Difference between revisions of "Spectral thing"

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{{Flavour|A hideous glowing apparition.
 
{{Flavour|A hideous glowing apparition.
  
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-William Blake, "Broken Love". ca. 1800.}}
 
-William Blake, "Broken Love". ca. 1800.}}
  
A form of [[derived undead]], '''spectral things''' are the phantasmal spirits of slain creatures. Like other undead creations such as [[zombie]]s or [[skeleton (monster)|skeletons]], spectral things are slower and weaker than the original creatures they were made from and have the standard undead resistances to cold and negative energy. Unlike zombies or skeletons, spectral things retain their original intelligence, can use stairs, come with draining-branded attacks, and take damage normally, meaning they can eventually regenerate. They can also levitate and see invisible creatures.
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A form of [[derived undead]], '''spectral things''' are the phantasmal spirits of slain creatures. Like other undead creations such as [[zombie]]s or [[skeleton (monster)|skeletons]], spectral things are slower and weaker than the original creatures they were made from and have the standard undead resistances to cold and negative energy. Unlike zombies or skeletons, spectral things retain their original intelligence, can use stairs, come with draining-branded attacks, and take damage normally, meaning they can eventually regenerate.  
  
They are occasionally found in [[The Crypt]], naturally or summoned by a [[revenant]]'s [[Ghostly Flames]] spell. The mid-game unique [[Nergalle]] is capable of summoning large numbers of spectral orcs, which will often be armed with [[reaching]]-capable polearms.
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They are occasionally found in special vaults, can be summoned by the [[Spectral Cloud]] spell of either a [[ghost crab]] or a [[revenant]], and occasionally generate naturally in [[The Crypt]]. The mid-game unique [[Nergalle]] is capable of summoning large numbers of spectral orcs, which will often be armed with [[reaching]]-capable polearms.
  
The player can summon spectral things via the [[Death Channel]] spell, though the effect is only temporary. [[Yredelemnul]]'s Enslave Soul invocation can also give you a single ''permanent'' spectral thing that retains all of its former powers.
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The player can summon spectral things by killing things while the [[Death Channel]] spell is active, though these are only temporary. Since monsters can still create corpses, this can be used to greatly increase the size of your undead horde for a time. [[Yredelemnul]]'s Enslave Soul invocation can also give you a single ''permanent'' spectral thing that retains all of its former powers.
  
Spectral things are somewhat less durable than skeletons or zombies, but their increased intelligence, ability to follow you between levels, and ability to heal all help make up for this. Their draining attacks can prove quite useful against enemies that do not resist them. On the other hand, your created spectral servants are only temporary (unless you're using Yredelemnul's invocation, which only allows for a ''single'' permanent servant at a time), making some of their benefits less useful in the long run.
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Spectral things are somewhat less durable than skeletons or zombies, but their increased intelligence, ability to follow you between levels, and ability to heal all help make up for this. Their draining attacks can prove quite useful against enemies that do not resist them. As [[insubstantial]] beings, they are inherently [[levitate|levitating]], allowing them to cross liquids safely. They also uniformly [[see invisible]], a power the original creature may not have had.
  
 
==Identifying Spectral things==
 
==Identifying Spectral things==
Though spectral things will have different stats depending on what they were made from, ''Crawl'' tends to lump them together, making identification at a glance difficult. In console mode, all spectral things are represented by '''W'''; tiles mode is more accomodating, providing unique tiles for several categories of monster, but there are still a lot of possible variations within those categories. In either mode, you can always press '''x''' and highlight the spectral thing in question to determine exactly what type of monster you are dealing with.
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Though spectral things will have different stats depending on what they were made from, ''Crawl'' currently tends to lump them together, making identification somewhat difficult. In console mode, there are unique tiles for several categories of monster, but there are still possible variations within those categories. Press '''x''' and highlight the spectral thing in question to get a better idea of the monster you are dealing with. However, this is not definitive: eg, when an [[ironbrand convoker]] dies, it comes back as a "spectral human" and the creature's (still active) spellset is omitted in the description.
  
 
Below are all the categories of spectral things in tiles mode:
 
Below are all the categories of spectral things in tiles mode:
  
[[Image:Bat spectral.png]] Bats
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[[Image:Bat spectral.png]] [[Bat]]s
  
[[Image:Spectral centaur.png]] Centaurs
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[[Image:Spectral centaur.png]] [[List of centaurs|Centaurs]]
  
[[Image:Spectral dragon.png]] Dragons
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[[Image:Spectral dragon.png]] [[List of dragons|Dragons]]
  
 
[[Image:Spectral drake.png]] Drakes
 
[[Image:Spectral drake.png]] Drakes
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[[Image:Spectral large humanoid.png]] Humanoids (large)
 
[[Image:Spectral large humanoid.png]] Humanoids (large)
  
[[Image:Spectral hydra 1.png]] Hydras with one head...
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[[Image:Spectral hydra 1.png]] [[Image:Spectral hydra 2.png]] [[Image:Spectral hydra 3.png]] [[Image:Spectral hydra 4.png]] [[Image:Spectral hydra 5.png]] [[Hydra]]
 
 
[[Image:Spectral hydra 2.png]] ...two heads...
 
