Corpse Rot
Version 0.28: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.
Corpse Rot
Corpse Rot is a level 2 Necromancy/Air Magic spell which converts nearby corpses into clouds of miasma surrounding the caster. Any living thing which enters these clouds will suffer drain, poison, slow, and take damage. Most enemies who aren't immune will try to avoid this, so the spell can be used to block off corridors much like Conjure Flame. The cloud can be created on top of an enemy if it is adjacent to the caster when the spell is cast.
Each corpse in sight will be converted into one cloud of miasma, which will be randomly distributed among the adjacent tiles and last 2-9 turns. Additional corpses over the number of available tiles will still rot, but provide no additional effect.
Strategy
- While this spell is unlikely to wipe out any powerful enemies, hitting an entire group with guaranteed slow and poison can be very helpful, granting you additional turns to safely kite enemies or the opportunity to flee entirely.
- If you are short on cadavers, Kiku's corpse delivery ability can provide improved coverage. If you are not immune to miasma, beware the additional chance of boxing yourself in.
- Clouds will never be formed on closed doors. You can use this to provide yourself a guaranteed escape route.
- This spell has some extra synergy with Undead and Gargoyle players, who are immune to miasma and can walk through their own clouds.
History
- Prior to 0.26, Corpse Rot inflicted actual rot, and Vine Stalkers were immune.
- Prior to 0.25, Corpse Rot generated miasma clouds at the position of the corpses, rather than surrounding the caster.
- Prior to 0.15, you were able to pick up corpses. You could position a corpse in a specific place through use of Portal Projectile.
