Death scarab

Useful Info

Death scarabs are debilitating undead pests that assault intruders in packs, afflicting their foes with slow and healing themselves with each bite. Groups of death scarabs can be found throughout the Tomb or in Tomb-themed rune vaults in the Spider's Nest, and they may be summoned by royal mummies.

Tips & Tricks

• On their own, death scarabs are unlikely to kill a character capable of reaching the Tomb, but they make the Tomb's other inhabitants significantly more dangerous. Their Slow attacks magnify the number of enemy actions, and their erratic swarming behavior often blocks attacks against more serious foes.
  • When possible, kill them at range before they get a chance to affect you, and give yourself time to recover after a fight so you don't find yourself getting tormented while slow and injured.
• Their undead nature makes them immune to poison. They lack any fire or cold resistance, however, making Freezing Cloud and Fireball excellent (if noisy) methods for defeating them from a distance.
• You can rise your own army of death scarabs with Infestation. Infestation works on any undead, demonic, or nonliving creatures that other Necromancy would fail on, including enemy death scarabs ("The death scarab's many legs skitter faintly"). Infestation still works on any undead, demonic, etc. creatures, where other spells would fail.

History

• Prior to 0.31, you could make death scarab zombies and simulacra.
• Prior to 0.19, death scarabs used to trail clouds of miasma, but were somewhat less tough.
• Death scarabs were added in 0.16.