Ashenzari's Archive - User contributions [en]

Menkaure

2026-10-18T18:23:55Z

Bobross419:

{{version|034}}
{{list of | mummies}}
{{monster info}}

==Useful Info==
'''Menkaure, Prince of Dust''' is a [[unique]] [[mummy (monster)|mummy]] with limited access to dangerous [[Necromancy]]. He's just as vulnerable to fire as a regular mummy, but his powerful melee attacks, ability to [[haste]] himself, and tendency to [[torment]] half your health away in an instant makes him a significant threat.

==Location==
*[[The Dungeon]]:4-7
*The [[Ossuary]]

{{monster spells}}

==Tips & Tricks==
*While undead characters have nothing to fear from Menkaure's spells, the living can lose half their HP in a single turn if he casts Symbol of Torment. Use any [[life protection]] equipment you have if you expect a drawn-out battle with him.
**Undead characters should still be wary about engaging him in melee; as slow and fragile as he is, a potential 25 damage per hit isn't something to sneeze at this early in the game.
*His fire vulnerability and awful [[EV]] makes him fall quickly to a [[wand of flame]] or pretty much any [[Fire Magic]]. [[Dispel Undead]] or weapons of [[holy wrath]] also work well.
*So long as you have a reliable means of killing him, meeting Menkaure can be a good time to use a [[potion of lignification]], as being a tree gives you considerable AC and GDR as well as complete immunity to torment. Of course, you won't be able to flee from any other threats that may wander by.

==Trivia==
Menkaure was an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menkaure early Egyptian pharaoh]. The grandson of [[Khufu]], he also has a pyramid at Giza.

==History==
Prior to version [[0.17]], Menkaure had a [[death curse]] that would curse a single piece of equipment, much like a regular mummy.
[[Category:Mummy]]

Unique monster

2026-10-02T16:30:08Z

Bobross419:

{{version034}}
'''Unique monsters''' are [[monster]]s that are generated at most once per game. They are usually much more powerful than normal monsters, but provide much greater [[experience]]. As such, they can be considered the "boss monsters" of ''Crawl'' (although not every unique is guaranteed to appear in every run, and by no means are you required to slay every unique you encounter).

Certain uniques have alternate versions of themselves from earlier or later in their lives. You will only ever encounter one of these alternates in a given run.

===Wandering Uniques===
*{{monsterlink|Agnes}} '''the Wanderer''' - A zippy [[spriggan (monster)|spriggan]] fighter who wields a branded [[lajatang]].
*{{monsterlink|Aizul}} '''the Neglectful Guardian''' - A disgraced [[guardian serpent]] who uses powerful poison magic and a nasty sleeping spell.
*{{monsterlink|Amaemon}} '''the Diabolical Poisoner''' - A demonspawn [[poison]] specialist capable of [[Concentrate Venom|intensifying the venom]] of his allies.
*{{monsterlink|Arachne}} '''the Outcast''' - Half-spider, half-woman, Arachne and her pets will quickly ensnare and poison those who stumble across her. Only appears if the [[Spider's Nest]] isn't present.
*{{monsterlink|Asterion}} '''the Fallen King''' - A bloodthirsty king who was turned into a [[minotaur]] and exiled. He now seeks to carve out a new kingdom with the aid of [[Makhleb]].
*{{monsterlink|Azrael}} '''the Boundless Flame''' - An [[efreet]] who commands a pack of fiery monsters while pelting you with high-power [[Fire Magic]] and [[Damnation]].
*{{monsterlink|Bai Suzhen}}, '''Madame White Snake''' - Late-game draconian that casts [[Summon Hydra]]. When severely injured, she becomes a [[storm dragon]] ringed by storm clouds.
*{{monsterlink|Blorkula the orcula}} - An [[List of orcs|orcish]] [[List of vampires|vampire]] who casts magic in every colour of the rainbow and can split into a swarm of [[vampire bat]]s instead of dying.
*{{monsterlink|Boris}}, '''Master of Life and Death''' - A [[lich]] who excels at reviving himself elsewhere after you kill him.
*{{monsterlink|Cassandra}}, '''the Doomed Oracle''' is a [[unique]] [[human]], capable of inflicting [[doom]] on you via [[Doom Bolt]] and [[Doomsaying]] abilites.
*{{monsterlink|Crazy Yiuf}} '''the Enlightened''' - An insane, cloak-wearing [[List of gnolls|gnoll]] who defends his forest hut with a [[quarterstaff]] of [[chaos]].
*{{monsterlink|Donald}} '''the Adventurer''' - An adventurer much like yourself, but with a propensity for both swimming and complaining. Generally comes with a [[kite shield]] of [[reflection]].
*{{Red|e}} [[Image:Dowan.png|32px]] {{Blue|e}} [[Image:Duvessa.png|32px]] '''[[Dowan]], Brother of Duvessa''' and '''[[Duvessa]], Sister of Dowan''' - Twin elves who are never seen apart and who complement each other's strengths. Dowan uses magic while Duvessa prefers a blade.
*{{monsterlink|Edmund}} '''the Younger''' - [[Sigmund]]'s obscure and less threatening younger brother. Generally comes with a good-quality [[flail]].
*{{monsterlink|The Enchantress}} - Queen of the [[list of spriggans|spriggans]], she is extremely difficult to hit and has a nasty set of hexes. She owns one of the last surviving sets of [[faerie dragon scales]].
*{{monsterlink|Erica}} '''the Fiery-Tempered''' - An [[octopode]] spellcaster who carries a [[flaming]] [[scimitar]], but prefers to use her assortment of conjurations and hexes.
*{{monsterlink|Erolcha}} '''the Cunning''' - An [[ogre mage]] who can potentially banish the unlucky to [[The Abyss]] well before they're ready for it.
*{{monsterlink|Eustachio}} '''the Magnificent''' - A mustachioed summoner who can bog his foes down in a swarm of summoned mammals and imps.
*{{monsterlink|Fannar}} '''the Cold-Hearted''' - An elven [[Ice Magic|Ice Mage]] who spawns with [[Ice Magic]]-enhancing equipment. Bring cold resistance!
*{{monsterlink|Frances}} '''the Duchess of Pandemonium''' - A powerful fighter who once bested a demon lord and thereby gained demonic powers.
*{{monsterlink|Frederick}} '''the Flawless''' - A [[demigod]] fighter-mage who packs several extremely powerful spells.
*{{monsterlink|Gastronok}} '''the Ponderous''' - An unusually intelligent [[elephant slug]] who gained his magic and his [[hat]] by eating a wizard.
*{{monsterlink|Grinder}} - A [[shadow imp]] who can easily [[paralyze]] and torture low-level adventurers to death.
*{{monsterlink|Grum}} '''the Hunter''' - A [[Gnoll_(monster)|gnoll]] armed with a [[polearm]] who leads a pack of [[wolves]] into combat. Younger version of Grunn.
*{{monsterlink|Grunn}} '''the Punished''' - A damned, undead gnoll that hunts the deep parts of the dungeon with a pack of [[doom hound]]s. Older version of Grum.
*{{monsterlink|Harold}} '''the Weathered''' - A bounty hunter on the verge of retirement. He specializes in techniques that make it difficult for targets to escape.
*{{monsterlink|Ijyb}} '''the Inquisitive''' - An exiled [[coglin]] who destroyed her exosuit in a catastrophic accident, she nevertheless carries a dangerous [[wand]].
*{{monsterlink|Jeremiah}}, '''Barachi Dreamer''' - A [[barachi]] who sleepwalks through the Dungeon at the behest of a dark god; their dreams manifest as a perpetual swarm of [[butterflies]].
*{{monsterlink|Jessica}} '''the Apprentice Sorceress''' - An apprentice sorceress who uses low-level spells to attack those who disturb her.
*{{monsterlink|Jorgrun}} '''Earthshaker''' - A dwarven [[earth elementalist]] fond of statuary (both [[Petrify|creating it]] and [[Lee's Rapid Deconstruction|blowing it up]]).
*{{monsterlink|Jory}} '''the Bloodstained Count''' - A wealthy [[List of vampires|vampire]] who combines [[mesmerize|mesmerization]] with devastating magical power.
*{{monsterlink|Joseph}}, '''a Mercenary''' - A mercenary skilled with [[throwing net]]s, a [[sling]], and a quarterstaff. Took his hat from Wiglaf.
*{{monsterlink|Josephine}} '''the Decaying Necromancer''' - A withered necromancer who devastates the living and supports her undead underlings by hurling [[Ghostly Fireball|ghostly fireball]]s. Younger version of Josephina.
*{{monsterlink|Josephina}} '''the Ice-Lich''' - A necromancer who has used powerful Ice Magic to transform herself into an icy lich; she uses her undead underlings as [[Seracfall|explosive fodder]]. Older version of Josephine.
*{{monsterlink|Khufu}} '''the Undying Pharaoh''' - A [[royal mummy]] that combines high durability, [[smiting]], [[torment]], and an extremely dangerous mummy and demon entourage.
*{{monsterlink|Kirke}}, '''Weaver of Myths''' - An enchantress who would like nothing more than for you to join her herd of [[hog]]s.
*{{monsterlink|Lodul}} '''the Thunderous''' - An [[ironbound thunderhulk]] who has been sent outside [[the Vaults]] on a recruiting mission amongst his ogrish kin.
*{{monsterlink|Louise}} '''the Corrupted''' - A spellcaster who wears surprisingly heavy armour and is capable of [[banish]]ing the unwary to the [[Abyss]].
*{{monsterlink|Mara}}, '''Lord of Illusions''' - An exceptionally powerful [[rakshasa]], Mara's mastery of illusions allows him to bamboozle even the strongest of foes. Adventurers may find themselves battling their double.
*{{monsterlink|Maggie}} '''the Vainglorious''' - An ambitious young [[Fire Elementalist]] clad in basic dragon armour. Younger version of [[Margery]].
*{{monsterlink|Margery}} '''the Dragonslayer''' - A seasoned Fire Elementalist with her own entourage of [[hell knight]]s. Older version of [[Maggie]].
*{{monsterlink|Maurice}} '''the Thief''' - An accomplished [[vine stalker]] thief who uses [[invisible|invisibility]] to rob passersby blind.
*{{monsterlink|Menkaure}}, '''Prince of Dust''' - The [[list of mummies|mummified]] king of a long-forgotten realm who can [[torment]] his foes.
*{{monsterlink|Mennas}}, '''the Voice of Zin''' - A powerful angel whose speed and aura of [[silence]] makes escape extremely difficult. Spellcasters beware!
*{{monsterlink|Mlioglotl}}, '''the Unformed Horror''' - A worshipper of [[Lugonu]] who has become little more than a [[thrashing horror|thrashing mass]] of corruption. His very presence can warp reality.
*{{monsterlink|Natasha}}, '''Servant of Life and Death''' - A wandering [[felid]] [[hedge wizard]] who has gone searching for her lost master. She has three lives.
*{{monsterlink|Nergalle}}, '''Lorekeeper of the Fallen''' - An [[list of orcs|orcish historian]] who can summon [[spectral thing|spectral orcs]] from ages past to fight for her.
*{{monsterlink|Nessos}} '''the Markscentaur''' - An armoured [[centaur]] who pelts their opponents with arrows of poisoned flame.
*{{monsterlink|Nobody}}, '''Grudge of the Unmourned''' - A revenant made from countless forgotten souls, able to burn the memories of their deaths to both heal and gain spellsets.
*{{monsterlink|Norris}} '''the Philosopher''' - A laid-back death cultist who brings the ocean (and some [[skyshark|sharks]]) with him to spread his particular brand of peace.
*{{monsterlink|Nikola}} '''the Mad Inventor''' - A mad scientist who is an expert with fighting using electricity of all kinds.
*{{monsterlink|Pargi}} '''the Meek''' - An unusually skinny [[troll (monster)|troll]] that fled from his brethren into the upper levels of the dungeon. Younger version of Parghit.
*{{monsterlink|Parghit}} '''the Mighty''' - A heavily armored troll making his way towards the [[Orb of Zot]]. His extensive battle experience has granted him truly ludicrous regenerative abilities. Older version of Pargi.
*{{monsterlink|Pikel}}, '''Merchant of Souls''' - A [[kobold brigand]] who has taken up trading souls to the Hells. Carries a branded [[whip]] and travels with a band of [[lemure]]s.
*{{monsterlink|Prince Ribbit}}- A cursed prince who is stuck in the form of a [[blink frog]].
*{{monsterlink|Psyche}} '''the Insane Magess''' - A maddened mage whose [[dagger]] and spells are [[chaos|equally unpredictable]].
*{{monsterlink|Robin}} '''of the Strong Arm''' -- A helmeted [[hobgoblin]] who inspires their [[goblin]]oid minions before literally [[Throw Ally|flinging]] them at you.
*{{monsterlink|Roxanne}}, '''Geomancer Emeritus''' - A powerful earth mage who turned herself into a [[statue]] when a spell went horribly wrong. She can't move, but her magic is as strong as ever.
*{{monsterlink|Rupert}} '''the Wild''' - A [[berserker]] whose powerful roars can disable his foes long enough for him to rush in and crush them.
*{{monsterlink|Saint Roka}} '''the Messiah''' - An [[orc warlord]] of [[Beogh]] who travels with a band of followers who believe they are the orcish messiah.
*{{monsterlink|Sigmund}} '''the Dreaded''' - The bane of low-level adventurers, Sigmund carries a couple of dangerous spells and a wicked [[scythe]].
*{{monsterlink|Snorg}} '''the Insatiable''' - An exceptionally fat [[troll (monster)|troll]] who will go [[berserk]] at the slightest provocation.
*{{monsterlink|Sojobo}}, '''Queen of Tengu''' - Queen of the [[list of tengu|tengu]], Sojobo is not only a powerful warrior but a master [[Air Magic|Air Mage]].
*{{monsterlink|Sonja}} '''the Graceful Assassin''' - A [[List of kobolds|kobold]] [[assassin]] who always carries [[curare]] needles and a nastily-branded short blade.
*{{monsterlink|Sprozz}}, '''Inventive Apiarist''' - A [[coglin]] [[forgewright]] who casts [[Launch Clockwork Bee|Clockwork Bee]] and [[Nazja's All-Purpose Tempering|Nazja’s Percussive Tempering]] and sometimes drops a [[Forgecraft]] [[spellbook]].
*{{monsterlink|Terence}} '''the Veteran''' - A war veteran who has chosen to live in the Dungeon for his retirement, of all places.
*{{monsterlink|Urug}} '''the Orcish Ballista''' - A one-eyed [[list of orcs|orc]] who carries a pack of javelins and a heavier weapon than usual.
*{{monsterlink|Vv}} '''the Exile''' - A strange creature of living stone, risen from realms deep beneath the Dungeon. She commands both flame and frost.
*{{monsterlink|Wiglaf}} '''the Gunnerdwarf''' - A dwarven cannoneer of [[Okawaru]]. Recovered his hat from Joseph, and is willing to defend it with extreme prejudice and a [[Hellfire Mortar|ludicrously oversized cannon]].
*{{monsterlink|Xtahua}} '''the Ancient''' - An ancient and exceptionally powerful [[fire dragon]]. They can paralyze their foes, leaving them helpless to escape the flames.
*{{monsterlink|Zenata}}, '''Seeker of Sheza''' - An weaponsmith who has replaced parts of herself with metal constructs. She can animate a swarm of [[dancing weapon]]s.

===[[Snake Pit]] Unique===
*{{monsterlink|Vashnia}} '''the Elite Marksnaga''' - A [[naga sharpshooter]] who possesses far more skill with both weaponry and [[Translocations]] than her underlings.

===[[Spider's Nest]] Unique===
*{{monsterlink|Xak'krixis}}, '''Royal Expeditionary Alchemist''' - A [[formicid]] unusually skilled in [[Alchemy]]. Attacks using [[poison]]ous magic and exceptionally effective [[Fulminant Prism]]s.

===[[Swamp]] Unique===
*{{monsterlink|The Lernaean hydra}} - A hydra with a mind-boggling [[27]] heads. Those who allow it into biting range are swiftly devoured.

===[[Shoals]] Uniques===
*{{monsterlink|Ilsuiw}}, '''Witch of the Tides''' - A skilled [[merfolk aquamancer]] who often travels with a large band of her kin.
*{{monsterlink|Polyphemus}} '''the Watchful Shepherd''' - A [[cyclops]] who has somehow managed to tame a herd of [[death yak]]s and [[catoblepas|catoblepi]] and will happily [[Throw Ally|fling]] them at trespassers.

===[[Slime Pits]] Uniques===
*{{monsterlink|Dissolution}}, '''High Priest of Jiyva''' - An intelligent jelly that eats its way through rock walls in search of those who would oppose the Slime God.
*{{monsterlink|The Royal Jelly}} - [[Jiyva]]'s primary worshiper and guardian of the Slimy Rune of Zot, the Royal Jelly will quickly overwhelm interlopers with a torrent of [[List of jellies|jellies]]. Should someone manage to kill it, the Slime God will also die.

===[[Hell]] Uniques===
*{{monsterlink|Geryon}}, '''Gatekeeper of Hell''' - Three-headed Geryon presides over the [[Vestibule of Hell]]. Those who wish to enter the Hells proper must first defeat him and his followers.
*{{monsterlink|Murray}} '''the Demonic Talking Skull''' - An exceptionally durable [[curse skull]] with a nasty bite and even nastier necromantic spells.
*{{Red|D}} [[Image:Serpent of Hell (Gehenna).png]][[Image:Serpent of Hell (Cocytus).png]][[Image:Serpent of Hell (Tartarus).png]][[Image:Serpent of Hell (Dis).png]] '''[[Serpent of Hell]]''' - A three-headed demon dragon that changes depending on which branch of Hell you encounter it in.
*{{monsterlink|Antaeus}}, '''Guardian of [[Cocytus]]''' - Guardian of the Icy Rune of Zot. Easily the beefiest enemy in the game, Antaeus eschews reliance on underlings and prefers to crush intruders himself using his massive body and powerful cold and electric magic.
*{{monsterlink|Asmodeus}}, '''Prince of [[Gehenna]]''' - Guardian of the Obsidian Rune of Zot. Asmodeus and his followers will quickly incinerate any interlopers with insufficient fire resistance.
*{{monsterlink|Dispater}}, '''Lord of the [[Iron City of Dis|Iron City]]''' - Guardian of the Iron Rune of Zot. Dispater will crush adventurers with powerful [[Earth Magic]] and legions of powerful demons.
*{{monsterlink|Ereshkigal}}, '''Queen of [[Tartarus]]''' - Guardian of the Bone Rune of Zot. Those who face her and her servants risk being drained of all life.

===[[Pandemonium]] Uniques===
*{{monsterlink|Ignacio}}, '''Master of Excruciating Pain''' - A mortal who was rewarded with demonhood and became an [[executioner]]. He still carries his favorite [[executioner's axe]].
*{{monsterlink|Cerebov}}, '''Demon Lord of Fire and Steel''' - Guardian of the Fiery Rune of Zot, lord of a host of [[balrug]]s, and wielder of [[Sword of Cerebov|its signature sword]], which strips fire resistance from its targets. Quite possibly the single most dangerous foe in the entire game.
*{{monsterlink|Gloorx Vloq}}, '''Demon Lord of Darkness''' - Guardian of the Dark Rune of Zot and leader of a multitude of [[executioner]]s. It is exceptionally fast and extremely deadly to both the living and the undead.
*{{monsterlink|Lom Lobon}}, '''Demon Lord of Forbidden Knowledge''' - Guardian of the Magical Rune of Zot and head of a cabal of [[wizard (monster)|wizards]]. In addition to its followers, it has mastered extremely powerful ice and lightning magic.
*{{monsterlink|Mnoleg}}, '''Demon Lord of Chaos''' - Guardian of the Glowing Rune of Zot and master of everything hideous, tentacled, and mutagenic. Mnoleg and its sevants will quickly deform even the hardiest of warriors.

===[[Realm of Zot]] Unique===
*{{monsterlink|Tiamat}}, '''Avatar of the Dragonlord''' - An exceptionally powerful [[List of draconians|draconian]] whose color, breath weapon, and resistances are constantly shifting. Comes with a [[dragonskin cloak]] and a large retinue of draconian followers.

==[[Dungeon Sprint]] Uniques==
*{{monsterlink|Chuck}} '''the Collector''' - A [[stone giant]] armed with a [[large rock]] of returning and an anachronistically awesome cap.
*{{monsterlink|Nellie}}, '''Star of the Show''' - Standard [[hellephant]]s cannot compare with Nellie in terms of raw ferocity or adorableness.

==Retired Uniques==
*{{LightGrey|@}} [[Image:Michael.png|32px]] '''[[Michael]]''' - A human spellcaster who had a very basic spell list.
*{{Yellow|@}} [[Image:Duane.png|32px]] '''[[Duane]]''' - A large-eared mercenary who had rather average abilities.
*{{Yellow|@}} [[Image:Francis.png|32px]] '''[[Francis]]''' - An aged wizard who had an assortment of spells.
*{{Brown|@}} [[Image:Norbert.png|32px]] '''[[Norbert]]''' - A human warrior who had little in the way of distinguishing characteristics.
*{{LightMagenta|p}} [[File:Terpsichore.png|32px]] '''[[Terpsichore]]''' - A phantom who would have been able to bring nearby weapons to life as her allies.
*{{LightMagenta|@}} [[Image:Jozef.png|32px]] '''[[Jozef]]''' - A mercenary who would poison and slow opponents before moving into melee or pelting them with sling bullets.
*{{monsterlink|Pan}}- A [[satyr]] who would have disabled wandering adventurers while his band of allies picked them off from a distance.
*{{monsterlink|Lamia}}- Although stunningly beautiful, this sorcerous [[list of nagas|naga]] queen was cannibalistic and mad.
*{{monsterlink|Maud}} '''the Forgotten''' - A warrior princess from a distant land who generally used rare weaponry.

==Generation==
While every game will present a fair number of them, most uniques are not guaranteed to exist in a given game. The only ones who are guaranteed are:

*The Royal Jelly
*Geryon
*The Serpent of Hell
*The four unique Hell lords: Antaeus, Asmodeus, Ereshkigal, Dispater
*The four unique Pandemonium lords: Cerebov, Gloorx Vloq, Lom Lobon, and Mnoleg

==Source Code Notes==
From '''mon-flags.h''':
/// monster is a unique
M_UNIQUE = BIT(21),

==History==
{{CBA|0.35|Goji will be added}}
*[[0.34]] added Cassandra.
*[[0.33]] added Nobody and Sprozz.
*[[0.32]] added Xak'krixis, reworked Blork the orc into Blorkula the orcula, and brought back Wiglaf.
*[[0.31]] added Jeremiah and brought back Norris.
*[[0.29]] added Amaemon, Grunn, Josephina, Lodul, Vv, and Zenata.
*[[0.28]] added Mlioglotl.
*[[0.25]] added Maggie.
*Prior to [[0.22]], Ilsuiw was guaranteed to spawn if the Shoals were generated.
*[[0.19]] removed Wiglaf, Norris, and Maud, while introducing Bai Suzhen.
*[[0.18]] changed [[Iron giant|the Iron Giant]] from a sprint-exclusive unique to a regular monster.
*[[0.16]] added Robin.
*[[0.15]] gave special titles to most uniques, inspired by [[Dungeon Crawl 4.1 Alpha|4.1]].
*[[0.14]] removed Lamia and introduced Natasha, Vashnia, and Asterion.
*[[0.13]] added Sojobo. [[Pan (monster)|Pan]] was introduced and removed during development.
*[[0.12]] added Lamia and Jorgrun.
*[[0.11]] removed Jozef.
*[[0.8]] removed Francis, Duane, and Norbert. Terpsichore was considered, but ultimately rejected during development.
*[[0.7]] added Grinder.
*[[0.6]] removed Michael and added Crazy Yiuf, Purgy, Grum, Menkaure, Pikel, Maurice, Gastronok, Kirke, Aizul, and Mara. The Lernaean hydra was also enabled.
*[[0.5]] added Nessos and Dissolution. The Lernaean hydra was included in the code, but not yet placed anywhere.
*[[0.3]] added Polyphemus.
*[[0.2]] added Tiamat.

[[Category:Crawl]]
[[Category:Unique monsters]]
[[Category:Lists of monsters]]

Archery (ego)

2026-09-28T00:05:11Z

Bobross419:

{{version034}}
{{stub}}
{{flavour|Halves armour encumbrance penalties for ranged weapons.}}

'''Archery''' is an [[ego]] found only on [[chain mail]] and [[plate armour]] that reduces the encumbrance rating of the armour by half.

==Desirability==
Unfortunately, you're still likely to see a noticeable increase in attack delay unless you invest a bit into strength and armour skill. This ego is much more valuable on an artefact paired with additional bonuses than straight unbranded chain or plate armour.

==History==
{{CBA|0.35|archery will be buffed to include (1%) bonus ranged damage per level of armour skill.}}

[[Category:Egos]]

List of unrands

2026-09-27T16:00:36Z

Bobross419:

{{version035}}
An '''unrand''' (or '''unrandart''') is short for '''"unrandom artefact,"''' an [[artefact]] with set appearance and properties.

==Useful Info==
Unrands always have the same properties between games, as opposed to [[randart]]s ("random artefacts", which have randomly generated properties). Unrands may have special mechanics not found anywhere else in the game, such as [[Frostbite]]'s ability to create freezing [[cloud]]s. Unrands with unique properties have historically been called '''fixedarts''', though the distinction has become increasingly blurred with time.

Unrands cannot be modified by [[scroll]]s, even for [[Mountain Dwarves]]. [[Chaotic]] unrands may generate in [[Xom]]'s [[bazaar]]s, with the [[chaos]] brand on top of any existing properties; this is the only way to obtain a 'modified' unrand.

Only one instance of any particular unrand may generate per game.
*If you don't pick up an unrand that generates in a temporary [[portal]] level, or accidentally destroy the unrand by dumping it into [[lava]], it is lost forever.
*Any unrand in the possession of a monster you [[banish]] to the [[Abyss]] can be found in the Abyss, though this may take a very, very long time.
*If an [[acquirement]] (either from a [[scroll of acquirement|scroll]] or an [[Okawaru]] gift) offers an unrand and you pick something else, it can generate elsewhere.

Although it is extremely likely to find at least one unrand over the course of any given game, there is no guarantee that any particular unrand will generate, or that the unrands that ''do'' generate will be of any use to you.

Certain unrands are more likely to spawn in the early game, where they are most useful:<ref>{{source ref|0.32.0|artefact.cc|1584}}</ref> [[Delatra's gloves]], [[woodcutter's axe]], [[Throatcutter]], [[Hermit's pendant]], [[Devastator]], [[ratskin cloak]], [[Kryia's mail coat]], [[Lear's hauberk]], [[trident of the Octopus King]], [[robe of Augmentation]], [[staff of the Meek]], [[amulet of Elemental Vulnerability]], [[robe of Misfortune]], [[Force Lance (unrand)|Force Lance]], and toga "[[Victory]]".


==Rings==
[[File:Ring_of_the_mage.png]] [[ring of the Mage]] {Wiz Archmagi}

[[File:Ring_of_the_Tortoise.png]] [[ring of the Tortoise]] {AC+8}

[[File:Ring_of_the_Hare.png]] [[ring of the Hare]] {EV+10}

[[File:Ring_of_shadows.png]] [[ring of Shadows]] {Umbra +Inv Stlth+}

[[File:Ring of the octopus king.png]] [[rings of the Octopus King]] {<one property> HP+2 AC+2 EV+2 SH+2}

==Amulets==
[[File:Brooch_of_shielding.png]] [[brooch of Shielding]] {Spirit SH+8}

[[File:Necklace_of_bloodlust.png]] [[necklace of Bloodlust]] {Fury *Rage Will++ Int-3 Slay+6}

[[File:Amulet_of_the_four_winds.png]] [[amulet of the Four Winds]] {rN+ Will+++ Clar}

[[File:Amulet_of_the_air.png]] [[amulet of the Air]] {Inacc Air Fly rElec RMsl}

[[File:Macabre finger necklace.png]] [[macabre finger necklace]] {Ring+ rN+ HP+7}

[[File:Amulet_of_vitality.png]] [[amulet of Vitality]] {RegenMP++ Regen++}

[[File:Dreamshard necklace.png]] [[dreamshard necklace]] {Acrobat *Dream}

[[File:Amulet of elemental vulnerability.png]] [[amulet of Elemental Vulnerability]] {rPois rF-- rC-- AC+8}

[[File:Hermit's pendant.png]] [[Hermit's pendant]] {Faith Invo=14 Evo=0 MP+5}

==Short Blades==
[[File:Spriggan's_knife.png]] +7 [[Spriggan's Knife]] {stab, EV+4 Stlth+}

[[File:Arc blade.png]] +8 [[arc blade]] {discharge, rElec}

[[File:Captain's_cutlass.png]] +7 [[captain's cutlass]] {speed, disarm}

[[File:Gyre and Gimble.png]] +8 pair of quick blades [[Gyre and Gimble|"Gyre" and "Gimble"]] {protect}

[[File:Vampire's_tooth.png]] +8 [[Vampire's Tooth]] {megavamp}

[[File:Stagehand's Sword.png]] +7 [[Stagehand's Sword]] {Devious DevInvis Int+6}

[[File:Fimbulwinter.png]] +9 [[Fimbulwinter]] {Freeze IceDoom Bane rF- rC++}

==Long Blades==
[[File:Throatcutter.png]] +7 [[Throatcutter]] {drain, coup de grace}

[[File:Singing_sword.png]] +11 [[Singing Sword]] {sonic wave}

[[File:Maxwells thermic engine.png]] +2 [[Maxwell's thermic engine]] {flame, freeze, rev}

[[File:Autumn_katana.png]] +8 [[autumn katana]] {manifold assault}

[[File:Demon_blade_leech.png]] +8 demon blade "[[Leech]]" {evervamp, Harm ^Drain rN+}

[[File:Zealot's sword.png]] +10 [[zealot's sword]] {holy, Zealotry, *Rage rN+ EV+3}

[[File:Sword_of_the_doom_knight.png]] +13 [[sword of the Dread Knight]] {Decimate ^Drain *Silence Will+}

[[File:Sword_of_cerebov.png]] +6 [[sword of Cerebov]] {flame}

[[File:Plutonium_sword.png]] +11 [[plutonium sword]] {^Contam Stlth-}

[[File:Hana's Scimitar.png]] +10 [[Hana's Scimitar]] {Valour ValArchmagi ^Dim MP+6}

==Staves==
[[File:Staff of olgreb.png]] +9 [[staff of Olgreb]] {rPois∞}

[[File:Elemental staff.png]] +3 [[Elemental Staff]] {ele, rElec rF+ rC+ AC+3}

[[File:Majin-bo.png]] +6 [[Majin-Bo]] {spellvamp, MP+6 Int+6}

[[File:Staff of the Meek.png]] +7 [[staff of the Meek]] {protect, meekguard}

[[File:Lajatang of Order.png]] +7 [[lajatang of Order]] {silver, rMut}

[[File:Staff of Five Virtues.png]] +5 [[Staff of Five Virtues]] {rebuke VirtueSH VirtueReflect ^Fragile Will+}

==Axes==
[[File:Mithril_axe_arga.png]] +8 mithril axe "[[Arga]]" {speed, Will+}

[[File:Obsidian_axe.png]] +16 [[obsidian axe]] {drain, demonic, Mesm ^Drain Fly SInv}

[[File:Consecrated labrys.png]] +4 [[consecrated labrys]] {holy, Valiant ^Fragile Fly SInv}

[[File:Woodcutter's axe.png]] +5 [[woodcutter's axe]]

[[File:Axe wrath of trog.png]] +8 [[Wrath of Trog]] {antimagic, *Rage Rampage, RageSunder}

[[File:frostbite.png]] +8 frozen axe "[[Frostbite]]" {freeze, freezing cloud, *Noise Fly rC+}

[[File:urand_axe_of_woe.png]] +∞ [[Axe of Woe]]

==Polearms==
[[File:Force lance (unrand).png]] +5 [[Force Lance (unrand)|Force Lance]] {heavy, knockback}

[[File:Wyrmbane.png]] +8 lance "[[Wyrmbane]]" {slay drac, rPois rF+ rC+ AC+3}

[[File:Trident_of_the_octopus_king.png]] +8 [[trident of the Octopus King]] {venom, rElec rPois}

[[File:Rift.png]] +8 demon trident "[[Rift]]" {distort, reach+}

[[File:Condemnation.png]] +8 trishula "[[Condemnation]]" {holy, anguish, *Noise Fly rN+}

[[File:Scythe_finisher.png]] +5 scythe "[[Finisher]]" {speed, execute}

[[File:Scythe_of_curses.png]] +13 [[scythe of Curses]] {drain, curses, ^Drain}

[[File:Glaive_of_the_guard.png]] +5 [[glaive of the Guard]] {elec, spectral}

[[File:Glaive_of_prune.png]] +12 [[glaive of Prune]] {freeze, Prune}

[[File:lochaber_axe.png]] +5 [[lochaber axe]] {reach-cleave, Poleaxe ^Drain}

[[File:Coolibah bardiche.png]] +6 [[coolibah bardiche]] {entangling ConstrDrown ConstrBog rPois}

==Maces & Flails==
[[File:Shillelagh_devastator.png]] +6 shillelagh "[[Devastator]]" {shatter}

[[File:Whip_snakebite.png]] +8 whip "[[Snakebite]]" {venom, curare, rPois}

[[File:Spellbinder.png]] +5 demon whip "[[Spellbinder]]" {antimagic, disrupt, Will+}

[[File:Morningstar eos.png]] +10 morningstar "[[Eos]]" {elec, Halo rElec}

[[File:Sceptre_of_torment.png]] +7 [[sceptre of Torment]] {pain, torment}

[[File:Sceptre_of_asmodeus.png]] +13 [[sceptre of Asmodeus]]

[[File:Great_mace_undeadhunter.png]] +7 great mace "[[Undeadhunter]]" {deathbane, rN+}

[[File:Firestarter.png]] +7 great mace "[[Firestarter]]" {flame, immolate, rFlCloud rF++}

[[File:Mace_of_variability.png]] +7 [[mace of Variability]] {chaos, chaos arc}

[[File:Dark maul.png]] +10 [[dark maul]] {heavy}

[[File:Urand_skullcrusher.png]] +3 giant club "[[Skullcrusher]]" {speed, Str+7}

[[File:Carina at Dusk.png]] +9 giant spiked club "[[Carina at dusk|Carina at Dusk]]" {concuss, ShootingStar, rN+}

==Ranged Weapons==
[[File:Urand punk.png]] +3 greatsling "[[Punk]]" {acid, rCorr}

[[File:Bow_of_zephyr.png]] +8 longbow "[[Zephyr]]" {speed, Dex+3 SInv}

[[File:Longbow_storm_bow.png]] +8 [[storm bow]] {elec, penet}

[[File:Mule.png]] +7 hand cannon "[[Mule]]" {flame, backblast, rF+}

[[File:Urand damnation.png]] +6 arbalest "[[Damnation (unrand)|Damnation]]" {[[damnation]]}

[[File:Crossbow sniper.png]] +27 heavy crossbow "[[Sniper]]" {heavy, Acc+∞ SInv}

==Body Armour==
[[File:Victory.png]] +0 toga "[[Victory]]" {*Victory Clar}

[[File:Robe of vines.png]] +1 [[robe of Vines]] {NoPotionHeal Regen++++}

[[File:Robe_of_clouds.png]] +3 [[robe of Clouds]] {*Thunder rCloud rElec}

[[File:Robe_of_folly.png]] +4 [[robe of Folly]] {Brilliance Will-∞ Int+8}

[[File:Robe_of_augmentation.png]] +4 [[robe of Augmentation]] {Str+4 Int+4 Dex+4}

[[File:Robe_of_misfortune.png]] +5 [[robe of Misfortune]] {Harm *Corrode *Slow EV+5}

[[File:Robe_of_night.png]] +5 [[robe of Night]] {Dark Will+ SInv}

[[File:Skin_of_zhor.png]] +4 [[skin of Zhor]] {*Englaciate rC+++ SInv}

[[File:Salamander_hide_armour.png]] +3 [[salamander hide armour]] {Flames, rFlCloud rF++ rC--}

[[File:Cigotuvi's embrace urand.png]] +4 [[Cigotuvi's embrace]] {Corpsefed rMiasma ^Drain rN+}

[[File:Urand_justicars_regalia.png]] +5 [[justicar's regalia]] {Inspire Amulet+ Str+4}

[[File:Moon_troll_leather_armour.png]] +5 [[moon troll leather armour]] {Spirit, Regen++ MP+5}

[[File:Kryia's mail coat.png]] +7 [[Kryia's mail coat]] {PotionHeal*2 rC+}

[[File:Faerie_dragon_armour.png]] [[faerie dragon scales]] (rCorr Hexes, randomised properties)

[[File:Lear's_hauberk.png]] +18 [[Lear's hauberk]]

[[File:Maxwell's_patent_armour.png]] +15 [[Maxwell's patent armour]] {-Tele *Silence rElec Will+ rCorr}

[[File:Armour_of_the_dragon_king.png]] +9 [[scales of the Dragon King]] {Command rPois rF+ rC+}

[[File:Orange crystal plate armour.png]] +8 [[orange crystal plate armour]] {Archmagi, Int+3 Clar}

[[File:Splint mail3.png]] +8 [[Arcane splint mail]] {Archery Corona rElec Str+2 Dex+2}

[[File:bone scales.png]] +6 [[bone scales]] {Death Bane rPois rN+ Slay+3 SH+6}

[[File:Forgewarden's cuirass.png]] +12 [[Forgewarden's cuirass]] {Resonance Apostate rF++ Forge}

[[File:Swamp witch's dragon scales.png]] +5 [[swamp witch's dragon scales]] {TrickPois rPois Int+3}

[[File:fire dragon occultist scales.png]] +6 [[fire dragon occultist's scales]] {FireExpos FireWiz rF++ rC- Int+3}

[[File:ice dragon arcanist scales.png]] +9 [[ice dragon arcanist's scales]] {IceExpos IceWiz rF- rC++ Str+3}

==Shields==
[[File:warlock.png]] +3 [[warlock's mirror]] {omnireflect}

[[File:Shield_of_resistance.png]] +2 [[shield of Resistance]] {rF++ rC++ Will++}

[[File:Storm Queen's shield.png]] +5 [[Storm Queen's shield]] {shock, Fly rElec}

[[File:Shield_of_the_Gong.png]] +18 [[shield of the Gong]] {Loud rN+ Will+ rCorr EV-5}

[[File:Shield_of_ignorance.png]] +10 [[tower shield of Ignorance]] {rN+ Int-4}

==Orbs==
[[File:Urand charlatan's orb.png]] [[Charlatan's Orb]] {orb Charlatan}

[[File:Crystal ball of wucad mu.png]] [[crystal ball of Wucad Mu]] {Energy Mindtap}

[[File:Orb of Dispater.png]] [[orb of Dispater]] {+Damnation *Corrode AC+5}

[[File:Urand_skull_of_zonguldrok.png]] [[skull of Zonguldrok]] {Reaping Hat+ rN+ Int+4}

[[File:Sphere of battle.png]] [[sphere of Battle]]

==Cloaks==
[[File:Cloak of the thief.png]] +0 [[cloak of the Thief]] {Quiet SInv Stlth+}

[[File:Cloak of starlight.png ]] +1 [[cloak of Starlight]] {*Dazzle EV+4 Stlth--}

[[File:Ratskin cloak.png]] +2 [[ratskin cloak]] {*Rats rPois rN+ Str-1 Int-1 Dex+1}

[[File:Urand_fungal_fisticloak.png]] +3 [[fungal fisticloak]] {Shroompunch Gloves+ HP-10 Str-2 Int-2}

[[File:Dragonskin cloak.png]] +4 [[dragonskin cloak]] {Aegis}

==Headgear==
[[File:Hat_of_the_alchemist.png]] -2 [[hat of the Alchemist]] {rElec rPois rF+ rC+ rN+ Will+ rMut rCorr}

