Non aggroed enemies taking 0 damage from afar.

[Tanit]

Difficulty: Madness
Character: Necromancer
Race: Shalore
Location: Old Forest

Heya, I don't know if this is a bug or intended. So I post here. Today I had a situation in the old forest, where I used a charm of clairvoyance + arcane eye to see a spot that was filled with monsters (with filled i mean every single space in that pit/corner was inhabited by an enemy) in the old forest (not a vault, because it had no door). I send a "chill of the tomb" spell into the direction and all enemies that were hit took 0 damage. I did this several times and they always took 0 damage. As soon as I moved close however they started aggroing/seeing me. All of a sudden they took damage from my chill of the tomb.

Bottom line: Is it intended that enemies take 0 damage from afar if they have not noticed the player yet?

[Micbran]

I believe it is intended.

[Radon26]

...to see a spot that was filled with monsters

next time you do that, inspect the creature, and look for an unusual status effect.
it may not be a "vault" but it is still a lair. you can also find those in daikara

[Effigy]

This seemed weird the first time I saw it too. Certain zones like Old Forest have rooms full of monsters that are treated sort of like a vault. You can't damage the enemies until they notice you. I suppose it's to make offscreen AoEs less cheesy for clearing these areas.

[Tanit]

Thanks for the replies. I'll check their status next time I come upon such a situation.

[Crim, The Red Thunder]

It's more about keeping their ai asleep until you show up. So they would stay bunched up and a threatening group, instead of dispersing and wandering over the level. But monster pit like that have the 'in vault' effect as a result.