Death scarab

Version 0.17: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

death scarab B
HP	18-38
HD	8
XP	876
Speed	30
AC	7
EV	14
Will	60
Attack1	33 (bite: scarab)
Resistances	rPois+++ rDrown rMiasma rN+++ rTorm
Vulnerabilities	Holy
Habitat	Land
Intelligence	Animal
Uses	Uses nothing
Holiness	Undead
Size	Little
Type	beetle, death scarab
Flags	Evil Unbreathing Batty No skeleton Web immune No zombie

A hideous swarming undead insect, exuding death and decay and feeding on the life energies of those unfortunate enough to encounter them.

Useful Info

Death scarabs are debilitating undead pests that assault intruders in packs, afflicting their foes with a variety of unpleasant effects. Their bites inflict draining and a temporary rank of negative energy vulnerability, and they leave clouds of miasma in their wake wherever they go. Groups of death scarabs can be found throughout the Tomb, and they may be summoned by greater mummies.

Tips & Tricks

• On their own, death scarabs are unlikely to kill a character capable of reaching the Tomb. However, their presence makes combat with any of the Tomb's other inhabitants significantly more dangerous. rN- makes almost all other enemies found here much deadlier, slow magnifies the number of actions enemies get between your actions, and throwing another source of rot into the mix just makes the branch even more aggravating to fight your way through. If you enter Tomb with less than rN+++, expect encounters with death scarabs to leave you at least somewhat drained. When possible, kill them at range before they get a chance to affect you, and give yourself time to recover after a fight so you don't find yourself getting blasted while slow and vulnerable.
• Undead characters are immune to all of a death scarab's additional attacks, reducing them to annoying pests.
• Their undead nature makes them immune to poison. They lack any fire or cold resistance, however, making Freezing Cloud and Fireball excellent (if noisy) methods for defeating them from a distance.

History

Death scarabs were added in 0.16.