[[File:Mask_of_the_dragon.png]] +2 [[mask of the Dragon]] {Dragonpray SInv}

[[File:Hat_of_the_bear_spirit.png]] +2 [[hat of the Bear Spirit]] {Spirit, Bear, *Rage Will++}

[[File:Hood of the assassin.png]] +2 [[hood of the Assassin]] {Detect Stab+ Stlth++}

[[File:Crown_of_dyrovepreva.png]] +3 [[crown of Dyrovepreva]] {rElec Int+2 SInv}

[[File:Hat_of_pondering.png]] +3 [[hat of Pondering]] {ponderous, Will+ MP+10 Int+5}

==Gloves==
[[File:Fencer's_gloves.png]] +0 [[fencer's gloves]] {Riposte Dex+3}

[[File:Urand gadgeteer.png]] +0 [[gloves of the gadgeteer]] {Gadgeteer Wandboost ^Fragile}

[[File:Delatra's gloves.png]] +1 [[Delatra's gloves]] {ID++}

[[File:Gauntlets_of_war.png]] +3 [[gauntlets of War]] {Slay+5}

[[File:Mad Mage's Maulers.png]] +3 [[Mad Mage's Maulers]] {Infuse+∞ VampMP -Cast}

[[File:Ghost crab claws.png]] +2 [[ghost crab claws]] {Mist Str+4 Int+2 Slay+4 Necro}

==Boots==
[[File:Slick slippers.png]] +2 pair of [[slick slippers]] {slick, slippery, EV+4}

[[File:Seven-league boots.png]] +3 pair of [[seven-league boots]] {Rampage+∞}

[[File:mountain_boots.png]] +3 pair of [[mountain boots]] {steadfast, rC+}

==Bardings==
[[File:Lightning scales.png]] +6 [[lightning scales]] {swift, rElec}

[[File:Black knight barding.png]] +10 [[Black Knight's barding]] {ponderous, rPois rN+}

==Evocables==
[[File:Horn of geryon.png]] [[Horn of Geryon]]

==Retired==
[[File:Knife_of_accuracy.png]] +27, -1 [[knife of Accuracy]]

[[File:Lehudib's_crystal_spear_(weapon).png]] +6, +6 [[Lehudib's crystal spear (unrand)|Lehudib's crystal spear]] {return, Int+3}

[[File:Shield_Bullseye.png]] +15 shield "[[Bullseye]]" {EV-5}

[[File:Boots of the spider.png]] +3 pair of [[boots of the spider]] {+Jump, Stlth+}

[[File:Spear_of_the_botono.png]] +6 [[spear of the Botono]] {reap, rPois rN+ HP-6}

[[File:Blowgun_of_the_assassin.png]] +6 [[blowgun of the Assassin]] {+Inv Stlth++}

[[File:Ring_of_vitality.png]] [[ring of Vitality]] {Regen HP+15}

[[File:Cloak_of_flash.png]] +3 [[cloak of Flash]] {+Fly EV+4}

[[File:Crown of eternal torment.png]] +3 [[crown of Eternal Torment]] {rTorment HP-- rN+++ SInv *Curse}

[[File:Amulet_of_cekugob.png]] [[amulet of Cekugob]] {Dismiss -Tele rElec rPois rN++ AC+1 EV+1}

[[File:urand_talos.png]] +12 [[Armour of Talos]] {ponderous, rF+}

[[File:Mace_of_brilliance.png]] +1 eveningstar [[Brilliance]] {holy, rN+ AC+5 Int+5}

[[File:Scimitar_of_flaming_death.png]] +6 [[scimitar of Flaming Death]] {flame, rPois rF++ rC- Will+}

[[File:Dagger_of_chilly_death.png]] +9 [[dagger of Chilly Death]] {flash freeze, rPois rF- rC++ Will+}

[[File:Hat of the High Council.png]] +2 [[hat of the High Council]] {Archmagi, Wiz- Stlth-}

[[File:Longbow_piercer.png]] +7 longbow "[[Piercer]]" {penet, EV-2}

[[File:Demon_blade_bloodbane.png]] +8 demon blade "[[Bloodbane]]" {slice, *Rage +Rage Stlth-}

[[File:Maxwell's etheric cage.png]] +0 [[Maxwell's etheric cage]] {RegenMP *Contam rElec MP+4}

[[File:Boots of the assassin.png]] +2 pair of [[boots of the Assassin]] {Detection Stab+ Stlth++}

[[File:Dagger_morg.png]] +4 dagger "[[Morg]]" {pain, Will+ Int+5}

[[File:Sword_of_zonguldrok.png]] +9 [[Sword of Zonguldrok]] {reap}

[[File:Sword_of_power.png]] +9 [[sword of Power]] {lifebolt}

==History==
{{CBA|0.35|[[Stagehand's Sword]], [[Hana's Scimitar]], the [[coolibah bardiche]], the [[Staff of Five Virtues]], [[Carina at dusk]], [[Arcane splint mail]], [[bone scales]], [[Fimbulwinter]], the [[Swamp witch's dragon scales]], the [[fire dragon occultist's scales]], the [[ice dragon arcanist's scales]], the [[ghost crab claws]] and [[Forgewarden's cuirass]] will be added. The [[Wrath of Trog]] and [[Zephyr]] are reworked. The [[Glaive of Prune]] will be renamed the Partisan of Prune. The [[Amulet of the Four Winds]] will be renamed the Amulet of Tranquility.}}
*'''[[0.34]]:''' Reworked [[Faerie dragon scales]], [[Mask of the Dragon]], [[crystal ball of Wucad Mu]], and [[Scales of the Dragon King]]. Renamed the [[sword of the Doom Knight]] to the [[sword of the Dread Knight]].
*'''[[0.33]]:''' Added the [[justicar's regalia]], [[fungal fisticloak]], and the [[crown of Vainglory]]. Replaced the [[sword of Zonguldrok]] with the [[skull of Zonguldrok]]. The [[macabre finger necklace]] now gives +7 HP. -Cast on the [[sword of the Doom Knight]] and [[Maxwell's patent armour]] was replaced with *Silence.
*'''[[0.32]]:''' Added the [[Charlatan's Orb]] and [[gloves of the gadgeteer]]. Returned the [[sword of the Doom Knight]]. Reworked [[cloak of the Thief]].
*'''[[0.31]]:''' Added [[Mule]].
*'''[[0.30]]:''' Added [[Hermit's pendant]], [[Consecrated labrys]], [[Slick slippers]], [[Force Lance (unrand)|Force lance]], [[Storm Queen's shield]], [[Victory|toga "Victory"]]. Converted the [[staff of Dispater]], [[staff of Battle]], and [[staff of Wucad Mu]] into [[orb]]s. [[Vorpal]]-branded unrands got other [[brand]]s. Reworked [[Sniper]], [[Dark maul]], [[Mad Mage's Maulers]], [[ring of the Hare]], [[Majin-Bo]], [[sceptre of Asmodeus]], [[Elemental Staff]], [[Lochaber axe]], and removed [[Morg]].
*'''[[0.29]]:''' Added [[Condemnation]], [[mountain boots]], [[lochaber axe]], [[amulet of Elemental Vulnerability]]. Reworked [[amulet of Vitality]], [[rings of the Octopus King]].
*'''[[0.28]]:''' Added [[Delatra's gloves]], [[woodcutter's axe]], [[Throatcutter]], [[staff of the Meek]]. Reworked [[trident of the Octopus King]], [[autumn katana]], [[Leech]], [[ring of the Mage]], [[necklace of Bloodlust]], [[Lear's hauberk]], [[robe of Misfortune]], [[hat of the Bear Spirit]], [[robe of Vines]]. Certain artefacts are now weighted to spawn in the early game.
*'''[[0.27]]:''' Added the [[seven-league boots]]. Reworked the [[Amulet of the Air]], [[Wrath of Trog]], and [[robe of Folly]].
*'''[[0.26]]:''' Reworked the [[salamander hide armour]], [[ratskin cloak]], [[staff of Wucad Mu]], [[cloak of the Thief]], [[Majin-Bo]], [[glaive of the Guard]], [[shield of Resistance]], [[cloak of Starlight]], and [[sword of Power]]. The ring of Phasing is renamed to [[ring of the Hare]], and the ring of Robustness is renamed to [[ring of the Tortoise]]. Also, [[Black Knight's barding]] and [[lightning scales]] became [[barding]]s.
*'''[[0.25]]:''' Added [[Cigotuvi's embrace]], merged "[[Bloodbane]]" into "[[Leech]]", reworked the [[boots of the Assassin]] into the [[hood of the Assassin]], reworked [[Scythe of Curses]] and [[brooch of Shielding]], and removed [[Maxwell's Etheric Cage]].
*'''[[0.24]]:''' Added the [[staff of Battle]], reworked the [[Storm Bow]] and [[Gyre and Gimble]], and removed [[Piercer]].
*'''[[0.23]]:''' Added the demon trident "[[Rift]]", and reworked the [[Singing Sword]], [[Spriggan's Knife]], [[robe of Misfortune]], [[sceptre of Torment]], [[Finisher]], [[robe of Clouds]] and [[skin of Zhor]]. Tweaked the [[arc blade]] and [[storm bow]].
*'''[[0.22]]:''' Reworked [[mace of Variability]], [[Vampire's Tooth]], and removed the rF-, rC- properties from [[Maxwell's Thermic Engine]].
*'''[[0.20]]:''' Added the double sword [[Maxwell's Thermic Engine]]; removed [[scimitar of Flaming Death]], [[dagger of Chilly Death]] and [[hat of the High Council]]. Renamed sword of Jihad into [[zealot's sword]]. The ring of Shaolin is renamed to [[ring of Phasing]], and the bow of Krishna "Sharnga" is renamed to longbow "[[Zephyr]]". The [[necklace of Bloodlust]], [[large shield of Ignorance]], [[sceptre of Torment]] and the [[ratskin cloak]] were reworked.
*'''[[0.19]]:''' Added new versions of [[Punk]], [[Firestarter]], [[Frostbite]], [[trident of the Octopus King]], [[staff of Olgreb]], [[sword of Zonguldrok]], [[Damnation]], [[Eos]], [[fencer's gloves]], and [[Wyrmbane]] and removed [[Brilliance]], [[amulet of Cekugob]], and [[sword of the Doom Knight]].
*'''[[0.18]]:''' Added the frozen axe [[Frostbite]] and the [[warlock's mirror]]. [[Hellfire (unrand)|Hellfire]] was renamed into [[Damnation (unrand)|Damnation]]. The [[armour of Talos]] was added and subsequently removed after a short time in [[trunk]].
*'''[[0.17]]:''' Added the [[robe of Vines]], [[Maxwell's etheric cage]], and [[Kryia's mail coat]]; removed the [[cloak of Flash]]; the [[crown of Eternal Torment]] was considered for inclusion, but discarded.
*'''[[0.16]]:''' Added [[Gyre and Gimble]]; replaced the [[ring of Vitality]] with the [[amulet of Vitality]]; removed the [[spear of the Botono]] and [[blowgun of the Assassin]]
*'''[[0.15]]:''' Removed the [[boots of the spider]]; added the [[orange crystal plate armour]], the [[Majin-Bo]], and a new version of the [[Blowgun of the Assassin]].
*'''[[0.14]]:''' Removed the [[blowgun of the Assassin]], [[Bullseye]], and [[Lehudib's crystal spear (unrand)|Lehudib's crystal spear]]; added [[dark maul]], [[arc blade]], [[Spellbinder]], [[lajatang of Order]], [[boots of the spider]], [[macabre finger necklace]], [[hat of the High Council]], [[Firestarter]] and a new version of the [[boots of the Assassin]].
*'''[[0.13]]:''' Removed [[knife of Accuracy]] and [[boots of the Assassin]]; added [[Moon troll leather armour]].

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Items]]
[[Category:Artefacts]]
[[Category:Unrands|!]]

Resonance

2026-09-27T00:58:00Z

Bobross419:

{{version034}}
{{flavour|It improves the success rate of the wearer's forgecraft spells and enhances their melee attacks proportionally to forgecraft skill.}}

The '''resonance''' [[ego]] can be found on heavy [[body armour]] ([[scale mail]] or heavier). It reduces the [[Spell Success#Modifiers|raw failure rate]] of [[Forgecraft]] spells by ×66.6%, and boosts melee damage by <code>1.5% * Forgecraft</code>.

Note that raw failure rate =/= actual, displayed failure rate. The failure rate modifier is equivalent to the boost going from 0 to 2 levels of [[wizardry]]. This is not considered wizardry, but stacks independently with wizardry.

==History==
{{CBA|0.35|resonance will boost melee damage by 2% per Forgecraft level, but only to monsters adjacent to your constructs.<ref>[https://github.com/crawl/crawl/commit/eb90d4d051 Rework resonance ego.]</ref>}}
*This ego was added in [[0.34]].

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Egos]]

Will-o-the-wisp

2026-09-26T22:59:20Z

Bobross419:

{{version035}}
{{monster info}}

==Useful Info==
'''Will-o-the-wisps''' are intangible puffs of flames found primarily in the [[Swamp]]. Their [[Marshlight]] spell behaves exactly like [[Foxfire]] - it creates 2 foxfires, which quickly rush towards you, dealing damage on contact.

{{monster spells}}

==Tips & Tricks==
*Having [[fire resistance]] is recommended, due Marshlight's high damage output.
*Wisps have many resistances themselves, so elemental spells are less effective. If you rely on elemental spells, you can use [[Alternate items#Wands|bolt wands]] (wisps don't resist [[acid]]), a [[tin of tremorstones]], or irresistible spells like [[Airstrike]] to take them out.
*Foxfires require an open path in order to hit you, so you can potentially use corridors and monsters to block it. Unfortunately, it's hard to take advantage of this quirk in the Swamp, which is very open.

==History==
*Prior to [[0.33]], will-o-the-wisps had [[cold resistance]], and only one pip of [[fire resistance]].}}
*Will-o-the-wisps were added in [[0.26]].

White draconian

2026-09-26T22:57:51Z

Bobross419:

{{version035}}
{{list of | draconians}}
{{monster info}}

==Useful Info==
'''White draconians''' are the [[cold]]-themed members of the [[list of draconians|draconian]] family. Their have cold breath attacks that can slow down [[cold blooded]] creatures. They can be found primarily in [[the Realm of Zot]].

{{monster spells}}

==Tips & Tricks==
*Cold resistance helps defend against their breath attacks.
*Unlike most draconians, they are not especially vulnerable to [[freezing]]-branded weapons, so consider bringing a backup brand if you intend to freeze your way through Zot.

==History==
*Prior to [[0.32]], White draconian's Cold Breath did less damage.
*Prior to [[0.27]], they had [[Chilling Breath]] instead of [[Cold Breath]].

Tree Form

2026-09-26T22:55:09Z

Bobross419:

{{version034}}
{{flavour|You have been transformed into a tree and are rooted to the ground, unable to move or teleport. You have minimal evasion but increased health and natural armour, and are resistant to poison and immune to torment.

Any equipped cloak, helmet, gloves, boots and body armour are melded.}}

'''Tree form''' is a [[bad form]] which prevents movement and teleportation, but offers high natural AC and some resistances. It can be forced on the player through a [[wand of polymorph]] or the [[Polymorph]] spell, but can also be entered voluntarily with a [[potion of lignification]].

==Useful Info==
While transformed into a tree, the player gains the following attributes:

'''Combat:'''
*'''HP Bonus:''' 150% HP.
*'''Innate AC:''' <code>20 + [[XL]]/2</code> AC (20 - 33 AC).
*'''Unarmed Combat:''' 12 damage.
*[[EV]] is set to basically nil, <code>2 + [[Evasion#Base EV|size_factor]]/2</code>.

'''Resistances:'''
*[[Poison|rPois]]
*[[Torment]] immunity
*[[Unbreathing]] and lacks [[blood]]
*[[Sleep]] immunity

'''Restrictions'''
* '''[[Transformation#Useful Info|Melded Gear]]:''' All armour except shield.
*Cannot move or be moved.
*Cannot [[teleport]] or [[blink]] (certain divine abilities, like [[Uskayaw]]'s Grand Finale, still work).

==Strategy==
Tree Form is easily the most combat-capable of the bad forms, with high HP, AC, and unarmed branches that are stronger than many weapons in the early game (even at 0 Unarmed skill!). However, it is also one of the most risky, as trees are unable to move or teleport away.

Tree Form is useful throughout many different parts of the game:
*Early on, Tree Form is great for fighting fast, poisonous enemies like [[killer bee]]s and [[black mamba]]s. Very early in the game, Tree Form's high stats can let you take out all sorts of tough monsters.
*Later in the game, it is useful for the immunity to [[torment]]. It is especially useful in [[the Tomb]], as Tree Form prevents [[dispersal trap]]s and many [[death curse]]s from affecting you. Just watch out for [[miasma]].
*Species with armour restrictions ([[Felid]]s, [[Octopode]]s, oddly-[[size]]d species) will enjoy the increased AC throughout the entire game. [[Troll]]s in particular have a special use for Tree Form, as its high AC and boosted, non-chopping unarmed attacks are perfect for taking out [[hydra]]s.

The big downside is you cannot move. If a situation becomes too much to handle, you'll be in dire straits. You can use a [[potion of cancellation]] to end the form early, but these potions are rare, and drinking the potion wastes a valuable turn.

Also, if you don't have a reliable means of ranged combat, be wary of ranged and [[reaching]] attacks, which will strike you with impunity. Use terrain such as a [[kill hole]] to your advantage. A [[potion of attraction]] will force monsters closer, if need be.

===Tips & Tricks===
*The inability to move also gives immunity to enemies that shove you around ([[wind drake]]s, [[swamp worm]]s, monsters with [[Force Lance]], [[Roxanne]]...).
*Tree Form will negate the attack penalties of standing in [[shallow water]].
*Keep in mind that transforming into Tree Form will suppress the innate abilities associated with your original species, leading to possibly unexpected results. For example, if you were a [[formicid]], quaffing the potion to fight an invisible enemy might be counter-productive, since you will lose your [[Good_mutations#Antennae|Antennae]] which allowed you to see invisible.
*Against enemies that attack with clouds, such as [[ushabti]], you can use a [[scroll of fog]] to counter them. Only one cloud can exist at a time, so placing fog clouds will prevent more deadly clouds from being placed on your tile.
*Tree Form doesn't have [[blood]], so [[skyshark]]s are unable to activate their bloodzerk attack flavour.

{| class="prettytable" style="border:none; margin:auto; padding:0; text-align: center"
! Tree Form
|-
| [[File:Tree form.png]]
|}

==History==
{{CBA|0.35|tree form will become a living creature but will maintain its Torment immunity and rN+++.}}
*Prior to [[0.33]], players in Tree Form were not immune to [[sleep]].}}
*Prior to [[0.28]], players in Tree Form were immune to [[negative energy]] (rN+++).
*Prior to [[0.27]], Tree Form gave fixed 48% [[GDR]].
*Prior to [[0.19]], Tree Form greatly increased the player's [[Stealth]] modifier.
*Prior to [[0.16]], Tree Form also gave +10 [[strength]].
*Prior to [[0.15]], players in Tree Form could not eat or drink, but did not hunger. Tree Form also greatly increased players' [[size]].
*Prior to [[0.14]], the [[potion of lignification]] did not exist. Tree Form [[slow]]ed the player by an amount based on your experience level ranging from 50% - 0%, prevented players from shouting, and followers of [[Fedhas Madash]] gained rF+ and rC+.
*Prior to [[0.13]], it made the player vulnerable to fire, and the AC bonus and the speed penalty didn't depend on XL.
*Like most bad forms, Tree Form was added in [[0.12]]

{{Forms}}

Sphinx marauder

2026-09-26T22:50:16Z

Bobross419:

{{version034}}
{{monster info}}

==Useful Info==
'''Sphinx marauders''' are dangerous [[hex]]ing hybrids that disable you at range and cause [[airstrike]]s when they hit you. Occasionally, they wear [[cloak]]s. They can be found rarely in the [[Shoals]] and in the [[Vaults]] with their stronger counterpart, the [[guardian sphinx]].

{{monster spells}}

==Tips & Tricks==
*Avoid open spaces when you see one of these. Being vexed in the open can lead to an effective one-round death, even for well-armored characters.

==History==
{{CBA|0.35|sphinx marauders can spawn with barding.}}
*Prior to [[0.34]], sphinx marauders' airstrikes did slightly more damage on average, and they gave less XP.
*Sphinx marauders were added in [[0.33]], split off from generic [[sphinx]]es.

Serpent of Hell (Tartarus)

2026-09-26T22:43:48Z

Bobross419:

{{version035}}
{{list of | dragons}}
{{monster info}}

==Useful Info==
The '''Serpent of Hell''' is a [[unique]] dragon whose elemental affinity varies based on which branch of [[Hell]] you encounter it in. When faced in [[Tartarus]], the Serpent is capable of breathing [[negative energy]], vile [[miasma]], and [[acid]] at you.

{{monster spells}}

==Tips & Tricks==
*Visiting Tartarus without rN++ or better is just asking for aggravating and disabling levels of [[draining]], and that applies while facing the Serpent of Hell. Even with a full three ranks however, the Serpent's Miasma blasts will still damage, [[poison]], and [[slow]] you unless you are immune to poison or miasma. As this simply isn't available to most characters, try to take out this unique fast, and try not to stand around in miasma if you don't have to.
**If you happen to be carrying one, a [[scarf]] of [[cloud immunity]] will render you immune to miasma.
*You'll also want [[Acid#Corrosion Resistance|rCorr]] here, as this version of the Serpent of Hell is one of the few sources of acid damage in the hells.

==History==
*Prior to [[0.32]], this Serpent of Hell had Bolt of Draining and Corrosive Bolt.
*In [[0.16]], it got a third breath attack in [[Corrosive Bolt]].

Serpent of Hell (Gehenna)

2026-09-26T22:42:43Z

Bobross419:

{{version035}}
{{list of | dragons}}
{{monster info}}

==Useful Info==
The '''Serpent of Hell''' is a unique dragon whose elemental affinity varies based on which branch of [[Hell]] you encounter it in. When faced in [[Gehenna]], the Serpent is capable of breathing great gouts of [[fire]] and is completely immune to flames.

{{monster spells}}

==Tips & Tricks==
*Preparations for Gehenna largely render you ready for handling this iteration of the Serpent of Hell: two or three ranks of fire resistance render its Fire Breath much less devastating. If you ''don't'' have that degree of fire resistance already, however, expect to take massive damage.

==History==
*Prior to [[0.32]], this Serpent of Hell had Flaming Cloud. Also, it had 43 fewer HP.
*Prior to [[0.31]], this Serpent of Hell had [[damnation]] resistance.
*Prior to [[0.17]], this Serpent of Hell had [[Hellfire]] instead of [[Flaming Cloud]].
*In [[0.16]], it got the third breath attack, [[Fireball]].
*In ancient versions of ''Crawl'', the Serpent of Hell did not appear as a unique monster, but rather as a generic dragon that could be found guarding the lowest level of Gehenna en masse. While they may have had fewer hit points, the fact they could appear in considerable numbers made them more dangerous than the single monster ever was: facing multiple 20-HD hellfire-breathing dragons at a time was often a quick death.

Serpent of Hell (Cocytus)

2026-09-26T22:39:49Z

Bobross419:

{{version035}}
{{list of | dragons}}
{{monster info}}

==Useful Info==
The '''Serpent of Hell''' is a [[unique]] dragon whose elemental affinity varies based on which branch of [[Hell]] you encounter it in. When faced in [[Cocytus]], the Serpent is capable of breathing bitter [[cold]] at you. It is also entirely immune to cold damage itself.

{{monster spells}}

==Tips & Tricks==
*If you brought enough [[cold]] resistance to endure the other threats in Cocytus, the Serpent of Hell here should pose you little threat. All of its special abilities are largely negated by rC++ or higher, and it isn't especially durable otherwise.

==History==
*Prior to [[0.32]], this Serpent of Hell had 43 fewer HP.
*In [[0.16]], it lost [[Ozocubu's Refrigeration]] in favor of [[Freezing Cloud]] and [[Flash Freeze]].
*Prior to [[0.11]], this Serpent of Hell had Freezing Cloud instead of [[Ozocubu's Refrigeration]].

Serpent of Hell

2026-09-26T22:38:40Z

Bobross419:

{{version035}}
{{list of | dragons}}

The '''Serpent of Hell''' is a [[unique]] [[demon]]ic [[list of dragons|dragon]] which can be found guarding one of the four [[branch]]es of [[Hell]]. Its attributes and breath attacks vary based on where you encounter it, though all versions are able to [[Summon Dragon|summon powerful]] [[list of dragons|dragons]].

==Variations==
*{{monsterlink|Serpent of Hell (Gehenna)}}
*{{monsterlink|Serpent of Hell (Cocytus)}}
*{{monsterlink|Serpent of Hell (Tartarus)}}
*{{monsterlink|Serpent of Hell (Dis)}}

==History==
*Prior to 0.32|the Cocytus, Gehenna, and Dis Serpents had different breath attacks. Also, the Cocytus and Gehenna Serpents had less health, while Dis Serpent's defenses were slightly higher.
*In [[0.16]] the Serpent of Hell received a considerable buff, gaining two extra heads each capable of breathing/attacking individually as well as [[Summon Dragon]].
*In ancient versions of ''Crawl'', the Serpent of Hell did not appear as a unique monster, but rather as a generic dragon that could be found en masse guarding the lowest level of [[Gehenna]]. While they may have had fewer [[HP]], the fact they could appear in considerable numbers made them more dangerous than the single monster ever was: facing multiple 20-HD hellfire-breathing dragons at a time was often a quick death.

Reaper

2026-09-26T22:37:00Z

Bobross419:

{{version035}}
{{monster info}}

==Useful Info==
'''Reapers''' are [[tier-2 demon]]s armed with randomly [[brand]]ed [[scythe]]s. They lack magic, but have decent lasting power and their [[reaching]] melee attacks can deal heavy damage and drag you backwards. They can commonly be found in [[the Abyss]], [[Pandemonium]], and the [[Hell]]s, but they also appear notably in some [[ice cave]] layouts. Some monsters can also summon them through the [[Summon Greater Demon]] spell.

==Tips & Tricks==
*Their reaching attacks hit even harder than [[stone giant]]s, and they have similar lasting power. Respect them, particularly if you encounter them early.
*While melee fighters shouldn't have much trouble with them on their own, they can be devastating when allowed to attack from the back row while you deal with more immediate opponents. Be especially careful if their weapon brand suddenly turns out to be [[chaos]] or [[distortion]].
*Tiles players (and those who read monster descriptions) should beware: no matter how undead this monster looks/sounds, it is not. [[Dispel Undead]] and [[LRD]] will have no effect.
*Be careful when fighting these demons near [[stairs]] or when [[stair dancing]], because reapers can drag you away.

==History==
*Prior to [[0.34]], reapers could not fly.
*Reapers were given a dragging attack in [[0.31]]. Their damage was slightly decreased to compensate.
*Prior to [[0.29]], scythes were their own type of weapon instead of reskinned [[halberd]]s. This gave reapers slightly higher damage but slightly lower accuracy.
*Prior to [[0.25]], hostile reapers could be summoned by [[miscasting]] Necromancy spells and via [[death curse]]s.

[[Category:Demon]]

Poor Constitution

2026-09-26T22:35:13Z

Bobross419:

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{| cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" border="1"
|- style="font-style:italic;"
|Rank||Effect<ref>{{source ref|0.34.1|ouch.cc|997}}</ref>||Flavor
|-
|1||A 1/9 chance to inflict [[weak|weakness]] whenever you take damage that is greater than 1/15th of your max HP||Your body sometimes grows weak upon taking damage.
|-
|2||A 1/6 chance to inflict [[weak|weakness]] whenever you take damage that is greater than 1/15th of your max HP If weakness is inflicted, there is an additional 1/2 chance to inflict [[slow|slowness]].||Your body sometimes grows weak and slow upon taking damage.
|- style="font-style:italic;"
| colspan="3" |
[[Bad mutations|Bad mutation]]
|}
<noinclude>
==History==
*In [[0.33]], this mutation replaced [[Deterioration]], which had a chance for stat loss upon taking damage.

==References==
<references />
</noinclude>

[[Category:Mutations]]
[[Category:Bad Mutations]]

Peripheral

2026-09-26T22:33:34Z

Bobross419:

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{{stub}}

These [[monster]]s are of ancillary nature.

==History==
*Prior to [[0.33]], the '''M_PERIPHERAL''' flag was '''[[:Category:Conjured|M_CONJURED]]'''.

[[Category:Monster flags]]

Parchment

2026-09-26T22:31:25Z

Bobross419:

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Parchments are a type of [[item]] that allow the player to memorize a single [[spell]] when picked up. Parchments are pre-identified and named "Parchment of (spell)" when examined.

They can be found in large quantities in book [[shop]]s, where higher-level spells will cost more [[gold]]. [[Djinni]] are unable to pick up parchments, and will instead burn them to ash when attempting to take them.

Parchments are much more common than spellbooks used to be, making the total number of spells found in the game roughly equal to that of previous versions. Floors with shops past the Dungeon and Lair have an increasing likelihood of containing an additional parchment shop. Randbooks now only appear in select vaults or via acquirement and Sif Muna gifts.
Higher-level spells are now somewhat rarer early in the game and more common later.

==History==
* Parchments were added in [[0.34]].

Occultist

2026-09-26T22:29:55Z

Bobross419:

{{version035}}
{{monster info}}

==Useful Info==
'''Occultists''' are spell casters who can roast you with Fireballs or banish you into the [[Abyss]]. Fortunately, they are flimsy. They can be found in late [[Dungeon]] and [[Depths]].

{{monster spells}}

==Tips & Tricks==
*Occultists can deal high damage, but they aren't too [[ev]]asive, cannot [[see invisible]], and don't have much [[willpower]].
*[[Banishment]] requires line of fire, and can be defeated by high enough [[willpower]] of your own. Fire resistance is helpful to defend against [[Fireball]]s, too.
*A [[silence]]d or [[waterlog]]ged occultist can only do weak melee attacks.

==Mad Acolyte of Lugonu==
[[File:Hell_wizard_75.png]] You may encounter a '''mad acolyte of Lugonu''' when approaching certain [[rune]] vaults in [[the Abyss]]. These variant occultists always spawn wielding [[distortion]]-[[brand]]ed weapons and can cast [[Smiting]], [[Malign Gateway]], [[Blink]], [[Blink Other]], and [[Invisibility]].

{{flavour|A devoted follower of Lugonu, driven mad by years of living in the Abyss.

----

"And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you."

-Friedrich Nietzche, "Beyond Good and Evil", 1886}}

==History==
*Prior to [[0.33]], occultists had lower HD (12 instead of 13), 13 EV instead of 15 EV, and less health.
*In [[0.31]], occultists were added to the game, split off from [[wizard (monster)|wizards]].

[[Category:Human]]

List of draconians

2026-09-26T22:27:21Z

Bobross419:

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''This page is about the various draconian [[monster]]s. For the player species, see [[draconian]].''
{{flavour|"Trogdor was a man! I mean, he was a dragon-man! Or... maybe he was just a dragon. ... And the Trogdor comes in the night!"

-The Brothers Chaps, "Trogdor". 2003.}}
'''Draconians''' are the mythical half-dragon inhabitants of the [[Realm of Zot]]. Each draconian has a colour, and some have occupations as well; the different colors determine their [[draconian breath attack]]s and resistances, while the occupations determine their equipment, skills, and spells. Fortunately, they are all [[cold-blooded]] creatures and will be [[slow]]ed by weapons of [[freezing]] (unless [[cold resistance|cold resistant]]).

==Common Draconians==
{{flavour|A scale-covered humanoid with a reptilian tail and small wings.}}
*{{monsterlink|Black draconian}} - Flight-capable draconians that breathe highly-damaging bursts of [[electricity]].
*{{monsterlink|Green draconian}} - [[Poison]]ous draconians that have stinger tails and can breathe [[cloud]]s of poison.
*{{monsterlink|Purple draconian}} - Occult draconians that are quite resistant to magic and breathe blasts of irresistible, enchantment-stripping energy.
*{{monsterlink|Red draconian}} - [[Fire|Fiery]] draconians that spew blasts of fire that leave behind clouds of flames.
*{{monsterlink|White draconian}} - Frosty draconians with [[AC]]-piercing [[cold]] breath. Their icy nature negates the side-effects of their cold-blooded physiology.
*{{monsterlink|Yellow draconian}} - Draconians that will corrode your equipment with their [[acid]] breath and bite.

==Classed Draconians==
*{{monsterlink|Draconian annihilator}} - [[Conjurations]] masters capable of causing devastation at range.
*{{monsterlink|Draconian knight}} - Skilled with both weapons and spells, draconian knights are competent opponents.
*{{monsterlink|Draconian monk}} - These [[Unarmed Combat]] specialists strike quickly and hard in melee.
*{{monsterlink|Draconian scorcher}} - Pyromaniac casters with access to both [[fire]] and [[damnation]].
*{{monsterlink|Draconian shifter}} - [[Translocations]] experts who blink both themselves and their allies around a lot. They can also shut down your Translocations.
*{{monsterlink|Draconian stormcaller}} - Warrior-priests of [[Qazlal]] who call down storms upon their foes while calling up hordes of [[list of dragons|drakes]].

==Rare Draconians==
These draconian base types can only be found in pre-defined [[vault]]s.

*{{Brown|d}} [[File:Draconian (monster).png]] '''[[Draconian (monster)|Draconian]]''' - Immature, weak draconians with no breath attack.
*{{monsterlink|Grey draconian}} - These draconians lack breath weapons but have more AC, hit harder, and do not drown.
*{{monsterlink|Pale draconian}} - Draconians that breathe jets of [[steam]], which don't do much damage but block line of sight.

Occasionally, vaults will contain classed draconians that have a different base type than usual - for example, red draconian knights.

===Unique draconians===
*{{monsterlink|Bai Suzhen}} - An odd, watery draconian from a distant land. Her skill in battle and ability to [[Summon Hydra]]s are dangerous enough, but wounding her will force her to unleash her true form...
*{{monsterlink|Tiamat}} - Found only in [[the Realm of Zot]], Tiamat is a brutally powerful opponent. She changes her colour randomly and wears the powerful [[dragonskin cloak]], giving her a wide range of resistances. She always travels with a large entourage of lesser draconians.

==Removed draconians==
*{{monsterlink|Mottled draconian}} - Draconians that spat gouts of [[Sticky Flame]], setting their foes ablaze.
*{{monsterlink|Draconian zealot}} - Servants of a dark god that could summon demons, raise the dead, and hurl hellfire.

==History==
*Prior to [[0.34]], classed draconians had 20 less Will, but purple draconians had 140 Will instead of 120.
*Prior to [[0.28]], classed draconians could randomly spawn with varying colours.
*Mottled draconians and draconian zealots were removed in [[0.20]]. This version also introduced draconian stormcallers by merging zealots with the old draconian callers.
*Prior to [[0.17]], grey and pale draconians could naturally spawn in [[Zot]].

[[Category:Lists of monsters]]

Ironbound frostheart

2026-09-26T22:18:06Z

Bobross419:

{{version035}}
{{monster info}}

==Useful info==
'''Ironbound frosthearts''' are threatening ice mages guarding the [[Vaults]]. Like the player spell [[Frozen Ramparts]], Frosthearts can freeze the walls adjacent to the player to harm them. They inflict the [[Frozen]] status, slowing down player movement.

{{monster spells}}

==Tips & Tricks==
These enemies are dangerous when faced in conjunction with other Vaults denizens, who will swarm you or pelt you with missiles if you leave a corridor or chokepoint to avoid Creeping Frost. Disable them with hexes or break LOS with them to buy some time to deal with other enemies first.

==History==
*Prior to [[0.32]], ironbound frosthearts had HD 12 instead of 11.
*Prior to [[0.30]], Creeping Frost ignored cold resistance entirely.
*Ironbound frosthearts were added in [[0.27]].

Iron golem

2026-09-26T22:16:17Z

Bobross419:

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''For a list of all golems, see [[list of constructs]].''
{{monster info}}

==Useful Info==
'''Iron golems''' are highly durable [[list of constructs|constructs]]. They're slow, but they hit hard and are completely immune to hostile enchantments and elemental damage. They are usually only found in certain [[vault]]s or [[the Iron City of Dis]].

==Tips & Tricks==
*Don't let yourself get boxed in with an iron golem; they may be slow, but they're strong enough to mash a squishy wizard in a couple hits and deal serious damage to careless melee fighters.
*Use its speed to your advantage, whether you're a caster or a melee brute. Iron golems are slow enough for anyone who isn't a devotee of [[Cheibriados]] to kite.
*To actually take down an iron golem, expect to have to pound on it for an extended period of time with physical attacks or spells like [[Airstrike]], [[Earth Magic]], or non-elemental [[Conjurations]]. Try luring it somewhere relatively safe so you aren't rudely interrupted by something capable of keeping up with you.
**[[Lee's Rapid Deconstruction]] works well on iron golems. It has the added bonus of creating shrapnel that damages anything adjacent to the golem.
**Spells like [[Iron Shot]] and [[Lehudib's Crystal Spear]] will also cut through their defenses, and their EV is low enough for them to have a decent chance of hitting.

===Variant Iron Golem===
[[File:Flesh golem.png]] [[Cigotuvi's Fleshworks]] contains a '''flesh golem''' in the first chamber past the prison cells. It's somewhat less durable than a normal iron golem, but hits just as hard and can also cast [[Corrupting Pulse]] to inflict temporary mutations. The chamber also contains clouds of mutagenic fog, so try to stick to the edges.

{{flavour|An animated mound of misshapen flesh, sculpted over an iron skeleton.}}

==History==
*Prior to [[0.33]], iron golems had more health, slightly higher AC (25 instead of 24), and higher EV (5 instead of 2).
*In [[0.31]], iron golems now [[shout|squeak]].
*Prior to [[0.28]], iron golems were much weaker (35 damage per hit, much less health).

Invisibility (ego)

2026-09-26T22:12:24Z

Bobross419:

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{{flavour|When activated, it grants the wearer temporary invisibility, but also drains their max health.}}

Wearing equipment with the '''invisibility ego''' grants you the Evoke Invisibility [[ability]], allowing you to turn [[invisible]] at will. It has a chance of failure, based on your [[Evocations]] skill.

Regardless of whether you fail or succeed, your max HP is temporarily [[drain]]ed (~8% max HP). Successfully evoking invisibility will cause minor [[magical contamination]].

==Sources==
The invisibility ego can be found on:
*[[Scarves]]
*The [[unrand]] [[ring of Shadows]]
*Randomly generated [[artefact]]s

==Desirability==
Being invisible is a strong effect. Against enemies that can't see invisible, it greatly reduces chance of being hit, and allows you to [[stab]]. A scarf of invisibility gives all those benefits without needing to use a rare [[potion of invisibility|potion]].

However, the drain prevents you from spamming the ability. Plus, the [[Evocations]] skill required to reliably go invisible is high. As the drain happens even if you fail, you generally don't want to try until you have enough skill. By then, most 'tough' enemies will be able to see invisible. This ego can still be useful (many weaker enemies don't have SInv), but you may want a more consistent ego instead.

Even in the late game, there are many enemies that can't see invisible. Notable examples include [[caustic shrike]]s, [[death cob]]s, [[list of draconians|draconians]], [[tormentor]]s, and [[hellion]]s.

Success rate rises with [[Evocations]] skill:
{{#invoke:Failure rate table|table|Evocations|60|2}}

==History==
*Prior to [[0.32]], fail rate's dependency on Evocations and drain cost were both 3 times higher.
*Prior to [[0.30]], evocable invisibility cost MP.
*Prior to [[0.28]], turning invisible caused more [[magic contamination]] initially and applied some contamination over time.
*Prior to [[0.26]], evoking invisibility caused [[comestible|hunger]] instead of [[drain]]ing you.
*Prior to [[0.25]], invisibility generated on [[cloak]]s instead of scarves.
*Prior to [[0.21]], removing an invisibility-ego item while invisible did not cost the player extra magical contamination.
*Prior to [[0.20]], this ego would let the player turn visible again once invisible, as a way to reduce contamination.
*Prior to [[0.18]], this ego could be found on [[ring]]s.
*Prior to [[0.16]], this was called the Darkness ego.

