Destroy Undead is an offensive spell in ADOM. It allows the caster to damage any undead creature in his/her immediate vicinity. Dispel Undead is a high-reward high-risk spell suited for disposing of undead. It deals a great amount of damage, especially if used by a high-level PC, but requires the PC to get in melee range and has a chance to fail completely if the target resists the spell. These two disadvantages are devastating for the PC against the most powerful undead — lich kings and emperor liches — mainly because of stat draining abilities of these monsters. It remains a plausible and sometimes very effective against all other undead, as it can be cast using a defensive load-out and Coward mode — this significantly reduces potential harm to the PC.