Bolt of Draining: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 18:39, 24 May 2026

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

Bolt of Draining
Casting noise	5
Spell noise	0
Range	5
Flags	Dir or target, Monster, Needs tracer

Fires a penetrating bolt of negative energy which drains any living creature it strikes.

Bolt of Draining is a monster-only spell which fires a bolt of negative energy, dealing damage and draining any creatures in its path. For players, energy resistance reduces the damage and draining dealt by this spell by 50% (rN+), 75% (rN++), or 100% (rN+++). Draining can be quite irritating, since it lowers your max HP (until you gain sufficient XP).

The following enemies cast Bolt of Draining:

e Deep elf death mage (3d24 damage)
6 Demonspawn soul scholar (3d22 damage)
W Eidolon (3d21 damage)
L Halazid warlock (3d25 damage)
H Jorogumo (3d20 damage)
z Laughing skull (3d(13-26) damage)
p Necromancer (3d18 damage)
o Nergalle (3d18 damage)
* Orb of entropy (3d36 damage)
o Orc sorcerer (3d17 damage)
D Shadow dragon (3d24 damage)
Q Tengu reaver (3d24 damage)
1 Tzitzimitl (3d29 damage)
V Vampire mage (3d18 damage)

The following enemies may be able to cast Bolt of Draining, depending on their spell set:

& Pandemonium lord (5.2% chance)

History

Bolt of Draining
Level	5
School¹	Conjuration
School²	Necromancy
Source(s)	Book of Death
Casting noise	2
Spell noise	0

Spell Details
Damage Formula	4d(3.75+Power*3/20)
Max Damage	4d33 negative energy
Max Power	200
Range	6
Targeting	Bolt
To-hit	8+Power/20
Special	Draining

Prior to 0.26, draining reduced skill XP instead of max HP. Also, bolt spells had their range reduced by 1 for each target they hit.
Prior to 0.25, Bolt of Draining was a level 5 Conjurations/Necromancy spell available to players.
Prior to 0.14, Bolt of Draining was a level 6 spell.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{version012}}
+{{version030}}
+{{monster spell info}}
+'''Bolt of Draining''' is a monster-only spell which fires a bolt of [[negative energy]], dealing damage and [[draining]] any creatures in its path. For players, energy resistance reduces the damage and draining dealt by this spell by 50% (rN+), 75% (rN++), or 100% (rN+++). Draining can be quite irritating, since it lowers your max HP (until you gain sufficient XP).
+{{monsters with spell}}
+==History==
+{{suppress categories |
 {{Spell
 |name=Bolt of Draining
-|level=6
+|level=5
 |school1={{Conjurations}}
 |school2={{Necromancy}}
@@ Line 9: / Line 17: @@
 *[[Book of Death]]
 </div>
-|castingnoise=3
+|castingnoise=2
 |spellnoise=0
 }}
+}}
-{{Flavour|This spell hurls a deadly bolt of negative energy, which drains the life from any living creature it strikes.}}
 {{AttackSpell
 |name=Bolt of Draining
 |formula = 4d(3.75+Power*3/20)
-|maxdmg = 4d(32.75) [[negative energy]]
+|maxdmg = 4d33 [[negative energy]]
 |maxsp = 200
 |range = 6
 |target = Bolt
-|special = [[Draining]]}}
+|tohit = 8+Power/20
+|special = [[Draining]]
-'''Bolt of Draining''' is a level 6 [[Conjurations]]/[[Necromancy]] spell which fires a bolt of [[negative energy]], dealing damage and [[draining]] any creatures in its path. It functions much like a more powerful [[wand of draining]] with reduced range (range 8 vs. range 6, and it loses one square of range each time it hits something). Negative energy resistance reduces the damage dealt by this spell by 1/3 per rank, granting total immunity at rN+++.
+|hit_type = normal
+|hit_adder = 8
-==Strategy==
+|hit_num = 1
-While Bolt of Draining is effective at softening up or destroying rows of dangerous natural monsters, using it does reduce the [[XP]] you gain from kills, though this loss is relatively minor. Also, many of the more dangerous late game monsters (including all undead and demons) are partially or completely immune to its effects. On the other hand, undead immunity means you can send hordes of undead minions at your foes and shoot Bolts of Draining through them without any risk of harming them, and [[Orb Guardian]]s, [[list of draconians|draconians]], and almost all [[list of giants|giants]] are still quite susceptible to its damage. [[Necromancer]]s looking for means of dealing damage may wish to save the spell levels for the level 7 Necromancy/[[Summonings]] spell [[Haunt]] (which ''is'' effective against the undead and demons), or branch into some other school of magic. Regardless, consider [[scroll of amnesia|forgetting]] Bolt of Draining once you reach the extended end-game and using those spell levels on something more universally useful.
+|hit_denom = 20
+|dam_calculator = calcdice
-==Monster Version==
+|dam_numdice = 4
-Many monsters are capable of casting Bolt of Draining with extremely irritating results; a permanent loss of XP, potentially reducing your level. While slightly weakening an enemy that you'll kill in two turns isn't very impressive, losing a level or two in a single unlucky combat can be infuriating.
+|dam_adder = 15
+|dam_num = 3
-The following monsters can cast Bolt of Draining:
+|dam_denom = 5}}
-*[[Necromancer (monster)|Necromancer]] (50% chance)
+*Prior to [[0.26]], [[drain]]ing reduced skill XP instead of max HP. Also, [[bolt spell]]s had their range reduced by 1 for each target they hit.
-*[[Vampire mage]]
+*Prior to [[0.25]], Bolt of Draining was a level 5 [[Conjurations]]/[[Necromancy]] spell available to players.
-*[[Orc sorcerer]]
+*Prior to [[0.14]], Bolt of Draining was a level 6 spell.
-*[[Deep elf conjurer]]
-*[[Deep elf sorcerer]]
-*[[Deep elf death mage]]
-*[[Lich]] (50% chance)
-*[[Shadow fiend]]
-*[[Pandemonium lord]] (sometimes)
-*[[Nergalle]]
-*[[Ereshkigal]]
-*[[Gloorx Vloq]]
-==Spell Mechanics==
-The hit point damage inflicted by a player's Bolt of Draining from any source is determined by:
-{{crawlquote|calc_dice(4, 15 + (power * 3) / 5)}}
-so at power 50, it will do 4d11 (4-44) damage and at power 100 it will do 4d18 (4-72) damage.
-Its [[to-hit]] number is
-{{crawlquote|(8 + power/20)}}
-giving a value of 10 at power 50 and 13 at power 100.
-Cast by a monster, the spell has power equal to 12 times the caster's HD (like any monster spell). All monster-launched bolts of draining do an amount of damage given by
-{{crawlquote|dice_def(3, 6 + power / 13)}}
-with a to-hit number of
-{{crawlquote|(16 + power / 35)}}
-Thus, thrown by a 15 HD caster, it will do 3d19 (3-57) damage and have a to-hit number of 21.