Ereshkigal

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

Ereshkigal &
HP	231-467
HD	18
XP	7000
Speed	14
AC	10
EV	30
Will	∞
Attack1	40 (hit: drain experience)
Resistances	rC+ rElec rPois+ rMiasma rN+++ rTorm
Vulnerabilities	Holy
Habitat	Land
Intelligence	Human
Uses	Weapons & armour Starting equipment Open doors
Holiness	Demonic
Size	Large
Type	hell lord, Ereshkigal
Flags	Evil See invisible Speaks Unique Female Tall tile

Greatest and most inexorable of the Lords of Hell, Ereshkigal was born when first a mortal breathed her last. Noiselessly she laughs at lives cut short and loved ones separated by untimely death, enwreathed in the silence of the grave.

Useful Info

Ereshkigal is an umbral demon lord who guards the bone rune on the lowest floor of Tartarus. She is notable for being fast and very difficult to hit, and calls demons to her aid while tormenting and paralyzing you. On top of that, she can recover a tremendous amount of HP with her magic while simultaneously stopping your spells with Silence. She is encountered with a pack of Tzitzimimeh at her side.

Spells

Tile	Name	Damage	Range	Flags
	Bolt of Cold	3d27	5	Magical flag
	Silence	—	—	Magical flag
	Summon Tzitzimitl	—	—	Magical flag
	Symbol of Torment	—	—	Magical flag
	Paralyse	—	LOS	Magical flag
	Major Healing	50-230	—	Emergency flag, Magical flag

Tips & Tricks

• A source of torment resistance and maxed out negative energy resistance will greatly reduce her damage. Cold resistance is helpful against her Bolt of Cold.
  • While Necromutation will provide living characters with immunity to torment, her Tzitzimimeh can quickly annihilate undead characters with Dispel Undead Range. Keep a large pack of summoned minions in the way to block their line of fire if you choose to face her while undead.

• In addition, paralysis is always a deadly effect. Due to the willpower-halving effects of Tartarus, Ereshkigal has a 17% chance of paralysing you at max will. Even the most well-equipped characters can be instantly killed by her. You'll want as much willpower as you can (Will+++++ before entering Tartarus) to maximally improve your chances.

There are only a few ways of completely preventing paralysis:

• Creating a swarm of allies, since paralyse requires a line of fire. Having 5-6 angels from the Shining One will likely kill her outright. Dragon's Call works too.
• Attacking from outside line of sight. You can take advantage of Fire Storm, with either Vehumet's range increase or a scarf of shadows' LOS decrease. Haste yourself, throw a net, step 1 tile back, and start firing. This also has the benefit of preventing silence. This strategy is still vulnerable to paralysis, during the turn(s) where you throw a net.
• Dithmenos' Shadow Form gives you infinite willpower, bypassing the restriction in Tartarus. Also, Formicids are always immune to paralysis.

• Her evasion can be a major headache unless you have ways around it. Powerful, undodgeable spells such as Shatter or Fire Storm work well. Straight melee characters will have a harder time of it, but the Shining One's divine halo and holy wrath weapons can help make your swings much more effective.
  • Maxwell's Capacitive Coupling is an interesting alternative for taking down Ereshkigal. If you can complete the channeling, she will be instantly defeated, but look out for her Silence, which can dissipate your charge as you are accumulating it.

• Try to buff yourself up before getting caught in her silence aura, and remember that potions, wands, and other evocable items still function even then. A wand of quicksilver, if you have it, will end silence (if it hits).

Trivia

In Mesopotamian mythology, Ereshkigal was the goddess of Irkalla, the land of the dead or underworld.

History

• Prior to 0.28, Tartarus didn't halve willpower; enough willpower could always resist the paralysis.
• Prior to 0.27, Ereshkigal had Summon Greater Demon instead of Summon Tzitzimitl.
• Prior to 0.12, Ereshkigal had only 250 HP. and her spell set was much weaker; she had Minor Healing in place of Major Healing, and Bolt of Draining in place of Silence.