Spatial maelstrom

Version 0.14: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

spatial maelstrom v
HP	63-86
HD	10
XP	762
Speed	16
AC	0
EV	5
Will	Immune
Attack1	20 (hit: distort)
Attack2	20 (hit: distort)
Resistances	rF++, rC++, rElec, rPois+, rN+++, rTorm, rRot+++, rSticky, rConstr, rDrown, rWater
Vulnerabilities	None
Habitat	Land
Intelligence	Plant
Uses	Uses nothing
Holiness	Non-living
Size	Big
Type	spatial maelstrom, spatial maelstrom
Flags	Batty Glows Insubstantial Levitate

A malevolent rift in reality, dissolving all terrain it passes by into swirling vortices.

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

Useful Info

Spatial maelstroms are a more advanced form of spatial vortex, no longer confused and now capable of creating spatial vortices by converting adjacent walls into chaos; they may also convert walls by moving into them. Their speed (fast enough to make escape extremely difficult, if not impossible), wall destruction, and rapid distortion hits make them high-profile threats within the branch. They only appear in the Abyss and Abyss-themed Ziggurat floors - anywhere else, even when inflicted with Corruption, will expel maelstroms back to the Abyss.

Tips & Tricks

• Spatial vortices are surprisingly rare in the Abyss outside of one exit vault and one rune vault. As such, seeing multiple spatial vortices wandering around might indicate the presence of a maelstrom and is therefore your cue to consider going a different direction.
• Their distortion attacks can chew through your HP rapidly, send you into the more dangerous levels of the Abyss, or suddenly teleport you into unknown and potentially occupied terrain at low health. This, paired with their breeding habits and their speed, makes them top-priority threats; feel free to use consumables or heavy magic.
• If possible, try to lure them into wide open areas to reduce the number of spatial vortices they can produce. More often than not, however, you won't find them until they've already wrecked a section of the Abyss.

History

Spatial maelstroms were added in 0.12.