Meliai

Version 0.30: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

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

meliai y
HP	16-33
HD	7
XP	487
Speed	20
AC	4
EV	14
Will	20
Attack¹	14 (hit: plain)
Attack²	12 (sting: poison)
Resistances	None
Vulnerabilities	Poison
Habitat	Land
Intelligence	Human
Uses	Weapons & armour Starting equipment Open doors
Holiness	Natural
Size	Small
Type	killer bee, meliai
Flags	Flying No skeleton Web immune Evil

A nymphal hybrid, with a winged torso of a human atop the stinging abdomen of a bee. The meliai serve under many roles: priestesses of nature, nurses to the divine, and warrior-champions for their hives.

“And Heaven came, bringing on night and longing for love, and he lay about Earth
spreading himself full upon her. Then the son from his ambush stretched forth
his left hand and in his right took the great long sickle with jagged teeth,
and swiftly lopped off his own father's members and cast them away to fall
behind him. And not vainly did they fall from his hand; for all the bloody
drops that gushed forth Earth received, and as the seasons moved round she bare
the strong Erinyes and the great Giants with gleaming armour, holding long
spears in their hands, and the Nymphs whom they call Meliae all over the
boundless earth.”
-Hesiod, _Theogony_, 182-187, trans. H.G. Evelyn-White. 1920

Useful Info

Meliai are fey bee-priestesses that always come in threes. They can appear in the late Dungeon, Spider's Nest, or as part of a killer bee vault.

Spells

Tile	Name	Damage	Range	Flags
	Smiting	7-17	LOS	Priest flag
	Heal Other	2d3+3	LOS	Priest flag

Tips & Tricks

Think of them like killer bee versions of orc priests: Smiting, high speed, and a poisonous sting. Even though they might be frail, don't take meliai packs lightly!
- A group of 3 meliai is equivalent to 6 orc priests, and closer to 8 orc priests in practice (as meliai cast Smiting ~40% more often than priests).
Meliai are fast, high EV, but frail threats. The following can be good ways to take them out:
- Strong AOE options that never miss, including lightning rods, Lee's Rapid Deconstruction, and Freezing Cloud . A tin of tremorstones, while it can miss, is very accurate and likely to kill (if you have decent Evocations).
- Like many insects, they're weak to poison. Olgreb's Toxic Radiance may prove extremely helpful if they appear in a vault full of other bees.
- They have poor willpower. A wand of charming is very effective, though paralysis is nice to use too.
Meliai are valid targets for a queen bee's Berserk Other. If that happens, watch out!

History

Meliai were introduced in 0.19.