Centaur

Template:Obsolete This page is about the obsolete player species. For the monster, see Centaur (monster). For a list of all monstrous centaurs, see List of centaurs. Template:Flavour

Innate Abilities

• Centaurs are hybrids, half-horse and half-man:
  • Deformed: Centaurs only gain half the base AC from body armour.
  • Centaurs get an EV and Dodging penalty, due to their size.
  • Centaurs can equip centaur bardings, but not boots.
  • Centaurs are large enough to attack normally while standing in shallow water (though they still move slowly through it).
  • Centaurs require less skill to use shields effectively than other medium-sized races.
• Tough Skin 3: Centaurs have extremely tough skin (AC +3).
• Hooves 3: Centaurs have a kick auxiliary attack. Hooves reduce stealth by -20 if you aren't flying.
• Fast 2: Centaurs cover ground very quickly during movement. (0.7 decaAut per tile, equal to 14.2 monster "speed"; slightly slower than monster centaurs).

Centaurs have a base Strength of 10, Intelligence of 7 and Dexterity of 4 (before background modifiers).

Preferred Backgrounds

• Warriors: Fighter, Gladiator, Hunter
• Warrior-mages: Warper, Arcane Marksman

Level Bonuses

• +1 strength or dexterity (equal chance) every 4th level.
• 10% more HP than average.
• 10% less MP than average.
• +3 magic resistance per level.

Starting Skills and Equipment

Centaurs start with the skills and equipment listed for their background.

Difficulty of Play

Due to having high HP and fast move speed, Centaurs are a very forgiving species. Speed allows Centaurs to kite most targets, disengage from many bad fights, reposition favorably, and avoid being surrounded. High HP, especially when compared to the other fast species (Spriggans and Felids), means that you're less likely to die from orc priests and the like. They have an amazing Bows aptitude, but any sort of ranged attack can work well too.

Centaurs are not without their problems (poor defensive aptitudes, low stealth, Deformed mutation), but the benefits far outweigh the cons. The innate +3 AC from Tough Skin counteracts Deformed; Centaurs only get a net AC loss when wearing heavier armours. Plus, they can wear centaur bardings, which give more AC than boots - assuming you find one.

They are considered "Intermediate" because it's considered difficult for a completely new player to understand Crawl's speed system (and take advantage of kiting) from scratch. It's not because they are weak; Centaurs are one of the strongest species overall, arguably easier than "Simple" species like Draconian and Ghoul.

Trivia

Centaurs are originally creatures from Greek mythology.

History

• Playable centaurs were removed in 0.26.
• Prior to 0.15, centaurs were Herbivorous, gaining more nutrition from vegetarian foods and less from meat-based foods. They also had Fast Metabolism 1, causing them to hunger more quickly. As a result, they started with one more bread ration than most species.