Borgnjor's Vile Clutch
 Borgnjor's Vile Clutch
| |
|---|---|
| Level | 5 |
| School1 | Earth |
| School2 | Necromancy |
| Source(s) | Great Wizards, Vol. II Book of Unlife |
| Casting noise | 5 |
| Spell noise | 4 |
| Power Cap | 200 |
| Range | 6 |
| Hated By | Elyvilon The Shining One Zin |
| Flags | Dir or target, Needs tracer |
| Calls forth hands from corpses interred beneath the dungeon floor long ago. Enemies caught in the area will be held in place and constricted until they break free. |
| Spell Details | |
|---|---|
| Damage Formula | 2d(2 + power/20) per turn |
| Max Damage | 2d(12)+ per turn |
| Max Power | 200 |
| Range | 6 |
| Targeting | Beam |
| To-hit | Infinite |
| Special | Damage/turn Constriction damage increases over time |
Borgnjor's Vile Clutch, also known as BVC and zombie hands, is a level 5 Necromancy/Earth spell that affects all enemies in a beam-targeted line with the constriction status (displayed as "constricted by zombie hands").
Constriction deals damage over time until the affected monster(s) die, escape constriction (which they must waste turns to do), or the effect runs out. In most cases, the monster will die or escape before the status runs out. If you leave line of sight of any affected enemies, they are immediately released.
Resistant Enemies
Only a small number of monsters are not affected by BVC, all of which are also immune to regular types of constriction. They include:
- All slimes and jellies.
- Insubstantial enemies, including wraith-type undead, many monsters in the Abyss, and orbs of fire.
- Spiny enemies
Enemies over deep water or lava are unaffected.
Strategy
BVC is a very versatile spell: You basically now have access to an unlimited number of throwing nets that cannot only pin but even kill a large number of enemies in a few casts, and has a few specific benefits:
- Cannot be dodged and is largely irresistible (except for creatures listed above).
- Significantly reduces the target's EV, making them easier to hit with melee or other destructive spells. This combos well with other Earth Magic spells, like Iron Shot or Lehudib's Crystal Spear, which both suffer somewhat from low accuracy.
- Pins the target in place, allowing the player to move away even from fast enemies without attacks of opportunity.
- Makes the target waste turns trying to escape, similar to nets. Enemies that can reach you will still attack you in melee, but this means BVC's effect will last longer since they're no longer trying to escape. Casters can still cast spells, but at their usual rate - they generally won't cast for every single turn.
- Destroys whole groups of enemies in corridors, since it affects the whole beam path. Other piercing attacks, like javelins, work well in conjunction.
- Note that unlike throwing nets, BVC doesn't provide an opportunity for stabbing attacks.
History
- Prior to 0.31, BVC's base damage was
2d(3.5 + pow/20)per turn. Also, you couldn't constrict invisible enemies if you didn't have see invisible. - Prior to 0.26, a few more monsters were spiny - porcupines, torturous demonspawn, and hell sentinels - and thus immune to constriction.
- Prior to 0.25, BVC affected a smite-targeted 3x3 area instead of a beam path.
- Prior to 0.22, Necromancers started with BVC, and it did 33% more damage.
- The spell was added in 0.21.