[[Category:Cloaks]]
[[Category:Egos]]

Glowing orange brain

2026-09-26T22:08:49Z

Bobross419:

{{version035}}
{{monster info}}

==Useful Info==
'''Glowing orange brains''' are dangerous [[evil]] casters which can summon brutal monsters, feed on your intellect, or confuse you. While not too intimidating initially, they can create swarms of reinforcements quickly, [[brilliance|buff]] nearby spellcasters, and debuff the player. They can be found in [[the Depths]], [[the Vaults]], and rarely in [[the Slime Pits]].

{{monster spells}}

==Tips & Tricks==
*Use a source of [[clarity]] and try to kill them as quickly as possible to avoid a summoning spree. They aren't too durable, so a few high-powered [[Conjurations]] should take them out, but melee fighters may wish to lure them around a corner to avoid a dangerous charge into melee range. Their [[cautious]] behavior will stop them from blindly charging into melee range with you, meaning you'll need to close the distance yourself.
*[[Airstrike]] works well, taking advantage of their low AC. Penetrating projectiles that can hit behind their wall of allies are also handy.
*No matter how frightening their summoned allies are, remember that killing the summoner will eliminate all its summons. This may be a safer, faster escape route than fleeing on foot or trying to [[teleport]] away.
*Because the glowing orange brain can summon creatures, it has access to the [[abjuration]] spell.
*Being a worshipper of [[Jiyva]] will turn these creatures neutral.

==History==
*Prior to [[0.34]], glowing orange brains had brain bite.
*Prior to [[0.33]], glowing orange brains were not [[:Category:Unblindable|unblindable]].}}
*In [[0.32]], glowing orange brains got an [[aura]] of brilliance and became [[cautious]].
*Prior to [[0.31]], glowing orange brains could cast [[Blink]].
*Prior to [[0.19]], this monster was known as '''giant orange brain'''.
*Prior to [[0.17]], giant orange brains could cast [[Teleport Self]].
*Prior to [[0.14]], giant orange brains knew [[Confuse]] in place of [[Mass Confusion]].

Endoplasm

2026-09-26T21:38:47Z

Bobross419:

{{version035}}
{{list of | jellies}}
{{monster info}}

==Useful Info==
'''Endoplasms''' are puddles of creeping, animated filth. Barely more durable than [[rat]]s or [[frilled lizard]]s, they are most notable for being able to [[Freeze]] their foes.

{{monster spells}}

==Tips & tricks==
*Endoplasms are fragile and practically defenseless; even the naturally cold-vulnerable [[Djinn]] can usually kill them before they can pose any sort of threat.
*Freeze doesn't miss and ignores armour; don't engage endoplasms in melee if you have 5 or fewer HP remaining.

==History==
*Prior to [[0.33]] endoplasms had [[poison resistance|rPois]].}}
*Prior to [[0.27]], endoplasms were known as '''oozes'''; they were slightly stronger, but did not know Freeze.

Cigotuvi's Fleshworks

2026-09-26T21:34:19Z

Bobross419:

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{{flavour|This slick floor seems to pulse to an unknown beat.}}

Cigotuvi has mastered the art of manipulating flesh, and his lab is a living testament to this fact, seeming like the interior of some vast, ghastly beast. The walls and floor are slick and membranous, pulsing to an unheard heartbeat and oozing thick, green ichor from every inch.

The bulk of Cigotuvi's Fleshworks is devoted to cells that house test subjects in various stages of degeneration. Several are mutated humanoids; most are ugly things, shapeshifters, and abominations. While the walls of the Fleshworks are as hard as stone, the fleshy membranes that allow you to see into the cells are merely as tough as rock and can easily be dug through.

The entrance hall consists of several short rooms with cells on either side containing abominations, deformed humanoids and some ugly things. After that lies a central, circular chamber that houses Cigotuvi's flesh golem.

One side of the lab is dominated by a snaking passageway filled with shapeshifters in various guises. Several of them are likely to start off in the forms of various varieties of [[list of eyeballs|eyeball]]. There are also a few true [[floating eye]]s interspersed among the shapeshifters that are particularly hazardous. The final room on that side holds a pack of ugly/very ugly things that guard a portion of the lab's treasure.

The other side of the lab contains more cells holding test subjects as well as some abominations. There are three rooms of note on this side: one holds four [[large abomination]]s, one holds more treasure, and the last contains yet more treasure guarded by several more large abominations and the terrible "Cigotuvi's Monster", a 250 HP [[mutant beast]] whose glyph changes color over time.

Beware: several rooms contain mutagenic fog, which will gradually [[magic contamination|contaminate]] you if you stand in it; you have a good chance of being [[Magic_contamination#Dissipation|mutated]] if you aren't careful about where you stand. Wearing a [[scarf of cloud immunity]] will allow you to avoid the effects of mutagenic fog. Alternatively, it might be wise to bring a couple [[potion of mutation|potions of mutation]] to clear out particularly deleterious mutations before the boss fight. [[potion of cancellation|Potions of cancellation]] also work if used to reduce your contamination level, but they are relatively rare and it's a waste to use them unless you already have some [[good mutations]] you don't want to lose.

Successfully looting Cigotuvi's Fleshworks will net you some gold, an [[artefact]] [[ring]] or the [[hat of the Alchemist]], some [[spell book]]s on [[Transmutations]], a [[staff of death]], several [[scrolls of summoning]], and a whole bunch of [[potion of mutation|potions of mutation]]. If you aren't confident in your ability to take on a variety of powerful monsters while avoiding heavy mutations, feel free to skip this area. If you want to play mutation roulette, Cigotuvi's Fleshworks is one of the best places to acquire the supplies to do so.

Note: in 0.27 trunk, you are basically never forced to walk through mutagenic clouds - so you can clear the entirety of this lab without contamination.

==Monsters==
{{flavour|This poor creature looks hideously deformed.}}

{{LightGrey|@}}[[File:Deformed human.png]] {{Red|e}}[[File:Deformed elf.png]] {{LightRed|o}}[[File:Deformed orc.png]] '''Deformed [[human (monster)|humans]], [[elf|elves]], and [[orc]]s''' - These unfortunate beings are almost harmless. You need to [[dig]] them out of their cells to face them, and even then they aren't any more dangerous than their base types.

{{monsterlink|Ugly thing}}and {{monsterlink|Very ugly thing}}- Pack melee monsters with randomly determined elemental attacks and resistances.

{{monsterlink|Shapeshifter (monster)}} and {{monsterlink|Glowing shapeshifter}} - Found in the corridors on either side of the lab. They rarely appear in their base forms and will shift unpredictably between various types of monsters.

{{monsterlink|Floating eye}}- Found among the horde of shapeshifters in the winding corridor, they can [[paralyze]] you as long as they can see you. Duck around a corner or use smite-targeted attacks to kill them quickly.

{{monsterlink|Small abomination}}and {{monsterlink|Large abomination}}- [[Demonic]] [[undead]] with slightly randomized stats. The big ones hit much harder, but tend to move slower.

===Miniboss: Flesh Golem===
{{flavour|An animated mound of misshapen flesh, sculpted over an iron skeleton.}}
{{Red|8}} [[Image:Flesh golem.png]] You will encounter a '''flesh golem''' in the large circular chamber once you pass the prison cells. This is nothing more than a reskinned [[iron golem]]; it's strong and durable (not to mention immune to virtually all forms of magical attack), but it's slow enough to kite easily.

===Boss: Cigotuvi's Monster===
{{flavour|A terrifying creation that appears to have been constructed from the body parts of every monstrous creature imaginable, with writhing tentacles sprouting from its form.}}
{{Magenta|X}} [[Image:Cigotuvis monster.png]] The last chamber on the left side of the Fleshworks will contain several [[large abomination]]s and '''Cigotuvi's Monster''', a primal [[mutant beast]] with increased durability, regeneration, and an extra trait. It has four attacks; one deals 40 damage without additional effect, but it also has the ability to [[constrict]] for 25 damage, [[reach]] for 25 damage and [[poison]], and [[trample]] for 25 damage.

'''[[HP]]''': 250 
'''[[HD]]''': 23 
'''Recommendations''': Fast movement speed and a source of ranged damage will make [[kiting]] it fairly easy. It has resistances to almost everything, so using non-elemental [[Conjurations]] will help. Hit it hard to make sure you don't run out of room to safely retreat, and avoid melee unless you're playing a brute tank. If you have a source of [[silver]] damage, it can be very effective.

<pre>
MAP
ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc
ccjjjcccc|cccccccccccAccccccccccccWWWW~5hcccc
c|...|c....|ccc---ccc+cccccccccccWh~~~.45hccc
c|8........|cc-I---m...m--ccccccW~.....845hcc
c.&5.......cc---G--m.7.m-F-cccccW~........hcc
c.8........cc---H--m...m-I--ccccW~.......~Wcc
c|.........cc-cccccm...mc---ccccc.......~Wccc
c|...|ccc+ccccc--cccc+cccccccccccc.....hWcccc
ccjjjccc..ccccIII-cm...m--H--ccccc+cccccccccc
cccccccc..ccc--P---m.7.m-F--cccccc""ccccccccc
cceecccc..ccc-III--m...m---ccccccc""cc$$g$$cc
ceddecc...cccc----cm...m-cccRccccc""c...c...c
cedde+...cccccc--cccc+cccc---Rcccc""c...c...c
ceddec...ccccccccc-m...m-KK---Rccc""ccc+c+ccc
cceccccc+cccccccc--m.7.m---I--Rccc""c...9...c
ccccccc...cccc---F-m...m----K-ccgc""c...6...c
cccc.........c--G--m...mc----cc$$c""c..6669.c
c.67...ccc...cc--cccc+cccc--ccc+cc""c..66..cc
c...ccccccc+cccccc.m.....cccc.666c""+.....ccc
cc...ccccc'''cccc..m.....4cc9.666c""ccccccccc
cc...ccc''''''cc.!.m.....<4c9....+"""""""""cc
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c..c'''''''''''cc.........ccc""cccccccccccccc
c..c'c'c'c'c'ccc...........cc""""""""""""""cc
c..c8c8c'c8c8ccc...........ccc""""""""""""""c
c..cccccccccccc.....c.c.....cccccccccccccc""c
c...76........+......?......+"""""ccc"""""""c
c...76........c.....c.c.....c""""""c"""""""cc
ccmmmccccmmmcccc...........cccccc""c""ccccccc
c-----cc-----cccWW.......WWcc""""""c""""""ccc
cc-JJccccIIIcccccWW..0..WWcc""""""ccc""""""cc
ccJJ-cccc-F-ccccccWWWWWWWccc""ccccccccccc""cc
cc-HccccccIIccccccccWWWccccc"""""""""""""""cc
ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc"""""""""""""ccc
ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc
ENDMAP
</pre>

==History==
{{CBA|0.35|Cigotuvi's Fleshworks will become deadlier with denser groupings of enemies as well as a perm_ench:chaos_laced buff on Cigotuvi's Monster, and a small chance for kobold fleshcrafters accompanying occasionally-stronger ugly things. In exchange, it will get further talisman choice tweaks.}}
*Prior to [[0.33]]the Cigotuvi's Monster did not have permanent regeneration.
*Prior to [[0.15]], this place had a lot of [[pulsating lump]]s.

[[Category:Dungeon Branches]]

Bone dragon

2026-09-26T21:21:28Z

Bobross419:

{{version035}}
{{list of | dragons}}
{{monster info}}

==Useful Info==
'''Bone dragons''' are [[undead]] [[list of dragons|draconic]] horrors. They lack a [[breath weapon]], but make up for it with powerful melee capabilities, excellent defense, and plentiful [[HP]]. You can find them in [[the Crypt]], [[the Vaults]], and [[the Abyss]], as well as one rune vault in [[the Swamp]].

{{monster spells}}

==Tips & Tricks==
*Bone dragons are vulnerable to [[Dispel Undead]] and [[Lee's Rapid Deconstruction]], while powerful non-elemental [[Conjurations]] are also effective. However, it'll still take several shots to kill them.

==History==
*Prior to [[0.34]], bone dragons lacked a breath attack, but had more HP/AC/EV. They will spawned less frequently in the Crypt and appeared in Tartarus.
*Prior to [[0.12]], bone dragons were slower but had significantly more HP.

Bennu

2026-09-26T21:19:14Z

Bobross419:

{{version035}}
{{monster info}}

==Useful Info==
'''Bennus''' are curiously contradictory creatures, masters of both life and death. Their attacks inflict [[holy]] damage. Upon death, bennus resurrect and emit a large burst of negative energy, damaging the living. They can only resurrect once. They are very rare, appearing only in [[the Tomb of the Ancients]] and [[ziggurat]]s.

==Tips & Tricks==
*For the living, bennus are one of the less dangerous Tomb creatures; they are simple melee threats that aren't especially strong. But against [[undead]] or [[Demonspawn|demonic]] players, they can hit hard and fast with [[holy]]-branded attacks. If you're vulnerable to holy and lack great defenses, mind the damage.
*Bennus are immune to [[fire]] and resistant to [[Shatter]], so many AOE spells that obliterate mummies won't work against them.

==Trivia==
The bennu is a reference to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bennu Bennu], an Egyptian deity of the sun, creation, and rebirth. The unholy aspects ascribed to it in ''DCSS'' have likely only been added to make it better fit in the undead-filled Tomb of the Ancients.

==History==
*Prior to [[0.33]], bennus had 3 weaker attacks.
*Prior to [[0.30]], bennus had fast regeneration.
*Prior to [[0.28]], they were [[:Category:Water_vulnerability|vulnerable to water]].
*Prior to [[0.19]], their [[ghostly flame]] explosions could heal any nearby undead, including the player. Also, bennus had a [[draining]] melee attack.
*Bennus were added in [[0.16]]. For a brief time during their development, they also possessed [[sticky flame]] attacks.

Ball python

2026-09-26T21:17:00Z

Bobross419:

{{version035}}
{{list of | snakes}}
{{monster info}}

==Useful Info==
'''Ball pythons''' are fast snakes found in the early [[Dungeon]]. While weaker than a [[hobgoblin]] or [[quokka]], ball pythons can [[constrict]] you with their attacks. Constriction has a chance to prevent you from moving, lowers [[evasion]], and deals minor damage every turn.

==Tips & Tricks==
*Ball pythons are weak and frail, but if they manage to constrict you, you'll start taking damage quickly. Try to kill them fast, and try not to fight them around other monsters.
**[[Large]] species ([[Armataur]], [[Naga]], [[Oni]], [[Troll]]) are too big to be constricted by a ball python, so these species have little to fear.

==History==
*Prior to [[0.33]], ball pythons were stronger . Their bite damage was 3, and their EV was 11.
*Prior to [[0.27]], ball pythons dealt 1 less damage in melee.
*Prior to [[0.25]] you could create your own ball pythons with the [[Sticks to Snakes]] spell.
*Prior to [[0.10]], ball pythons were known as small snakes, and had a weak [[poison]]ous bite instead of a constriction attack. Also, they were tiny sized.

[[Category: Monsters]]

Arcanist

2026-09-26T21:14:46Z

Bobross419:

{{version035}}
{{monster info}}

==Useful Info==
'''Arcanists''' are spell casters who can blast you and make you [[fragile]]. Fortunately, they are flimsy. They can be found in late [[Dungeon]] and [[Vaults]].

{{monster spells}}

==Tips & Tricks==
*Arcanists can deal high damage, but they aren't too [[ev]]asive, cannot [[see invisible]], and don't have much [[willpower]].
*[[Willpower]] helps avoid being [[vitrify|vitrified]], while cold resistance helps defend against [[Bolt of Cold]].
*A [[silence]]d or [[waterlog]]ged arcanist can only do weak melee attacks.

==Trivia==

A permanently [[silence]]d '''captured wizard''' can often be found caged in one of [[Trog]]'s possible altar vaults. It usually dies from Trog's wrath too fast for you to kill, but if you have a [[wand of digging]], you can free and kill this mute wizard for 692 XP.

{{flavour|A wild-eyed wizard whose tongue has been cut out, frantically mumbling and waving its arms but unable to cast a single spell.}}

==History==
*Prior to [[0.33]], arcanists had lower HD (10 instead of 11), 13 EV instead of 15 EV, and less health.
*Prior to [[0.32]], arcanists had [[Force Lance]] instead of [[Searing Ray]].
*In [[0.31]], arcanists were added to the game, split off from [[wizard (monster)|wizards]].

[[Category:Human]]

List of unrands

2026-09-26T21:02:09Z

Bobross419:

{{version035}}
An '''unrand''' (or '''unrandart''') is short for '''"unrandom artefact,"''' an [[artefact]] with set appearance and properties.

==Useful Info==
Unrands always have the same properties between games, as opposed to [[randart]]s ("random artefacts", which have randomly generated properties). Unrands may have special mechanics not found anywhere else in the game, such as [[Frostbite]]'s ability to create freezing [[cloud]]s. Unrands with unique properties have historically been called '''fixedarts''', though the distinction has become increasingly blurred with time.

Unrands cannot be modified by [[scroll]]s, even for [[Mountain Dwarves]]. [[Chaotic]] unrands may generate in [[Xom]]'s [[bazaar]]s, with the [[chaos]] brand on top of any existing properties; this is the only way to obtain a 'modified' unrand.

Only one instance of any particular unrand may generate per game.
*If you don't pick up an unrand that generates in a temporary [[portal]] level, or accidentally destroy the unrand by dumping it into [[lava]], it is lost forever.
*Any unrand in the possession of a monster you [[banish]] to the [[Abyss]] can be found in the Abyss, though this may take a very, very long time.
*If an [[acquirement]] (either from a [[scroll of acquirement|scroll]] or an [[Okawaru]] gift) offers an unrand and you pick something else, it can generate elsewhere.

Although it is extremely likely to find at least one unrand over the course of any given game, there is no guarantee that any particular unrand will generate, or that the unrands that ''do'' generate will be of any use to you.

Certain unrands are more likely to spawn in the early game, where they are most useful:<ref>{{source ref|0.32.0|artefact.cc|1584}}</ref> [[Delatra's gloves]], [[woodcutter's axe]], [[Throatcutter]], [[Hermit's pendant]], [[Devastator]], [[ratskin cloak]], [[Kryia's mail coat]], [[Lear's hauberk]], [[trident of the Octopus King]], [[robe of Augmentation]], [[staff of the Meek]], [[amulet of Elemental Vulnerability]], [[robe of Misfortune]], [[Force Lance (unrand)|Force Lance]], and toga "[[Victory]]".


==Rings==
[[File:Ring_of_the_mage.png]] [[ring of the Mage]] {Wiz Archmagi}

[[File:Ring_of_the_Tortoise.png]] [[ring of the Tortoise]] {AC+8}

[[File:Ring_of_the_Hare.png]] [[ring of the Hare]] {EV+10}

[[File:Ring_of_shadows.png]] [[ring of Shadows]] {Umbra +Inv Stlth+}

[[File:Ring of the octopus king.png]] [[rings of the Octopus King]] {<one property> HP+2 AC+2 EV+2 SH+2}

==Amulets==
[[File:Brooch_of_shielding.png]] [[brooch of Shielding]] {Spirit SH+8}

[[File:Necklace_of_bloodlust.png]] [[necklace of Bloodlust]] {Fury *Rage Will++ Int-3 Slay+6}

[[File:Amulet_of_the_four_winds.png]] [[amulet of the Four Winds]] {rN+ Will+++ Clar}

[[File:Amulet_of_the_air.png]] [[amulet of the Air]] {Inacc Air Fly rElec RMsl}

[[File:Macabre finger necklace.png]] [[macabre finger necklace]] {Ring+ rN+ HP+7}

[[File:Amulet_of_vitality.png]] [[amulet of Vitality]] {RegenMP++ Regen++}

[[File:Dreamshard necklace.png]] [[dreamshard necklace]] {Acrobat *Dream}

[[File:Amulet of elemental vulnerability.png]] [[amulet of Elemental Vulnerability]] {rPois rF-- rC-- AC+8}

[[File:Hermit's pendant.png]] [[Hermit's pendant]] {Faith Invo=14 Evo=0 MP+5}

==Short Blades==
[[File:Spriggan's_knife.png]] +7 [[Spriggan's Knife]] {stab, EV+4 Stlth+}

[[File:Arc blade.png]] +8 [[arc blade]] {discharge, rElec}

[[File:Captain's_cutlass.png]] +7 [[captain's cutlass]] {speed, disarm}

[[File:Gyre and Gimble.png]] +8 pair of quick blades [[Gyre and Gimble|"Gyre" and "Gimble"]] {protect}

[[File:Vampire's_tooth.png]] +8 [[Vampire's Tooth]] {megavamp}

[[File:Stagehand's Sword.png]] +7 [[Stagehand's Sword]] {Devious DevInvis Int+6}

[[File:Fimbulwinter.png]] +9 [[Fimbulwinter]] {Freeze IceDoom Bane rF- rC++}

==Long Blades==
[[File:Throatcutter.png]] +7 [[Throatcutter]] {drain, coup de grace}

[[File:Singing_sword.png]] +11 [[Singing Sword]] {sonic wave}

[[File:Maxwells thermic engine.png]] +2 [[Maxwell's thermic engine]] {flame, freeze, rev}

[[File:Autumn_katana.png]] +8 [[autumn katana]] {manifold assault}

[[File:Demon_blade_leech.png]] +8 demon blade "[[Leech]]" {evervamp, Harm ^Drain rN+}

[[File:Zealot's sword.png]] +10 [[zealot's sword]] {holy, Zealotry, *Rage rN+ EV+3}

[[File:Sword_of_the_doom_knight.png]] +13 [[sword of the Dread Knight]] {Decimate ^Drain *Silence Will+}

[[File:Sword_of_cerebov.png]] +6 [[sword of Cerebov]] {flame}

[[File:Plutonium_sword.png]] +11 [[plutonium sword]] {^Contam Stlth-}

[[File:Hana's Scimitar.png]] +10 [[Hana's Scimitar]] {Valour ValArchmagi ^Dim MP+6}

==Staves==
[[File:Staff of olgreb.png]] +9 [[staff of Olgreb]] {rPois∞}

[[File:Elemental staff.png]] +3 [[Elemental Staff]] {ele, rElec rF+ rC+ AC+3}

[[File:Majin-bo.png]] +6 [[Majin-Bo]] {spellvamp, MP+6 Int+6}

[[File:Staff of the Meek.png]] +7 [[staff of the Meek]] {protect, meekguard}

[[File:Lajatang of Order.png]] +7 [[lajatang of Order]] {silver, rMut}

[[File:Staff of Five Virtues.png]] +5 [[Staff of Five Virtues]] {rebuke VirtueSH VirtueReflect ^Fragile Will+}

==Axes==
[[File:Mithril_axe_arga.png]] +8 mithril axe "[[Arga]]" {speed, Will+}

[[File:Obsidian_axe.png]] +16 [[obsidian axe]] {drain, demonic, Mesm ^Drain Fly SInv}

[[File:Consecrated labrys.png]] +4 [[consecrated labrys]] {holy, Valiant ^Fragile Fly SInv}

[[File:Woodcutter's axe.png]] +5 [[woodcutter's axe]]

[[File:Axe wrath of trog.png]] +8 [[Wrath of Trog]] {antimagic, *Rage Rampage, RageSunder}

[[File:frostbite.png]] +8 frozen axe "[[Frostbite]]" {freeze, freezing cloud, *Noise Fly rC+}

[[File:urand_axe_of_woe.png]] +∞ [[Axe of Woe]]

==Polearms==
[[File:Force lance (unrand).png]] +5 [[Force Lance (unrand)|Force Lance]] {heavy, knockback}

[[File:Wyrmbane.png]] +8 lance "[[Wyrmbane]]" {slay drac, rPois rF+ rC+ AC+3}

[[File:Trident_of_the_octopus_king.png]] +8 [[trident of the Octopus King]] {venom, rElec rPois}

[[File:Rift.png]] +8 demon trident "[[Rift]]" {distort, reach+}

[[File:Condemnation.png]] +8 trishula "[[Condemnation]]" {holy, anguish, *Noise Fly rN+}

[[File:Scythe_finisher.png]] +5 scythe "[[Finisher]]" {speed, execute}

[[File:Scythe_of_curses.png]] +13 [[scythe of Curses]] {drain, curses, ^Drain}

[[File:Glaive_of_the_guard.png]] +5 [[glaive of the Guard]] {elec, spectral}

[[File:Glaive_of_prune.png]] +12 [[glaive of Prune]] {freeze, Prune}

[[File:lochaber_axe.png]] +5 [[lochaber axe]] {reach-cleave, Poleaxe ^Drain}

[[File:Coolibah bardiche.png]] +6 [[coolibah bardiche]] {entangling ConstrDrown ConstrBog rPois}

==Maces & Flails==
[[File:Shillelagh_devastator.png]] +6 shillelagh "[[Devastator]]" {shatter}

[[File:Whip_snakebite.png]] +8 whip "[[Snakebite]]" {venom, curare, rPois}

[[File:Spellbinder.png]] +5 demon whip "[[Spellbinder]]" {antimagic, disrupt, Will+}

[[File:Morningstar eos.png]] +10 morningstar "[[Eos]]" {elec, Halo rElec}

[[File:Sceptre_of_torment.png]] +7 [[sceptre of Torment]] {pain, torment}

[[File:Sceptre_of_asmodeus.png]] +13 [[sceptre of Asmodeus]]

[[File:Great_mace_undeadhunter.png]] +7 great mace "[[Undeadhunter]]" {deathbane, rN+}

[[File:Firestarter.png]] +7 great mace "[[Firestarter]]" {flame, immolate, rFlCloud rF++}

[[File:Mace_of_variability.png]] +7 [[mace of Variability]] {chaos, chaos arc}

[[File:Dark maul.png]] +10 [[dark maul]] {heavy}

[[File:Urand_skullcrusher.png]] +3 giant club "[[Skullcrusher]]" {speed, Str+7}

[[File:Carina at Dusk.png]] +9 giant spiked club "[[Carina at dusk|Carina at Dusk]]" {concuss, ShootingStar, rN+}

==Ranged Weapons==
[[File:Urand punk.png]] +3 greatsling "[[Punk]]" {acid, rCorr}

[[File:Bow_of_zephyr.png]] +8 longbow "[[Zephyr]]" {speed, Dex+3 SInv}

[[File:Longbow_storm_bow.png]] +8 [[storm bow]] {elec, penet}

[[File:Mule.png]] +7 hand cannon "[[Mule]]" {flame, backblast, rF+}

[[File:Urand damnation.png]] +6 arbalest "[[Damnation (unrand)|Damnation]]" {[[damnation]]}

[[File:Crossbow sniper.png]] +27 heavy crossbow "[[Sniper]]" {heavy, Acc+∞ SInv}

==Body Armour==
[[File:Victory.png]] +0 toga "[[Victory]]" {*Victory Clar}

[[File:Robe of vines.png]] +1 [[robe of Vines]] {NoPotionHeal Regen++++}

[[File:Robe_of_clouds.png]] +3 [[robe of Clouds]] {*Thunder rCloud rElec}

[[File:Robe_of_folly.png]] +4 [[robe of Folly]] {Brilliance Will-∞ Int+8}

[[File:Robe_of_augmentation.png]] +4 [[robe of Augmentation]] {Str+4 Int+4 Dex+4}

[[File:Robe_of_misfortune.png]] +5 [[robe of Misfortune]] {Harm *Corrode *Slow EV+5}

[[File:Robe_of_night.png]] +5 [[robe of Night]] {Dark Will+ SInv}

[[File:Skin_of_zhor.png]] +4 [[skin of Zhor]] {*Englaciate rC+++ SInv}

[[File:Salamander_hide_armour.png]] +3 [[salamander hide armour]] {Flames, rFlCloud rF++ rC--}

[[File:Cigotuvi's embrace urand.png]] +4 [[Cigotuvi's embrace]] {Corpsefed rMiasma ^Drain rN+}

[[File:Urand_justicars_regalia.png]] +5 [[justicar's regalia]] {Inspire Amulet+ Str+4}

[[File:Moon_troll_leather_armour.png]] +5 [[moon troll leather armour]] {Spirit, Regen++ MP+5}

[[File:Kryia's mail coat.png]] +7 [[Kryia's mail coat]] {PotionHeal*2 rC+}

[[File:Faerie_dragon_armour.png]] [[faerie dragon scales]] (rCorr Hexes, randomised properties)

[[File:Lear's_hauberk.png]] +18 [[Lear's hauberk]]

[[File:Maxwell's_patent_armour.png]] +15 [[Maxwell's patent armour]] {-Tele *Silence rElec Will+ rCorr}

[[File:Armour_of_the_dragon_king.png]] +9 [[scales of the Dragon King]] {Command rPois rF+ rC+}

[[File:Orange crystal plate armour.png]] +8 [[orange crystal plate armour]] {Archmagi, Int+3 Clar}

[[File:Splint mail3.png]] +8 [[Arcane splint mail]] {Archery Corona rElec Str+2 Dex+2}

[[File:bone scales.png]] +6 [[bone scales]] {Death Bane rPois rN+ Slay+3 SH+6}

[[File:Forgewarden's cuirass.png]] +12 [[Forgewarden's cuirass]] {Resonance Apostate rF++ Forge}

[[File:Swamp witch's dragon scales.png]] +5 [[swamp witch's dragon scales]] {TrickPois rPois Int+3}

[[File:fire dragon occultist scales.png]] +6 [[fire dragon occultist's scales]] {FireExpos FireWiz rF++ rC- Int+3}

[[File:ice dragon arcanist scales.png]] +9 [[ice dragon arcanist's scales]] {IceExpos IceWiz rF- rC++ Str+3}

==Shields==
[[File:warlock.png]] +3 [[warlock's mirror]] {omnireflect}

[[File:Shield_of_resistance.png]] +2 [[shield of Resistance]] {rF++ rC++ Will++}

[[File:Storm Queen's shield.png]] +5 [[Storm Queen's shield]] {shock, Fly rElec}

[[File:Shield_of_the_Gong.png]] +18 [[shield of the Gong]] {Loud rN+ Will+ rCorr EV-5}

[[File:Shield_of_ignorance.png]] +10 [[tower shield of Ignorance]] {rN+ Int-4}

==Orbs==
[[File:Urand charlatan's orb.png]] [[Charlatan's Orb]] {orb Charlatan}

[[File:Crystal ball of wucad mu.png]] [[crystal ball of Wucad Mu]] {Energy Mindtap}

[[File:Orb of Dispater.png]] [[orb of Dispater]] {+Damnation *Corrode AC+5}

[[File:Urand_skull_of_zonguldrok.png]] [[skull of Zonguldrok]] {Reaping Hat+ rN+ Int+4}

[[File:Sphere of battle.png]] [[sphere of Battle]]

==Cloaks==
[[File:Cloak of the thief.png]] +0 [[cloak of the Thief]] {Quiet SInv Stlth+}

[[File:Cloak of starlight.png ]] +1 [[cloak of Starlight]] {*Dazzle EV+4 Stlth--}

[[File:Ratskin cloak.png]] +2 [[ratskin cloak]] {*Rats rPois rN+ Str-1 Int-1 Dex+1}

[[File:Urand_fungal_fisticloak.png]] +3 [[fungal fisticloak]] {Shroompunch Gloves+ HP-10 Str-2 Int-2}

[[File:Dragonskin cloak.png]] +4 [[dragonskin cloak]] {Aegis}

==Headgear==
[[File:Hat_of_the_alchemist.png]] -2 [[hat of the Alchemist]] {rElec rPois rF+ rC+ rN+ Will+ rMut rCorr}

[[File:Mask_of_the_dragon.png]] +2 [[mask of the Dragon]] {Dragonpray SInv}

[[File:Hat_of_the_bear_spirit.png]] +2 [[hat of the Bear Spirit]] {Spirit, Bear, *Rage Will++}

[[File:Hood of the assassin.png]] +2 [[hood of the Assassin]] {Detect Stab+ Stlth++}

[[File:Crown_of_dyrovepreva.png]] +3 [[crown of Dyrovepreva]] {rElec Int+2 SInv}

[[File:Hat_of_pondering.png]] +3 [[hat of Pondering]] {ponderous, Will+ MP+10 Int+5}

==Gloves==
[[File:Fencer's_gloves.png]] +0 [[fencer's gloves]] {Riposte Dex+3}

[[File:Urand gadgeteer.png]] +0 [[gloves of the gadgeteer]] {Gadgeteer Wandboost ^Fragile}

[[File:Delatra's gloves.png]] +1 [[Delatra's gloves]] {ID++}

[[File:Gauntlets_of_war.png]] +3 [[gauntlets of War]] {Slay+5}

[[File:Mad Mage's Maulers.png]] +3 [[Mad Mage's Maulers]] {Infuse+∞ VampMP -Cast}

[[File:Ghost crab claws.png]] +2 [[ghost crab claws]] {Mist Str+4 Int+2 Slay+4 Necro}

==Boots==
[[File:Slick slippers.png]] +2 pair of [[slick slippers]] {slick, slippery, EV+4}

[[File:Seven-league boots.png]] +3 pair of [[seven-league boots]] {Rampage+∞}

[[File:mountain_boots.png]] +3 pair of [[mountain boots]] {steadfast, rC+}

==Bardings==
[[File:Lightning scales.png]] +6 [[lightning scales]] {swift, rElec}

[[File:Black knight barding.png]] +10 [[Black Knight's barding]] {ponderous, rPois rN+}

==Evocables==
[[File:Horn of geryon.png]] [[Horn of Geryon]]

==Retired==
[[File:Knife_of_accuracy.png]] +27, -1 [[knife of Accuracy]]

[[File:Lehudib's_crystal_spear_(weapon).png]] +6, +6 [[Lehudib's crystal spear (unrand)|Lehudib's crystal spear]] {return, Int+3}

[[File:Shield_Bullseye.png]] +15 shield "[[Bullseye]]" {EV-5}

[[File:Boots of the spider.png]] +3 pair of [[boots of the spider]] {+Jump, Stlth+}

[[File:Spear_of_the_botono.png]] +6 [[spear of the Botono]] {reap, rPois rN+ HP-6}

[[File:Blowgun_of_the_assassin.png]] +6 [[blowgun of the Assassin]] {+Inv Stlth++}

[[File:Ring_of_vitality.png]] [[ring of Vitality]] {Regen HP+15}

[[File:Cloak_of_flash.png]] +3 [[cloak of Flash]] {+Fly EV+4}

[[File:Crown of eternal torment.png]] +3 [[crown of Eternal Torment]] {rTorment HP-- rN+++ SInv *Curse}

[[File:Amulet_of_cekugob.png]] [[amulet of Cekugob]] {Dismiss -Tele rElec rPois rN++ AC+1 EV+1}

[[File:urand_talos.png]] +12 [[Armour of Talos]] {ponderous, rF+}

[[File:Mace_of_brilliance.png]] +1 eveningstar [[Brilliance]] {holy, rN+ AC+5 Int+5}

[[File:Scimitar_of_flaming_death.png]] +6 [[scimitar of Flaming Death]] {flame, rPois rF++ rC- Will+}

[[File:Dagger_of_chilly_death.png]] +9 [[dagger of Chilly Death]] {flash freeze, rPois rF- rC++ Will+}

[[File:Hat of the High Council.png]] +2 [[hat of the High Council]] {Archmagi, Wiz- Stlth-}

[[File:Longbow_piercer.png]] +7 longbow "[[Piercer]]" {penet, EV-2}

[[File:Demon_blade_bloodbane.png]] +8 demon blade "[[Bloodbane]]" {slice, *Rage +Rage Stlth-}

[[File:Maxwell's etheric cage.png]] +0 [[Maxwell's etheric cage]] {RegenMP *Contam rElec MP+4}

[[File:Boots of the assassin.png]] +2 pair of [[boots of the Assassin]] {Detection Stab+ Stlth++}

[[File:Dagger_morg.png]] +4 dagger "[[Morg]]" {pain, Will+ Int+5}

[[File:Sword_of_zonguldrok.png]] +9 [[Sword of Zonguldrok]] {reap}

[[File:Sword_of_power.png]] +9 [[sword of Power]] {lifebolt}

==History==
*{{CBA|0.35|[[Stagehand's Sword]], [[Hana's Scimitar]], the [[coolibah bardiche]], the [[Staff of Five Virtues]], [[Carina at dusk]], [[Arcane splint mail]], [[bone scales]], [[Fimbulwinter]], the [[Swamp witch's dragon scales]], the [[fire dragon occultist's scales]], the [[ice dragon arcanist's scales]], and [[Forgewarden's cuirass]] will be added. The [[Wrath of Trog]] and [[Zephyr]] are reworked. The [[Glaive of Prune]] will be renamed the Partisan of Prune. The [[Amulet of the Four Winds]] will be renamed the Amulet of Tranquility.}}
*'''[[0.34]]:''' Reworked [[Faerie dragon scales]], [[Mask of the Dragon]], [[crystal ball of Wucad Mu]], and [[Scales of the Dragon King]]. Renamed the [[sword of the Doom Knight]] to the [[sword of the Dread Knight]].
*'''[[0.33]]:''' Added the [[justicar's regalia]], [[fungal fisticloak]], and the [[crown of Vainglory]]. Replaced the [[sword of Zonguldrok]] with the [[skull of Zonguldrok]]. The [[macabre finger necklace]] now gives +7 HP. -Cast on the [[sword of the Doom Knight]] and [[Maxwell's patent armour]] was replaced with *Silence.
*'''[[0.32]]:''' Added the [[Charlatan's Orb]] and [[gloves of the gadgeteer]]. Returned the [[sword of the Doom Knight]]. Reworked [[cloak of the Thief]].
*'''[[0.31]]:''' Added [[Mule]].
*'''[[0.30]]:''' Added [[Hermit's pendant]], [[Consecrated labrys]], [[Slick slippers]], [[Force Lance (unrand)|Force lance]], [[Storm Queen's shield]], [[Victory|toga "Victory"]]. Converted the [[staff of Dispater]], [[staff of Battle]], and [[staff of Wucad Mu]] into [[orb]]s. [[Vorpal]]-branded unrands got other [[brand]]s. Reworked [[Sniper]], [[Dark maul]], [[Mad Mage's Maulers]], [[ring of the Hare]], [[Majin-Bo]], [[sceptre of Asmodeus]], [[Elemental Staff]], [[Lochaber axe]], and removed [[Morg]].
*'''[[0.29]]:''' Added [[Condemnation]], [[mountain boots]], [[lochaber axe]], [[amulet of Elemental Vulnerability]]. Reworked [[amulet of Vitality]], [[rings of the Octopus King]].
*'''[[0.28]]:''' Added [[Delatra's gloves]], [[woodcutter's axe]], [[Throatcutter]], [[staff of the Meek]]. Reworked [[trident of the Octopus King]], [[autumn katana]], [[Leech]], [[ring of the Mage]], [[necklace of Bloodlust]], [[Lear's hauberk]], [[robe of Misfortune]], [[hat of the Bear Spirit]], [[robe of Vines]]. Certain artefacts are now weighted to spawn in the early game.
*'''[[0.27]]:''' Added the [[seven-league boots]]. Reworked the [[Amulet of the Air]], [[Wrath of Trog]], and [[robe of Folly]].
*'''[[0.26]]:''' Reworked the [[salamander hide armour]], [[ratskin cloak]], [[staff of Wucad Mu]], [[cloak of the Thief]], [[Majin-Bo]], [[glaive of the Guard]], [[shield of Resistance]], [[cloak of Starlight]], and [[sword of Power]]. The ring of Phasing is renamed to [[ring of the Hare]], and the ring of Robustness is renamed to [[ring of the Tortoise]]. Also, [[Black Knight's barding]] and [[lightning scales]] became [[barding]]s.
*'''[[0.25]]:''' Added [[Cigotuvi's embrace]], merged "[[Bloodbane]]" into "[[Leech]]", reworked the [[boots of the Assassin]] into the [[hood of the Assassin]], reworked [[Scythe of Curses]] and [[brooch of Shielding]], and removed [[Maxwell's Etheric Cage]].
*'''[[0.24]]:''' Added the [[staff of Battle]], reworked the [[Storm Bow]] and [[Gyre and Gimble]], and removed [[Piercer]].
*'''[[0.23]]:''' Added the demon trident "[[Rift]]", and reworked the [[Singing Sword]], [[Spriggan's Knife]], [[robe of Misfortune]], [[sceptre of Torment]], [[Finisher]], [[robe of Clouds]] and [[skin of Zhor]]. Tweaked the [[arc blade]] and [[storm bow]].
*'''[[0.22]]:''' Reworked [[mace of Variability]], [[Vampire's Tooth]], and removed the rF-, rC- properties from [[Maxwell's Thermic Engine]].
*'''[[0.20]]:''' Added the double sword [[Maxwell's Thermic Engine]]; removed [[scimitar of Flaming Death]], [[dagger of Chilly Death]] and [[hat of the High Council]]. Renamed sword of Jihad into [[zealot's sword]]. The ring of Shaolin is renamed to [[ring of Phasing]], and the bow of Krishna "Sharnga" is renamed to longbow "[[Zephyr]]". The [[necklace of Bloodlust]], [[large shield of Ignorance]], [[sceptre of Torment]] and the [[ratskin cloak]] were reworked.
*'''[[0.19]]:''' Added new versions of [[Punk]], [[Firestarter]], [[Frostbite]], [[trident of the Octopus King]], [[staff of Olgreb]], [[sword of Zonguldrok]], [[Damnation]], [[Eos]], [[fencer's gloves]], and [[Wyrmbane]] and removed [[Brilliance]], [[amulet of Cekugob]], and [[sword of the Doom Knight]].
*'''[[0.18]]:''' Added the frozen axe [[Frostbite]] and the [[warlock's mirror]]. [[Hellfire (unrand)|Hellfire]] was renamed into [[Damnation (unrand)|Damnation]]. The [[armour of Talos]] was added and subsequently removed after a short time in [[trunk]].
*'''[[0.17]]:''' Added the [[robe of Vines]], [[Maxwell's etheric cage]], and [[Kryia's mail coat]]; removed the [[cloak of Flash]]; the [[crown of Eternal Torment]] was considered for inclusion, but discarded.
*'''[[0.16]]:''' Added [[Gyre and Gimble]]; replaced the [[ring of Vitality]] with the [[amulet of Vitality]]; removed the [[spear of the Botono]] and [[blowgun of the Assassin]]
*'''[[0.15]]:''' Removed the [[boots of the spider]]; added the [[orange crystal plate armour]], the [[Majin-Bo]], and a new version of the [[Blowgun of the Assassin]].
*'''[[0.14]]:''' Removed the [[blowgun of the Assassin]], [[Bullseye]], and [[Lehudib's crystal spear (unrand)|Lehudib's crystal spear]]; added [[dark maul]], [[arc blade]], [[Spellbinder]], [[lajatang of Order]], [[boots of the spider]], [[macabre finger necklace]], [[hat of the High Council]], [[Firestarter]] and a new version of the [[boots of the Assassin]].
*'''[[0.13]]:''' Removed [[knife of Accuracy]] and [[boots of the Assassin]]; added [[Moon troll leather armour]].