 
 
[[Image:Spectral hydra 3.png]] ...three heads...
 
 
 
[[Image:Spectral hydra 4.png]] ...four heads...
 
 
 
[[Image:Spectral hydra 5.png]] ...or five or more heads
 
  
[[Image:Spectral insect.png]] Insects
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[[Image:Spectral insect.png]] [[List of arthropods|Insects]]
  
 
[[Image:Spectral bee.png]] Insects (winged)
 
[[Image:Spectral bee.png]] Insects (winged)
  
[[Image:Spectral kraken.png]] Krakens
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[[Image:Spectral kraken.png]] [[Kraken]]s
  
 
[[Image:Spectral lizard.png]] Lizards
 
[[Image:Spectral lizard.png]] Lizards
  
[[Image:Spectral naga.png]] Nagas
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[[Image:Spectral naga.png]] [[List of nagas|Nagas]]
  
 
[[Image:Spectral small quadruped.png]] Quadrupeds (small)
 
[[Image:Spectral small quadruped.png]] Quadrupeds (small)
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[[Image:Spectral large quadruped.png]] Quadrupeds (large)
 
[[Image:Spectral large quadruped.png]] Quadrupeds (large)
  
[[Image:Spectral snake.png]] Snakes
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[[Image:Spectral snake.png]] [[List of snakes|Snakes]]
  
 
[[Image:Spectral spider.png]] Spiders
 
[[Image:Spectral spider.png]] Spiders

Revision as of 17:54, 7 February 2018

Version 0.21: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.
A hideous glowing apparition.

"On the hungry craving wind
My Spectre follows thee behind."
-William Blake, "Broken Love". ca. 1800.

A form of derived undead, spectral things are the phantasmal spirits of slain creatures. Like other undead creations such as zombies or skeletons, spectral things are slower and weaker than the original creatures they were made from and have the standard undead resistances to cold and negative energy. Unlike zombies or skeletons, spectral things retain their original intelligence, can use stairs, come with draining-branded attacks, and take damage normally, meaning they can eventually regenerate.

They are occasionally found in special vaults, can be summoned by the Spectral Cloud spell of either a ghost crab or a revenant, and occasionally generate naturally in The Crypt. The mid-game unique Nergalle is capable of summoning large numbers of spectral orcs, which will often be armed with reaching-capable polearms.

The player can summon spectral things by killing things while the Death Channel spell is active, though these are only temporary. Since monsters can still create corpses, this can be used to greatly increase the size of your undead horde for a time. Yredelemnul's Enslave Soul invocation can also give you a single permanent spectral thing that retains all of its former powers.

Spectral things are somewhat less durable than skeletons or zombies, but their increased intelligence, ability to follow you between levels, and ability to heal all help make up for this. Their draining attacks can prove quite useful against enemies that do not resist them. As insubstantial beings, they are inherently levitating, allowing them to cross liquids safely. They also uniformly see invisible, a power the original creature may not have had.

Identifying Spectral things

Though spectral things will have different stats depending on what they were made from, Crawl currently tends to lump them together, making identification somewhat difficult. In console mode, there are unique tiles for several categories of monster, but there are still possible variations within those categories. Press x and highlight the spectral thing in question to get a better idea of the monster you are dealing with. However, this is not definitive: eg, when an ironbrand convoker dies, it comes back as a "spectral human" and the creature's (still active) spellset is omitted in the description.

Below are all the categories of spectral things in tiles mode:

Bat spectral.png Bats

Spectral centaur.png Centaurs

Spectral dragon.png Dragons

Spectral drake.png Drakes

Spectral fish.png Fish

Spectral frog.png Frogs

Spectral small humanoid.png Humanoids (small)

Spectral large humanoid.png Humanoids (large)

Spectral hydra 1.png Spectral hydra 2.png Spectral hydra 3.png Spectral hydra 4.png Spectral hydra 5.png Hydra

Spectral insect.png Insects

Spectral bee.png Insects (winged)

Spectral kraken.png Krakens

Spectral lizard.png Lizards

Spectral naga.png Nagas

Spectral small quadruped.png Quadrupeds (small)

Spectral large quadruped.png Quadrupeds (large)

Spectral snake.png Snakes

Spectral spider.png Spiders

See Also