Shard shrike

Useful Info

Shard shrikes are durable, extremely aggressive animals which can be found either individually or in packs. These birds swarm their prey, slashing and impaling them with cold damage attacks. They are thankfully rare, only occurring in the depths of Cocytus, or very rarely inside hard Ice caves.

Tips & Tricks

• As they're found in Cocytus, you'll likely have plenty of cold resistance by the time you encounter them. Don't let that fool you into thinking them harmless, however; they have absurdly high speed, and their constant Throw Icicle spells deal partially-irresistible damage and aren't stopped by Silence. A large group of shrikes can hit you with plenty of these in a fairly short amount of time.
• Unlike most enemies in Cocytus, shard shrikes are natural, living creatures, so holy damage will barely make a dent in them.
• They have high HD, but only moderate willpower. Keep that in mind before trying to inflict them with status effects.
• Shard shrikes cannot see invisible, but unfortunately, the freezing cold of Cocytus means you can't use a potion to gain the effect. A scarf or other item with the ego can help give you an edge here -- mind the draining, though.
• Repel Missiles will certainly help keep you alive, if you have access to it.

History

• Prior to 0.28, shard shrikes could see invisible.
• Shard shrikes were added in 0.16.