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Items]]
[[Category:Artefacts]]
[[Category:Unrands|!]]

Ghost crab claws

2026-09-26T21:00:31Z

Bobross419:

{{stub}}
{{version035}}
{{flavour|A large pair of ghostly claws fashioned into gloves by a fenstrider coven for use in necromantic rites. The magically inclined and pugilistically favoured alike may grasp their connection with the spirits of the dead, but these pincers make grasping anything else an exercise in frustration.

(This item prohibits the use of a weapon or shield while equipped.)}}

[[File:Ghost crab claws.png]] '''''the +2 pair of ghost crab claws'''''

+2 [[gloves]]

Mist: It may create clouds of spectral mist when the wearer attacks or casts spells, and grants immunity from such clouds. Necromancy spells have a greater chance to produce spectral mist. 
Str+4 
Int+2 
Slay+4 
Necro: It increases the power of your [[Necromancy]] spells.

==Desirability==
TBD

==History==
{{CBA|0.35|the ghost crab claws will be added.<ref>[https://github.com/crawl/crawl/commit/7da681cacf New unrand: ghost crab claws]</ref>}}

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Unrands]]

Xom

2026-09-26T19:51:25Z

Bobross419:

{{version033}}

''This page is about the [[Religion|god]]. For the removed [[card]], see [[Xom card]]''.

[[File:Xom altar.png]] ''"A new plaything!"''

{{flavour|Xom is a wild and unpredictable god of chaos, who seeks not worshippers but playthings with which to toy. Many choose to follow Xom in the hope of receiving fabulous rewards and mighty powers, but Xom is nothing if not capricious. There is nothing a follower can do to influence Xom's mood.

To worship Xom is to live riskily. In a good mood Xom may shower you with gifts, while at other times this capricious god could decide to “spice things up a little” and send you to your doom. If you prove yourself the stronger, so much the better; if not, well, there'll be other playthings...}}

[[Chaos Knight]]s begin play worshiping Xom.

==Racial restrictions==
[[Demigod]]s cannot worship Xom (or any other [[god]]).

==Piety==
Unlike other gods, there is no way to affect your piety; it is instead randomly changed.

For Xom, Piety's only use is to determine the niceness and strength of its actions. Xom's niceness depends on your Piety: the chance to perform a "good" action is approximately equal to Piety/2 % (this probability is increased during [[tension|dangerous situations]], like combat, up to 95%). The strength of Xom's actions will depend on how far you are from 100 Piety (in either direction).

Piety starts at 100 and changes by 1 point roughly every 20 turns (about 49% chance to move towards 100 and 51% chance to move away). When Xom acts, there is a 20% chance that your piety will be set to a random amount. Piety can be observed in the ^ screen by watching your favour status, as well as observing the [[piety]] meter.

Depending on your piety, it displays the following messages:
*0 - 20: A very special plaything of Xom.
*21 - 50: A special plaything of Xom.
*51 - 80: A plaything of Xom.
*81 - 120: A toy of Xom.
*121 - 150: A favourite toy of Xom.
*151 - 180: A beloved toy of Xom.
*181 - 200: Xom's teddy bear.

==Amusement==
Another important aspect of Xom is that it really, really hates being bored. When Xom is bored, Xom will act more often, and its actions will almost always be bad. This is reflected by an "amusement" value, which ranges between 0 and 255.

When you start worshiping Xom, its amusement is set to between 2 and 80. Every 20 turns, there's a 50% chance that Xom's amusement will be decreased by one, until it reaches 0. When that happens, you'll get a message "Xom is BORED", and the bad stuff will start. You'll get a warning when the amusement gets down to 1 (at least 20 turns before it reaches 0): "Xom is getting BORED". If your interest reaches zero, your title will always be "A BORING thing", regardless of your piety level.

To avoid boring Xom, you should always try to keep the god interested in you. Unfortunately, Xom is mostly amused by things you can't control (like being teleported away in the Abyss when the exit or a rune was in sight) or if you waste useful resources. When Xom finds something funny, the amusement may rise if the action's amusement value (which is randomized) would be higher than the current one, setting amusement to the new value. You can guess how high the amusement was set by the message provided:

*Xom is interested: 12 - 25
*Xom is mildly amused: 26 - 50
*Xom is amused: 51 - 75
*Xom is highly amused!: 76 - 100
*Xom thinks this is hilarious!: 101 - 200
*Xom roars with laughter!: 201 - 255

===Interest===
You can help make Xom more interested in you by doing or being affected by the following things:

*Extreme (255): Using an unknown potion in dangerous combat (and you are more than [[XL]] 1)<ref>{{source ref|0.31.0|item-use.cc|3055}}</ref> (200), randomly teleporting into a dangerous situation, being banished to [[the Abyss]], being hit by a vulnerable element (200), or being killed by falling down stairs (200).
*High (128): Mutating (depends on the mutation) or undead rotting. Reading a random "bad effect" scroll in dangerous combat ([[Scroll of immolation]], [[Scroll of poison]] if the player does not have poison [[Resistance|resistance]], [[Scroll of torment]] if the player does not have negative energy or torment [[Resistance|resistance]]) (100). Being killed by disintegration (100). Being significantly hurt by a monster of a far higher or far lower XL than yourself (amusement value varies).
*Medium (64): Drinking potions of moonshine or berserk rage, having your intellect devoured (50), using an unknown useless or good scroll with a dangerous monster nearby (50) or when hostile monsters accidentally hit each other.
*Low (16): Successful use of a box of beasts (14), enchanting things, gaining levels, anyone in sight fumbling in shallow water (14), or being drained (15).
*Minor: Spell miscasts (the level), becoming confused (duration), or sustaining serious injury (varies).

Xom is also interested by dangerous and high '''[[tension]]''' situations and is more likely to intervene or act when these occur, which will also reset the boredom timer. Some examples include fighting many monsters at once, battling a high [[HD]] monster when your [[XL]] is low, and being under many debuffs, such as being [[slow]]ed or [[paralyzed]].

==Acts==
Every 20.0 [[decaAut]], Xom will turn its attention towards you, and depending on the situation (from 7% of the time if there are no monsters in view to 33% in the middle of a big fight) may decide to perform either a "good" action or a "bad" action.

Xom's actions will often be in context (e.g. not turning you berserk if there's no one around), although nothing is guaranteed. Good actions are more likely if your Piety is high (see below).

Below is an incomplete list of actions that Xom may perform.

=="Good" Actions==
=== Only combat actions ===
*'''Potion effect''': Affect you with a random potion effect<ref>{{source ref|0.31.0|xom.cc|899}}</ref>:
**[[potion of curing|curing]], [[potion of heal wounds|heal wounds]], [[potion of magic|magic]], [[potion of haste|haste]], [[potion of might|might]], [[potion of brilliance|brilliance]], or [[potion of invisibility|invisibility]] (12.35%)
**[[potion of attraction|attraction]] or [[potion of berserk rage|berserk rage]] or [[potion of ambrosia|ambrosia]] (6.17%)
**[[potion of experience|experience]] (1.23%)
:Only potions that will have an effect are picked (for example, no Magic if the player character is at max MP).
*'''Cast spells''': Make you cast a random un-aimed spell for free, with spell levels correlating to present tension.
** This list comprises of: [[Summon Small Mammal]], [[Gloom]], [[Fugue of the Fallen]], [[Olgreb's Toxic Radiance]], [[Battlesphere]], [[Awaken Armour]], [[Martyr's Knell]], [[Leda's Liquefaction]], [[Forge Blazeheart Golem]], [[Animate Dead]], [[Alistair's Intoxication]], [[Summon Mana Viper]], [[Alistair's Walking Alembic]], [[Summon Cactus Giant]], [[Dispersal]], [[Death Channel]], [[Summon Hydra]], [[Sphinx Sisters]], [[Diamond Sawblades]], [[Malign Gateway]], [[Discord]], [[Disjunction]], [[Summon Horrible Things]], [[Summon Dragon]], [[Fulsome Fusillade]], [[Chain of Chaos]]. <ref>{{source ref|0.33.0|xom.cc|100}}</ref>
*'''Kind door ring''': Raises a massive cage of disconnected transparent doors between 4 and 7 tiles away from you, while blinking away all other hostile monsters to the outside of these doors. This can only replace rock walls, trees, fountains, and other doors, and won't happen at all if there's too many other types of terrain nearby.
*'''Enchant monsters (Good)''': [[Paralysis|Paralyzes]], [[vitrify|vitrifies]], [[slow]]s nearby monsters, or makes them start [[petrify|petrifying]].
*Prevent you from being banished.
===== Summons =====
*Summon several allies: see [[Xom#Xom_summons|Xom summons]] below.
*Summon one ally with several hundred turns duration and an innate [[Regeneration]] buff. This requires less than 25% of the level to be known first.
*'''Hyperbuff ally''': Give your weakest current ally a large list of buffs, or summon a weak ally to give all of these buffs to if none are already present. Choosing between the two depends on your current allies versus your XL. ("Witness the rise of a true champion!")
**The buff list includes: Might, Haste, Invisibility, Brilliance, Deflect Missiles, [[potion of resistance|Resistance]], Regeneration, [[potion of enlightenment|Strong-Willed]], [[Olgreb's Toxic Radiance|Toxic Radiance]], [[Divine vigour|Doubled Vigour]], [[Mirror Damage|Mirrored Damage]], and [[Swiftness]].
**Possible summons include [[iguana]]s, [[cerulean imp]]s, [[black bear]]s, [[hell rat]]s, [[wyvern]]s, [[hell hound]]s, [[elephant]]s, and [[toenail golem]]s.
*'''Flora ring''': Summons a thick garden of either [[Plant#Variant_Plants|demonic plants]] or [[toadstool]]s immediately around you. This won't be used if monsters with [[Smiting]] range attacks are present.

===== Statuses =====
*'''Mass charm''': Temporarily [[charm]]s half of all monsters in sight, always charming at least one and failing to charm another, while otherwise aiming for the lower half of the [[HD]] of monsters present.
*'''Animate weapon''': Cast an irresistable [[Tukima's Dance]] on a random monster's weapon, making it your ally. ("[Enemy]'s [weapon] dances into the air!") <ref>{{source ref|0.31.0|xom.cc|1288}}</ref>
*'''Confuse monsters''': [[Confusion|Confuse]] hostile monsters around you. This will not occur if the monster is [[nonliving]], plant, has the [[Clarity]] intrinsic, or is already confused. <ref>{{source ref|0.31.0|xom.cc|930}}</ref>
*'''Good polymorph''': Polymorph a random monster around you into a weaker monster (-3 [[HD]]).
*'''Snakes to sticks''' Permanently transform a hostile snake or naga into a "stick" (any one of the weapons: club, spear, trident, halberd, glaive, quarterstaff, shortbow, longbow, giant club, or giant spiked club). The stick will never be branded, and is not guaranteed to be useful to the player character. The stick's rarity, type and enchantment are influenced by the [[HD]] of the snake.
*'''Wave of despair''': Drops a large amount of harmless skeleton items, inflicts [[Vulnerability]] on both you and everything else in sight, then [[drain]]s and [[fear]]s all hostile enemies.
===== Destructive effects =====
*'''Divine lightning''': Throws a bolt of divine lightning, which explodes in a 5x5 radius around you but not actually hitting you, and then sprays additional lightning bolts around one's sight, with 33% of them being aimed towards foes and the rest aimed at random spots in sight. Lightning bolt count scales with tension levels, and all lightning power scales to XL plus having more than 3 runes. ("The area is suffused with divine lightning!"). <ref>{{source ref|0.33.0|xom.cc|2097}}</ref>
*'''Destruction''': Hurl [[Bolt spells#Bolt of Fire|fireballs]] at your foes, which also applies [[Sticky Flame]]. This skips adjacent monsters. If Xom is in a bad mood, there is a chance to hurl fireballs at allied monsters. <ref>{{source ref|0.31.0|xom.cc|1653}}</ref> There is a 1/3 chance for the fireballs to be fake and apply a backlight [[Corona]] instead. <ref>{{source ref|0.31.0|xom.cc|2818}}</ref>
*'''Force Lance fleet''': Push away nearby monsters (without dealing damage), then summons friendly [[living spell]]s around you that all cast [[Force Lance]]. The power and number of Force Lances are randomized but scale to XL.
*'''Light up webs''': Light all [[web]]s in sight on fire, removing all clouds currently on top of webs, freeing anybody currently caught in a web, and leaving behind flame clouds. This can only happen with visible webs.
=== Also non-combat actions ===
*'''Gift''': Gift you an item. Weapons have an extra chance to become chaos branded, and Xom will rarely directly lean on [[scroll of acquirement]] choices.
*'''Good teleport''': Instantly teleport several times, likely up to a relatively safe place. This can only occur if less than 80% of the level has been explored.
*'''Good mutation''': Give you a random good mutation, or many random good mutations. This will reduce your current HP (but no lower than 50% of your max HP), but they can also restore your health to 50% of your max HP if you are below that amount. These go through [[mutation resistance]], and do not care about one's
*'''Detect all''': Detects simultaneously monsters, items, and the current floor's terrain, with spottiness and distance dependent on XOm's mood. Note that the location of detected monsters is fuzzed, and will only display the genus of each monster. This can only occur if less than 80% of the level has been explored.
*'''Change of scenery''': Alters terrain around you. Fountains may begin to gush blood, trees may become demonic or petrified, [[teleport trap]]s or closed doors or altars to Xom may appear, caches of fruit and meat may fall from the sky....<ref>{{source ref|0.31.0|xom.cc|1536}}</ref>
*'''Cloud trail''': You start spewing a trail of clouds behind you with every movement. Cloud types include, in decreasing likelihood, [[Cloud#Blastmotes|seething chaos]], harmless magical condensation, [[Cloud#Miasma|miasma]], [[Cloud#Calcifying_dust|calcifying dust]], [[Cloud#Mutagenic_fog|mutagenic fog]], [[Cloud#Excruciating_misery|excruciating misery]], [[Cloud#Opaque|opaque salt]], and [[Cloud#Blastmotes|blastmotes]].
** Calcifying dust and salt can block [[line of sight]], while the rest can't. Worshipping the good gods will prevent producing chaos, miasma, or misery, while Zin in particular will also prevent mutagenic fog.
*'''Bazaar banishment''': You are sent to a special [[bazaar]] containing many double-edged consumables and equipment, spells that are either double-edged or in Xom's casting list, various talismans, and chaos-branded weapons. Uniquely, this can provide a {{red|C}}{{yellow|h}}{{green|a}}{{cyan|o}}{{blue|t}}{{magenta|i}}{{white|c}} modifier ontop of unrands, which lets them hit with an additional [[chaos]] brand on top of their other properties. This is unlikely to happen multiple times a run, and depends on having sufficient amounts of gold increasing each time.
**Visually, this uses the banishment animation, and the resulting bazaar can use [[Abyss]] tiles. Reading the message log upon being banished is important.

=="Bad" Actions==
=== Only combat actions ===
*'''Chaos gift''': Add a [[Chaos]] brand and several [[slaying]] increases to a random nearby creature's weapons and ammunition.
** This will not occur if the item is blessed, a wielded by a [[List of holy monsters|holy]] monster, is a gift from another god, is branded, a boulder, a throwing net, a [[Magical staff|magical staff]], or an [[unrand]]. <ref>{{source ref|0.31.0|xom.cc|682}}</ref> Upon upgrading, the text "[enemy]'s [weapon] erupts in a glittering mayhem of colors" will alert the player to the chaos upgraded weapon.
*'''Bad Polymorph''': Polymorphs a random hostile monster into a stronger monster (+2 HD). This can't occur for firewood plants, avoids flying monster for the few few xls, and has a chance to apply the wretched at lower XLs.
*'''Confuse players''': confuses you, and potentially other hostile monsters depending on Xom's mood. If you can't drink a [[potion of curing]] to remove this, you'll also get [[might]] for the confusion's duration.
**Like the good action, hostile monsters won't be confused if they're [[nonliving]], plant, have [[Clarity]] intrinsics, or are already confused.
*'''Time control''': Slows, hastes, or paralyzes everybody in sight (including you). This can still be applied even if you have Stasis from being a [[Formicid]].
*'''Clones''': Summons two hostile [[illusion]]s of yourself, and one friendly one, for a very brief duration.
*'''Brain drain''': Drains your mp, and produces some number of antimagic monsters scaling to XL: [[brain worm]]s, [[mana viper]]s, and at very high XL, [[quicksilver elemental]]s. These may be [[neutral]] or hostile depending on Xom's overall mood.
*'''Forced Word of Recall''': Makes a random hostile monster start chanting a [[Word of Recall]], even if it can't otherwise cast magic, and otherwise be unable to do any other actions. This takes 60 to 90 aut, unlike normal casts of the spell, and requires there to still be other hostile monsters out of sight on the floor, as well as the monster to not be silenced.
*'''Mean door ring''': Raises a massive cage of disconnected transparent doors between 4 and 7 tiles away from you, while blinking towards you an XL-limited number of hostile enemies and blinking away everything else. Like the beneficial version, this can only replace rock walls, trees, water, and lava, and won't happen at all if there's too many other types of wall nearby.
*'''Fiddle with doors''': Closed doors will burst open, and open doors will slam shut. ''This can open runed doors''!
*'''Enchant monsters (bad)''': Applies Haste, Might, Regeneration, or [[potion of resistance|Resistance]] to multiple monsters in sight.
*'''Chaos clouds''': Places a large amount of [[Cloud#seething chaos|seething chaos]] clouds on top of you.
*'''Torment''': Invoke a [[Symbol of Torment]].
**Xom will never do this if you're immune to torment.
*'''Blink monsters''': Xom blinks all hostile monsters in sight, likely ruining your positioning.
*'''Rearrange the pieces''': Xom swaps around the positions of you and other monsters, confusing monsters 50% of the time, and very likely extremely ruining your positioning. <ref>{{source ref|0.31.0|xom.cc|1173}}</ref>

=== Also non-combat actions ===
*'''Miscast''': makes a silly message from miscasting a spell "through" the player. Nothing will occur, but this will be indicated through chat messages "Xom almost notices you." "Xom's attention almost turns to you for a moment." "Xom's power almost touches on you for a moment." or "You almost hear Xom's maniacal laughter."
*'''Bad teleport''': Instantly teleport several times, likely up to a relatively dangerous place. The instant nature of this means one can't wake anything up mid-transport until the end.
*'''Summon hostiles''': see [[Xom#Xom_summons|Xom summons]] below.
*'''Random mutations''': Give you random mutations or removes them. This will reduce your current HP (but no lower than 50% of your max HP), but they can also restore your health to 50% of your max HP if you are below that amount. These go through [[mutation resistance]], and are not subjected to the same hard cap of 15 other non-divine mutation sources have.
*'''Move stairs''': If stairs (or escape hatches) are in view, they are moved toward you or away from you. For several turns, when you move on a stair or climb up or down a stair, there's a chance that it will slide away from you. This is far more common in the [[Abyss]].
*'''Noise''': Make loud [[noise]]s at your location, ranging from shouting to shattering the volume (12 to 31). This cannot be affected by [[Silence]].
*'''Fake Shatter''': Does a fake [[Shatter]] effect, which produces a similar level of incredible noise but which does no damage, has a very low chance to destroy most non-rock walls, and frequently replaces destroyed rock walls with [[pile of debris|piles of debris]]. This can still be done while you're silenced.
*'''Draining''': Inflict you with [[draining]]. This is reduced if you are already drained.
*'''Banishment''': Banish you to the [[Abyss]]. This is internally considered the most severe action Xom can take. The level of the abyss you are banished to depends on the [[XL]] of the character. This will not occur if the player character is below the minimum experience level, and can only be a "fake" banishment. However, if Xom is "bored" or if the player character is under penance, then banishment is always allowed and never reverted. <ref>{{source ref|0.31.0|xom.cc|2514}}</ref> If Xom is not bored and the player is not under penance, then there is a chance that Xom will immediately revert banishment to the Abyss.
*'''Doom''': Inflict some [[Doom]] upon you. This will never inflict a full [[Bane]] unless Xom is either bored or wrathful.

Xom's actions and gifts will often seem to be in the spirit of what Xom (with its particularly capricious sense of humor) finds funny. Xom might gift a [[gold dragon scales]] for your [[Octopode]], just to tease you.

In any case, Xom's actions will never directly kill you unless Xom is bored or you are under penance (a mutation or effect that would reduce a stat to 0 is cancelled, HP damage that would have killed you is cancelled, etc.). However, anything Xom summons is more than capable of killing you.

===Xom summons===
Most Xom monsters are either demons (though with a limited selection of high-tier demons), summoners, debuff-inflictors, or chaotic. One can receive a long-term single ally with regeneration, multiple friendly monsters, or multiple hostile monsters. In the non-singular case, there is always a 1/4 chance that only one of these Xom-favoured summons will be chosen, and the rest will be appropriate monsters of the floor akin to [[scroll of summoning|scrolls of summoning]] and [[Shadow Creatures]]. Experience level provides a baseline loose "depth" number, which is then fuzzed further according to one's XL and the number of monsters summoned (lower for more and higher for less). As long as Xom's not bored or wrathful, the baseline variance is -4 to +3 for hostile summons, and -3 to +8 for allied summons.

{| class="prettytable" style="border:none; margin:auto; padding:0;"
! Monster !! Minimum Depth !! Max Depth !! Monster !! Min Depth !! Max Depth !! Monster !! Min Depth !! Max Depth
|-
| {{monsterlink|Butterfly}} || -4 || 26 || {{monsterlink|Quokka}} || -4 || -1 || {{monsterlink|Crimson imp}} || -3 || 6
|-
| {{monsterlink|Iron imp}} || -3 || 6 || {{monsterlink|Shadow imp}} || 2 || 8 || {{monsterlink|Ufetubus}} || 3 || 8
|-
| {{monsterlink|White imp}} || 3 || 8 || {{monsterlink|Drude}} || 3 || 8 || {{monsterlink|Mummy}} || 4 || 8
|-
| {{monsterlink|Phantom}} || 4 || 8 || {{monsterlink|Bombardier beetle}} || 5 || 10 || {{monsterlink|Weeping skull}} || 5 || 12
|-
| {{monsterlink|Swamp drake}} || 5 || 12 || {{monsterlink|Orange demon}} || 7 || 14 || {{monsterlink|Shapeshifter}} || 7 || 15
|-
| {{monsterlink|Ice devil}} || 8 || 14 || {{monsterlink|Red devil}} || 8 || 14 || {{monsterlink|Boggart}} || 8 || 15
|-
| {{monsterlink|Chaos spawn}} || 8 || 20 || {{monsterlink|Hellwing}} || 9 || 14 || {{monsterlink|Toenail golem}} || 9 || 14
|-
| {{monsterlink|Vampire}} || 8 || 14 || {{monsterlink|Ynoxinul}} || 9 || 14 || {{monsterlink|Hell rat}} || 9 || 14
|-
| {{monsterlink|Kobold demonologist}} || 10 || 14 || {{monsterlink|Small abomination}} || 10 || 15 || {{monsterlink|Ugly thing}} || 10 || 16
|-
| {{monsterlink|Soul eater}} || 10 || 17 || {{monsterlink|Rust devil}} || 10 || 18 || {{monsterlink|Smoke demon}} || 11 || 17
|-
| {{monsterlink|Dream sheep}} || 11 || 17 || {{monsterlink|Worldbinder}} || 11 || 20 || {{monsterlink|Neqoxec}} || 11 || 22
|-
| {{monsterlink|Obsidian bat}} || 12 || 16 || {{monsterlink|Demonspawn}} || 12|| 18 || {{monsterlink|Sun demon}} || 13 || 19
|-
| {{monsterlink|Sixfirhy}} || 10 || 17 || {{monsterlink|Great orb of eyes}} || 13 || 20 || {{monsterlink|Laughing skull}} || 13 || 21
|-
| {{monsterlink|Large abomination}} || 14 || 22 || {{monsterlink|Glowing shapeshifter}} || 14 || 22 || {{monsterlink|Hell hog}} || 15 || 22
|-
| {{monsterlink|Obsidian statue}} || 15 || 23 || {{monsterlink|Bunyip}} || 16 || 22 || {{monsterlink|Radroach}} || 16 || 23
|-
| {{monsterlink|Very ugly thing}} || 16 || 25 || {{monsterlink|Sphinx marauder}} || 16 || 24 || {{monsterlink|Glowing orange brain}} || 17 || 24
|-
| {{monsterlink|Shadow demon}} || 17 || 33 || {{monsterlink|Sin beast}} || 17 || 33 || {{monsterlink|Cacodemon}} || 17 || 33
|-
| {{monsterlink|Zykzyl}} || 17 || 33 || {{monsterlink|Guardian sphinx}} || 18 || 25 || {{monsterlink|Reaper}} || 16 || 23
|-
| {{monsterlink|Dancing weapon}} || 18 || 24 || {{monsterlink|Orange crystal statue}} || 19 || 26 || {{monsterlink|Apocalypse crab}} || 20 || 33
|-
| {{monsterlink|Tentacled monstrosity}} || 21 || 33 || {{monsterlink|Starflower}} || 22 || 33 || {{monsterlink|Hellephant}} || 23 || 33
|-
| {{monsterlink|Moth of wrath}} || 24 || 24 || {{monsterlink|Nekomata}} || 25 || 33
|}

Butterflies, laughing skulls, and dream sheep come in twos or three, while hell rats, boggarts, ugly things, tarantella, hell hogs, and very ugly things come in twos. Reapers will always come with chaos scythes, whether allied or hostile.

===Revival===
Rarely, upon death, Xom may intervene and save your life. This is affected by the [[tension]] of the situation, if Xom considers the death "worth saving", and the current mood (piety). This will never happen if your character's max HP is 1, or your XL is 1. Deaths that cannot be considered "worth saving" from are deaths from: leaving the dungeon, winning the game, quitting, or self-aimed death. <ref>{{source ref|0.31.0|xom.cc|3235}}</ref>. Upon being revived, your character will receive anywhere from 1 [[HP]] to <code>1 + Max HP/4</code> HP. Xom is guaranteed to not be bored within the next 10 [[aut]]s (gift timeout is set to a minimum of 10) <ref>{{source ref|0.31.0|xom.cc|3319}}</ref>.

===Death Comments===
Xom has a chance to comment upon the character's death if it is particularly "funny" or "boring".<ref>{{source ref|0.31.0|xom.cc|3210}}</ref> These will only occur if the death is final, and Xom does not revive the character. A funny death is one where the death is unusual (not killed by a [[Monster|monster]], killed by a [[God|god]] or otherwise [[Invisible|invisible]] actor, [[List of spells by flag|beam]], [[Cloud|cloud]], [[Freezing|freezing]], [[Fire|burning]], self-aimed, or [[Trap|trap]]), having died with [[HP]] greater than -9, or having had high [[Tension|tension]] (more than 19) before the death. Xom will laugh in the post-death screen ("Xom roars with laughter!", "Xom laughs nastily!" etcetera). A boring death is one where the dead character has down to -2 HP and the situation was of low tension (maximum of 10). Xom will remark that you were boring ("Xom yawns loudly!", "Huh, did I miss anything?" etcetera). These comments have no effect on gameplay.

==Gifts==
Xom will occasionally give you gifts as one of its actions. These are delivered purely at random, not based on any Gift Timeout. Xom's gifts can be normal, useful items, but are usually chosen for maximum annoyance. Items range from excellent randarts to large piles of [[gold]] to utter trash ([[robe]] {god gift}). [[Randarts]] will sometimes have titles with Xom's name in them (e.g. leather armour of Xom's Amusement).

==Penance==
{{flavour|Unfaithful ex-followers will find themselves suffering through Xom's bad moods for so long as Xom can be bothered to remember about them. Still, Xom's caprice remains; the unfaithful are rewarded just as the faithful are punished.}}

If you leave Xom, your penance counter will be set to 50, which is quite high.

While under penance, Xom will occasionally punish you by performing a "bad" action from the list above. As a true god of chaos, however, there is a 10% chance that Xom will do a "good" action instead. Note that Xom's wrath makes "bad" actions harsher and scarier, and harmless effects like flavour messages won't be chosen- when combined with Xom's limited number of actions outside of combat, this means one will get over a dozen bad mutations, and frequently have to deal with large numbers of hostile Xom summons.

==Trivia==
*When using a QWERTY keyboard layout, the name "Xom" is simply "[[Zin]]," but with all letters mistyped one key to the right.
*In one of the books of [[Zin]] (through the [[Zin#Given Abilities|Recite]] ability), there is a chance for the "sinners" to be referred to as "bastard children of Xom". <ref>{{source ref|0.31.0|god-abil.cc|487}}</ref>
*Xom's "last name" on its god page is usually "of Chaos" (at a 70.175 percent chance of occurring), but can more rarely be any one of 27 other options. This is unique for all gods in Crawl, as all other gods can only have one last name. <ref>{{source ref|0.31.0|dat/database/godname.txt|1}}</ref>
**Most rarely are the last names "The Xom-Meister, Xom-a-lom-a-ding-dong", "The Xom-Meister, Xom-o-Rama", "The Xom-Meister, Xom-Xom-bo-Bom, Banana-Fana-fo-Fom", "Xom of Unknown Intent", "Xom the Fickle", "Xom of Unknown Intention", "Xom of Swiftly Tilting Intent", "Xom of Fickle Intent", "Xom of Ineffable Intent", "Xom of Gnomic Intent", each at a 0.50% chance of occurring. <ref>{{source ref|0.31.0|dat/database/godname.txt|92}}</ref>

==History==
*In [[0.33]], Xom got a new effect that hyperbuffs a player's ally and the effect where it inflicts [[Doom]] on a player.
*Prior to [[0.32]], many of Xom's effects didn't scale with [[XL]]; most notably, this included Xom's summons, which had had many fewer options. Many effects were adjusted to be more unambigiously good or bad, contain other also, several new effects were added in 0.32:
**The following effects were added in 0.32: time control, brain drain, flora rings, both varieties of door ring, chanting word of recall,
*Prior to [[0.26]], Xom was not stimulated on worship from a [[faded altar]] (+200 amusement).
*Prior to [[0.25]], Xom could cause [[miscast]] effects, which used to be [http://crawl.chaosforge.org/index.php?title=Miscast_effect&oldid=52087 much more varied].
*Prior to [[0.24]], Xom could not summon butterflies when you were [[torment]]ed.
*Prior to [[0.21]], eating mutagenic [[chunk]]s could grant Xom's interest.
*Prior to [[0.18]], Xom branded weapon gifts with [[chaos]] less often and didn't chaos brand ranged weapons. Drinking potions of poison could also award Xom's interest.
*Prior to [[0.17]], drinking potions of decay could award Xom's interest.
*In [[0.16]], Xom gained a 'mood' meter on the Crawl interface, in the same place other gods have piety meters.
*Prior to [[0.14]], Xom's confusion could surpass 20 turns; this has been capped to 20. Xom's abilities also did not respect [[clarity]] and [[sustain abilities]] at all, although Xom may still bypass these abilities if the mood meter is particularly low.

==References==
<references/>

{{gods}}
[[Category:Chaotic Gods]]

Crossbow (weapon)

2026-09-26T19:48:33Z

Bobross419:

#REDIRECT [[crossbows]]

The sphere of Battle

2026-09-26T19:35:09Z

Bobross419:

#REDIRECT [[Sphere of Battle]]

0.23

2026-09-26T19:33:25Z

Bobross419:

{{oldversion}}

'''0.23''' is a version of ''Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup'' released on February 7th, 2019.

==Highlights==
* [[Trap]] system overhaul
* New [[Gauntlet]] portal to replace Labyrinths
* [[Nemelex Xobeh]] rework
* Nine [[unrandart]]s reworked and the new "[[Rift]]" unrandart added
* Support for [[seed]]ed dungeon play

==Branches, Environment==
* [[Trap]]s have been overhauled:
** Traps that generate on the ground are always revealed.
** Exploration has a chance to trigger a "trap effect" independent from terrain traps. The possible effects are [[alarm trap|alarm]], [[shaft]], and [[teleport trap|teleport]] near monsters.
** Monsters only trigger traps in sight of the player.
** Alarm traps now always Mark the player whenever they are triggered in LOS.
** [[Net trap]]s now try to net the player whenever they are triggered in LOS.
** New trap: [[dispersal trap]]. When triggered, every actor in sight of the trap is blinked.
** Trap placement in Ossuaries, Zot:5, and Tomb has been overhauled. In Zot:5 and Tomb, all mechanical traps save for net traps have been removed.
** Grate traps (triggered by [[pressure plate]]s) have been removed.
* A new [[Gauntlet]] portal that replaces [[Labyrinth]]s:
** Gauntlets have the player choose a path through several combat arenas, each of which contains (sometimes exotic) monsters and loot.
** Access to each arena is one-way using [[transporter]]s. Teleports and the [[Passage of Golubria]] spell are disabled.
** All paths lead to the [[minotaur]] who guards the exit and a pile of treasure.
** Gauntlets are found where Labyrinths previously generated.
* Support for seeded play:
** A new option for pregenerating the entire connected dungeon based on a fixed seed has been added. This takes a bit of time, but ensures that any playthroughs of a particular seed will use the same dungeon.
** This option is not yet available for online play, but can be used offline. See the manual section "Seeded play" for details.
** The dungeon RNG has been separated from the gameplay RNG to allow this feature to work.
** Each game seed generates a unique dungeon (including layout and monster and item placement) that is always the same for the same version of Crawl, as long as levels are generated in the same order.
** If you see that two games with the same seed generate a different dungeon, please report this as a bug!
* New early [[vault]]s featuring thematic item shops and monsters guarding manuals, as well as new ghost vaults for many branches.
* Two new dungeon layouts enabled, one for Dungeon and one for Lair.
* Translucent doors that can be seen through when closed have been added and are now used in some Elf layouts and some vaults, including most [[runed door]] vaults.

==Character==
* The player can no longer be put to sleep when [[paralyse]]d or [[petrify|petrified]].
* Tengu Permanent Flight becomes immediately available at XL 5.
* [[Tengu]] EV bonuses are no longer applied to +EV from equipment.
* [[Wanderer]] starting spell library|spell libraries are announced along with equipment.
* Wanderers that start with exactly one level 1 spell start with it memorized.

==Gods==
* [[Nemelex Xobeh]] has been reworked:
** Decks are accessed through abilities and no longer exist as items.
** Nemelex offers three abilities: "Draw Escape", "Draw Destruction", and "Draw Summoning", which provide card effects.
** The deck abilities do not have rarities; card power levels are determined by invocations and piety alone.
** Nemelex periodically adds cards to the three abstract decks.
** Triple Draw works on the three decks as before, offering a choice of three cards. The piety cost is increased.
** Deal Four deals four cards from a deck and has a reduced piety cost.
** Stack Five constructs a player-ordered stack of five cards drawn from any of the three decks to be drawn later. Creating a new stack discards the old. The piety cost is the same as old stack five.
** The [[Velocity card]] no longer hastes enemies, instead always slowing them with a chance proportional to power.
** The [[Storm card]] has been revised. It now performs a wind blast followed by one to nine electrical explosions.
* [[Elyvilon]]'s Heal Other is adjusted:
** The formula depends only on monster type, not specific monster max HP.
** [[Player ghost]]s and [[Pandemonium lord]]s are now immune.
** The targeter displays the pacification chance.
* [[Ashenzari]] protects followers from exploration based trap effects.
* [[Qazlal]]'s cloud immunity is extended to elementals created with Elemental Force.
* [[Fedhas]]' protection of plants from player spells is extended to LOS-wide attack spells.
* The acid damage from [[Makhleb]]'s Minor Destruction has been reduced.
* Exploration-based piety is no longer granted for the [[Temple]], deep [[water]], or [[lava]].
* Monster conversion for [[Beogh]], [[Gozag]]'s Bribe Branch, and [[Jiyva]] is attempted upon sight instead of on the turn after the monster enters LOS.

==Interface==
* Spell damage message punctuation has been adjusted to reflect damage done using the same scale as melee damage.
* Damage brand message punctuation has been similarly adjusted.
* [[Monster]] descriptions in '[[x]]v' display spell ranges.
* The Religion screen '[[^]]' gains a fourth pane for gods that need Extra information:
** [[Ashenzari]] displays information about bondage status.
** [[Beogh]] displays a list of named followers, with gifts.
** [[Gozag]] displays bribe information.
** [[Hepliaklqana]] displays ancestor upgrades.
** [[Nemelex Xobeh]] displays deck information.
** [[Wu Jian]] displays information about martial attacks.
* The [[Hepliaklqana]] ancestor reaching full health interrupts resting. The exact behavior of this interrupt can be configured by rest_wait_ancestor.
* The new display_chars cloud_weak, cloud_fading, and cloud_terminal indicate remaining cloud duration in console.
* [[WebTiles]] users can use a "Forgot Password" link to reset their password via a link sent to their registration email address. This feature is not yet enabled on most official servers.

