Talk:Mind flayer

What exactly does the remote attack do, and what is the radius? Specifically, is it the same brain-sucking attack but at a range - and can it cause amnesia? I have a pet Master Mind Flayer, and I see him "lock on to the (monster)" but I haven't noticed what it does. Floatingeye 03:27, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

The remote sensing is not an attack, it is more like a homing signal. Mind flayers, being so senistive to thought patterns, can detect (especially telepathic) intelligent beings and will move to engage them to suck their brains. The messages are simply indicating that a suitable target has been found. You can spend forever on a level with a hostile (master) mind flayer and suffer no ill effects if you do not get close enough for them to melee you (or they pick up and use missile weapons, polearms or wands!). As to a pet mind flayer, they should ultimately follow the same rules and seek out the enemy and... gorge themselves. -- Kalon 04:03, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

That's not entirely true. There are two separate messages a hostile (master) mind flayer might elicit. The first simply indicates that there is a (master) mind flayer on the level and you have intrinsic telepathy. No direct ill effects. The second occurs when the flayer is relatively near you and actually does a small amount of damage. When you have a tame flayer, this second type of "attack" is converted to a small healing effect. 138.67.20.187 02:00, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

What gives?

I'm playing in discovery mode and today I've run into Mind Flayers for the first time. For some reason, my blessed unicorn horn does nothing to restore the lost INT? No ring of sustain ability worn. --88.112.27.29 01:18, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

It's supposed to be like that. Sorry! Fredil Yupigo 01:55, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

Seconded. The physical attack of a mind flayer literally sucks your brains out, whereas a unicorn horn removes temporary (usually magical) afflictions. -- Kalon 23:00, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

I was able to increase my Knights intelligence with blessed +0 unicorn horn to 9 after battling with mind flayer lowered it to 5. --sjs

I _think_, but I'm not totally sure, that's what happened to me too (although I had "only" lost 1 Int)... I was a little surprised that my Int recovered, and I thought I must have lost it in another way... Still, it did not cure amnesia... which was a bit more of a nuisance than a mere 1 point stat drop... - Blueshade 03:54, 8 November 2008 (UTC)

adjattrib() only adjusts A_BASE if change is positive, there's no way it'd make a negative stat change permanent. And wizmode/wizbones testing confirms this, unihorns work fine. At least wiztest before changing the wiki, guys... 71.147.48.178 19:14, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Mind flayers and undead

Will being polymorphed into an undead monster protect you from a mind flayer's "brain drain"? Supermagle 12:00, 7 January 2009 (UTC)

Unfortunately, no. 98.169.69.185 00:19, 8 January 2009 (UTC)