Summon Mana Viper
 Summon Mana Viper
| |
|---|---|
| Level | 5 |
| School1 | Hexes |
| School2 | Summoning |
| Source(s) | Book of Beasts Book of the Wilderness |
| Casting noise | 4 |
| Spell noise | 0 |
| Power Cap | 100 |
| Flags | Mons abjure |
| Summons a violet-scaled serpent whose bite can swiftly drain the magical reserves of nearly any foe. At higher power, the antimagic properties of the viper's bite grow even stronger. |
Summon Mana Viper is a level 5 Hexes/Summoning spell which summons a single mana viper.
Effect
A single mana viper is summoned.
Higher spell power increases the hit dice of the creature. The mana viper's HD equals 7 + <power> / 12, rounded in a weighted manner.[1] This increases HP, accuracy, and the strength of the antimagic bite.
Duration of the summon is around 18 turns; it does not depend on the spell power.
There is a summon cap of 1; casting the spell again will cause the old summon to very quickly time out.
Strategy
Mana vipers are fast and moderately durable, but are most notable for their antimagic bite. The antimagic status gives a % chance for monsters to fail their spells. The more antimagic a monster has, the greater the failure rate. Antimagic is very effective against spellcasters and demons.
Theoretically, mana vipers can be used against endgame threats like ancient liches, orbs of fire, and fiends. But vipers aren't the strongest creatures, and you can only summon one at a time. So it's likely that the viper just dies (or gets abjured). This spell can work against them, but don't rely on it.
Against non-magical targets, mana vipers are alright. Better than a warg or ice beast, but not amazingly so. If you want a raw combat summon, cactus giants are a much better bet.
Monster Version
Creates multiple mana vipers based on the spell power, their hit dice is not adjusted from the base monster. Duration is the same as the player version.
The following enemies cast Summon Mana Viper:
History
- Prior to 0.31, mana vipers' HD was 1 lower.
- Prior to 0.30, mana vipers' HP did not scale with spellpower, resulting in less HP overall. Also, their HD was 1 lower.
- Prior to 0.28, this spell had a summon cap of two.
- Summon Mana Viper was added in 0.14.
References
- ↑ spl-summoning.cc:580 (0.31-b1)