==Items==
* [[Unrandart]] changes:
** New Unrand: the +8 demon trident "[[Rift]]" {distort, reach+}. A [[distortion]] [[demon trident]] with a reaching range of 3 and smite targeted attack.
** The [[Singing Sword]]'s sonic damage effect is stronger, can trigger at low tension, and triggers only on-hit. It also gains the vorpal brand.
** The [[Spriggan's Knife]] converts all stabs to sleep-tier stabs and loses Dex+4 and MR+.
** The [[robe of Misfortune]] is +5 {*Contam *Corrode *Drain Harm *Slow EV+5} and is now always identified.
** The [[sceptre of Torment]] is now a +7 eveningstar of pain, and its torment does not affect the wielder.
** The [[arc blade]]'s effect now casts static discharge only once, but at very high spellpower. The weapon's enchantment is now +8.
** [[Finisher]] loses Str+3 and gains a chance to instant-explode the target.
** The [[robe of Clouds]] is now +3 {+Thunder rCloud rElec}, providing evocable storm clouds in place of its old mist.
** The [[storm bow]] no longer occasionally creates rain clouds.
** The [[skin of Zhor]] gains SInv and a passive Metabolic Englaciation effect.
** Unrandarts with melee effects that could anger nearby allies give a proper warning.
* [[Wand]] charges for wands of [[wand of digging|digging]], [[wand of enslavement|enslavement]], [[wand of flame|flame]], [[wand of paralysis|paralysis]], [[wand of polymorph|polymorph]], and [[wand of random effects|random effects]] have been reduced.
* [[Butchering]] a [[corpse]] always leaves a skeleton.
* The [[blowgun]] targeter now displays the chance to affect the target.
* Stash search can now search by handedness.

==Lua==
* The custom `require` used in clua and dlua has been renamed `crawl_require`.
* A new function `spells.path` has been added to the `spells` module to provide access to the targeter from clua.

==Monsters==
* [[Monster]] [[weapon]]s, [[armour]], and [[wand]]s are [[identification|identified]] and revealed to the player when the monster is first seen.
* The [[shambling mangrove]] [[Grasping Roots]] ability now performs smite-targeted [[constriction]] instead of applying a 'Roots' status.
* [[Jorgrun]] gains the [[Grasping Roots]] spell and can now spawn in [[Swamp]].
* [[Killer Klown]]s now have a pie throwing ability that damages the player and affects them with one of [[Vertigo]], [[Silence]], [[Status_effects#No_Potions|-Potion]], [[Stat zero|Stat drain]], rF-, or [[polymorph]] to [[bat form|bat]], [[pig form|pig]], or [[wisp form|wisp]] [[bad form|form]].
* Killer Klowns have highly enchanted, branded [[club]]s instead of the Klown melee flavor, and no longer have [[:Category:Regenerates|fast regen]].
* [[Orb run]] spawns are more frequently near the player and more dangerous.
* [[Pandemonium lord]]s' spell sets and attack brands are revealed.
* Monster summons disappear whenever the summoner changes alignment from being charmed/uncharmed, pacified, or slimified.
* [[Confusion|Confused]] monsters now get a 1 in 3 chance to move normally, like players do.
* [[Giant]] monsters no longer tear through [[web]]s.

==Spells==
* [[Confusing Touch]] works with a weapon wielded.

==0.23.1==
The bugfix release of 0.23.1 was released on February 28th, 2019.
* [[Vampiric]] attacks by the player against allies created from Sticks to Snakes and the Ratskin Cloak no longer restore HP or give vampires satiation.
* Damage from [[Ozocubu's Refrigeration]] has been increased to the correct amount.
* Placement for the uniques [[Aizul]], [[Bai Suzhen]], [[Donald]], [[Jorgrun]], and [[Mara]] has been fixed so they can place throughout their intended level ranges.
* The chance of [[Boris]] to respawn has been lowered to match previous rates.
* Yellow [[draconian]]s now correctly receive their rCorr mutation at XL 7.
* 45 bugfixes, adjustments, and cleanups in total.

[[Category:Crawl Versions]]

ARCHIVED Nabalzbhf's Merfolk Ice Elementalist Guide

2026-09-26T19:29:01Z

Bobross419:

{{Character guide}}
{{version015}}

If you choose a [[Merfolk]] [[Ice Elementalist]], you get to play with a lot of different options. You're already an excellent melee fighter with your [[Polearms]]/[[Dodging]] aptitudes, but you also have [[Ozocubu's Armour|great]] [[Condensation Shield|buffs]] for defense, a [[Summon Ice Beast|summon]] for backup, and some [[Throw Frost|Conjuration]] [[Throw Icicle|spells]] for dealing with enemies at a distance!

If you haven't already, read the [[walkthrough]] and [[strategy guides]]. This guide assumes at least some familiarity with Crawl, and therefore doesn't cover extremely general aspects of the game.

This guide is partially based on [[ARCHIVED Vigrid's Hill Orc Fighter Guide]], so if you're looking for something with less spellcasting and more smashing stuff with shiny weapons, definitely check that out. If anyone wants to edit ''this guide'', I only ask that you do two things: Replace incorrect information rather than outright removing it, and keep things general so that players can adapt it to suit their needs.

==Skills==
These are the skills you should be considering, and some information as to why. Visit the [[skill]] page for information on any I didn't cover.

===Major Skills===
*'''[[Polearms]]:''' Focus this immediately! Once you reach [[minimum delay]] with your current weapon, you can begin to focus on other skills.
*'''[[Fighting]]:''' This increases your accuracy, and your [[HP]]. Good if you don't want to die from one hit.
*'''[[Dodging]]:''' Your most important defensive skill. Keep it high, and stay away from heavy armour.
*'''[[Charms]]:''' Used by everything from [[Ozocubu's Armour]] to [[Haste]]. Definitely keep an eye on this.
*'''[[Ice Magic]]:''' Obviously you should raise this, all of your starting spells use it.

===Minor Skills===
*'''[[Shields]]:''' Extra protection at the cost of decreased damage. Read the "armour" section below for more information.
*'''[[Armour]]:''' You'll put XP into this eventually, especially if you end up wearing [[fire dragon armour]]. Just don't start off too fast.
*'''[[Spellcasting]]:''' This mainly gives you extra spell slots, level this if you need more spells.
*'''[[Conjurations]]:''' This can help get spells like [[Throw Icicle]] castable, but it's not too important.
*'''[[Summoning]]:''' A few levels for [[Summon Ice Beast]] is fine, but don't invest in this much.

===Other===
*'''[[Evocations]]:''' An early [[ring of invisibility]] or [[amulet of rage]] is very useful. Level this as needed.
*'''[[Invocations]]:''' You'll want at least enough to bring your god abilities' failure rates into the single digits, possibly more depending on the god.
*'''[[Stealth]]:''' Being able to run away before a fight even begins is always good. Invest a few levels in this.

==Stats==
You'll want [[Dexterity]] for increased [[evasion]] most of the time, but if you move on to heavier armours, [[Strength]] can help offset the spellcasting and evasion penalties. For instance, you'll want '''at least''' 11 strength if you're wearing [[fire dragon armour]]. Your starting [[Intelligence]] is more than enough, just don't assume you'll ever be casting [[Glaciate]].

==Spells==
If you never use spells, your character will almost certainly die, it's as simple as that. If you don't want to cast, go play a Berserker. By the end of your game you'll want a wide selection, but it's best to start off slow, getting your most important spells castable. Then you can branch out.

===Starting Spells===
'''[[Freeze]]''' will be your primary form of attack until you've raised your pole-arm skill. It ignores AC/EV, and slows cold-blooded enemies like [[adder]]s, but the damage caps out fairly quick.

'''[[Ozocubu's Armour]]''' should be the second or third spell you learn. It offers AC, helping to offset your poor armour aptitude, and could last you well into the late game!

'''[[Throw Frost]]''' is good for taking out stuff at a range. Grab it when you get the chance, either before or after Ozo's.

At this point, you have a few options. Pick up '''[[Condensation Shield]]''' for more defense, '''[[Throw Icicle]]''' for increased ranged damage, or '''[[Summon Ice Beast]]''' for allies that can help you fight and [[pillar dancing|escape]]! All of these are good, so pick up whichever you want, whenever you need it.

===Later Spells===
Further ice spells you can learn include [[Bolt of Cold]], [[Freezing Cloud]] and [[Ozocubu's Refrigeration]]. All of these are very effective against groups of enemies, but none of them are necessary, so I would advise being choosy about which ones you memorize.

Meanwhile, charms are definitely recommended. [[Repel Missiles]], [[Regeneration]], [[Shroud of Golubria]], [[Spectral Weapon]], [[Deflect Missiles]], and [[Haste]] are all excellent spells.

Some cheap but useful spells from other schools include [[Animate Skeleton]], [[Apportation]], [[Blink]], [[Cure Poison]], and [[Summon Butterflies]].

==Equipment==
Equipment is very important for any class, but it's especially so for a melee heavy one like MfIE. Thankfully, [[polearms]] are abundant in the dungeon, and decent armour isn't rare by any means.

===Weapons===
When you start, you'll have to use whatever polearms are available. This means even if you plan on using a shield later, it's fine to use a good two-handed weapon early on. Just swing your weapon a few times to check its current [[weapon speed|delay]], and be very cautious if it's anything above 1.0. Never bother with scythes, unless they're an especially good artefact.

For quick weapons like [[spear]]s and [[trident]]s, flat brands like [[draining]], [[electrocution]], and [[venom]] are good. Venom is especially good for kiting! For two-handed weapons like [[halberd]]s and [[glaive]]s, scaling brands like [[frost]], [[flame]], and [[vorpal]] are also good. If your two-handed weapon doesn't have a [[flame]] brand, make sure to keep a spear or trident for hydras.

In all cases, if you find a good weapon with a [[holy wrath]], [[Speed (brand)|speed]], or [[vampiric]] brand, hold onto it! [[Protection]] weapons can also be good, since your armour's AC value will be low throughout the early-mid game.

Eventually you'll want a [[demon trident]] if you're using shields, and a [[bardiche]] if you aren't. While you can't use a [[demon trident]] while worshipping a [[good god]], [[The Shining One]] will transform one into the even better [[trishula]].

===Armour===
You'll want to stick to robes, leather, or troll leather armour at first, since [[Ozocubu's Armour]] requires armour with an [[encumbrance rating]] of 4 or lower. If you absolutely need a particular [[resistance]] (such as [[poison resistance]] for [[Swamp]]), it might be worth wearing ring mail to get it, if you have no other option (such as a ring).

Eventually you might move on to a heavier armour. [[Dragon armour]] is popular in the late game, especially [[fire dragon armour]] for [[Zot]]. Anything heavier than that is not recommended, as it will heavily impede your [[evasion]].

Shields are popular for their extra defense, at the cost of a lower damage output. Playing with and without a shield is acceptable, so often it's best to decide based on what spawns in your game. If you run across a "[[shield]] of [[Resistance (ego)|resistance]]" early on, definitely use shields. If you run across a [[vampiric]] [[bardiche]], use that instead!

==Gods==
*'''[[Okawaru]]:''' The invocations Heroism and Finesse are both simple yet powerful additions to your toolbox, and he will give you weapons and armour of variable usefulness as you progress through the dungeon. While you can easily complete the game with Oka, if you want to collect all 15 [[Rune of Zot|Runes of Zot]], swapping to another god is recommended ([[The Shining One]] is a popular choice).

*'''[[Makhleb]]:''' Health on kills, piety-powered destructive blasts and the ability to summon demons. His summons are much more powerful than ice-beasts, and HP is always useful, so Makhleb is a good choice. The one catch is you absolutely have to level Invocations, or risk summoning hostile demons.

*'''[[Yredelemnul]]:''' Perhaps the absolute best god if all you want to do is win. He allows you to raise the dead to fight by your side, and gifts undead allies, all of which become more powerful once you can [[haste]]n them. In addition to that, Pain Mirror is a great panic button, Drain Life can heal you when you need it most, and Enslave Soul allows to make any unique in the game your permanent servant.

*'''[[The Shining One]]:''' A poor choice for the early game due to his restrictions, but one of the absolute strongest gods for the extended game. He has so many useful abilities, I'm not even going to try and list them all here. If you want to swap to TSO later, make sure to save [[Crypt]] until you've swapped.

==General Tips==
*''Remember your buffs''. Casting Ozocubu's Armour and Condensation Shield before a tough fight can be the difference between life and death.
*''Use your ranged attacks''. Trolls, giants, and any other highly-competent melee combatant should get some ice to the face before they get too close. Never engage them in straight melee.
*''Know thy enemy''. Examine every foe you encounter. If they look dangerous, they probably are, and you shouldn't wade into an entire horde of them.
*''Merfolks love water''. It makes you faster, better at dodging, and deep water can keep away plenty of enemies.
*''Better them than you''. If you have allies, such as [[ice beast]]s, generally you want them to take hits for you, or at the very least, distract the weaker enemies while you mop up the rest. The game will continue if they're dead. It'll stop if you're dead. Besides, you have a reaching weapon perfectly suited for combat from the back row.
*''Items, Items, Items''. If you have less than 5 varieties of scroll, wand, ring, amulet and potion on your person, chances are you're woefully under-prepared for the challenges ahead. When you believe a situation has a decent chance of getting you killed, don't make the mistake of being too conservative - use those consumables!

[[Category:Character guides]]

Mandevil, Merfolk Death Knight

2026-09-26T19:26:47Z

Bobross419:

{{diary}}

==Introduction==

After splatting inumerable MiFi's, HEHu's, HEIE's and so on I was looking for some survivable combination. I have found this [[ARCHIVED Ophanim's Merfolk Death Knight guide|Merfolk Death Knight Guide]]. I splatted several of them, when I suddenly got a nice game going. This is a write up of that game. Note, that I'm complete noob player, I never got rune before and so far my best was Minotaur Fighter of Okawaru who stupidly died in Swamp:4 after clearing Lair and Orcish Mines.

Merfolk Death Knight is very easy and powerful combination for several reasons:
* great aptitude for polearms allows one to quickly get combat skill needed to survive
* polearms have great synergy with undead servants: it's very easy to hide behind mob of allies and use your polearm's reaching to pound opponents (but remember there's flat 50% chance of actually succeeding).
* great Yredelemnul gifts: even the lower level ones are very useful; the high level ones are just insane killing machines for the time you start getting them
* Enslave Soul ability allows one to get high level opponents and uniques as your allies retaining all their abilities, esp. spellcasting
* much easier Shoals, plus water anywhere greatly aids you (retreat into deep water, pound enemies with polearms in safety or at least get EV bonus where your opponents struggle and fumble)

==The Story==

===Early Game / D:1-10===
I followed the guide and switched off training of all skills but Polearms. On D:3 I gained the ability to animate all corpses in sight. On D:4 I met my first ogre; too weak to defeat it in mêlée, I kited it to upstairs where I had small mob of zombies waiting. From behind my mindless allies I was able to beat the ogre easily and safely. This turned out to be a good general tactics if something nasty turns out on a new level (which means without undead allies as these cannot follow). Later on the same level I took an orcish trident off a defeated orc and my Polearms skill reached level 10. At this moment I defocused Polearms (keeping it on) and focused Fighting, Dodging and Invocations and also adding unfocused Traps & Doors. On D:6 I received first undead ally from Yredelemnul: a wight. Unfortunately, it soon succumbed to a player ghost on that dungeon level, but I got three flying skulls to replace it. These servants made fighting what would normally be dangerous fights like swarms of killer bees, hungry ghosts, war dogs etc. a breeze. In D:8 I had to teleport away from powerful player ghost who wiped remains my entourage, already decimated by pack of war dogs, ogre, Grum and gnolls. Another more intense fight was Eustachio on D:8 again, who summoned pack of imps and I had to blast him with wands of fireball and disintegration and then run away from his summons. Joseph followed Eustachio shortly as did my first troll who once again destroyed most of my zombies. D:9 had Blorc the Orc and entrance to Orcish Mines. D:10 had unannounced portal to Bailey. I thought that I can enter later, as long as I won't see the actual portal (behind closed gate). Well, that later turned not to be the case and when I wanted to go to Bailey I only found empty arch of stone. D:10 also had 5 shops, one of them had boots of running that I somehow managed to overlook, even though I had the money to buy them. At least I got randart +3 leather armor {Str+2 Int+2}.

===Lair of Beasts===
Lair (entered from D:10) was smooth sailing until Lair:4, where I fought large pack of elephants, which were quite tough for me, especially as they again rolled overy my servants leaving me alone to fight them off. After lot of stair dancing and kiting I killed them, only to run into packs of yaks. On Lair:5 I found crude glaive, which turned out to be +4 glaive of Sloth with [[dragon slaying]], rF+ and rC+ egos which becomes my only weapon from now on, replacing my plain +3,+0 trident. With my new shiny weapon the packs of elephants are no longer so threatening. In Lair:6 I entered the [[Ice Cave]], which was small one with teleporter to another separate part. I happened to get skeletal warrior servant before teleporting to the other part, but I didn't know I can recall him there. In that other part there were two [[ice statue|ice statues]] that started to blast me with shards of ice. I invoked Injury Mirror, but it was soon clear that it wasn't enough. I tried zapping wands, but nothing worked well enough. In the end I recalled my skeletal warrior who destroyed one statue why I pounded the other. It was pretty nasty fight, but I made it -- the loot wasn't very good, however. After getting back I got a very close call with pack of death yaks; at one point I got to mere 3 HP. I had to burn through several potions of heal wounds before I managed to make them flee, greatly reducing my Yredelemnul piety in the process (Injury Mirror). Lair:8 was not a big deal as it has enough choke points to fight death yaks at. The vault was the one with dire elephants, so I got my share of dire elephant fighting.

===Orcish Mines===
Orcish Mines were very easy as number of corpses meant massive mobs of zombies that made overpowering even large orc regiments trivial matter. I killed [[Harold]], [[Erica]] and [[Nergalle]], the latter whom I enslaved. Nergalle the spectral orc was a lot of fun, since she kept summoning spectral orcs and hasted her allies, including me! Also, on Orc:1 I bought very nice +3 leather armor with SInv and Dam+6 bonuses.

===Mid-Dungeon / D:10-17===
I descended deeper and deeper, more difficult monsters started to appear, but nothing really dangerous: ugly things, slime creatures, various giants, trolls, centaur warriors etc. All of them were massacred by our unholy company of me, spectral Nergalle, her spectral orcs, and granted ghouls. I started to feel pretty overpowered. At one point I got message that [[Margery]] was killed -- I haven't even seen her, she was handled by some ally of mine out of sight. Somewhere on D:15 Nergalle died to large pack of yaks, orcs and centaurs. I haven't quite noticed until all spectral orcs disappeared. I was down to two ghouls and few zombies. On D:16 I got Fannar, who tried to use his ice magic to no avail and was promptly ripped to shreds by my ghouls and a death cob. On D:17 I finally got the ultimate undead servant - the feared and horrible dark angel - profane servitor, who wreathed the area around us in unholy shadow. On D:17 I found downstairs to Vaults. I stashed some stuff there and headed to the Lair to do the Swamp.

===Shoals:1-4===
The [[Swamp]] turned to be non-existent -- the downstairs were actually a mimic. After some deliberation I decided to clear upper levels of the Shoals. As a Merfolk I should have quite easy time. Well, Shoals turned out to be even easier than I thought. There was nothing much threatening: mermaids were a non-issue, flocks of harpies were taken care of by my undead friends before they could cause much trouble and my compatriots merfolks just begged to be massacred. On fourth level I got Polyphemus with his death yaks, but my undead dispatched him before I had dealt with the yaks. I was too scared to enter Shoals:5, so I turned back and resurfaced at Lair.

===Spider's Nest and the first rune===
[[Spider's Nest]] should be fairly easy I though: I have ring of poison resistance, my allies are all poison resistant and those spiders are weak. It turned out exactly like I thought and most of the Spider Nest was just a bug hunt where I was sweeping floor clean of all the damn arthropods. I got Roxanne the Statue on Spider:2, no biggie. On Spider:3 I got my first [[bone dragon]], another highly desirable gift from Yredelemnul. Spider:5 was a little tougher, but nothing really threatening. There were several [[ghost moth|ghost moths]], who completely drained my MP, but what the heck, I need no stinkin' magic. In the final vault there were [[emperor scorpion|emperor scorpions]] with moths of wrath berserking them. Those scorpions were somewhat tough, but still nothing to run away from. Then, finally, I got my very first rune ever -- the gossamer rune of Zot! Wow!

===Vaults===
I entered and started to explore the Vaults. Packs of centaur warriors, yaktaurs, slime creatures and ugly things could offer little in a way of resistance to my company of bone dragons, ghouls, profane servitors and mob of zombies. I took up on some spellcasting, going for Charms (Repel Missiles, Haste) and Translocations (Blink). On level 3 I killed and enslaved [[Louise]], which was good. But I did not know that I can only have one enslaved soul, so she was freed when I enslaved [[Kirke]]. Spectral Kirke was promptly destroyed by her hogs, so I came out of it empty handed again. Also on that level I found the amulet of Suspicion {rMut rN+}. Vaults:4 saw me fighting [[Mara]], who died before he could do much mischief. On level 5 I literally bumped into [[Boris]] as I was mashing keys madly. I was bit worried about fighting him, so I recalled my allies, cast Haste and then started to fight. Well, he lasted whopping 4 turns before being crushed by my bone dragons. Better luck next time, Boris. Shortly after this encounter I ran into [[Mennas]]. He immediately cast Silence, so no buffing myself and definitely no escaping. Things weren't looking great as my undead friends were taking some beating from his holy weapon while having trouble hitting him. Having no options left, I started to melee him and killed him without much difficulty with about half HP remaining. So much for the feared angel-preacher. After exploring the level, there remained one large rectangular structure with gate on the right side -- clearly a vault of some kind. I entered to be greeted by 6 vault guards. After dispatching them and proceeding inside the vault there were two wings with gates, both housing big horde of monsters. The resulting battle was quite intense, but eventually I prevailed. Level 6 was more of the same, though I found {Acc+4 Stlth+} randart helmet here. Finally, I cleared level 7 and it was time to decide what next. After cruising through the all of Vaults I felt extremely powerful and thus decided to do Vaults:8 right away. I had four bone dragons and two profane servitors at my command and high Yredelemnul piety. What could go wrong, right? Well it wasn't such a great decision, but first things first.

====Vaults:8 and the second rune====
After descending the stairs I appeared in the middle of diamond-shaped formation of vault guards. I defeated them very quickly by repeatedly invoking the Drain Life ability. After few turns all the guards were dead and after recovering my and allies' strength I started exploring the quadrants. The fight was tough but manageable: quite what I expected. Storm and shadow dragons were quite easy for my glaive of dragon slaying and I had rN++ anyway. The second quadrant had titan and also a powerful player ghost of Yermak the great SpIE, but he was demolished by my profane servitor. The third sector held the silver rune. Superb, my second rune ever is purportedly the difficult Vault rune. I felt good. Not for long though. As I continued clearing the level, just moment later I ran into two hellions, two blizzard demon and a lich. And thing got ugly real fast and from behind a corner brimstone fiend approached the melee. My HP was falling fast as I got fried with hellfire and when I saw my profane servitor being blasted to pieces by the lich, even I knew it's time to run for life (and actually when I'm reviewing the ttyrec now, I see there was also an executioner, both 1's probably summons by the lich). I managed to escape, but the toll taken was high. Of all my undead only two bone dragons made it back to safety. In the retrospect I think I should have delayed Vaults:8 raid a bit.

===Shoals:5 and the third rune===
After almost not making it out of Vaults:8, I headed for the Shoals:5. After the horror suffered in Vaults I expected it to be a breeze. However, on entry there was quite a fight as Ilsuiw with her suite was there waiting to greet me. Fortunately, bit of stair dancing solved all the problems. After that, clearing of those little vaults was easy and thus I got my third rune.

===Deep Dungeon===
I continued to descend through the main dungeon. The fights are getting more difficult as prevalence of hard monsters increases, but so far it's still manageable. I slowly get my undead helpers back, but this time it's not such easy sailing. This time my bone dragons and profane servitors keep disappearing. I never actually see them destroyed, they just are not there when I try to recall them. Strange. On D:19 there's strange green crystal walled structure I have no idea how to enter. D:20 sees the demise of Aizul. This level has large section of it inaccessible, though there are transparent walls so that one can see there are monsters inside. On D:22 there's small room filled with demons of various ranks including one brimstone fiend. I manage to kill the fiend with only 17 HP remaining. I seem to like living on the knife's edge. D:23 has treasure trove portal that wants 17 potions of curing... which I don't have. Anyway, I explored down to D:26, there I stopped and thought about what to do next.

===Crypt===
After getting suggestion on ##crawl to do Crypt, I headed there and started going down. The threat level was really mild. Skeleton warriors, some vampires, maybe bone dragon here and dragon zombie there -- really nothing to write home about. I enslaved [[Wiglaf]], but he died rather soon. All things considered, Yredelemnul abilities definitely lose their lustre as the game progresses. At this time I was essentially a melee fighter with some supporting magic. To Haste, Repel Missiles and Blink I added some new stuff, the most important being Deflect Missiles (Repel Missiles doesn't seem to cut it against yaktaurs) and Abjuration (for which I started training Summoning). The worst thing in the upper Crypt were the [[curse skull|curse skulls]]. For a test, I destroyed one, but decided it's not worth the trouble and risk. I tried to send enslaved Wiglaf against one, but surprisingly, it extinguished him without much fuss.

Finally, I reached the Crypt:5. I appeared on in a watery area with lots of flying skulls. As a merfolk I was able to deal with lot of monsters by kiting them to the water and then pounding them with my glaive without them being able to fight back -- oh the joy of being amphibious. Anyway, in the crypt area itself the fight was going fine until I stumbled upon horrible red L, an ancient lich. I was fairly low on HP and the first spell from the lich took me to mere 35 HP. I stopped to evaluate my options. Teleport would take too long, killing the lich wasn't fast enough, I had no scroll of blinking. I considered zapping Blink spell and hoping for the best. At any rate, situation looked dire and I saw no safe way out. Then it dawned on me... the lich's power lies in his spellcasting, without it he can only offer weak resistance. And I had 3 scrolls of silence! I read one and easily destroyed the horrible undead mage. The rest of the vault was fine, some hell knights and vampires could hardly spoil my cruise. Of the loot there was nothing game breaking (or really interesting).

===Realm of Zot===
After the Crypt I was thinking about what next. I shortly considered going to Elven Halls, but ultimately decide to short cut it and go Zot. I (partially) cleared D:27 and entered Realm of Zot. Firt four levels weren't that bad, though fighting draconians of all stripes was quite annoying and it destroyed good amount of my scrolls and potions. There were occasional dragons and other monsters, but I was never in danger of dying. During Zot:1-4 I upgraded to XL 27 and got my Silence spell to useful fail rate (my scrolls of silence were burnt by draconians). Eventually, after taking some advice on ##crawl I entered the ultimate level, Zot:5. I explored the areas outside of the Orb chamber, then started slowly lure monsters from it. I got first impressions of orbs of fire, electric golems, orb guardians. I could kill them individually, but it was vital that they don't gang up on me. I had rF++ resistance for the orbs, for electric golems I cast Insulation spell, along with liberal use of Haste. During one foray into the Orb chamber I caught attention of two ancient liches, orbs of fire and orb guardian. I started to run back to stairs, but I got some headway. I hasted myself, cast Silence and turned back against the ancient lich pursuing me and destroyed it. So far good. But after few other monster the fatal mistake came. I kited tentacled monstrosity (a monster I was killing without much trouble many times before) to upstairs. I went to Zot:4 and completely healed myself. Then I descended to Zot:5 after a turn the green X started to constrict me. At this moment, electric golem appeared from behind a corner and managed to take two hits at me before I managed to escape up with 95 HP out of 213. I continued to melee the tentacled monstrosity, but I wasn't killing it fast enough. Eventually, I was 14 HP and it was still alive, albeit almost dead. At this point I did the fatal mistake. Instead of trying to land killing blow, I zapped Blink spell, expecting it to succeed unconditionally and bring me away from the monstrosity's clutch. Little did I know that Blink counts as an attempt to extricate oneself from the monstrosity's constriction and thus can fail, which is what happened, of course. The next turn, I was dead.

Good bye, Mandevil the Merfolk Death Knight.

===Epilogue===
Despite not winning, the game was beyond my wildest expectations. My goal was to get at least one rune. Not only I got three, I also made it to Zot:5 and have had a good shot at winning. I have to thank to many participants on ##crawl who helped me with their advice.

Game dump: http://dobrazupa.org/morgue/Mandevil/morgue-Mandevil-20120924-113118.txt

TTY recording: http://voyager.go.dyndns.org/crawl/001-MfDK-0.11-cszo.ttyrec.bz2

Majang's Tengu Wizard Failure

2026-09-26T19:24:42Z

Bobross419:

{{diary}}
{{version015}}
This diary is written as an attempt to provide a hopefully successful example of a high level blaster worshiping [[The Shining One]], according to the guide provided [[ARCHIVED Majang's Fire Elementalist of TSO Guide|here]]. The only difference to the setup described there is that here I start out as a Wizard, as it will give me a slight bonus on intelligence, and a [[tengu]] has a good hand with the spells of the wizard starting spell book. I have chosen a tengu as the species for this background, because I have never played one successfully so far, but I think that it should be possible to get a tengu off the ground with some luck. There is a lot I like about a tengu, particularly its great aptitudes, but also the ability of permanent [[flight]], now granted at level 14. It comes at the price of extreme fragility, so I have to play carefully to keep my long neck out of trouble. In fact, it took me quite a few attempts to get this diary beyond the first few dungeon floors. A tengu really cannot take much abuse.

==The lowly beginning==
Finding myself as a new creature in the dungeon, I first survey my situation. My [[strength]] is at 7. Random stat increases will almost certainly add to this, so I won’t have to invest anything here. My [[dexterity]] begins at a respectable 12, which leaves me to invest every single non-random stat increase into [[intelligence]], which comes from a strong base of 18. So, at experience level 27 I will have at least 27 innate intelligence points, and hopefully some more. Add to this some artificial intelligence (jewelery and artifact armour), and I should be comfortably in the mid-thirties by the time I start throwing around level 9 spells. Getting there is the problem at hand.

Right now it looks rather unlikely: My only spell, magic dart, has an alarming [[spell success|failure rate]] of 12 %, and a measly #... [[spell power]]. If I survive this and the next few levels, this will change soon, as I have a whopping [[conjurations]] aptitude of +3, although saddled by a somewhat sobering -1 for [[spellcasting]]. I will have to keep that one focused throughout the game. Well, my conjurations skill will take care of itself, and I only have these two skills active for now, switching everything else off. Later on I will want to train fighting, which comes with an aptitude of 0. Everything else relevant for me looks green: fire magic at +1, [[air magic]] at +3 (wow again!), each melee weapon, [[dodging]], [[armour]] and [[evocations]] at +1. Shields again is only at 0, and invocations at -1, but although I plan to follow TSO later on, I will probably not train it much.

Getting started is always exciting. This very first [[hobgoblin]] that turns the corner now could very well be my undoing. He isn’t, and I take a [[club]] out of his cold, dead hands. Having a weapon, any weapon, in my hands makes me feel much less naked. I soon replace the club with a [[mace]] I find on the floor. For now it will do to protect my 10 meager hit points. I add to that an early buckler; that does not help with my spell success rate, but may protect me from some pot shots. And it will allow me to train [[shields]] as soon as I want to. For now, I only bring it up to 1 level to avoid the casting penalties. Another find is a [[ring of protection from magic]], which isn’t at all bad this early in the game. I’d also fancy a [[ring of poison resistance]], to be honest.

I hit Dungeon floor 2 (D2) without reaching experience level 3 (XL 3), which I find disappointing. But killing an [[adder]] completes the level, and I am ready to learn [[Conjure Flame]], [[Mephitic Cloud]] and [[Repel Missiles]]. This spell is now a lot more user-friendly than in the old days, where you tediously had to recast it every few turns. And I’m now studying [[fire magic]] and [[air magic]].

Other finds on D2 are an [[amulet of stasis]], and a [[ring of fire]], the latter being much more useful to me than the former. It will increase the duration of my conjured flames considerably, and that can be life-saving. I also take an [[antimagic]] dagger off a [[goblin]]. Not that I ever want to use it, but I certainly don’t want anyone else using it against me, so I take it into safekeeping.

The by far best find on this level, however, is a very early altar to [[Vehumet]]. This increases my chances drastically to survive the early game, because he will hopefully start gifting me more powerful spells before I meet more powerful monsters. In the hope of some good spell gifts, for now I hold off learning [[blink]], the last useful spell from my starting spell book. I want to have my spell levels ready when I need them.

==Vehumet’s apprentice==
I get down to D3 very far on my way to XL 5. I round this off by killing an [[orc]] and another adder, and now I have access to [[flight]] when I need it! Although, it is sometimes better not to be flying at all than to have tengu’s temporary flight, because you cannot extend this one, which is bad news when you are far away from land and read that you start losing your buoyancy. I will not use this ability to explore uncharted water-caves, for example.

A few dead orcs later Vehumet already starts gifting. His first gift is [[freeze]], which I politely decline.

Upon hitting D4 I have not encountered a single [[unique]], but my XP is rising steadily because of countless [[worm]]s and some bands of orcs and [[Gnoll_(monster)|gnoll]]s. I get into that floor almost at XL 7, which is not bad at all. [[Blork the orc]], however, greets me down at the stairs. I almost have him down when I start getting surrounded by smaller fry, and I prudently retreat up the stairs. I meet Blork again conveniently close to a large body of deep water, an irresistible situation for applying mephitic cloud, and again, it does not fail to work.

Vehumet’s next gift is [[sting]]. I don’t plan on training any [[Poison Magic]], but then again, in the early game this spell is quite useful and very low cost. I take it for now. Later on I will hopefully have lots of poison themed books that I can tear apart to forget this one. I try it out on an [[ogre]], but honestly, what really brings him down is my trusty combination of mephitic cloud and a well-placed fire-column. But the good news is that as early as D4 I have maxed out the [[spell power]] of magic dart, which means it is now time to graduate from the elementaries of magic and branch out into other areas. I now start training [[fighting]], [[maces & flails]], [[armour]], [[dodging]], [[shields]] and [[evocations]], on top of the four magic subjects I do anyway. That gives a measly 9% experience for each of the minor subjects, and only 18 for my single major spellcasting. Growth in knowledge will be slow, therefore, and I will not become a superhero anytime soon.

The entrance to the [[Temple]] is also on D4, but with my allegiance to Vehumet already settled so early, I just go down to see what’s there, which is almost every altar missing so far. The only god I have not encountered yet is [[The Shining One]], which is good news, as it means that I will later not have to go all the way down to D4 to convert to him. In the old days I would have established a small stash in the Temple, but with item weight limitations done, I don’t see the point and just leave behind this antimagic dagger. I do try out my highest quantity scroll, which is a teleportation scroll. Good to have that one identified in a safe environment. The other scrolls I will only read when it is necessary to map out an area.

Down on D5 I boldly try wearing another amulet, which is quite risky, since I don’t want to identify an amulet of faith that way, and I also don’t know whether I have a [[scroll of remove curse]] yet. But I get away with it, as it is an [[amulet of resist mutation]]. Not very useful right now, but I have lost too many games already because I did not find it at all. By now I have also identified four wands, the best of which is a [[wand of cold]], which I will probably keep active and recharged until I (hopefully) ascend with the [[Orb of Zot|Orb]].

[[Sigmund]] comes my way, but too late to be much danger to me. He succumbs to mephitic cloud and a generous application of sting. He actually manages to get out of his confusion and turn invisible, but by that time he is so toxic that he just dies unseen. As a reward for disposing of this unseemly character I find the [[Book of Flames]] lying on the floor. This is a game-changing find, as even Vehumet couldn’t have gifted me all these spells so quickly. Good that I have some levels left! For now I learn [[flame tongue]], which I much prefer to magic dart, and [[sticky flame]], which is a great way to deal with ogres and other big baddies, as long as I can outfly them. It also is a good workaround against invisibles. One more spell level, and I can learn [[fireball]], which will take me all the way to the end game.

[[Natasha]] is the first victim of my new spells, followed immediately by [[Crazy Yiuf]], who is kind enough to leave me with a marvelous +2 [[cloak]] of [[poison resistance]]. Can things become much better? Now mephitic cloud is even more useful to me, as I can apply it to foes standing right next to me. Yiuf’s [[quarterstaff]] of [[chaos]], though, I let pass, as I usually find that it is more trouble than helpful. I kill Natasha twice more to put her out of her misery, and move on to D6.

Here I take stock. I am half through XL 8, and my STR is still at 7, my INT at an awesome 22, and my DEX also glued to 12. This means that every stat increase so far went into INT, even the uncontrolled ones. Not bad! My AC, however, is still alarmingly low at 5, bolstered by 4 SH, which sounds worse than it is if you are not used playing version 0.15. My skills are mostly still rather low, with [[spellcasting]] the highest at 6, but it will soon be overtaken by both [[conjurations]] and [[air magic]]. Having poison resistance now has also agreeably extended my diet so that I will starve less often. I found another good [[wand of fireball]], and I feel generally confident that I am well prepared for what is to come.

On level 6 I finally find the altar of TSO and take note of that fact. I’m also ready to learn [[fireball]], which is still at a high failure rate of 38%. Next I have to kill [[Menkaure]], who manages to get my HP far down [[torment]]ing me. Then Vehumet tempts me by offering me [[Stone Arrow]], which is a very useful spell, already at 10 % failure rate. But I am not yet ready for earth spells, so I let it pass. A few fights later, involving a bunch of [[orc priest]]s, Vehumet awards me my third star, and fireball drops down to 9% failure rate. Now I’m blazing. If just my magic capacity were a little higher. 25 is barely enough for five fireballs.

D7 greets me with a napping [[Eustachio]]. I wake him up to a fireball, followed up with mephitic cloud. I manage to kill him before slipping back up the stairs to avoid his many reinforcements. Returning, I find myself next to [[Dowan]], who dies fast, and doesn’t seem to have [[Duvessa]] in attendance. I can just hear her screaming, that’s all. First I have to kill a hungry ghost before she shows up. She definitely is pissed, does not respond at all to my mephitic cloud and almost kills me going berserk. I have to drink a [[potion of heal wounds]] (conveniently used to that effect earlier by another monster) to survive. I need to be careful – this game is going too well to lose it to some foolhardy action. If I can survive a little bit longer, this is going to be a winner.

I take a nice +2 robe off Dowan, and then I manage to get myself in trouble anyway. I pick up this ring from the ground and put it on, a cursed [[ring of teleportation]]. I still don’t know whether I have any scrolls of remove curse, so I start reading. All sorts of stuff, like a [[scroll of recharging]] (charging my wand of cold), a [[scroll of noise]] – this can take longer, so I better go upstairs into already explored area. A [[scroll of fog]], a [[scroll of amnesia]] (which I use to forget sting again), a [[scroll of magic mapping]] (such a waste in an already explored place!), a [[scroll of holy word]], a [[scroll of fear]]. Out of scrolls. Let’s face it, this ring is still glued to my finger, and I have to live with it. But wait! I still have this amulet of stasis. Now it is useful, after all. Back to D7.

More fights get me Vehumet’s next gift, [[Iskenderun's Mystic Blast]]. Not a bad spell, but I’m hoping for better, such as [[airstrike]]. This level has a lot of stuff lying around – some wands, a [[Book of Ice]], a [[Book of Death]], a [[Book of the Dragon]]. That must have been Dowan’s library, it seems. [[Bolt of fire]] is certainly a very good find for me, and something else that Vehumet does not have to give me.

Entering D8 I’m already at XL 10. Quite nice! Now to find the entrance to the Lair. While I look around, Vehumet offers my [[Ignite Poison]], a spell I like to use in the [[Spider's Nest]] or [[Snake Pit]]. But it is also fine to do those without it, so again I save my spell levels for something better. [[Joseph]] appears and starts pelting me with his sling. My first fireball at him is a miscast, but a few more bring him down. Good that I have repel missiles!

