Caustic shrike

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Version 0.31: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

For a list of all birds, see list of birds.

caustic shrike bCaustic shrike.png
HP 71-144
HD 18
XP 4608
Speed 20
AC 8
EV 18
Will 80
Attack1 36 (claw: acid)


Resistances rF+
rC+
Vulnerabilities None
Habitat Land
Intelligence Animal
Uses Uses nothing
Holiness Natural
Size Tiny
Type caustic shrike, caustic shrike
Flags Flying
Warm-blooded
A swift, nightmarish bird whose razor-sharp metallic feathers drip with corrosive acid.

Useful Info

Caustic shrikes are devastatingly powerful flying pack hunters that swarm their victims and tear them apart with brutal corrosive attacks. Flocks of caustic shrikes can be found in the Depths and Dis.

Tips & Tricks

  • Shrikes are justification for carrying a form of resist corrosion around while exploring the Depths. They can prove devastating if you allow several of them to attack you at once; use narrow hallways (of your own making if need be) to prevent this, especially if you lack acid resistance.
  • Shrikes aren't resistant to corrosion or even poison. A scroll of poison can deal significant amounts of damage. A wand of acid can lower their defense, assuming you can hit them in the first place.
  • Caustic shrikes have decent willpower, but Evocations or Hexes experts can affect them fairly reliably. You can also use a scroll of vulnerability to improve the chance of hexing them. Charmed shrikes make good allies.
  • Even as a very dangerous late-game enemy, they cannot see invisible. Invisibility is powerful -- just don't expect a potion to be a one-stop solution to a shrike pack.
  • For those who worship Okawaru, kills of caustic shrikes tend to award maximum piety per kill even well after you've achieved a fairly routine ability to dispatch them. Keep that in mind if you need a boost to take out one or more - if you invoke heroism and/or finesse, odds are you'll recover much of the piety you spent upon your victory.

History