Bennu: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 07:44, 6 October 2026

Version 0.34: This article is up to date for the latest stable release of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

bennu b
HP	50-103
HD	14
XP	1014
Speed	16
AC	6
EV	16
Will	140
Attack¹	46 (peck: holy)
Attack²	36 (claw: plain)
Resistances	rF+++ rPois+ rMiasma rN+++
Vulnerabilities	None
Habitat	Land
Intelligence	Human
Uses	Uses nothing
Holiness	Natural
Size	Medium
Type	bennu, bennu
Flags	See invisible Flying Speaks Warm-blooded No poly

A sacred, self-created sunbird, representative of rebirth. It has ascended past the cycles of life and death, and calls upon aspects of both, rising forth from death in a burst of unholy flame.

Useful Info

Bennus are curiously contradictory creatures, masters of both life and death. Their attacks inflict holy damage. Upon death, bennus resurrect and emit a large burst of negative energy, damaging the living. They can only resurrect once. They are very rare, appearing only in the Tomb of the Ancients and ziggurats.

Tips & Tricks

For the living, bennus are one of the less dangerous Tomb creatures; they are simple melee threats that aren't especially strong. But against undead or demonic players, they can hit hard and fast with holy-branded attacks. If you're vulnerable to holy and lack great defenses, mind the damage.
Bennus are immune to fire and resistant to Shatter, so many AOE spells that obliterate mummies won't work against them.

Trivia

The bennu is a reference to Bennu, an Egyptian deity of the sun, creation, and rebirth. The unholy aspects ascribed to it in DCSS have likely only been added to make it better fit in the undead-filled Tomb of the Ancients.

History

Prior to 0.33, bennus had 3 weaker attacks.
Prior to 0.30, bennus had fast regeneration.
Prior to 0.28, they were vulnerable to water.
Prior to 0.19, their ghostly flame explosions could heal any nearby undead, including the player. Also, bennus had a draining melee attack.
Bennus were added in 0.16. For a brief time during their development, they also possessed sticky flame attacks.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{version016}}
+{{version034}}
-<!--monster-bot-begin-->
+{{monster info}}
-{{monster
-|name=bennu
-|glyph={{Yellow|b}}
-|tile=[[File:Bennu.png]]
-|flags={{Evil flag}}<br>{{Flying flag}}<br>{{Glows flag}}<br>{{No poly flag}}<br>{{Regenerates flag}}<br>{{See invisible flag}}<br>{{Speaks flag}}<br>{{Warm blood flag}}
-|resistances={{Fire resistance 3}}, {{Poison resistance}}, <br>{{Negative energy resistance 3}}, {{Rot resistance}}, <br>{{Drown resistance}}
-|vulnerabilities={{Water vulnerability}}, {{Holy vulnerability}}
-|max_chunks=0
-|meat={{No corpse}}
-|xp=1288
-|holiness={{Natural}}
-|magic_resistance=140
-|hp_range=59-96
-|avg_hp=77
-|armour_class=6
-|evasion=16
-|habitat=Land
-|speed= 16
-|size={{Medium}}
-|item_use={{Uses nothing}}
-|attack1=27 ({{Peck type}}: {{holy flavour}})
-|attack2=18 ({{Claw type}}: {{Drain experience flavour}})
-|attack3=18 ({{Claw type}}: {{Plain flavour}})
-|attack4=
-|hit_dice=14
-|base_hp=3
-|extra_hp=5
-|fixed_hp=0
-|intelligence={{Normal intelligence}}
-|genus=bennu
-|species=bennu
-}}
-{{Flavour|Sacred, self-created sunbirds, representative of rebirth. They have ascended past the cycles of life and death, and readily call upon aspects of both. Famously, they may rise forth from death in a burst of flame, though common portrayals leaves out how unholy these flames are.}}
-<!--monster-bot-end-->
 ==Useful Info==
-'''Bennu''' are curiously contradictory creatures, masters of both life and death. Their attacks inflict [[holy]], [[draining]], and [[fire]] damage, and upon death they emit a large burst of [[ghostly flame]], damaging the living and healing the dead. Once they've resurrected once, however, they become mortal, and slaying them a second time will finish them off. They are very rare, appearing only in [[the Tomb of the Ancients]], and usually only on the third and final floor.
+'''Bennus''' are curiously contradictory creatures, masters of both life and death. Their attacks inflict [[holy]] damage. Upon death, bennus resurrect and emit a large burst of negative energy, damaging the living. They can only resurrect once. They are very rare, appearing only in [[the Tomb of the Ancients]] and [[ziggurat]]s.
 ==Tips & Tricks==
-*The ghostly flames it emits upon death will heal any undead units within its radius. Try to finish off any particularly dangerous, heavily wounded undead opponents before landing a killing blow on the bennu (or better yet, try not to fight a bennu with other opponents around at the same time).
+*For the living, bennus are one of the less dangerous Tomb creatures; they are simple melee threats that aren't especially strong. But against [[undead]] or [[Demonspawn|demonic]] players, they can hit hard and fast with [[holy]]-branded attacks. If you're vulnerable to holy and lack great defenses, mind the damage.
-*Lacking any ranged attacks, or even any particularly devastating melee ones, the bennu is one of the least-deadly opponents in Tomb. Undead characters should avoid leaving these enemies alive for very long, however. Their holy-[[brand]]ed peck attacks can be surprisingly harmful if you lack solid physical protection. The ghostly flame bursts they emit upon death will heal you, however.
+*Bennus are immune to [[fire]] and resistant to [[Shatter]], so many AOE spells that obliterate mummies won't work against them.
 ==Trivia==
@@ Line 47: / Line 13: @@
 ==History==
-*Bennu were added in [[0.16]].
+*Prior to [[0.33]], bennus had 3 weaker attacks.
+*Prior to [[0.30]], bennus had fast regeneration.
+*Prior to [[0.28]], they were [[:Category:Water_vulnerability|vulnerable to water]].
+*Prior to [[0.19]], their [[ghostly flame]] explosions could heal any nearby undead, including the player. Also, bennus had a [[draining]] melee attack.
+*Bennus were added in [[0.16]]. For a brief time during their development, they also possessed [[sticky flame]] attacks.