I step into an alarm trap, and all of a sudden I have hosts of [[killer bee]]s and a [[wyvern]] on my heels. The bees’ sting slips past my poison resistance, but I get up the stairs again and sit the matter out. The next to show his ugly face is [[Grum]] with his band of wolves. But they present no problem to me. A [[cyclops]], though scary, makes it to my list of victims.

I’m now slowly getting problems with a full pack. It is time that I find the [[Lair]], or I have to unload some stuff at the temple. Instead, for now I decide to identify two potions, and they are a [[potion of poison]] and a [[potion of mutation]]. Good riddance! A transparent robe has been thrown across my path. I take it for now, but it is as likely to be really bad as it is to be awesome. And I still don’t have anything to remove curses, so I just admire it for now, without wearing it. And I’m not sure I want to wear something transparent anyway. Isn’t that like the emperor’s new clothes?

D8 does not contain the entrance to the Lair, so I dive deeper. There I find a pair of gloves (cursed, as I find out wearing it), and a [[staff of energy]]. Another very helpful item just lying around on the dungeon floor! But for now my evocations are still far too low to make it useful. At least it can eliminate the hunger cost for my highest level spells.

I can’t ignore my full pack much longer, and therefore grudgingly return to the temple, where I drop all books and a few lesser wands. Returning to D9, I notice that I have to fight a lot of Lair-themed monsters: [[yak]]s, [[hippogriff]]s, a [[basilisk]] – I hope that this means I’m getting closer to my goal. But no, I have to get even deeper to find the Lair.

D10 is a [[Vaults]]-like layout. Opening the first door gets me touchily close to two [[hill giant]]s, whose clubs I find rather intimidating. Still, they get fried in my fireballs, or slowly eaten out by my sticky flame. More exploration on this floor reveals the entrance to the [[Orcish Mines]], but still no sign of the Lair! But wait, this entrance to the mines suddenly jumps at me, and grinds me down to 15 HP before I overpower it. These [[mimic]]s often catch me off-guard. This fight brought me across the 12 XL threshold. Was I ever that high up before reaching the Lair? I can’t remember. Now I’m only two levels away from permanent flight. [[Shields]] is now above 5, so I stop training it. [[Armour]] will reach level six soon, and there I will also stop for a while.

On level 11, a fight with a [[manticore]], immediately followed by a [[water moccasin]], again demonstrates to me how frail I am. Just a blow away from a sudden stop to the game! I need to find myself some armour. And the opponents get more and more dangerous down here. A [[troll]], a [[komodo dragon]] with its fierce bite, and a [[gargoyle]], hurling [[Stone Arrow]]s at me – this is not a very comfortable phase of the game! While engaging the gargoyle, Vehumet offers me another earth spell, [[Lee's Rapid Deconstruction]]. Just the right thing to bring this stony feller down! But then I check out the failure rate – 67%. No, better not. My [[wand of disintegration]] does the trick for now. At least I now find my long expected scroll of remove curse, and can get rid of the ring of teleportation. I finally decide to use a scroll of identification on my artifact robe. It is indeed cursed, but otherwise quite useful: +2 AC, +2 STR and +4 DEX. Certainly an improvement to what I am wearing now (a plain +2 robe), but still not adding any armour to my low supplies. I put it on.

==Liberating the Lair==
On this floor, as had to be, I finally find the entrance to the Lair. On entering, I switch off the training of [[armour]], and this brings my other skills to 11% experience each (except for spellcasting, which remains at the double allotment of 22%). That feels a little bit better. My fire spells are now at 6# spell power, and that is not too shabby on entering the Lair. My spellcasting skill is above 9, with air and conjurations not far behind. My fire magic, of course, grows a bit slower, but for now that does not concern me. My fighting skill is just above 5, and that is not where I want it to be. Higher fighting means more HP, and the 68 I have of those are a matter of concern to me. Now I will meet whole flocks of [[yak]]s, and more manticores and komodos, not to speak of these terrible [[blink frog]]s. On the plus side, within the first few Lair floors I should gain permanent flight (if I live long enough), and that will add to my movement speed. I should then be able to outrun yaks to fight them in safer places.

The first few encounters go well. Mostly I attribute this to my renewed use mephitic cloud, which is still of tremendous value in the Lair. But then I read a scroll I find lying around, and it happens to be a [[scroll of torment]]. Good that just now no monster is around to exploit this! Also in some corner I find a [[slicing]]-branded +7 artifact cutlass, which provides [[see invisible]]. I’m not really into short blades, but with this enchantment it is a good weapon, and I can certainly use see invisible before I convert to TSO.

The second level of the Lair (L2) is the floor on which I will establish my stash. It is about time, because once more all my inventory slots are full. I rarely have found so much stuff before coming here. But first I need to establish my ownership of this place. My first [[hydra]], five-headed, goes down after only three fireballs, which is encouraging. Another hydra, this time eight-headed, finds its demise in exactly the same way. I may still survive this place! Next I see a heavily runed pair of [[boots]], but I need to leave it alone, since I am a tengu, and we don’t wear boots.

My first [[scroll of acquirement]] gets read, and surveying my immediate needs, I decide for armour, hoping for a nice light dragon armour. But these scrolls rarely give me what I’m hoping for. It’s just a +1 [[cloak of darkness]], and I’m not going to trade that for my +2 cloak of poison resistance, no way!

Now, after a variety of fights, nobody is left to challenge my claim to this place, and I establish my stash in a spacious and central area of the map. I need to then collect all the things that did not fit into my inventory while fighting through L2, among others a [[Book of the Warp]] and another scroll of magic mapping. Next I have to do a milk-run to the temple to fetch what I left behind there. As a final matter of housekeeping, I learn bolt of fire, which is now at 7% failure, and head off to the next floor, already at XL 13.

L3 turns out to be almost devoid of inhabitants, which makes for an easy conquest, but deprives me of what I need most: experience. My counter almost didn’t move at all towards XL 14, my coveted milestone level. L4 is not much better, but at least it has the following noteworthy things to report: [[Erica]], the entrance to the [[Shoals]], a [[staff of air]] (a very good find for me!), a [[ring of wizardry]] (not much use right now, because all my failure rates are currently very low), and an island behind a lava lake which is teeming with four [[lindwurm|lindwürmern]]. I soften them up with mephitic cloud and finish them off with bolt of fire and fireball. No problem here. I also find a +1 [[leather armour]] of [[cold resistance]], which does not increase my AC, but at least provides some [[GDR]] plus a very welcome [[ego]]. I take it and wear it. A second ring of fire brings my fire spells up to 7# spell power, at the price of leaving me one pip cold susceptible, in spite of my new armour. My experience, however, is still a long way off XL 14.

L5 has a reception committee of countless [[orange rat]]s, [[wolf]]s and a [[boring beetle]]. These all will give great experience, but please not all at once! I try another downstairs, which provides a clear coast. Much to my surprise these orange rats prove to be gratifyingly edible, at least with poison resistance. A [[scroll of brand weapon]] turns my humble +1 mace into a horrendous [[vampiric]] battle implement. Should I use it? For now I decide not to. Instead, I’m using my staff of air, which by now is a respectable melee weapon, my air magic being at 10, and my evocations at 7. I keep training maces & flails, as this also (under the new [[crosstrain]]ing system of 0.15) directly benefits my [[staves]] skill. My current 7 levels of maces & flails right now translate into 4.3 staves, which means that I use my staff with a delay of just 1.0. Not entirely bad. Later on, when I have more experience to spare, I will train the remaining levels of staves to get to minimum delay, but that is no priority right now.

Clearing out a bear cave on L6 nets me three potions of [[porridge]], plus the offer of [[ball lightning]] through Vehumet. Currently I have 8 spell levels left, and I’m hoping for [[orb of destruction]] (OOD), so I let it pass for now, although with permanent flight ball lightning will become attractive, as long as I don’t forget to carry my staff of air for the electricity resistance. In any case, my super-charged fire-magic works better than any melee weapon, killing yaks and [[elephant]]s reliably on the second shot with fireball or bolt of fire. And there are plenty of those on L6, which gets me finally across the XL 14 line – from now on I’m permanently airborne, with a nice boost to EV and speed. I can use it. Being at it, I can’t resist Vehumet’s temptation and learn ball lightning anyway. It is already at 3% failure rate, so completely ready to go. One other remark on L6: It contains the entrance to the [[Spider's Nest]], so my branches are now determined for me.

On entering L7 I learn that there is an [[Ice Cave]] in there. So far I did not get any optional branches, so I should welcome the experience. But I should change at least one ring of fire for the [[ring of protection from cold]] that I found some time ago. That still leaves me with 6#, and one level of cold resistance. I don’t even have to burn a map to find the cave. It is the Ice Cave layout where you have to jump from one area to another by entering teleporting tiles. Doing this gets me right between two [[ice statue]]s which engulf me in a big ice cloud. Now it is a chicken game. I see my health going down while I first melt one, then the other statue with fireballs. I win, but there is not much HP left when I fly out of the cloud. The very nice thing about 0.15 is that all of my potions survive this encounter. In the old days I would have left them outside the cave. Here they are a nice life insurance. There is not much loot, but interesting items: a [[crystal ball of energy]], which is always welcome, although I do not tend much to use it. Certainly not with my current evocations level. Even more tempting is the [[Robe of Folly]], which gives me +3 AC, the [[archmagi]] ego, and fully +5 INT, but at the hefty price of [[MR]]-- and recursing. I don’t even have MR+ yet, so this robe could indeed be an item of reckless folly, but its other characteristics are irresistible, and having conquered the ice cave for now, I can hopefully do with some cold vulnerability. Maybe I am a complete idiot, but I’ll do it. I end up with 29 INT, Fire spells at 8#, but on the other side C--, and absolutely no protection from magic. We’ll see. As long as enchanters and ice casters don’t get the first shot at me, they should be dead before they can hit me. Let’s hope I see [[ice dragon]]s in time to retreat and change...

Exploring further, I encounter my first pack of [[death yak]]s, which earns me my next Vehumet gift, [[force lance]]. I don’t care much for this spell and ignore it.

The last level of the Lair has the layout with the central keep full of twisted passages and rooms teeming with increasingly powerful monsters. As usual, I start clearing everything outside that keep. Doing that, I encounter the lake of dragons, and see two [[mottled dragon]]s at first glance. They are napping, and I retreat to change, because there is bound to be an ice dragon around. One mottled dragon wakes up and follows me. One shot from my wand of cold, and a swing of my staff bring him down. He leaves a corpse, but butchering it gives no hide. Too bad. I now burn a scroll of remove curse to undo my robe of folly, to replace it with my cold resistance armour. See if I can get the other dragon’s hide. Yes! He dies in exactly the same spot as his mate, and I have his hide. Turning this into a proper armour will give me something to win this game with. I just haven't found a [[scroll of enchant armour]] yet.

There is a third mottled dragon in there, and a fully grown [[fire dragon]], but no ice dragon. The rest are just lesser drakes which are easily dealt with (resulting in [[Poison Arrow]] as another offer by Vehumet that I better ignore). But just the prospect of meeting an ice dragon scared me sufficiently to now stay clear of the robe of folly and stick to my C+ armour. Eventually I will have to let go of one of my rings of fire, and then it will be time for either the mottled dragon armour, or even for the robe of folly.

The only other noteworthy thing outside the central keep is a little vault containing the entrance to the [[Slime Pits]]. It will be a while before I find my way in there. Now to the keep. On the way there I try out another scroll, which is indeed a scroll of enchant armour. Trying on my new dragon armour, it gets my AC immediately from 9 up to 12, and I can enchant it six times over. For now I stick with it.

The inside of the keep is predictably lively. Death yaks, a [[catoblepas]], more hydras and elephants, and all always on top of each other make it quite an experience to explore. But Vehumet’s MP restoration does an amazing job in this environment, and once I do run out of power, my speed gets me out of trouble. Again, only two things in the loot, but what things! A [[Book of the Sky]], and my first artifact ring! The book is priceless to me. Having [[Tornado]] already secured, it could mean that Vehumet will offer me [[Lehudib's Crystal Spear]] in his last batch of gifts, and I would quite appreciate that. And I also appreciate having access to [[Deflect Missiles]], which I will certainly learn before flying into the Shoals. The ring, however, turns out to be contaminated, and it offers only MR+, DEX +2 and Slay -2. I leave it right here.

I leave the Lair back to the Dungeon with XL 15, 25 INT, 12 DEX and 8 STR. Both my spellcasting and conjurations skills are now at 12, and air magic closely behind. Fire magic has not quite reached 10 yet, but is boosted by two rings of fire (for now). I have permanent flight, and am considerably more powerful than on entering the Lair. All my other trained skills (fighting, dodging, maces & flails and evocations) are now at 8, which also gives me much confidence. Time to find the entrance to the [[Orcish Mines]].

==Orcs' and elves' bane==
On D12 I have a close shave with a white [[ugly thing]], which hits me in one turn down to 17 HP. I blink away in panic, and just about manage to kill it before it melees me again. That’s it. One ring of fire needs to be replaced by my ring of C+. It is painful to see your spells go down from 8# to 7#, but dying a one-shot death is even more painful. I am now at F+ with no C resistance, but also no vulnerability. That should do for now.

Some unseen monster hits me, but I have brought my artifact cutlass along for this very situation. Sure enough, an [[unseen horror]] has been sneaking up on me. [[Sticky flame]] ensures a very sticky end. Round the corner I come to an area full of treasure guarded by a [[silver statue]]. What do I have to bring this down? The statue itself is surrounded by a protective layer of plants, so I can’t get at it easily. Fireballs, even with both rings of fire on, don’t do much at all. The statue starts summoning demons, and I pay my respects and flutter away. I guess I do need OOD to approach it next time. For now I will give this area a wide berth.

Otherwise, D12 is full of all kinds of orcs, and some [[hill giant]]s. I find or loot an [[amulet of warding]] and a [[staff of power]]. And there is the entrance to the Orcish Mines. I’m going in.

One of the first orcs to fall on Orc 1 drops a +1 whip of flaming. I will use that for a while and see how it does. As usual, there is not much to write home about the first three levels of the Orcish Mines. You just grind yourself through wave after wave of mostly low-level orcs and goblins, peppered with an occasional ogre or troll. After finishing the Lair, there is not much experience to be gained here, in spite of the masses of enemies who die like flies. And you barely break a sweat in all this senseless killing.

Next gift of Vehumet, while sanitizing Orc 2: [[Delayed Fireball]], which I learn and cast right away. Orc 3 does provide a little bit of a distraction by announcing a [[volcano]]. The entrance is almost in sight of where I enter the level, so again I can save a map for other purposes. Here, of course, my two rings of fire provide an advantage; the whip of flame, however, I replace again with my staff of air.

The only entrance to the main area of the volcano forces me to trigger an [[alarm trap]]. This sets hosts of [[centaur]]s, [[elf]]s and orcs on my track, which I all dispose of safely in my one-tile entrance corridor. A +3 F+ leather armour dropped by one of these guys brings me up to F+++, just the right level of protection in this place. The loot is distributed over three little vaults like you see them in the upper reaches of [[Gehenna]].

Orc 4 has a central keep, and I try to grind down an army of [[orc warrior]]s and [[orc knight]]s with fireballs and bolts of fire. I kill many, but this time Vehumet can’t keep up with my consumption of MP, while [[orc priest]]s smite me from all sides. I retreat and escape upstairs with only 18 HP. I guess I need to be more careful next time I go down.

In the following fight for the possession of the keep Vehumet comes up with his final gifts: [[Fire Storm]], [[Glaciate]] and [[Chain Lightning]]. Well, not the Crystal Spear I was hoping for, but at least Vehumet took note of the fact that I already have access to Tornado.

The four shops at the end of the keep don’t have anything worth buying. I do buy an artifact ringmail, but once more get disappointed by its mediocricy. No AC enchantment, and N+ and MR+. There is a bookshop, but the best it has is a [[Necronomicon]], which won’t do me any good when worshiping TSO, and a [[book of the Tempests]]. All the spells I want from in there I already have from other books, like the book of the sky. So I can save my funds for more worthy occasions. Well, I do buy a few scrolls which might come in handy later.

I usually follow up my conquest of the orcs with an initial visit to the first two floors of the [[Elven Halls]]. [[Elf]]s are significantly more dangerous than orcs, but they also give a lot more experience. And they often have some interesting stuff lying around (or initially on them), like enchanted bucklers. Let’s give it a try. Just my first fight down the stairs brings me up to XL 16, with another welcome random stat increase for my intelligence. Up to now all but one went into INT, and this one was bringing my STR up to 8, which I needed anyway. No reason to complain here, so far.

E1 is an example of the new layout with rectangular rooms boxed one into another, and another, and so on. It allows a controlled conquest, but sometimes results in very long ways to get from one spot to another one not more than three tiles away. This is all the more insulting, as some of the walls are transparent, and you can see stuff or monsters that you will only reach much later.

Trusty old fireball, augmented by the occasional bolt of fire, does most of the job here. Elves are actually not resistant to poison at all, so mephitic cloud is also very effective.

E2 also has a new endearing layout, with polygonal chambers connected by narrow straight or diagonal passages, with an occasional great hall in between. Whoever designed the new elven maps, I believe did a very nice job.

[[Nikola]] is standing right next to me after I turn a corner. Usually I wet myself when I meet him, but this time I am flying and resistant to electricity. Let’s see how resistant he is! I let fly, and the resulting volley of balls of lightning does him a lot more harm than me. Serves you right! But it takes another four turns to end his mad presence in this game, and the infernal noise has called in a lot of elves, while I am low on both HP and MP. I drink a [[potion of heal wounds]] and get to work with my staff of air. While examining Nikola’s belongings (junk) I only now notice that I must have picked up an artifact ring from a killed deep elf knight some time earlier. It gets identified as giving +2 AC, +2 STR, and +4 INT. Quite a nice piece of jewelery for me! Trading it for my ring of C+ will make me susceptible to cold, however. Is it time to remove my second ring of fire for a while? Indeed it gets my fire spell power down to 6# if I do this, so once more I bite the bullet of running around with one pip of C-. My C+ ring is always close at hand. I now have 15 AC, and that doesn’t sound so bad anymore for a tengu. Not anywhere close to what I have when playing a gargoyle, though. It is just now time to learn [[Deflect Missiles]], so that in conjunction with my good EV I can avoid most ranged cold attacks.

[[Agnes]] meets me next in a narrow passage. Knowing how difficult she is to hit with anything, I apply sticky flame and then use ball lightning again. It works against her, but almost as well against me. I nearly blow myself up this time.

==Attacking the Shoals==
Having cleared E2 (without finding my enchanted buckler), I make my way back to the stash in the Lair. Not much to drop here, but I need to learn deflect missiles before taking on my next project, the [[Shoals]], the inhabitants of which tend to throw pointed objects at me. I also read a [[scroll of amnesia]] to forget repel missiles, which frees up enough spell levels to learn [[airstrike]], which is most useful against [[harpy|harpies]], particularly at my 7# spell power! I also decide that my evocations and dodging skills are high enough (10) to switch them off for now. I’m now only training fighting (I won’t switch that off, ever, until the program does), maces & flails, and my four magical skills, which should give me sufficient returns to have at least Tornado ready fairly soon. It already started its slow crawl from 100% failure rate to 99%. Fire storm, by the way, too.

For a permanently flying and nimble character like me, the Shoals should be fun. But I also remember that the only time I ever got a tengu this far it perished in the Shoals. Then, again, it was an unlucky encounter with [[Boris]] or [[Saint Roka]] or some such, if I remember correctly. Let’s hope that won’t happen now.

Being airborne allows me to give the perimeter a thorough sweep at each Shoals level, and I always begin that way, so that I don’t miss anything. By the time I’m finished I’m always hungry and need to go to the unexplored center to create some chunks. This involves me in all kinds of fights until the level is cleared.

Some cataclysmic event must have happened in Shoals 1 before my arrival. It is almost devoid of population. Only when I think I have explored all, a few [[faun]]s show up, slinging stones at me. That’s it. I move on, puzzled.

On Shoals 2 I find a high-level book lying around. Unfortunately, it can’t be a [[Book of Annihilations]], as by now this one would auto-identify, given my high levels in conjurations and spellcasting. So I read a scroll of identification to see that it is a [[Grand Grimoire]]. To me this is one of the most useless books of the game, but I’m sure there must be some people who like to play with summons that require lots of micromanagement, tend to stand in the way and eat up your experience. To you I’m dedicating this book which unfortunately drops out of my hand over deep water. “You hear a splash.” Ooops.

Otherwise, Shoals 2, too, is eerily empty. Where is everybody? Does it mean that when I put my foot down in Shoals 3 (I won’t really, since I’m flying), all the world is going to attack me at once? I guess there is only one way to find out. Well, my reception is very lively indeed, with more opposition on the first screen than almost on the whole two previous levels together. I fight my way through the hordes of attackers towards an unidentified amulet. Faith is already out of the way, so I bravely try it to get pleasantly surprised by an [[amulet of the gourmand]]. This is probably my favourite non-artifact amulet in the game, the one I always want to wear. It is just that sometimes I have to wear others, sadly. Now let’s snack on all the various [[merfolk]] and harpies I just killed.

Going through the pickings of Shoals 3 I find another amulet. Since I am wearing the gourmand right now, I’m not inclined to take it off, and read a scroll of identify instead. This is just as well, because this is the cursed [[amulet of inaccuracy]]. You hear another splash.

Shoals 4 is the place where all the folks from the other levels must have gone to. I am surrounded from the beginning. A [[siren]] has me [[mesmerise]]d (so I can’t go back up the stairs I'm still standing on), and a [[water elemental]] [[engulf]]s me, so that I can’t cast. This is the thing that doesn’t happen when I play gargoyles. Someone manages to confuse me, and it takes two potions of curing to get out of it. At least now I can use my [[wand of teleportation]] to get away. While waiting for the teleport, I inefficiently try to knock this elemental with my staff, but it is not impressed. Countless fauns and merfolk and manticores and who knows what throw everything they have at me.

{{flavour|You feel strangely unstable.

Your skill with magical items lets you calculate the power of this device...

This wand has 1 charge left.

Your lungs strain for air!

The water elemental hits you. The faun shoots a stone. You block the stone.

The siren chants a haunting song.

The faun shoots a sling bullet. The sling bullet misses you.

The sling bullet completely misses the merfolk.

You hear a splash.

The merfolk impaler completely misses you.

With effort, you pull free of the water engulfing you.

You gasp with relief as air once again reaches your lungs.

A manticore comes into view.

The merfolk hits you from afar with a trident!

You block the water elemental's attack. The satyr shoots an arrow. The arrow hits you!!

LOW HITPOINT WARNING

The faun shoots a sling bullet. The sling bullet barely misses you. The mermaid misses you.

The merfolk hits you from afar with a trident!

You die...

You could see a siren, a merfolk impaler, a satyr, 4 merfolk, a faun, 2 manticores, a water elemental and a mermaid.}}

==Epilogue==
Not a bad game at all, until I had this terrible insertion into Shoals 4. The combination of engulfing, prolonged confusion and mesmerisation was just too much for me. I wonder if there was anything I could have done to prevent this, but I don’t see what. I did not have any potions of heal wounds which would have helped me to sit out the wait for the teleport. Maybe I could have brought down that siren with my wand of cold, which was well charged. That could have saved me, but not necessarily. In the end, that is one of the things that makes this game so fascinating: No matter how well things go, you are never invincible.

Lessons learned: Tengu is a very powerful species, if it survives long enough to overcome its starting weaknesses. But a Gargoyle, though not as brilliant, has a lot more survivability, and it would have survived this fatal situation (being immune to engulfing). I don’t know how many tengus I have already brought to the midgame just to die in a situation for which it is not prepared, which is all the more frustrating when everything else looks so hopeful.

It is quite a pity that I did not make it into the late game. I would have liked to give an illustration of the benefit of the basic caster strategy of switching religions from Vehumet to TSO. Maybe some other time.

Majang's Caster Walk-Through

2026-09-26T19:22:17Z

Bobross419:

{{Advice}}
{{version020}}

This walk-through assumes that you have downloaded and installed your first version of Crawl just a few weeks ago, have played a few games, and usually ended up dead after a few levels. Being frustrated and still fascinated by the game, you somehow found this Wiki and are now looking for advice on how to win this game. Let us begin this guide with the bold statement that indeed the game can be won, with the qualifying remark that that does not happen very often, no matter how smart you play. But there are some things that you can learn, and some choices you can make, which will make it much more likely that you take the [[Orb of Zot]] into your hands and [[ascension|ascend]] with it to the surface alive. This walk-through attempts to give you much of the information you need, and it follows one particular strategy which is assumed to be an easy way of winning. “Easy” in the sense that you will have a good chance of surviving many situations which are a lot more difficult to master if you follow a different strategy. “Easy” does not mean that you will not die when following this advice, or that you should feel bad if you loose. A lot in this game just depends on luck, and even a small mistake or a wrong key pressed at the wrong time may get you snuffed. Sometimes the game gives you a bad deal, either by throwing you into a situation from which you cannot escape, or by providing you with suboptimal equipment or stats over a long period of time. When that happens, you will die, and, hopefully, just begin another game.

Another reason to read this walk-through is when so far you have only played melee characters and now for the first time want to see how it is to kill monsters with something else than a physical weapon, playing a caster. This walk-through will not only talk about strategy and tactics, but it will also explain some of the basic game mechanics, particularly those related to casting spells. This makes this page quite wordy, and experienced players won’t need any of this. Beginners, however, will hopefully find much useful information for which they would have to dig deeply into this Wiki for many hours.

Some players object to the idea of a walk-through or [[character guides|character guide]], as it sets out with a specific plan, which is somewhat contrary to the philosophy of the game: develop your character as the situation arises and changes. This walk-through, instead, will tell you to be rather inflexible. This is in order to allow you to celebrate your first win as a caster. For a real Crawl experience you should afterwards try to look for different approaches; this will be a while, though. Even if you follow this guide, you should expect to die a few times before being ultimately successful. But once you reach the end of the game, you will have learned so many things about it that the next game will be much easier to you.

==Basic Choices==
The two first choices of the game determine your strategy, even before you make your first move: You need to pick a [[species]] and a [[background]]. These two choices together make up your [[Early_Game_Character_Building|character]]. In your games so far you will most likely have played some kind of [[melee]]-based character, that is, a heavily armored, weapon-swinging brute who slashes/bludgeons its bloody and gory path through all enemies. Well played, such a character can win a game for you, but beginners will have great difficulties keeping a melee-character alive for long.
Following this walk-through, you will make different choices: [[Gargoyle]] will be your species, and [[earth elementalist]] will be your background. This means that instead of using weapons, most of the time you will kill enemies by casting earth-related spells.

===The Gargoyle===
The gargoyle comes with such a unique list of welcome abilities that it is probably the most survivable species in the whole game. It is therefore well suited for beginners. Among its features are immunity to [[poison]], and resistance to [[electricity]] – both frequent causes of untimely death in the early game that you don’t have to worry about much as a gargoyle. Its one level of resistance to [[negative energy]] also becomes useful early on, as sources of [[draining]] may be encountered already on the first levels. Gargoyles develop permanent [[flight]] before it really matters, they don’t [[unbreathing|breathe]] and don’t [[rot]], which removes other dangers entirely that kill many characters in the mid-game. Furthermore, a gargoyle is immune to [[petrification]] and resistant to [[torment]], which are both very desirable characteristics. And finally, it comes with a huge boost to your [[AC|armor]], which makes it a lot more durable than most other caster characters.

All this comes along with quite impressive [[aptitude]]s. A gargoyle is very good at developing defensive [[skill]]s, which increase its durability. On top of that it does not have difficulties with any weapons or with most kinds of magic. The [[spellcasting]] aptitude of -1 does not appear to be that awe-inspiring, but in fact very few species do better in that respect. This comes along with an excellent [[conjurations]] and an even better [[earth Magic]] aptitude, which is important for the character that we want to develop. On top of that, a gargoyle is reasonably [[intelligence|intelligent]] and can learn to cast even the most difficult spells at a high [[spell power|power]].

Crawl gives you nothing for free – if a species has some wonderful traits, it usually pays for this in some handicaps. The gargoyle has some of those, but they are totally out of proportion to its huge advantages. The biggest drawback is probably its low resilience; having 20% less [[HP]] means that in theory you die a lot earlier than others. In practice, however, your high armor and your many resistances make it significantly more difficult for your enemies to bite off a big chunk of your HP. This is particularly true in the early and mid-game, where you can shrug off most attacks. But there is absolutely nothing you can do in the late game against the [[damnation]] that some enemies hurl against you, and low HP is then a very serious problem. Another handicap is a special vulnerability towards some earth magic spells, which only becomes relevant in the late game. A final species-related drawback is that your stony nature prevents you from using the spell [[sublimation of blood]], which some characters like to cast to restore their [[MP|mana]]-pool. You also can't cast [[Statue Form]], but that is because you already are a statue, and enjoy all the benefits of this spell, without doing anything about it, and without the speed penalty.

===Earth Elementalist===
You begin this game as an [[Earth elementalist]], which is a pure casting background. This means that instead of relying on physical weapons, you will destroy your enemies by the use of powerful [[spell]]s. This is a very different game-style to what you may have been used to so far; you will have to develop some new habits and have to watch some more stats to be successful. But if you do everything right, this is a very satisfying way of playing Crawl. [[Earth Magic]] spells are quite versatile, providing you with powerful offensive options, which throughout the game should give you what you need to survive most situations without breaking a sweat. Earth magic is a big strength of gargoyles, who can achieve high skill levels with very little investment of experience. Finally, the offensive spells of this school are very physical in nature, and cannot be resisted any better than the most powerful physical weapons can. No matter what resistances your opponents bring along (and some late-game bosses are frighteningly resistant to almost anything), none can withstand your destructive power.

==Getting Started with Skills and Spells==
You find yourself thrown into the same world as usual. All you have is a [[bread ration]], 30 [[stone]]s, a [[robe]] and your starting [[Book of Geomancy]]. Note that you have no weapon as of now. The stones are not meant for throwing, but you need them for the only spell you currently know. Before you do anything, however, you need to tweak your skills a little bit, so that you grow the most important of them, while ignoring all the others. To do that, type the m-key, and the skills menu will show up. You may not have looked at this menu before – if you don’t fiddle with this, the game will manage your skills automatically, but not necessarily in a way that is always best for you. Skills are trained whenever you kill an enemy and gain experience. This experience is then invested into your skills according to the settings of your skill screen. So you need to switch over to the manual mode, by hitting the /-key (slash). Your are now in full control of your skills training, and you should deactivate all training for all skills except spellcasting and earth magic, so that both skills receive 50% of all experience. Manual mode means that all selected skills receive the same amount of experience at all times. Highlighted skills receive the double amount (but for now you are not highlighting anything).

This is necessary because your early survival depends on having powerful spells to kill your enemies. What you have right now is just enough to kill one or two [[goblin]]s, but soon you will encounter monsters that are not impressed by you blowing some grit into their faces. You need to develop some fire-power, and that fast. Right now you only know the [[Sandblast]] spell. You can have a look at it by typing z and then *, which opens up the spell menu. You see a (currently very short) list of your available spells. It shows you that Sandblast is assigned to your a-key, that it is a level-1 spell only using the earth school, and that it currently has a failure rate of 6%. All this requires some explanation. Spells in Crawl come in nine different levels. Level 1 is for beginners just as you are right now, and level 9 is the deep end of the pool which you will only get to towards the late game. Those level-9 spells have an obscene damage output, allowing you to kill many monsters with just one cast, and clearing the whole screen with just three or four casts, if things go well. But for now you are stuck with the bread-and-butter of your measly level-1 spell.

Each particular spell is tied to at least one, at most three different spell schools, which means that training the skills of these schools will improve your [[spell success|success]] rate and your [[spell power]]. Your current failure rate of 6% means that in six out of 100 attempts your spell will not work – it is your goal to get this number as low as possible, as a spell [[miscast]] not only depletes your mana pool for no return, but also may have dangerous side effects. 6% is not bad for beginners by any means – that you start out so low is the immediate benefit of your gargoyle’s great aptitude with earth magic, which made your earth skill jump right to above 3 to begin with.

You see the spell power when you type the !-key in the spell list view – the list then displays some additional stats about your spells that you did not see before. The spell power for your sandblast shows currently as ##...., with each # showing a step of available spell power, and each dot as a step of spell power so far not available for that spell. For sandblast, the maximal spell power would be ######, which would turn your currently modest source of enemy injuries into a veritable killer for most monsters. You are not there quite yet, but again your ##-power is more than what most characters get for their starting spells, giving you a huge advantage. The most potent spells have a maximal spell power of 10#, which even for very powerful casters is almost impossible to accomplish, and usually only for short time periods. Most likely, the gargoyle will not get that far with its earth spells. The spell power of your spells depends on your skills with the spell-schools involved, on your spellcasting skill, and on your [[intelligence]]. The same is true with your success-rate. Your level-1 spells should soon have a failure-rate of 1%, if you train the right skills and invest your stat upgrades into intelligence.

The screen now also shows your hunger-cost for your spell, which currently is #...... – it is possible that a spell causes no hunger whatsoever, when you have a sufficient spellcasting skill and/or sufficient intelligence. All spells of the same level cause the same hunger to you. One # means that for the sandblast you have a very small, even negligible hunger expense. When a spell has a full-blown ####### hunger cost, a successful cast will reduce your satiation status considerably, so that you may find yourself with the need to eat something after casting a spell a few times.

The final spell stat is its range. Your sandblast shows as @-->, which means that you can hit an opponent three tiles away, but not beyond that range. Spells come with very different ranges, and sometimes the range may increase with your spell power. The range of the sandblast spell does not depend on your spell power.

All this being said, it is now clear that your main priority is to train your spell skills, currently earth magic and spellcasting. The higher your skills here, the more powerful, easier to cast and less costly your spells become. All other skills need to wait for now.

A short look at your other stats: Your [[strength]] is at 11, your [[intelligence]] at 15, and your [[dexterity]] at 10. Strength and dexterity are at satisfactory levels for our purposes. Getting more would always be nice, but what you need more than anything else is intelligence, as this has a direct impact on your ability to cast spells with high power and low hunger cost. Every three experience levels you will be asked which stat to increase, and it needs to be intelligence every time. This in itself will get you to 24 INT at experience level 27, plus a few extras, because every fourth level you will get either a STR or INT increase, decided randomly. But really, a high-end caster can only feel comfortable if INT is at least in the low 30s, and a lot of that will have to come from enchanted equipment.

Your [[AC]] starts out with 4, which is two more than for most characters, another benefit of being a gargoyle. And it will grow.

Now get going!

==Finding Vehumet==
Wherever you are in a Crawl game, you always have a few goals to pursue. Your first real quest in the game is to become religious. For the character you want to develop, it is important that you become a worshiper of [[Vehumet]], the [[god]] who provides you with tremendous benefits for your intended play style. Worshiping Vehumet means that casting destructive spells becomes a lot easier, which is just what you want. He also increases the range of your spells, and, more importantly, may increase your mana pool when you kill any opponent. His most visible blessing, however, is his gift of spells. Every once in a while he will grant you access to increasingly powerful destructive spells. Many of those won’t fit your skill set, and you will ignore them, but his final gift of three high-end spells is usually (unfortunately not always) geared towards your skills, so that you should have a deadly arsenal by the time Vehumet is done with his gifts. In spite of all these benefits, Vehumet is incredibly easy to please – just kill monsters (you are going to do this anyway), and your [[piety]] will go all the way up and stay there. There is no training of [[invocations]] with Vehumet, which means that you can invest your [[experience]] into more important skills.

So, you’ll want to find an [[altar]] of Vehumet as soon as possible, and your task is set. Well, in fact, you also want to find a weapon, any weapon, so you have something to kill an enemy with when your mana runs out, and to conserve stones. This is one of the peculiarities about sandblast: each time you cast it, you use up a stone from your inventory. When you run out of stones, you cannot cast the spell! Crawl will automatically pick up any stone you find and add it to your inventory. This will only change if you tell the software not to do that (in the known-items screen, accessed by the \-key).

If you start exploring, you will soon meet your first opponent. Try to get him alone, and make him follow you into explored area. Currently, you will probably not survive more than three pursuing opponents at once. When an opponent is in range, typing z followed by a, your sandblast key, should automatically select him as a target. If there is more than one opponent, the spell will target the nearest opponent, but you can always adjust your targeting. One shot could suffice to kill a [[goblin]], but you may have a [[miscast]], or your shot misses, or is not quite damaging enough. You may need two or three shots, and sometimes even some help of your weapon to do the job; that’s why you try to avoid the attention of too many monsters at once. In the beginning you only have a mana pool of three [[MP]], and each casting reduces that by the number of levels of the spell that you cast. So with three MP you can cast three sandblasts, and then you are left with your weapon, or even your bare fists if you have not found a weapon yet. Over time, your MP will recharge on its own, but this takes a while.

Whenever you cast sandblast, a stone from your inventory gets destroyed. Fortunately, stones are lying around in abundance, but not quite enough to use sandblasts for every action against every monster you meet. A good rule of thumb in the early game is to use sandblast on tough enemies, or for the first shot, until it is badly hurt. Whenever you encounter a weak enemy instead, or when a strong enemy is already close to death, you should try to bring it down with your weapon. But whenever the situation gets out of hand, and things become dangerous for you, you should not be stingy with your stones. Use them up to get you out of a tight spot. Sandblast is currently your strongest weapon!

All this being said, in this very early phase of the game you are most vulnerable. Whenever you have killed an opponent, restore all your HP and MP, and only then continue your exploration. If you get killed, however, it is not as frustrating as getting killed much later in the game. Just start over again, and you should be able to overcome this early-game crisis soon. And gargoyle’s many perks will help you to survive stuff that are killers for anybody else, like these mean [[adder]]s that poison most budding characters to death. You just give them a mean smile before you smash their heads.

You will pick up [[potion]]s and [[scroll]]s. Don’t try them yet! If you see rings, only try them if you have lots of scrolls, as some jewelery may get you killed if you can’t get it off your fingers. If you have picked up a cursed and badly enchanted weapon, try your scrolls (most numerous scrolls first) until you read a [[scroll of remove curse]], then stop reading. If you don’t have such a scroll, then good luck. Many characters die early because they have bad equipment in their hands or on their fingers, and they don’t have the means to get rid of them. Be wary of shining and glowing items lying around – they can be the very stuff that makes you lose this game!

If you have played a melee character before, you will always have grabbed up the heaviest armor you could find, and even a shield. But leave any body armor where it is, because you can’t wear it as a caster, at least not yet. Body armor will dramatically increase your failure rate, easily up to 100%, and the same for shields. So stick to your robe for now (but have an eye open for enchanted robes, which are very desirable for casters). Gloves, helmets, boots and cloaks, however, do not affect your spellcasting, so you want to grab and wear any you can find. If you see a shield, put it into your inventory, but don’t wear it. Eventually you will want to have a shield, and they are often quite difficult to find.

Right at the beginning you should grab any weapon, as soon as you see one. Even without weapon skills, using a [[dagger]] or [[whip]] or [[spear]] will give you an edge when you have run out of MP. In the long run, you will want to use a weapon of the [[maces & flails]] category, so keep your eyes open for a good whip, mace or flail. One-handed weapons will do, but as long as you don’t use a shield, a [[dire flail]] is a great find. Enchanted weapons, of course, can be of great benefit, but do not pick up and try out any enchanted [[dagger]] or [[glaive]] you can find, as there are some dangers involved. A simply enchanted weapon (it is called “glowing” or “runed”, and comes with blue writing) may have the [[distortion]] brand, and this early in the game this means you are dead. Enchanted weapons may also be cursed and negatively enchanted, and you don’t want to be stuck for long with one of those. On the other hand, if you see a [[randart]] weapon (it comes with white writing, and more elaborate descriptions, such as “heavily runed”, “encrusted” or “steaming”), you should at least collect them and try them when you have enough scrolls of remove curse. They usually don’t have the [[distortion]] brand (that would be really bad luck), but they may come with great traits such as resistances or [[see invisible]], which may make your game much easier in some situations. As long as you have not converted to Vehumet, and you have scrolls of remove curse available, you can try out each [[amulet]] you find. There are some bad ones out there, but as long as you can remove them, they should not do real harm.

