Call Imp

Version 0.31: This article is up to date for the latest stable release of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

Call Imp
Level	2
School1	Summoning
Source(s)	Book of Blood Book of Minor Magic
Casting noise	2
Spell noise	0
Power Cap	100
Flags	Selfench, Unholy

Calls forth a minor demon from the pits of Hell. The demon will fight alongside the caster for a time depending on spell power.

Call Imp is a level 2 Summoning spell which summons a cerulean imp.

Hedge Wizards and Summoners start with this spell in their spell library.

Useful Info

Summons a single cerulean imp. It will be holding a spear, with an enchantment of pow/10 - 4 (rounded down). The spear will never be branded.

Higher spell power increases the spear enchantment. It does not increase the summon's HD.

Duration of the summon is around 27 turns; it does not depend on spell power.

There is a summon cap of 1 imp; casting the spell again will cause the old summon to very quickly time out.

Strategy

Imps are cheap to create, and they can help deal with many early game fights. Thanks to their polearm, cerulean imps can attack from behind their caster (or other summons). This makes imps useful, even if you have otherwise stronger summons like Call Canine Familiar.

Monster Version

The monster version works similarly to the player version, though Natasha can summon up to 3 imps at once.

The following enemies cast Call Imp:

• h Natasha

History

• Prior to 0.31, the summon duration class ranged from 2 (around 18 turns) to 6 (around 171 turns). The formula was 2 + 1d(pow)/5 duration class (capped at 6).
• Prior to 0.30, this spell would summon a crimson imp, white imp, iron imp, or shadow imp. It also had a power cap of 100.
• Prior to 0.28, this spell had a summon cap of 3.
• Prior to 0.25, the type of an imp varied with spellpower. Higher spell power increased the probability of getting a shadow or iron imp and decreased the chance of summoning a crimson imp.
• Prior to 0.12, summoned shadow imps could give you permanent undead allies by casting Animate Dead, allowing characters without Necromancy to create undead armies.
• Prior to 0.7, Call Imp was a level 3 spell. Also, it could not summon iron imps.