Serpent talisman
Template:Version032 Template:Flavour File:Serpent talisman.png A serpent talisman is a talisman that changes you into Serpent Form, a giant, constricting snake.
Useful Info
When eVoked, this talisman turns you into Serpent Form, which lasts until you end the form. Entering or exiting a form takes 5 turns.
Serpent Form has the following effects:
Combat Bonuses
- HP Bonus: 120% HP
- Innate AC: Linearly scales from the following points, rounding down:
- Below minimum: 1 AC (0 skill) - 9 AC (10 skill)
- Above minimum: 9 AC (10 skill) - 15 AC (19 skill) ; +1 AC per 1.67 levels
- Unarmed Combat: 10 base damage.
- Constriction: When making a melee attack, you initiate constriction. You can constrict 1 large (or smaller) foe at a time.
- Stat Bonus: +5 strength.
Resistances
Restrictions
Other
- Cold-blooded: You will be slowed when hit by certain cold attacks. Negated by any amount of cold resistance.
- Amphibious: Can swim in water, immune to drowning damage. Note that unless your species is already amphibious, you can't recover items from deep water.
- Large size: Species smaller than large will have reduced EV in this form. (Being large also lets you constrict large opponents and increases your resistance to knockback effects such as trample.)
- Suppresses many mutations. Species movement delay set to 1.0.
Serpent Form has a minimum Shapeshifting skill of 10, below which you get an HP penalty, and the AC bonus scales down. It has a maximum skill of 19, where skill has no further impact.
Aizul always carries a serpent talisman.
Strategy
Constriction is a strong effect, inflicting a large EV penalty while dealing extra damage. Because Serpent Form is large, it can constrict large monsters like centaurs, ogres, and yaks (which base Octopodes cannot).
Serpent Form also gives a fair bit of AC. For many characters first entering the Lair, it offers slightly more AC than lighter armours, without the encumbrance of heavy armour. When combined with the 120% HP and the innate poison resistance, it's a moderately durable form. However, the lack of shield will reduce your defense in the long run.
Tips & Tricks
- This form can be very useful for Nagas (fittingly enough), as it lets them move at normal speed. Barachim can also move normally, though they'll lose their hop.
- Being cold-blooded can be risky when fighting monsters with freezing weapons or other types of cold damage. Note what activates cold-blooded and what doesn't; e.g. certain spells like Flash Freeze won't cause the mutation to activate.
- If you haven't found a source of flight yet, Serpent Form will let you pass through deep water even at 0 Shapeshifting skill (though using it at such low skill will greatly reduce your maximum HP).
| Serpent Form | Felid | Gargoyle |
|---|---|---|
| File:Serpent form.png | File:Serpent form felid.png | File:Serpent form gargoyle.png |
