Summon

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This monster has been summoned, and is thus temporary. Killing it yields no experience, or items; it is incapable of using stairs.

Summons are creatures bound by magical forces, most often created by the Summoning school of spell. For the most part, summoned monsters function much like real monsters, with the following exceptions:

• They are worth no experience or piety, and leave nothing behind when slain.
• Vampiric weapons and Vampiric Draining don't work on them.
• They eventually "time out" regardless of their HP, vanishing in a cloud of smoke.
  • Summoned monsters immediately vanish upon the death of their summoner.
  • Most player summons will vanish if angered. Exceptions are demons produced by Makhleb, and the Malign Gateway spell.
• They will not follow you up or down stairs. This allows you to flee hostile summoned units and return after sufficient time has passed. Your own summoned allies will disappear immediately when you change floors.
• They will not attack monsters outside of the player's line of sight.

Durable Summon

This monster has been summoned in a durable way, and only partially exists. Killing it yields no experience or items and cannot be abjured.

A durable summon or a monster that is durably summoned is similar to a summoned monster, with a few notable exceptions:

• They never disappear, and they are not affected by the Abjuration or Aura of Abjuration spells.
• They will follow you up or down stairs.
• They can be targeted by Vampiric Draining.
• Their attacks are not susceptible to the effects of the Warding intrinsic.

Like summons, they do not yield any experience, nutrition, items, or gold.

Durable summons are most often seen after using a Mercenary card, but they can also occur as a result of divine retribution from several gods and from certain Summoning miscast effects.