Boulder beetle
Version 0.28: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.
For a list of all arthropods, see list of arthropods.
boulder beetle B 
| |
|---|---|
| HP | 50-102 |
| HD | 12 |
| XP | 971 |
| Speed | 10 |
| AC | 20 |
| EV | 2 |
| Will | 40 |
| Attack1 | 27 (bite: plain)
|
| Resistances | None |
| Vulnerabilities | Poison |
| Habitat | Land |
| Intelligence | Animal |
| Uses | Uses nothing |
| Holiness | Natural |
| Size | Large |
| Type | boulder beetle, boulder beetle |
| Flags | No skeleton Web immune |
| A huge grey beetle with an almost impenetrable rocky carapace. When at some distance from its foe, a boulder beetle is capable of rolling at high speed, attempting to crash into its target for heavy damage. |
Contents
Useful Info
Boulder beetles are among the most massive bugs in the game, using their brutal melee attacks and decent AC whenever a player lets them get into melee. This is made easier with their rolling ability, which doubles their speed and damage for a short time. They need a tile of space in order to roll, but they can also leap away from their prey to set up the opportunity.
Boulder beetles can be found in the mid-to-late Dungeon, as well as in all parts of the Lair.
Spells
| Spell set I | ||
|---|---|---|
| Slot1 | Roll (2d27) | Natural flag |
| Slot2 | Blink Away | Natural flag |
Tips & Tricks
- Be cautious around boulder beetles; any moment when they're not adjacent to you is a moment they could suddenly gain a huge burst of speed and power.
- Their rolling attack is essentially a double-strength regular attack and follows many of the same rules. Characters with a decent shield or evasion stand a chance of avoiding the attack outright, while characters relying on their armor to protect them will have a harder time of it. Placing an ally (such as Hepliaklqana's ancestor) in the path of their rolling charge will safely unleash the attack, and stop the roll.
- They've got vulnerability to poison, making it easy to bypass their AC and take them out if you have access to Poison Magic or even a poisoned dart. Curare is especailly effective. They've also got weak willpower and only moderate HD, so Hexes or disabling wands can stop them fairly easily.
History
- Boulder beetles returned in 0.26 with a new rolling mechanic.
- Boulder beetles were removed in 0.19. They were slower than average, and their rolling was subject to inertia (similar to an orb of destruction, they would keep rolling in a straight line until they hit something).
- Prior to 0.11, boulder beetles could not roll at you.