Ok, after exploring some parts of level 1, you will have killed a few enemies, and you’ll have jumped to experience level 2. This will trigger some welcome changes. Your MP is now at 5, giving you two more shots with Sandblast. In the same way your HP counter has increased to 15, making you more resilient. Being on level 2 means that you can now learn a level 2 spell, [[Passwall]]. This is an escape spell, allowing you to disappear through a thin rock-wall. Although this spell has its uses, I usually don’t learn it, and I rarely find myself using it if I learn it, except at the very end of the game.

While exploring, you will see sets of down-stairs to the next level of the dungeon. There should be three of them on your level, and you must not go down any of those until you have explored the whole level 1. There are many good reasons for taking the levels one at a time, and for not even peeking down before you are done. But once you are done with level 1, there is nothing else you can do but go down.

Most likely you are still on experience level (XL) 2 before you make it to dungeon level 2, but if you are really lucky, you will have jumped to XL 3. This allows you to learn [[Stone Arrow]]. This is a great attack spell with a fixed range of @--->, and a max spell power of ######. Unfortunately you currently only have just one #, because it is a two-school spell, depending on the [[conjurations]] skill. But you will start learning this skill now (unfocused), so that you give 33% experience to spellcasting, earth magic and conjurations. Gargoyles have a good aptitude for conjurations, and almost all the attack spells you hope to learn later will make use of conjurations, so this is a very good investment of experience.

Casting Stone Arrow in your next fight is not advisable, though. It takes three MP to cast it, out of the six you currently have, and with a failure rate of 28% it is quite likely that you just waste these three MP. Just wait a little, and Stone Arrow will become your best friend. Right now, Sandblast is more powerful anyway.

Once down on dungeon level 2, you are likely to encounter much more dangerous opponents. The worst possible for you gargoyle is the [[orc priest]], an [[orc]] with a green robe. He has a weapon against which you are not prepared, [[smiting]]. If you spend more than a few turns in his line of sight ([[LOS]]), you will probably die. If you see one, immediately retreat out of sight. If he has spotted you, he will follow you; position yourself so that he is within range of your sandblast when you see him again. If you are already low on HP, retreat to the next upstairs and heal up. You have to be very careful with these guys. Then again, they are not very durable; two good shots, at most three, and they are down, and they give you lots of experience. Unfortunately, they rarely show up alone. They may be supported by regular orcs, or by [[orc wizard]]s, purple-robed orcs who can confuse you, turn themselves invisible, and hit you from afar with fire. As much as possible, you need to separate these groups and fight them one by one. Upstairs are a good way of doing this. Sometimes you see two or even more orc priests at once. This is very bad news, and you need to act extremely cautious. Don’t take any risks here. Maybe you avoid the area for a short while to return when you are stronger.

Other fearsome enemies showing up much too early are [[Sigmund]], [[Pikel]], [[Grinder]] or, if you manage to stumble into his quite recognizable cove, [[Crazy Yiuf]]. These are so-called [[unique]]s, dangerous enemies that can only show up once per game. If you can, avoid them for now (maybe you are lucky and they don’t wake up when you see them). Give their area a wide berth, and come back for them when you are slightly stronger. When you are at XL 7 or 8, they won’t stand a chance against you (but then there are other uniques waiting for you on deeper levels).

Once you hit XL 4, you will be ready to learn [[Petrify]], but don’t bother. You would not find yourself using this spell very often. Killing an enemy fast always beats incapacitating him for a while. But at this point, a look at your spell list shows that your spells are improving nicely. Sandblast is now at ###, and hunger-free. And with your 9 MP you can now risk to cast Stone Arrow at least once per fight, as it comes with a more manageable failure rate.

From level 2 downwards, you will encounter upstairs to already explored levels. Those which lead to an area on the upper floor that you have not seen yet are marked by a star, so you should check them out, just to make sure that you really have explored that area already. Occasionally the dungeon has disconnected areas, or areas that you can only access from a lower level. Particularly altars or even the entrance to the [[Temple]] may be hidden in this way. So, before moving on to the next level, always make sure that you have seen all three upstairs on the current level. If you can only see two on the map, this means that there must be another area of this level that you can only access through an unused downstairs from the previous level. Go back and find these stairs.

Whenever you go down a set of stairs to the next level for a first time, you may be greeted with an announcement for a timed [[portal]], usually to the [[Sewer]] or to the [[Ossuary]]. These are extra levels on which you may gain more experience and find some treasure. You’ll want to find these portals before they time out, and now would be a good time to start reading your scrolls. One of them may be a [[scroll of magic mapping]], and that would show you exactly where the portal can be found. So, stay on the stairs and start reading. Quite likely one of the scrolls you read will be a [[scroll of teleportation]]. If so, then go up the stairs immediately, so that you don’t teleport into an unexplored area. Most other scrolls should be harmless or even beneficial. If you happen to read a scroll of torment (that is about the worst that can happen), just retreat upstairs again to heal up. If you also happen to find the entrance to the Temple this way, first go there to become a follower of Vehumet, and then go to the portal. You’ll want the kills you make there already count towards your piety with Vehumet. If you really read a scroll of magic mapping at the beginning of a level, you will have plenty of time to find a timed portal.

Those early portals (Sewer and Ossuary) are usually no problem, with the single exception of one Ossuary layout where you find yourself immediately surrounded by a large circle of zombies and mummies. If you see that, get out of there at once! There doesn’t seem to be a way to safely beat this level and harvest its treasures.

If reading through the scrolls gets you a [[scroll of identify]], use it on the potions of which you have the biggest stack. If you’re lucky, it will be a [[potion of heal wounds]], which you want to identify as soon as possible.

Blindly quaffing potions is an entirely different matter – it is a lot more risky than reading unidentified scrolls. You may get mutated badly, or receive some pretty bad status changes. In the best case you may waste an awesome potion, such as a [[potion of haste]] for nothing, and you won’t find many more of those later on when you need them. Therefore, try not to drink unidentified potions unless in the most dire circumstances. As said above, you’ll want to identify potions of heal wounds soon, so that they can get you out of trouble, and it is perfectly fine to spend a few scrolls of identification on that. If you are lucky, you may witness a monster healing itself by using a potion, which will identify it for you. Once you have identified potions of heal wounds, you don’t need to identify any others for quite some time, so you can just ignore them.

You may find an altar of Vehumet anywhere beginning from dungeon level 2. As soon as you see it, convert to him – there is no reason whatsoever to hold back. Your best chance to find an altar is the [[Temple]], which is always located between dungeons 4-7. But quite often the temple does not contain the altar you are looking for. At the latest, Vehumet’s altar should show up on level 9. In any case, as soon as you can, start worshiping Vehumet.

==Clearing the Upper Dungeons==
No matter at what point you become a follower of Vehumet, one task assigned to you is to clear the dungeon all the way down to the place where you find the staircase to the [[Lair]] of Beasts. This can happen as early as on dungeon level 8, and as late as on dungeon level 11. But while you are looking for it, here is some more advice on things going on during that early phase of the game.

Once you follow Vehumet, you need to change your behavior with amulets. An unidentified specimen could be an [[amulet of faith]], and you don’t want to have those. In theory, they are rather nice, of course, getting you to a high [[piety]] quite soon, but the moment you remove them (and you’ll want to soon enough), you lose a good chunk of your piety, and therefore it is just better if you never wear it. Piety with Vehumet rises pretty fast even unaided by said amulet. If he starts his spell gifts while you are not ready for them, this amulet may actually be contra-productive. From now on you need to identify each amulet before you wear it.

Around XL 6 it is about time to learn the two most difficult spells of the starting spell book: The first is Lee's Rapid Deconstruction, in short [[LRD]]. As a level-5 spell, this comes quite expensive, as you have only about 16 MP to play with. The failure rate is still high, and the hunger cost almost prohibitive, but over time you are going to love this spell, and use it all the time. It makes you look at your environment with different eyes, always studying the positioning and the material of the dungeon walls. Basically, it allows you to use any dungeon feature or even enemy made of rock, stone, metal, ice, bone or crystal to significantly weaken or even destroy it, and create a blast area around it. With increasing spell power, this spell has an amazing destructive potential, but you need to learn how to apply it for its best benefit. Obviously, it works best if you have a group of enemies inside the blast area of an appropriate dungeon feature. Of course you should not be inside that blast radius yourself. To make things complicated, some materials, like [[rock wall]]s, have a variable blast area, so you don’t always know for sure what gets hit and what doesn’t. But LRD is your first area of effect spell, capable of hurting or even killing a good number of enemies at the same time, if you use it wisely. Unfortunately, some times you will find yourself in a situation where you cannot apply it at all, and then you need to fall back to your other attack spells. LRD can also be used to punch holes into rock walls (it takes some attempts, usually), and with higher spell power even into stone and metal walls. No need to carry around a [[wand of digging]] just for this purpose.

The second spell is [[Borgnjor's Vile Clutch]] (BVC), which is a two-school spell, also benefiting from training [[necromancy]]. For this reason its success rate will be much lower than LRD, but eventually you will get it down even without training necromancy. It is quite a powerful spell, dealing direct damage to all monsters within a 3x3 grid, while fixing them in place.

While you are on XL 7, you should constantly check your spell list. When Sandblast shows up with a spell power of ####, this is a good time to branch out with your skill training. Up till now, you have only trained three skills: spellcasting, earth magic and conjurations. Now that your spell power for your attack spells has reached decent levels, it is time to do something about your defensive skills, and other critical skills you need. Go to your skills menu (m-key), and select the [[fighting]], [[maces & flails]], [[armor]], [[dodging]] and [[evocations]] skills. Now all selected skills should get 12% experience. If you have a shield or a buckler in your inventory, you may also decide to start training the [[shields]] skill, without actually wearing the shield yet. This would reduce the experience for each skill to 11%. Why these skills?

* The fighting skill is a critical skill for you. It increases the damage output of your melee weapon, but since you don’t want to use it a lot, you probably don’t care too much. But higher skills in fighting also increase your [[hit points]], and since you are a rather frail character, this matters a lot to you. As already said, later on in the game you encounter damnation, against which there is absolutely no resistance or protection. Therefore, the higher your HP, the more likely you are to kill the damnation-dealing enemy before he kills you. Consequentially, you will never switch this skill off again, until you finish the game or master the skill at level 27.

* Maces & Flails are your weapon of choice. Of course you will kill most of your enemies through magic, but this may not be the best solution at all times, and therefore you still need to become proficient with a real weapon. You have an average aptitude for maces & flails, and there are some very good one-handed weapons of this category, including the [[eveningstar]] and the [[demon whip]] – both of which are rather difficult to find, so you will mostly work with a [[flail]] or a [[morningstar]] until you find something better. Training this skill does not increase much the damage output for each hit, but it dramatically increases the frequency of hits you can land in any given time. The eveningstar has a base damage output of 15, and without any skill you can land a hit each 1.5 rounds. Each two points in weapons skill, however, give you a tenth of a round off that delay before the next hit, so that with a skill of two you can hit each 1.4 rounds and so on. With a skill of 16 you have gotten this delay down to 0.7 rounds, and that is as far as it gets for the eveningstar, meaning that in the original 1.5 rounds you can apply more than double damage than without skills training. Maces & Flails has a [[crosstrain|crosstraining]] effect with [[staves]], for which you also have an average aptitude; later in the game you may want to decide to make a staff your main weapon. If so, you will already have some significant starting skill from your maces & flails training.

* Armor skill you could probably do without, if you are confident that you will always only have a robe as body armor. But since, as a gargoyle, you have this amazing aptitude with the armor skill, it would be a waste not to use it somewhat. Just training this up to 5 or 6 allows you to wear light dragon armor, such as a [[troll leather armour]] or the [[faerie dragon armour]], which will give you excellent protection and maybe some welcome resistances. Without armor skill, wearing this kind of armor would make spellcasting significantly more difficult.

* The dodging skill, in conjunction with your rather mediocre dexterity, determines how much you can avoid damage by getting out of the way of a blow or of a projectile. As a moving rock, your aptitude for dodging is terrible, unfortunately, but it is still wise to train this skill up as high as possible. It just takes you much longer to reap its benefits.

* Many players would dispute the need for training the shields skill, as it is quite costly in experience, and there is value to having two free hands for being able to wield more powerful weapons. But shields have more benefits than just blocking projectiles and hits. Some shields come enchanted with valuable resistances, sometimes giving even stat bonuses, and if you want to wear these as a caster, you need to invest at least enough experience to get you to a shields skill of four (which you will reach very fast). This allows you to cast with a [[buckler]] without penalties to your failure rate. For a normal shield you need a skill of 15, and for a large shield it takes 25 to cast penalty-free. Quite a heavy investment, but once you have it, you have an amazing protection against all physical attacks and most projectiles. A shield won’t help you a bit against damnation, though. A normal shield and even a large shield are probably out of reach for you in this 3-rune victory.

* The [[evocations]] skill is also very important to you. The higher your skill here, the more effective you are using [[wand]]s and other evocable items. These may give you more ranged options to apply damage when your MP runs out. The evocations skill also helps you when you use a [[staff of energy]] when [[channeling]] to replenish your MP, and makes the use of a [[crystal ball of energy]] much safer. Finally, as already hinted above, you may later decide to use a magical staff as your main weapon. The staff that comes to mind is the [[staff of earth]], which has an obscene damage output dwarfing most other weapons if it is used with high earth and evocations skills. And you will want to wield that staff anyway, as it increases the spell power of your earth spells. So keep training evocations!

Many players object to the skill-training style advocated here, claiming that increasing eight or nine skills simultaneously spreads the experience too thin. But these skills (except maybe for armor and shields) you will need to develop anyway, and over the total course of the game it makes no difference whatsoever whether you train these skills sequentially or simultaneously. Psychologically it feels good to observe a single active skill gaining in large strides, but it comes at the price that your other skills don’t increase at all. The skill strategy proposed here will grow your needed skills slowly but steadily, with the result that you have all you need as the game progresses, without having to fiddle with your skills screen too much.

Other skills are deliberately not on the training list. For you there is no point training any ranged weapons, including [[throwing]]. [[Stealth]] also is almost pointless for you. The moment you unleash your first LRD on a level, all its inhabitants will have a pretty good idea of where you are, no matter how stealthy you are. Earth magic is mostly noisy and does not go well together with a sneaky approach. [[Unarmed combat]] is also something you don’t need to worry about. Of course you could study other spell schools, such as the [[transmutations]] school, to unlock the [[Statue Form]] spell. But in spite of what was said in the previous paragraph, you want to keep the number of trained skills as low as possible, so that what you train receives as much experience as possible. Once a skill receives less than 10% of the experience, it will grow very slow. Your power and your survival depend on having the right skills trained as high as possible.

Once the failure rate of your Stone Arrow goes below 5%, and your MP pool is above 20, you should make this spell your main attack option. Only when you get low on MP should you resort to Sandblasts, which will then never run out of stones.

A very short time after converting to Vehumet, after killing a bunch of enemies, your new deity will be happy enough with you to shower his blessings on you. You will get a message that Vehumet grants you access to a spell that is not part of any book you have found so far, and a star will show up in your piety counter. At maximum piety you will have six stars, but even this single star begins something that arguably is Vehumet’s greatest gift: MP restoration on killing enemies. Right now it does not look like much, because at low piety it happens only rarely. But when your piety goes up, this god-given ability will overcome the bane of all casters in Crawl: Once you have cast a number of spells, your MP goes to 0, and there may still be some enemies that need killing. Your MP of course regenerates itself over time, but quite often you can’t spare that time. At highest piety Vehumet will grant you some extra MP on killing almost all enemies. By that time you will have spells that can kill many enemies at once (such as LRD which we have already learned), so that it may be a long time before you run out of MP.

Vehumet’s gift of spells is also nothing to sneeze at. But you need to decide carefully whether you really want to learn them or not. You are basically required to decide on a spell strategy early on, and act on that. For this walk-through we assume that you will want to learn attack spells not only from the earth magic school, but also from the [[fire magic]] school. So if Vehumet offers you a spell belonging to any of these schools, grab it up. If it is a spell from a different school, ignore it, because you cannot learn an unlimited amount of spells. Your status screen (right-click your mouse on the character) and also the spell memorization menu (M-key) will tell you how many spell levels you have currently left to learn new spells. If you want to learn a level-3 spell, but you have only two levels left, you need to wait until the new levels get unlocked (through increases in XL or the spellcasting skill). Alternatively, you need to forget an already learned spell with a [[scroll of amnesia]]. It is therefore a good idea to keep training your spellcasting skill at least until Vehumet has given you his final batch of three spell gifts - that should always give you sufficient spell slots for Vehumet's more interesting gifts.

Of course you may find spells in spell books, not only from Vehumet. Here are a few spells that you should consider learning when you find them:

* [[Conjure Flame]] – a level 3 fire and conjurations spell which creates a stationary column of fire on a single tile, affectionately called “Gargoyle’s barbecue” by your enemies. Most of them will not walk into it, which makes it a nice way of keeping melee fighters out of their range in a one-tile corridor. Some animals and [[undead]] monsters happily walk into the flame to get at you, and you can watch with glee while they get burned to a crisp.
* [[Sticky Flame]] is a wonderful level 4 fire and conjurations spell that places a very damaging source of fire on an adjacent enemy. This will keep burning for a few rounds, killing the monster over time, while you are running away from it, or apply further damage by different means. If you manage to place this on an invisible enemy, it will make it visible for the time of its effect.
* [[Bolt of Magma]] – this level 5 fire, earth and conjurations spell shoots a projectile with irresistible force through whole rows of enemies. Line your opponents up in a corridor, and this spell makes short shrift of them. Much more powerful than Stone Arrow. You should be able to cast this very soon.
* [[Iron Shot]] is a level 6 earth and conjurations spell that works similar to Stone Arrow. It only hits one enemy at a time, but with deadly force. One shot is often enough to kill the worst enemies you encounter at any given time. If you get access to it, learn it at all costs. If you can’t find Magma Bolt or Iron Shot by the time you complete the Lair, it will be very difficult to survive much longer.
*[[Fireball]] is a level 5 fire and conjurations area-of-effect spell, frying a 3x3 square and all that stands on it. Not helpful against fire resistant monsters, but otherwise very potent.
*[[Bolt of Fire]] – this level 6 fire and conjurations spell shoots a powerful heat projectile through rows of enemies, with a better range than Magma Bolt, but not useful against fire-resistant monsters.
*[[Ring of Flames]] is not a weapon as such, but a level 7 fire and [[charms]] spell that creates the effect of Conjure flame on all eight tiles around you. Not only that, it greatly increases your resistance to heat and fire, and also boosts the spell power of subsequent fire spells, at the price that it dramatically reduces your resistance to [[cold]] effects. But this doesn’t matter that much, as the RoF actually keeps most cold actions away from you.
*[[Ignition]] is an extremely costly (level 8), but effective upgrade to [[Fireball]], applying its effect on all enemies in sight. When you have the power to cast it, a target-rich environment turns into a furnace, killing anything that is not fire resistant.

Most of Vehumet’s spell gifts are only available to learn until he offers you his next gift. This time window can be rather small. Therefore, if Vehumet offers you other spells than the ones mentioned above, ignore them. They will not add significantly to what you have in this arsenal, and you don’t want to get into the situation that Vehumet offers you Iron Shot, but you don’t have enough spell levels, because you wanted to try what [[Force Lance]] or [[Bolt of Cold]] do. You want to be ready for the amazing stuff. Generally, ignore all spells dealing with [[ice]], [[air]] or [[poison]]. Not that they are bad, but they don’t fit your build right now.

Once you have learned a fire-spell, start training [[fire magic]] right away. For some of the spells you want to use later you need to have very high levels here, so there is no time to lose.

When you reach XL 10 or 11, LRD has become an affordable spell for you, and you can look for opportunities to use it. It has a much further range than your other earth spells, and it can take care of those orc priests which otherwise snipe at you from positions out of range. Get them!

Vehumet’s second star does not give you any new abilities, but his third star reduces the failure rate of all your destructive spells dramatically. LRD should end up below 5% failure rate now, and you have turned into a killing machine! When Vehumet decides to grant you his fourth star, all your spells have their range increased by one more tile, allowing you to hit approaching enemies a turn earlier.

If you can’t find the Lair before hitting dungeon level 10 or 11, you may encounter a very dangerous enemy, the [[Unseen horror]]. If you don’t have a source of [[see invisible]], the first notion you’ll have of this feller is a message that you take damage from something. If you are moving around using your arrow keys, you may not even see this for quite a while until you have already taken significant damage. This enemy is extremely fast and may start and end its turn away from you, while hitting you in between. The unseen horror can whittle you down in a few turns, but you can survive and kill it if you don’t panic. Obviously, if you have a source of see invisible, maybe on an enchanted weapon or a ring, put it on, and the crisis is over. Unseen horrors quickly lose their horror once they are no longer unseen. If you can’t see invisible, move into a corridor, so that you have a better idea from which side your enemy is attacking, and then hit it blindly. LRD is a great tool to hit a larger area where it may be. If you have Sticky Flame, you can try to attach it to the Unseen Horror, and all is well. If possible, have some up-stairs within reach, so that you can heal up in a safe area. If things go badly, teleport away.

Also, before you find the Lair, your inventory may fill up, so that you cannot pick up any new items. If that happens, go to the Temple to drop some items that you won’t need anytime soon, like unidentified potions, or potions of mutation, or wands that you have twice, etc. In the Lair there will be a place where you can establish a secure cache, but maybe you need to do this earlier, and the Temple is always safe.

==The Lair==
Once you have found the access stairs to the [[Lair]], clear the level around it. You may find the entrance to the [[Orcish Mines]] on the same level, or even on an earlier level, but don’t go in there right now – for various reasons it is better to tackle the Lair first. Going down the stairs into the Lair, you will be in an environment that looks significantly different to what you have seen in the dungeon.

Don’t continue exploring the Dungeon before you have tackled the Lair – you’ll need the experience you get here to be strong enough for what faces you further down. Also the Lair provides access to some of the places you need to visit to win this game.

You will also encounter a very different set of monsters. Except for a few uniques (some of them very dangerous), all monsters in the Lair are animals. Most of them are very strong, and they can kill you easily if you don’t handle them well. The following list contains monsters you need to be particularly careful with.

* [[Komodo dragon]]s are solitary animals with a very damaging bite that easily chews through your AC. Finish them off as soon as possible, because you can’t take much of their abuse.

* [[Yak]]s – these creatures are strong and have a dangerous bite. One on its own is not dangerous, but they come in large packs, and when they manage to surround you, they get your HP down in no time at all. Try to get them into a corridor, or take them upstairs in smaller numbers. High AC helps.

* [[Hydra]]s – even a single hydra may be bad news, when encountered in a bad moment. They are fast and hit with many heads at once. Bladed weapons remove heads, but for each head lost they develop two more. As a caster with earth magic you won’t have that problem. Try to isolate them, and hit them with all you have from as far away as possible. High AC helps. Sandblast at full power is surprisingly strong against hydras.

* [[Blink frog]]s – they hit much harder than the [[bullfrog]]s you have seen earlier, they are more difficult to hit, and they come in large packs. When you see one, make him follow you and retreat. You don’t want to face all of them at once. If you have [[Sticky Flame]], use it, as it kills the hopper even a few turns after it bounced away.

* [[Elephant]]s are like yaks, but even more dangerous, and with more HP. Try to isolate individuals, and never take on the whole pack. Stairs are your friend. Unfortunately, an elephant standing right next to you may [[trample]] you, which pushes you off the ground you are standing on, and it will also push you off the stairs you had just decided to use. If you have a wall at your back, this will not happen.

* [[Death yak]]s – probably the most dangerous animal that you are guaranteed to encounter (in large groups!) somewhere in the Lair, but usually only on the lower levels. They are very hard to kill, and hit extremely hard. Don’t let them surround you, and separate individuals. Even a single death yak is a formidable opponent and should not be taken lightly.

* [[Torpor snail]]s are huge and slow snails, not very difficult to kill. But while you are in LOS, they will slow you down considerably, and that may be very bad news when you are pursued by a pack of death yaks or a hydra. Therefore prioritize torpor snails before killing any other animals. Once the snail is dead, your speed is normal again.

There are lots of other monsters that most players find very dangerous, but for a gargoyle with already well developed AC most of them are rather harmless: [[basilisk]]s and [[catoblepas]]’ can’t petrify you like they do with others, [[spiny frog]]s and [[black mamba]]s can’t poison you, and the [[electric eel]] won’t shock you too much. It’s great to be a gargoyle, and the Lair is generally a good place for you.

Fighting all these pests, don’t forget that you have Sandblast, probably at ##### or even ###### power. By now you may also have collected hundreds of stones, and against unarmored enemies, like most of what you find in the Lair, this is a very effective single target spell. Not much later after the Lair, it won’t do you much good any more, so use the spell here a lot. You won’t be able to kill enemies with level 1 spells much longer.

For a long time, Crawl players have used the second level of the Lair as a place to create a cache of items that you don't want to carry around with you all the time. The reasons for this have now disappeared, but tradition might suggest this as a good place to do so anyway. If you choose to do it here, don’t drop all items on the same spot, but lay them out according to category, like all food items in one corner, scrolls in another, etc. Good organization will help you to find stuff when you need it. Drop all but one kind of food in the cache, including all bread and meat rations. Most likely you have a big stack of fruit, and this you should carry around with you, as an emergency snack when you haven’t found a body to butcher in a while. Drop almost all wands here. Just carry with you the strong wands mentioned above. All other wands are either obsolete by now, or even if they still have a potential use, you won’t find yourself using them a lot. Drop all your books here. You’ll come here if you want to learn spells. Drop every [[scroll of amnesia]], [[scroll of enchant weapon]], [[scroll of enchant armor]]. Again, you will come here when you want to enchant your equipment. Drop all unknown potions, just carry potions of heal wounds and potions of curing with you. Later on you will identify more potions, and some of them are worth carrying around all the time, but for now they just clutter up your inventory. And you can drop some jewelry and armor and weapons that you think you won’t need in a while. From now on, whenever you are short on inventory slots, come here to lighten your load.

Talking about all your equipment, here are a few tips on what is worth wearing. In terms of amulets, your best find for now would be the [[amulet of the gourmand]], as it allows you to stuff yourself with lots of chunks from defeated enemies, which really helps when you need to cast some expensive spells. Your best [[ring]] find would be a [[ring of see invisible]]; you don’t need to wear it all the time, but it comes in handy when you are under attack by invisible monsters. You can get the same effect through some head-gear, where it would be more permanent. Otherwise you should look out for (and wear) at least one [[ring of protection from magic]], as your inherent magic protection is very low. The higher your magic protection, the better you can shrug off attempts to confuse or smite you, aside from many other hexes that monsters throw at you. Beyond that, rings of resistance against cold or fire are always good to have around, and they are quickly swapped when your circumstances change. If you happen to find a [[robe of the Archmagi]], stop all training of armor at once. You have then just found the body armor you’ll want to wear for the rest of the game. Not much physical protection, but it boosts the spell-power of your spells considerably, making you much more dangerous early on. When you can kill anything on your first shot, you can afford going easy on your defenses.

In the Lair you may find timed portals to the [[Volcano]], the [[Ice Cave]] or the [[Labyrinth]]. These places can be quite tricky, and if you don’t have some resistances against cold or fire, you probably should let them pass if you don’t know them very well. But they also come with good loot. You don’t need any resistances for the Labyrinth, and your earth magic should be enough for the opposition in there (usually just a strong [[minotaur]]), but you should bring enough food for quite a long time.

Further down the Lair you will find entrances to either the [[Swamp]] or the [[Shoals]], then again for either the [[Snake Pit]] or the [[Spider's Nest]]. You should ignore each of these for now – the opposition in any of them is quite strong. You will come back for these places somewhat later. Near the bottom of the Lair you also find the entrance to the [[Slime Pits]], which is a truly horrible place, best left alone. You won’t need to go there at all for your first victory.

Battling through the Lair, you will gain lots of experience, and before you finish the last, sixth, level of the Lair, you should reach XL 14. This is a milestone level for you gargoyle, as you now have strong enough wings to fly permanently. Start flying with the abilities key (a), and never stop unless you meet one of the following monsters: [[Gastronok]], [[wind drake]]s, [[titan]]s and [[spriggan air mage]]s have [[airstrike]], a spell which is more damaging to you when you fly. Otherwise [[flight]] gives you a huge advantage throughout the game.

While going through the Lair, have a look at your skills constantly. When your armor skill reaches 6, switch it off. You won’t need more, as long as you stick to leather armors or very light dragon armors. And you shouldn’t take anything heavier. If you have found a buckler already and trained the shields skill, switch it off at 4. As much of your experience as possible needs to be invested in your magical skills.

Also have a look at your spells once in a while. Usually, while battling the Lair, you will reach the point where your Sandblast spell power, and even the Stone Arrow spell power show up as ######. This is good news and bad news at the same time. It is good news that now these spells hit your opponents with their full potential, and that makes them quite deadly. Not so good is that there is now nothing you can do to improve these spells, and you will find that it still takes quite a lot of shots to bring down an elephant or a death yak. Not very long after this you will find much more dangerous opponents, and you’ll need something more potent to make them keel over. If you have found Magma Bolt or Iron Shot by now, add them to your inventory. If you have seen a shop with a book containing one of these spells, go and buy this book.

The final level of the Lair is significantly more difficult than the other five levels. It always contains an area with a frightening concentration of high-end monsters, such as death yaks, or [[dire elephant]]s, particularly robust species of elephants, or [[dragon]]s, or similarly challenging opponents. If you tread carefully, you should be okay. Again the secret to success is to proceed slowly and to isolate individual opponents.

==Subjugating the Orcs==
Once you are done in the Lair, proceed to your stash on Lair 2, clean up your inventory and make it to the entrance of the [[Orcish Mines]]. You may not have found it yet, which means that you will first have to clear another Dungeon level or two.

If you have never made it to the Mines so far, just like the Lair this place has its own distinctive look, very different from the dungeon. You will see an awful lot of enemies, but most of them die like flies around you. All you need to do is let a horde of orcs come to you, take them upstairs and smash them to pulp with your weapon. No need to waste any MP on these low-level orcs. Orc wizards (purple) are also no problem for you any more, except that they still like to turn invisible. But orc priests (green) continue to demand a lot of respect, and you should hit them as soon as possible. Maybe they stand near rock walls, and then LRD easily takes care of them. [[Orc warrior]]s are usually well armored, and even more so [[orc knight]]s. Hit them hard with your best magic, and you’ll be fine.

Up till now you will have marveled about how fast your experience grows in this game. All those Lair-monsters made you jump from one XL to another, so that you probably left the Lair with XL 14 or even 15. Here with the orcs now everything seems to slow down to a crawl. No matter how many monsters you kill, you just don’t seem to make any progress on your experience counter. This tells you that by now you have completely outclassed orcs and play in a different league. But this impression is deceptive, as these two levels contain foes which make dying in the Orcish Mines as easy as anywhere else.

* [[Orc warlord]] – there should be at least one of these orc bosses in the mines, usually on the second level. They are heavily armored and hit hard. If you still have nothing beyond your Stone Arrow, you will find it very difficult to make him roll over. He also has powerful ranged options.

* [[Orc high priest]]s with their blue robes are found in small numbers on the lower floor, but you may encounter them occasionally upstairs. They are a lot more dangerous than regular priests, particularly because they tend to call [[demon]]s who can harass you to death. Whenever you see them, they need to be your very first priority. LRD kills them fast, if they position themselves favorably. Killing the orc high priest also makes all of his demons disappear in a puff of smoke.

* [[Orc sorcerer]]s can ruin your day as any orc high priest can. They also call demons, and they may resurrect all those slain enemies around you, so that you have to fight them again. On top of that, they may send bolts of fire or draining your way, and both may hurt you a lot. Killing the sorcerer will not make his undead minions disappear, so be prepared for a prolonged fight afterwards.

* Various [[elf]]s. The entrance to the [[Elven Halls]] is found on Orc 2, and in case you’d miss it, the game places some inhabitants around this entrance. Some of them may be quite dangerous casters. Elfs are usually easy to kill, but if they get their chance, they can damage you badly.

* [[Sonja]] is a unique which poisons and incapacitates non-poison-resistant players with a blowgun. No problem for you, but once she gets close, she may hit you with a dagger of [[distortion]]. Don’t let that happen, as it may get you thrown into the [[Abyss]], and you are not ready for this.

* [[Ogre mage]]s also have the ability to banish you into the Abyss, so here is another monster that you need to prioritize. They should not show up on level 1.

* [[Saint Roka]] is very bad news if you encounter him already now. Best to turn around and go fight in some other places for a long time. Most likely you are not quite ready yet to kill him, and if you won’t kill him, he will kill you. Don’t even try to fight him if you don’t have at least Iron Shot at your disposal, and at least 30 MP, hopefully more. Saint Roka comes along with a large band of minor, but still rather strong, orcs. There is no hope to defeat the boss as long as all those are still hopping around. If you are lucky, you can isolate them from Roka one by one, so that in the end you only have to face him alone. No need to expect Roka before level 2.

The first level of the mines usually consist of two or three disconnected areas; the other areas you can only reach by first going to the lower level, or by some foolhardy teleporting. If you have plenty of [[wand of digging|wands of digging]], you can also shoot wastefully in all directions and see if it does not open a way to another unexplored area. This becomes a lot less wasteful by reading a scroll of magic mapping, but this is wasteful in itself. When you enter the lower level, move very carefully, exploring in circles around the upstairs. Don’t use other up-stairs before you are sure that the area you leave behind downstairs is clear; it does not do to escape a fight on level 1 to find yourself surrounded by some bullies of the level-2 crowd of the mines.

Just like in the Lair, you may have announcements about the presence of a [[Volcano]] or [[Ice Cave]] when entering a new area here. Find it and clear it – by now you should be ready. Otherwise, there might also be a timed entrance to the [[Bailey]], a level with lots of armed monsters, usually [[goblin]]s, [[Kobold_(monster)|kobold]]s, orcs or [[Gnoll_(monster)|gnoll]]s. Most of them you can defeat easily, but there will always be some high-end bosses to kill, so you might find yourself forced to retreat from the area before you have reaped the loot. This loot can be quite desirable, such as a [[potion of experience]], which is about the best shake you can quaff in this game.

Except for what your slain enemies let fall to the floor in their death rattle, there is absolutely no loot to be found in the Mines. The appeal of this place lies in the abundance of gold lying around everywhere. If you have not squandered away a good part of it already in some shop, by the end of fighting in the Mines you should have at least 2000 gold pieces, if not more. And then you’ll have four guaranteed shops on level 2 where you can spend it all, and quite often more shops on the other level. But you should also have a look at what your enemies leave behind for you. Enchanted robes or leather armors, and maybe a well-enchanted [[morningstar]] can definitely improve your equipment.

The shops on level 2 are well defended, though. Quite often all four shops are found in a vault area. High concentrations of the strongest enemies you can find in the Mines make it necessary to advance slowly, and to always retreat when you have attracted the attention of more than two or three enemies. Always know where the next stairs are, and make sure that you know what to expect up those stairs.

Once you have conquered level 2, have your eyes open for a bookshop. If you are lucky, you can buy a [[Book of Annihilations]] here, which would give you access to two of the three spells you want to learn later on: [[Lehudib's Crystal Spear]] and [[Fire Storm]]. The third spell, [[Shatter]], can be found in the [[Book of Earth]] and the [[Book of the Tempests]]. Don’t buy any of these books yet, when you see them, as you won’t be ready for these spells for quite a while. Hopefully Vehumet will grant you what you need anyway, or you may find these books lying around somewhere. But it is always good to know that you can buy the spell you need, if it eludes you otherwise.

If you find a potions shop, go in there and see what potions they sell that you don’t know. Particularly bad potions, like a [[potion of degeneration]], will be on offer for very little money – a good way of identifying these without wasting a scroll of identification.

==First Visit to the Elven Halls==
As already mentioned, the entrance to the [[Elven Halls]] is conveniently located on level 2 of the Mines. It is recommended that you visit this place somewhat later, but if you feel brave and still have a few inventory slots free, you might pop in for a visit right away. If you don't have three stars of magic resistance, it is indeed better to wait a bit longer to come here. In fact, you don't have to come here at all to win the game. The Elven Halls are a lot more challenging than the Orcish Mines, and for now you will only visit the first two of the three levels. Here there is lots of loot to be found, hopefully some books, or good jewelry. But you need to fight for almost every step of the way. Do it slowly and systematically, so that you always have a clear path to the way out of here.

Elves come in lots of varieties. Almost all use some kind of spell, at least to boost themselves. Some are very proficient with a [[bow]], others are melee fighters, but quite a few are pure casters (blue-grey robes). And a few bosses already start slinging damnation at you (red or blue robes). Kill them quickly! That is the good news about all these elves: They can’t take a lot, and since most of the layout here consists of narrow corridors and small rooms, LRD will take care of most situations for you. Killing an elf gives considerable experience, and also Vehumet restores a lot of MP for killing them.

There is a reason not to enter the Elven Halls right after clearing the Mines: Occasionally you’ll find a timed portal in the Halls, which goes down to a [[Wizard Laboratory]]. These are very challenging places, where you may find very exciting treasures after surviving insane dangers. Generally, you have a significantly better chance making it through them if you take them on with much more experience under your belt. For this walk-through, since your main goal is to win your first game, let’s assume that you are not going to try the lab, if you find it. You may have a peek, but don’t stroll too far away from the exit – or you may find your way out blocked.

Another feature that is always a part of the second level of the Halls is the [[Hall of Blades]]. You know that you are near when you see sealed doors defended by self-propelled weapons. By all means, clear the rest of the level first. Even then, only walk in if you have a better spell than your Stone Arrow, such as Magma Bolt or Iron Shot. If you do, however, you are better prepared than most, because these floating weapons are resistant against most elemental damage. Still, you need to be very careful. All these weapons are somehow branded, they are extremely fast, hard to hit, and tend to surround you. An [[executioner's axe]] of flaming will chop you to smoking pieces if you don’t kill it first. Some of the weapons may also drain all your skills out of you. On top of that, there are countless elves running around in that place, adding to the weapons’ damage. Again your tactics is to go in until you see an enemy, and then lure him back towards safer places to finish him off. The rewards of this place are the weapons you defeat – they are all yours to grab, and that may be a nice place to find an [[eveningstar]], probably the best weapon you can find in this game for your build.

Other things to look out for in the Elven Halls are [[buckler]]s. You should find at least a few, and hopefully a nicely enchanted specimen among them.

Some of the elves have the ability to banish you into the [[Abyss]]. Of course, this could happen sooner to you, but going through the Halls, there is quite some likelihood that you involuntarily find yourself in that dreadful place. The later this happens, the better your chances to come out alive. For an early-game character the Abyss usually means that the game is over, if you don’t happen to be thrown right next to a very rare exit. But by now you should be strong enough to survive for quite a while, maybe even long enough to fight your way to an exit. For this it is important not to panic. The Abyss consists of five levels, each level increasingly more horrible than the previous. So you’ll want to stay on the lowest level. If you kill enough monsters, an exit will eventually spawn. Sometimes you may need to heal up in an unseen corner, and that is okay. Most monsters will see you, and that means that you will have to fight them. LRD may be your best bet, but it has the bad side effect of attracting more monsters. Soon you will find yourself hopelessly surrounded and low on health, so it is time to teleport away. This takes longer than elsewhere in the game, so plan for that delay. Hopefully you have lots of potions of heal wounds. A [[potion of ambrosia]] would be a boon, but you are not likely to have one yet. These things can keep you alive long enough until you find an exit. If you see one, go there without delay, no matter what treasures are around you – the Abyss may teleport you away without warning. Once you have made it out, kill the monster that banished you. For a while you are immune against banishing; that should be long enough to eliminate that danger. BTW, there is a [[rune]] to be found in the Abyss, from level 3 on downwards, but right now you would not survive looking for it, and by no means you need to have it to win this game. For the rest of this walk-through we will pretend that the Abyss just does not exist. That’s better.

