Centaur (monster)

This page is about the various centaur monsters. For the player race, see centaur.

centaur c
HP	12 - 32
HD	4
XP	112
Speed	15
AC	3
EV	7
Will	16
Attack1	10 (hit: plain)
Resistances	None
Vulnerabilities	None
Habitat	land
Intelligence	Normal
Uses	Weapons & armour
Holiness	Natural
Size	Big
Type	centaur, centaur
Flags	Warm-blooded Speaks

A hybrid with the torso of a human atop the body of a large horse, centaurs are famous for their skills in archery.

Useful Info

Centaurs are the bane of low-level spellcasters and light-armored fighters. They are quick marksmen that travel alone early on or in packs with leaders as you travel deeper, carrying bows and firing fast enough to launch multiple arrows and advance in a single turn. It isn't uncommon for them to have access to fire or ice arrows that devastate your scrolls and potions. Centaurs can be found in the early Dungeon, the Lair, the Shoals, and the Vaults.

Tips & Tricks

• Centaurs are responsible for countless dead beginners. Low-level characters should be extremely careful dealing with them.
• Centaurs are fast enough to get multiple actions in the time it takes you to act once. Running is out of the question for all but the fastest characters, but you can force them to close into melee by hiding behind a corner. Once you're adjacent to them, they'll put away their bows and lose much of their deadliness.
• If you're on an open floor with no corridors, use a wand of confusion, wand of paralysis, or Mephitic Cloud to disable them while you charge into melee. Failing that, Repel Missiles is a low-level life preserver.
• Be careful about retreating from centaurs; if you open some intervening distance, they'll pull out their bows and resume firing. It may be better to face two or more enemies at once.
• Centaurs will not attack you if other monsters are in the way.
• Centaurs can be reliably killed with a single Bolt of Fire/Bolt of Cold, but weaker spells may give them time to fight back.