max Power	200
Range	1
Targeting	Touch
To-hit
Special	Ignores AC, SH, and EV

Strategy

• Summoned monsters take no damage from this spell.

History

• In 0.27, the damage formula was changed from 2d5 + 1d(power/7) to 2d(6 + power/14).
• Prior to 0.26, the spell's damage was limited by the healing the player could receive. So the spell was useless when the player was at full health. Also, the player couldn't heal more than half the difference between their max HP and their current HP.
• Prior to 0.23, it was possible to drain temporary monsters created via Sticks to Snakes or the Ratskin cloak.
• Prior to 0.17, attempting to drain an undead or demonic creature would injure the caster for 2d39/2 + 9 HP. It was possible to die by casting Vampiric Draining on a tile with an invisible demon on it.
• Prior to 0.13, there was a bug which prevented you from healing to full health.