For now ignore level 3 of the Elven Halls. You’ll come back later for that.

==The Side-Branches of the Lair==
Having cleared the Lair, the Orcs and most of the Elves, you will not proceed any further down the dungeon for now, but return to the Lair. Clean up your inventory at your stash in level 2, and then proceed to one of the side-branches. You will have found an entry to either the [[Swamp]] or the [[Shoals]], and another entry to either the [[Spider's Nest]] or the [[Snake Pit]]. This gives two side branches for you to explore (plus the [[Slime Pits]], but you will leave those alone for the purposes of your first victory). Each of these side branches consists of four levels. On the lowest level you will find a [[Rune of Zot]], which you need to obtain to win this game. But for now you will only clear out the first three levels of each branch. The fourth level is somewhat more difficult, and you will want to come back for it slightly more experienced.

For a Gargoyle, none of these branches is particularly challenging, as you are both immune to poison, and you can fly. But if you need to tackle the Spiders in your game, you should delay that if you have not found a source of [[see invisible]] yet. In the end you’ll have to go there anyway, but it will be rather problematic.

While clearing out these branches, Vehumet will soon give you his final gift – three high-end spells, two of which are probably level-9 spells. As mentioned earlier, you really hope for [[Lehudib's Crystal Spear]] (LCS), for [[Shatter]] and for [[Fire Storm]]. If Vehumet gives you access to all three of those, that would be awesome. In theory, this final gift should be influenced by your skills, but there is no guarantee that you’ll end up with more than one of these spells.

Currently you won’t be able to learn any of these three spells. You’ll need really high skills in earth, fire and conjurations (depending on the spell), plus some spellcasting, and you don’t have those yet. But that does not matter – Vehumet will keep these spells available as long as you worship him, so there is no rush. For Firestorm or Shatter your skills need to be in the range of 18 before you can cast them confidently, and also you need much more intelligence than you currently have. LCS is somewhat easier to cast, but it is still out of reach for you for quite some time.

Anyway, since these are Vehumet's final gifts, you can ease up on your training of the spellcasting skill a bit, to use your experience for the other skills. Train spellcasting whenever you run out of spell slots from now on, or if you are not happy with your MP pool.

Here are some details about each side branch:

===Swamp===
In the [[Swamp]] you’ll find yourself in some kind of mangrove area with few dry spots, lots of [[shallow water]] and some [[deep water]]. All this does not bother you, as you fly permanently. The most dangerous enemies here are [[hydra]]s, which you already know from the Lair, and [[Swamp dragon]]s, except that these are not really dangerous to you, as you are immune to their poison. But [[giant leech]]es, [[alligator]]s and [[swamp worm]]s bite hard, and [[bog body|bog bodies]] hit you from far with bolts of cold. [[Insubstantial wisp]]s are hard to hit and tend to surround you. You may also get surrounded by [[slime creature]]s, but that would be a good thing to happen – because if they don’t surround you, they would combine into large or even titanic slime creatures, whose incredible whack would bring you to your knees in two or three turns. When you are pursued by a titanic slime creature, run away until you are surrounded by open ground or water. When the slime arrives, it will split and surround you, and they are a lot less dangerous that way, with the AC you have acquired by now. The biggest danger comes from various uniques which like to roam the Swamp, such as [[Saint Roka]] with his cool gang, [[Urug]], [[Donald]] or [[Jorgrun]], who all need to be killed as fast as possible, if you don’t even wisely avoid them for some more time.

===Shoals===
The [[Shoals]] have even more water than the Swamp, and the change of the tides shows the same spot sometimes as [[shallow water]] and sometimes as dry ground. Again, with your permanent flight you couldn’t care less. There are many dangerous enemies in the Shoals, though. All kind of [[merfolk]] hurl projectiles against you, so it may be a good idea to wear an item with the [[Repel Missiles]] brand, which might add some protection for you. [[Snapping turtle]]s, and their big brothers, the [[alligator snapping turtle]]s, have a dangerous bite, even from two tiles distance. [[Manticore]]s shoot barbs which reduce your health until you find the peace and quiet to remove them from your flesh. [[Kraken]] are out in the open water, and their many tentacles hit you senseless. Fortunately they react well to Magma Bolt or Bolt of Fire – any tentacle segment you hurt, hurts the whole Kraken, and a few shots should send it to the bottom of the ocean. If you meet a [[wind drake]], remember to immediatly switch off your permanent flight, as its [[Airstrike]] ''will'' hurt you a lot more if you're in the air. [[Polyphemus]] and [[Kirke]] are both frequently found in the Shoals, and both come supported: Polyphemus by [[death yak]]s and a [[catoblepas]], Kirke by a herd of [[hog]]s which should turn into friendly humans once you kill her, or into tasty snacks if you kill them before. Trouble is, Kirke may easily turn you into a hog and then into a snack yourself. Magic resistance is one of your growth areas, and gargoyles are usually easy prey for Kirke’s transmutations. Then again, it has a somewhat entertaining effect when you find yourself to be the first flying pig ever.

===Snake Pit===
The [[Snake Pit]] is a usually dry and very orderly place full of snakes of all kind, [[naga]]s, [[salamander]]s, and [[anaconda]]s. Anacondas and nagas will start to [[constriction|constrict]] you when you are in melee range, but your good AC gives you a lot more time to deal with it than other casters. The most dangerous regular enemies are [[naga warrior]]s (blue) and [[nagaraja]]s (red), who have lots of HP and are often well armored. Nagas are normally slow, but the guys can [[haste|hasten]] themselves and still catch you. Salamanders use ranged weapons very competently, and again [[Repel Missiles]] would be a good thing to have. [[Mana viper]]s are not dangerous as such, but they come to melee range fast with a bite that reduces your MP, so you need to prioritize them. [[Aizul]] is a unique frequently found in the Pit, and he may put you to sleep for a while. Because he is so boring. A remnant dwarf found down here is [[Jorgrun]]. He casts LRD and Shatter himself, and you are highly vulnerable to both. Kill him quick – don’t give him the few turns he needs to smash you. [[Azrael]] is a fiery [[efreet]] swinging a sword of flaming, and he comes supported by [[fire elemental]]s and a pack of [[hell hound]]s. Obviously, you will want some resistance to fire when you meet this group. A [[wand of iceblast]] is about the most efficient thing you can find to take care of this situation.

===Spider's Nest===
The [[Spider's Nest]] is also mostly dry, but a lot more chaotic in layout than the Snake Pit. Most of your enemies here are all kinds of arachnoids, which means that they are very poisonous. Although you are immune against venom, their bite still hurts badly, and some of them are very fast, surrounding you quickly. [[Demonic crawler]]s are not spiders, but very tough and very resistant creepers that would scare you to death if you did not have your powerful earth magic to subdue them. [[Orb spider]]s lob very damaging [[Orb of Destruction|orbs of destruction]] at you, and a few of those may kill you. [[Emperor scorpion]]s are a lot more hardy and destructive than their small cousins you squished earlier in the game. It takes a lot of MP to bring one down. Probably the most dangerous inhabitant of the Nest is the [[ghost moth]]. If you are lucky, you won’t see it until level 4, which you will visit later. But in fact, not seeing it has nothing to do with luck, as it is permanently invisible. The moment it sees you (it really needs to see you, so if you are invisible, it helps) it starts reducing your MP in huge chunks, leaving you without mana in at most three turns. It can also reduce some of your other stats, so you really want to kill these moths as soon as possible. [[Asterion]] has been seen in the Nest, and, even more dangerously, [[Mara]]. This unique splits itself into up to four apparitions, only one of which being real enough to be killed. It will also create a double of yourself, very really killing you. For now you are probably not in a shape to defeat Mara. Come back with [[Shatter]], and that will be the swift end of him.

==Liberating the Dungeon==
So, now you have explored three levels of each of the side branches. Return to your stash and drop what you don’t need next. This is also a good opportunity to re-evaluate your situation. You should now have enough scrolls of identification to reveal all your potions. If you feel daring, you could experiment a bit with a [[potion of mutation]] – if you are lucky, you might get two really good [[mutation]]s at the price of a bad mutation that does not bother you too much. But even so-called good mutations can ruin your day. A pair of horns won’t do you much good, but prevents you from wearing a helmet. Probably it is best, though, to leave these potions alone and keep them for emergencies, when you need to get rid of some really nasty malmutations, such as permanent reductions to your HP, MP, or spell power.

Reading through all your unknown scrolls you will hopefully also discover a [[scroll of acquirement]]. This is one of the biggest sources of joy and frustration in the game. If you are lucky, it may give you genuinely awesome stuff – just what you need. Sometimes, however, it gives you incredible junk. If you have identified the scroll already, you should collect all subsequent finds for about this time in the game. Now you know what spells Vehumet has given you, and you know the books you have found. Are you still lacking one or two of the big spells? Well, read the scroll for a book, and hopefully it will supply you with the missing Book of Earth or Book of Annihilations. If you already have all the books you need, use it for jewelry, armor or weapons. No need to ask for money or food in this game. Well, it might also give you a good staff, to enhance your spellcasting.

By now you should be in your late teens regarding your XL, and your INT without any boosters should be in the low twenties. Looking at your skills, you have made significant progress, and you may appear well-rounded except that you are still miles away from casting these high-level spells that Vehumet and hopefully some books have put into your reach. You need to address this problem now. For a while all your skills training needs to focus on your spells. Only train earth magic, fire magic and conjurations, plus, if it is much lower than these skills, some spellcasting. The only non-magic skill you train should be fighting. You can also leave fighting out for a while, if you promise yourself to not take too many risks when going into fights. This should give you 25 or 33% experience for each skill. This measure will help you to get closer to the high-level spells, about which you still need to learn a few things:

* [[Lehudib's Crystal Spear]] is the most powerful single target spell in the game. Level 8 and two spell schools (earth and conjurations) make it quite difficult to learn, but once you can cast it confidently, you need to fear nothing and no-one in this game. It is a bit low in range, but Vehumet is committed to help you with that. If you know Iron Shot, it may be possible to do without LCS, but the extra power this gives you may be the edge you need in some tough fights.

* [[Shatter]] is a level-9 spell of just the earth school (conjurations don’t help you here), with a devastating effect on almost anything in line of sight. It seems to create the effect of a brutal earthquake, and dungeon features also get badly affected by this. The only drawback is that it does not affect flying monsters very well, and of those you encounter a lot the deeper you get.

* [[Fire Storm]] is seen by many as the crown of conjurations in the game. It is a level-9 spell, and because it needs both fire and conjurations, it is somewhat harder to learn than Shatter. When you cast it, you can select any tile in LOS, and around it you create a killing field three or four tiles in radius, on which anything is fried to a crisp – even highly fire-resistant monsters can’t escape that effect fully. Because this killing field may well extend beyond your line of sight, even monsters you have never seen get roasted that way.

You’ll want those spells, and getting them online is now your most pressing need. To get there, our secondary goal at present is to clear out the Dungeon down to its lowest level 15. Most likely you won’t have to do more than four or five levels for that. You are now a lot more powerful than at the time that you first entered the Lair, and initially you will find very few worthy opponents. But on the last two or three levels of the Dungeon things will begin to become tougher again. [[Ugly thing]]s and [[very ugly thing]]s are very dangerous opponents, as they swarm you in big numbers. Find a corridor to grind them down. All kinds of [[giant]]s show up now, and their damage output is fearsome. And you will have to fight your first [[tengu]]s, who are both good at spells and melee fighting.

Two notable dungeon features you will encounter on your way down. On level 13 or down from there you will find the entrance to the [[Vaults]], a place you will visit very soon. It is guarded by some monsters you’ll have to fight there, so have a good look, and be careful around them. And finally, on level 15, there is the entrance to the [[Depths]], also well guarded. You may admire the entrance structure, but don’t go in there yet!

==Your First Two Runes==
Now that you have completed the dungeon, every next step is somewhat risky. The [[Depths]] are a brutal place, and you have a much better chance in there if you try it with a lot more experience. The [[Vaults]] are also rough, but not quite as badly as the Depths, so this should be your next quest. Trouble is, you don’t get in there without at least one [[Rune of Zot]] under your belt, and right now you don’t have one. But at the bottom of each of the two side branches of the Lair you can find a rune, and it is now time to grab them. We have delayed going into these two places, because they are considerably harder than the rest of these branches, but now there is nothing else you can do to delay it. Off you go! When you enter the final level, this is a good time to read a [[scroll of magic mapping]], of which you should have enough by now. This reveals where you’ll find the final rune vault, and therefore the stiffest resistance.

===Swamp 4===
This level looks very much like the rest of the Swamp, except for the rune vault, which is usually an enclosure surrounded by stone walls, with only one entrance. Don’t approach this entrance before you have cleared the whole level outside the enclosure. Once you have attracted the attention of some enemies within, you will have to fight off an onslaught of countless hydras, spiny frogs, alligators and swamp dragons. It will be necessary to retreat at least a couple of times and then come back. Having a stone structure to play with at least should give you a few good opportunities for casting LRD on the bad guys. The layout inside the vault can vary – sometimes you may even find some stretches of lava in there which is great for keeping hydras at bay. You can fly, they don’t. The rune is just lying around somewhere. Pick it up and feel its power! But you may have to fight the terrible [[Lernaean hydra]] first, which, having 27 heads, you shouldn’t let come within melee range. Shoot it from far with your most powerful shots.

===Shoals 4===
This is a bit different than the other branch ends. It does not come with one big vault, but at least five or six smaller vaults. All of them contain an assortment of dangerous enemies and some treasure. One of them also has the rune. Outside the vaults you will almost certainly get attacked by [[Ilsiuw]] and her gang of aquatic ruffians. She is extremely dangerous, and you need to use alternating sets of stairs to separate her from her support team, killing the minions off one by one on level 3. Only when they are gone (and they are dangerous enough), you can start taking shots at the boss. Be fast! Once Ilsiuw is down, you may encounter the odd kraken, but for the most part, the level and the rune are yours.

===Snake Pit 4===
The map will reveal a somewhat differently shaped area which clearly sticks out from the rest of the level. But careful here – some stairs to level 4 may take you right into the vault area. If so, go back up quickly and take a different set of stairs. Stay away from the vault until you have seen and cleared everything else. Once done with that, get a set of stairs behind you and then slowly approach the vault area. There are dozens of nagas and salamanders in there, and you need to avoid facing all of them at once. Lure them away from their friends and finish them off where they die as lone and unsung heroes. All this takes a while, but slowly you should conquer the vault, always taking four steps forward and three steps back. Some vaults feature a large lake of lava, which should give you an advantage, as nothing flies down here. The rune lies around somewhere in the back area of the vault.

===Spider's Nest 4===
Here again the map will identify a differently shaped area, often circular or elliptical, as the rune vault, and again it is important to clear everything around it first. Inside the vault you will find many spiders, demonic crawlers, emperor scorpions, and, worst of all, [[ghost moth]]s. If you don’t see invisible, those moths may be a good reason to delay clearing this level for some more time, as you will be almost helpless against them. You already have a rune from Swamp or Shoals, and that is all you need for now to enter the [[Vaults]] branch. But if you see invisible, do it now. Whenever a ghost moth shows up, forget everything else and hit it as hard as you can. LRD should work fine, as there should be plenty of walls here. If your MP does get drained, escape up the next stairs to recharge, and try again. Inside the vault you may find the rune in a somewhat hidden corner, plus some [[potion of ambrosia|potions of ambrosia]], some weird stuff which restores your MP and HP really quickly, but at the price of you being confused. That sounds pretty bad, but you may still consider carrying it with you always. In case you are thrown into the Abyss, this stuff may come in handy.

==The Vaults==
Now that you are done with everything you can find in the Lair (at least for the purposes of this game), and the Dungeon cleared all the way down, you have reached another milestone. You have finished what is called the mid-game, which has become manifest in the fact that you are now carrying two runes of Zot. Your character is pretty well developed by now, so that you can attack the late game branches. Unfortunately, if you look at your late-game spells, they are most likely still very difficult to cast. Don’t even consider casting Shatter or Fire Storm when the failure rate is still above 30%. If it is below 30%, but above 15%, you can consider casting it if no-one is around, just to see how it looks. The trouble with these high-end spells is that they have some terrible [[miscast effect]]s. Most likely you get damaged in some pretty bad way, but in any case you will collect [[contamination]]. The contamination of one miscast is usually not dangerous, but if you have two miscasts in a row, level-9 spells will quickly give you yellow contamination, which means that you are about to catch a very bad [[malmutate|malmutation]], if you don’t have something to prevent it. If you have it with you, a [[potion of cancellation]] will reduce your contamination to harmless levels.

If you have learned a high-end spell, and find yourself in a situation where it would be really good to use it, you can reduce your failure rate in the following ways:

* A [[ring of wizardry]] or the [[staff of wizardry]] will significantly reduce your failure rate, possibly to a point where you feel more confident. Unfortunately, these devices don’t stack well, so there is not much point to have two rings, or a staff and a ring.

* Drinking a potion of [[brilliance]] will increase your INT a lot, and that has a very beneficial effect on spell success. It also increases the spell power.

* A [[ring of intelligence]], depending on its enchantment value, will also increase your success rate. Some enchanted armor may also give you extra intelligence, particularly some head gear.

* Check if you are wearing heavy armor or a shield without the necessary skills to compensate for spell penalties. Taking off the shield and replacing the armor with something lighter might reduce the failure rate.

Therefore, if your failure rate for a spell is somewhere around 50%, drinking a potion of brilliance and using an item with the [[wizardry]] effect will usually get your failure rate far enough down that you can cast that spell at least once or twice before you have to stop because of your contamination.

Your next stop is the entrance to the [[Vaults]]. Going down there will show you how one of your runes is put to good use. You’ll find yourself once more in a very different environment. Everything here is very angular, with lots of closed rooms, corridors, mazes and plenty of open space. It may be a bit difficult to find your way in here, as the connections from one part of a level to the other are not always very obvious. No worries, you will find all places by just looking around.

This looking around, however, is made quite dangerous by the monsters you encounter here. Sometimes it is just another band of harmless orcs or ogres (still watch out for these ogre mages, who have not lost any zeal for banishing you to the Abyss). But many of your new opponents are humans with some terrible abilities. [[Vault guard]]s are just heavily armored grunts, and you can deal with them easily by now. But be careful when you see a [[vault warden]], who may block all doors and staircases in LOS, thereby blocking your escape to safer areas or levels. The probably most dangerous inhabitant is the [[vault sentinel]], easily recognizable by his blue armor. When he sees you, he may attach a [[mark]] to you, which means that you will find yourself surrounded by almost every monster on that level, which may easily include a couple of wardens blocking your escape. When that happens, teleport away as soon as possible, and pray that you find an upstairs anywhere nearby. Or this may be the great opportunity for a potion of brilliance and your first attempt at Shatter.

You will also meet more [[giant]]s, particularly [[frost giant]]s and [[fire giant]]s. Try to have some resistance against their element when you approach them. The good old trusty [[yak]] now gets upgraded to a [[yaktaur]], a warrior who excels with a [[crossbow]], and never comes alone. Try not to take on a whole pack of them in the open. Lure them around corners and see what LRD can do to unarmored enemies! The Vaults may also be the place where you find your first [[deep troll earth mage]]s, which hit you hard with LRD and Shatter. Kill them quickly, before they get you. [[Fire crab]]s hurl something like a Fire Storm at you, hurting you badly if you have no resistance.

Whenever you enter a new level of the Vaults, you may get an announcement for a timed [[bazaar]]. These are safe areas where you can shop in a number of different outlets, and usually find stuff you really want to have, if you have the money. If you don’t have much money, then don’t bother, because racing to the bazaar in a hurry can easily get you killed in the Vaults. But if you have some coin, then read a [[scroll of magic mapping]] and see if you can’t make it to the place, possibly by using a different set of stairs. Again, being able to shop somewhere is not worth getting killed for, so be cautious, and take a rest after a fight, even if the entrance to the bazaar is just round the next corner. If you find yourself surrounded in sight of the entrance, use a scroll of blinking – no monsters will follow you inside, and you will come out rested.

Even without finding a bazaar, you should find plenty of good loot in the Vaults. You may have to return to your stash on Lair 2 a couple of times to clear your inventory. The Vaults are also a place where you may find a [[Wizard Laboratory]]. If you find one now, you may courageously have a look. You should be powerful enough to survive by now, but be prepared to die anyway – Wizard Labs are full of surprises, and few of them are good for you.

The first two levels of the Vaults are made up of stone walls. The next two levels often have metal or crystal walls, which is just fine with you, as they give you the best material for LRD. On level 2 or 3 you will find the entrance to the [[Crypt]], usually guarded by some [[undead]] monsters. You will visit this place later, but for now you just leave it alone. Level 5 is very different, and you must not go down there for now, for whatever reason – not even to take a peek!

==The Depths==
If you’d thought that the Vaults were bad, now brace yourself for the real thing: your next destination will be the [[Depths]]. At first glance they don’t look much different to the dungeon, and for the most part, you won’t find many new monsters down here. But the onslaught you have to face is truly brutal. Every step you move forward you have to fight wave after wave of the toughest opponents you have met so far. The noteworthy new monsters down here are the [[gold dragon]], which has various breath attacks and a very tough skin, the [[iron dragon]], which seems to be almost indestructible, and the [[tentacled monstrosity]], which approaches you swiftly to constrict you. Your earth magic should have little difficulty in bringing these buddies down, but you almost always have to face quite a lot of them! Particularly unpleasant are [[caustic shrike]]s, which are fast and very hard to hit. They hurt you with acid while surrounding you, and because many of your earth-shots miss them, you may find yourself out of MP with still a lot of them to fight. In terms of uniques, pay particular attention to [[Sojobo]], who looks like a cute little [[tengu]], but he is merciless with his conjurations, and he comes with a strong gang of dedicated supporters. The same is true for the [[Enchantress]], a very powerful [[spriggan]] boss. Once you have killed her, check her armor – the [[faerie dragon armour]] is potentially one of the best body armors you can wear as a caster, depending on its rather random enchantment. An armor skill of five or six should be enough to wear it without bad effect on your spellcasting.

The good news about all this stiff opposition is that there is so much experience to be found down here that by the end of the five levels you will have [[Shatter]] at a reasonable success rate, and maybe even [[Fire Storm]]. Always have an eye on your spell stats and decide when it is a good time for a first blast.

If you have acquired at least two levels of resistance against fire, it may be a good idea to look for all [[scroll of immolation|scrolls of immolation]] that you have ignored so far in the dungeon. For a fire-resistant character they are a very useful weapon in a target-rich environment. They enchant all enemies in LOS so that they explode on being killed, leaving some columns of flame behind for a few turns on all nine squares around them.

From all being said so far, it becomes clear that you need to approach the Depths with extreme caution. Quite often the access stairs are all in the same location, which means that the road to safety may become very long. Don’t use auto-explore, but explore in circles around the stairs, so that you always have a clear path of retreat. Hit-and-run is the way to play this, with a great emphasis on ‘run’.

Quite often you will see huge vault-like structures in the Depths. They are full of loot, but also full of monsters, so you’ll have to be extra careful around them. Make sure that you don’t get surrounded, so it is good to have the area outside these vaults cleared before you start going in.

Other noteworthy places are entrance areas to the [[Abyss]], the [[Pandemonium]], the [[Vestibule of Hell]] and one guaranteed entrance to a [[Ziggurat]]. All these entrances you should better leave untouched. Pandemonium and Abyss don’t have any exit back to safety for some time to come, and there is a high likelihood of getting yourself killed. From the Ziggurat you can only return after fighting through a whole level, and you won’t survive the first few. You don’t want to have this happen so close to your first victory! The Vestibule of Hell, however, has a staircase that you can take back to safety right away. If you dare to go down, you will first see a friendly looking gentleman called [[Geryon]], who has been appointed to be the warden for this place. In spite of his appearance, he is mean and very tough, and calls on countless [[demon]]s and [[undead]] to protect him. If you actually manage to bring him down, and all the other opposition in this place, you have conquered yourself another safe area for your stash, and you can bring all your valuables from the Lair down to this place, which is a lot closer to the end-game action. But really, there is absolutely no need to even look into this place for your first victory, and having to do a trip up to Lair 2 once in a while won’t kill you. The folks in the Vestibule easily can, particularly if you have to face [[Murray]], an infamous bone-headed unique you may encounter in the Vestibule, and only there. Inside the Vestibule, you’ll find entry-portals to the four different hells, [[Tartarus]], [[Gehenna]], [[Dis]] and [[Cocytus]]. You really don’t want to see these places right now, and you don’t need to for this game.

Finally, on the lowest level of the Depths, you’ll find the entrance area to the [[Realm of Zot]], well defended by a number of draconians, which will be your main opponents once you get down there. Right now you can’t, as you need three Runes of Zot to access the Realm, and you only have two yet. The third rune you need is in Vaults 5. But before you go there, it is now time to deal with some unfinished business.

==Finishing off the Elves==
That’s right, there is still a level left over from the Elven Halls that you have not cleared out yet. You didn’t because it is a lot more dangerous than the other two levels. But now you have the necessary fire-power to get the job done. Go to your stash to empty your inventory as far as possible, because you’ll want some slots for the amazing loot you hope to find there. Artifact rings and amulets, new spell-books, nicely enchanted armor, magical staffs – there is nothing that these thieving elves have not accumulated over the millennia in their secret treasuries. All this will be yours, soon.

When you enter the level, first read another scroll of magic mapping, and once more the treasure vault area should stick out from the rest you can see on the map. As usual, that’s where you are going to find the most dangerous opposition, and therefore you first need to clear everything else, which is not more difficult than the previous levels of the Halls.

Approach the narrow entrance corridor to the vault with caution – on the other side you will have an incredible concentration of high-end elves all taking pot shots at you as soon as they can see you. Remember that some of them have [[damnation]] and know how to use it! So stick to your trusted hit-and-run routine. If you already have good access to [[Fire Storm]] (let’s say with less than 15% failure rate), this is a great place to use it. Just place it at the other end of the corridor, and you will be sure to roast countless elves that you have not even seen yet. [[Shatter]] also works very nicely with elves, who usually don’t fly, but it will attract every single one of them to home in on you, and it may open up new paths and new lines of sight for them to hit you. Always know the way back to the next stairs, and start going there as soon as you see your HP going down. It may go down much further before you reach there.

The big vault usually has several side vaults and various structures blocking your sight. Always assume that there are more elves in areas that you can’t see yet, and that they are ready to pounce on you from several directions once you show your nose. But after you’ve dealt with the last of them, enjoy rummaging through all these heaps of treasure!

Now, look at yourself – you are probably now at XL 25 or 26, almost done with your growing! You have pretty high skills in your spell-casting schools, and can now cast the most difficult spells the game has on offer, allowing you to kill a great number of enemies at just one toss of the dice. Shatter should be well below 10% failure rate now, even without using a source of [[wizardry]], and you may also have reliable access to [[Lehudib's Crystal Spear]] and even [[Fire Storm]]. Hopefully by now you have found some items that help you to get your INT above 30. Whatever armor you wear, your AC is not likely to be below 30, which is an excellent value even for some melee fighters. Enchanted and artifact armor, and hopefully some artifact jewelry will have rounded out your set of resistances, so that you won’t have to fear anything hitting you while you are unprepared. Let’s face it, you have become a reasonably powerful guy!

There are still some growth-areas, though. Your [[fighting]] skill is probably somewhat trailing behind, as you don’t have much of an aptitude for it. This means that your max HP is still far away from 200 (and you won’t ever make it beyond during this game). If it were not for your AC and many resistances, you would be quite frail. Probably some recent exposure to earth magic or damnation will have driven that point home to you. When you focused your skill training on your magical skills, that probably left some important skills rather underdeveloped. Now that you can cast those level-9 spells, it is a good time to start retraining those skills:

* Your weapon skill needs to come up to the point that you have [[minimum delay]] for your favorite weapon. If this is a [[demon whip]], then a maces & flails skill of 12 is all you need. Train the skill that high, and then switch it off. If you are using an [[eveningstar]] instead, you’ll need to go up to 16, which takes much longer. You may have decided to make the [[staff of earth]] that you are carrying anyway your standard melee weapon, which is a pretty good idea. Your [[staves]] skill will then have to reach level 12, but the maces & flails that you have trained earlier will have given you a good head-start on that. Since you are also good at fire magic, a [[staff of fire]] will be just as effective against at least some enemies.

* From now on continue training [[evocations]], and don’t ever switch it off. If you are using a staff as melee weapon, the evocations skill will have a direct impact on your damage output. But even if you are not using a staff, a high evocations skill makes using wands and other evocables a worthwhile option, even against late game monsters. But most importantly, this skill will help you with using the [[staff of energy]], that you have hopefully found by now, for recharging your MP. If your skill is above 20, recharging even in the middle of a fight becomes an option, so that you have enough to unleash another Shatter or Fire Storm. It is better for you to not rely on the [[crystal ball of energy]]. Even with an evocations skill of 27 the risk is still too high that you find yourself without any MP when you need it most.

* By now you will hopefully have found some enchanted bucklers. Forget about large shields for this game, but there may be that amazing artifact shield in your stash that you’d really like to wear. If so, you need a shields skill of 15, so that it won’t impact your casting. That is probably still a long way to go for you at this stage. If you want to just stick to your buckler, a skill of 4 is all you need.

* [[Dodging]] is still a useful skill to have, even if you are very bad at it. Higher dodging gives you a better EV value, which stands for your ability to avoid hits, both melee and ranged. Even some spells can be avoided that way. Switch it on again for the rest of the game.

* There may be some spells that right now don’t work very well for you because you have not trained a spell school needed for it. For example, if you have learned [[Ring of Flames]], it will still have a high failure rate, as you have not trained any [[charms]] skill yet. Just learning a few levels of the missing skill will have a great effect on that. Don’t forget to switch it off as soon as you are happy with the failure rate.

==Your Final Rune==
You’ve almost made it to the Realm of Zot, but first you need to retrieve the third Rune of Zot, which is hidden somewhere on the fifth and final level of the Vaults. This is a very tricky place, with always the same basic layout. When you descend any of the three stairs (don’t do it now, you need to prepare yourself for that!), you will find yourself in the middle of a crossroads of two broad corridors, surrounded by a reception committee of 20 vault guards. But as soon as you start fighting these, the adjoining vaults will disgorge wave after wave of the worst monsters you have seen so far. You will be overwhelmed in no time at all if you don’t start it off right. Teleporting would almost certainly get you into areas that are just as bad.

So, to give it a good start, you should proceed to one of the downstairs on Vaults 4 and do the following:

* Make sure that you are engorged, by eating as much as you can. In a minute you will fire off a volley of high-end spells, which probably still have a significant hunger cost for you. It won’t do if you have to have a snack in the middle of the action. If you have an [[amulet of the gourmand]], that should not be a problem, but even then you may have to top it off with some from your permanent food stores.

* It is better that you don’t fly for this. It does not give you any advantage down there, and some monsters like to cast [[airstrike]] against you.

* Hasten yourself by drinking a [[potion of haste]]. You need to act quickly down there.

* Since haste gives you some contamination, you can’t afford any miscasts. This is best prevented by quaffing a [[potion of brilliance]]. Your spells should now all have a significantly lower failure rate (and they will be more powerful).

* Get your resistances up as high as possible, particularly against negative energy and fire. If you can, cast [[Ring of Flames]]. If you have at least two levels of fire resistance now, you should take a few scrolls of immolation down there. They will be used with the greatest effect.

* Depending on how your resistances look now, take a sip from a [[potion of resistance]]. Every bit helps.

Now, descend. The reception committee may look somewhat surprised to see you. They should all stand at least two tiles away from you, and since you are hasted, reading a scroll of immolation won’t change that. Now all these guys are quite on fire, and it is your intention to get them started – by casting Shatter on them. Do it, and see what happens. You will spend quite a lot of time just reading through the messages of vault guards popping apart. Enjoy the fireworks!

If you could play that immolation trick, then all the vault guards will be gone before you can do anything else. Your MP should now be at max, thanks to Vehumet, and hopefully you have not taken much damage yet. If you look around, you’ll see some walls, made either of metal or of crystal. Metal walls will still be mostly standing, but your Shatter will have decimated crystal walls considerably. And you will already see some of the other monsters who have been attracted by the noise. This is just the beginning, and this onslaught will go on for quite a while.

Still, take your time to read a scroll of magic mapping. Now you can see the basic outline of Vaults 5. You see that you are very much in the center of the map, between the four vaults that make up this level. The only thing that ever varies here are the walls inside those vaults. They are currently bristling with numerous enemies, guarding enormous treasures. Well, you have just announced your presence, and they will all do their best to remove the clear and present danger that you represent to them and their cause.

You need to play this very wisely now. Don’t waste a level-9 spell on just one or two enemies. Wait until enough are in range for your next shot, and hopefully Vehumet will keep your MP at high levels. But your HP will go down steadily, and you must not let it go down too far before retreating upstairs again. The trouble is that somewhere in these vaults there are some vault wardens, and they tend to block the stairs just in the very moment you need to use them. So, if you see one, hit him as hard as possible, so that you always have a clear retreat. And retreat before it is too late.

Back to Vaults 4, restore your MP and HP as fast as possible, so that you return while the baddies are still licking their wounds. Again, buff yourself up (but be mindful of contamination), and go down to kill more enemies. Go up and down as often as it takes to see the onslaught diminish. You are piling up incredible amounts of experience doing this, so that each time you go down your failure rates should be visibly reduced. Usually, during this fight, you will also reach the final XL of 27. You are now a fully grown gargoyle. That does not mean that your skill experience cannot increase – there is still a lot of room for improvement here, but you won’t have any more increases to your INT from now on, which is quite a pity, because you could certainly use some more.

After a while you will survey the killing ground around you and find that the onslaught has stopped. If the walls were made of crystal, you probably won’t see a single wall standing in your LOS, and all around you lies the debris of the battle. You have won, but you still need to be very careful, as some monsters have refused to be drawn out by the racket you have created. Start exploring carefully. For now, don’t enter any of the vaults, but begin with the corridors – take one to the edge of the level, and explore around the four vaults, always returning back to the center when you reach a new corridor leading to the crossroads. On your way you will meet groups of stragglers, and some of them will be quite dangerous.

Done with the corridors you will then approach the first vault, ideally from one of the entrances at the corners of the level, so that you won’t be surrounded by enemies coming from a neighboring vault. Explore carefully towards the crossroads. In hidden corners and behind walls you still need to expect some powerful enemies. But you also have to sift through this incredible loot. Most likely, after two or three vaults your inventory will be full, and you need to go to your stash to offload some of all these goodies. One piece of treasure is the Silver Rune of Zot, of course, and that was your main reason for coming here. Now you are entitled to enter the Realm of Zot.

==The Crypt==
But it may still be wise to delay that visit just a little bit longer. In the Vault we have so far ignored the entrance to the [[Crypt]], a place full of undead enemies. It is not really necessary to go there for winning this game, but as a gargoyle, there is not much down there that you need to fear, and it is a good idea to accumulate a little bit more experience before braving Zot.

In terms of preparation you want to trade fire resistance for negative energy resistance, as some enemies may try to drain you. Good that you already have one level as a gargoyle! Otherwise, bring a good melee weapon, because the [[silent specter]] may prevent you from spell-casting until you bring it down with brute force.

Now, explore the three levels carefully. As usual, the final level is significantly more difficult than the two upper floors, and you need to make sure that you don’t take on too many bad guys at once. Hit-and-run is once more your tactics.

In terms of new dangerous enemies, you may have encountered most of them by now. [[Lich]]es and [[ancient lich]]es are powerful casters, and need to be destroyed fast. [[Curse skull]]s are theoretically quite threatening, but with LRD you have just what it takes to bring them down. At least at one point you will encounter some new types of mummy, and these are very dangerous. A [[greater mummy]] can definitely ruin your day if encountered at the wrong moment. [[Khufu]] is a greater mummy unique which likes to haunt you in the Crypt. In any case, just a few generous applications of earth magic will help you a lot.

The Crypt is a good place for changing your diet. Up to this point, hopefully with the help of the [[amulet of the gourmand]], you will not have had much use for bread or meat rations, or other permanent food found lying around somewhere. Now, the Crypt does not have many corpses for you to butcher, and it may be time to leave your amulet of the gourmand behind for other, more useful amulets, like maybe for now an [[amulet of regeneration]]. You should have plenty of permafood now, and for the rest of this game this will easily keep you satiated, as the hunger costs of your high-level spells should be going down.

On the bottom level you will find the entrance to the [[Tomb]]. Don’t. Go. In. There. The Tomb is one of the most challenging places in the game, which rewards you with rich treasures and another Rune of Zot, if you survive it, but let’s be frank about it, you won’t. Go win this game without it! In terms of treasures, the last level of the Crypt should be enough for you in this regard. And the three runes that you have already are all you need to break into Zot right now.

==Braving Zot==
Before going into the [[Realm of Zot]], make sure that you have all you need there. It would be good to have a source of [[resist corrosion]] at hand, as many draconians in Zot are in the habit of spitting acid at you. Otherwise, have your fire resistance as high as you can get it, and ideally also at least one level of cold resistance. You will take lots of elemental abuse. Take all kinds of potions that buff you up, and your hopefully big stash of potions of mutation. Enchant all your equipment as high up as possible. Learn the spells you always wanted to learn. And have a source of see invisible, or things will become very difficult for you.

Now, proceed to the entrance of Zot and move down. Apart from the colors (each level has a different color set) the first four levels look very much like regular dungeon levels, maybe a bit more elaborate. If you still have a good stack of maps of magic mapping, use one on each level, but make sure that you still have one left for level 5. On the first four levels you will also manage without maps.

Your main opposition down here will be [[dragon]]s and [[draconian]]s. Of the dragons you have already seen a lot, but the draconians need a bit of introduction. They come in various colors, and each different color means that they are resistant to a different element, and at the same time they may hit you with this particular element. Well, you respond with earth magic, and no-one in the game is particularly resistant against that. Some of the draconians can fly and are therefore less vulnerable against Shatter. Apart from their colors, they also come with different specialties, and some of them will pester you with damnation. Kill those first. Draconians always come in fairly big groups, which makes them very dangerous. Don’t feel ashamed to run for your life when in a given moment you don’t feel like fighting. And you don’t have to risk your life to butcher up a draconian – you have changed your diet to permafood, remember? Hit and run!

But there are others, and they can make your life miserable, too. An [[orb of fire]] is very bad news, but mercifully they show up alone, at least usually. You will have to kill a few of them before you reach the [[Orb of Zot]], so when you see one, remember all this: bring up your fire resistance as high as possible, or the orb will scorch you. Lure the orb inside the range of your Iron Shot or LCS, without exposing yourself to it while it approaches you – hide behind a corner! LCS is better, obviously, if you have it. A few shots should bring it down. Don’t try to use anything but earth magic, or, if you have, a [[wand of iceblast]] in an emergency. The orb is almost completely resistant to anything else. It flies, so Shatter is also not terribly useful. If you happen to be low on MP or HP when you see an orb, try to escape to the next stairs to rest up, if necessary wasting a [[scroll of blinking]] or two. You need to be in your best shape to take on an orb. The [[curse toe]] looks somewhat droll, but is quite dangerous with its ability of [[torment]]ing you. You are somewhat resistant, but don’t take this floating body part lightly. It responds well to Fire Storm, if you have it. You can also lure it around a corner to have it within range of Iron Shot or LCS.

If you have fought through the [[Spider's Nest]], you will already know [[ghost moth]]s. They are invisible, and could appear at any moment to reduce your MP to zilch. They should be on the very top of your priority list. They may also reduce your stats. The [[moth of wrath]] you have also encountered before, but here it could make a whole bunch of draconians go [[berserk]] on you, and that can be quite dangerous.

You have already learned to deal with a [[tentacled monstrosity]]. There are lots of them in Zot. [[Death cob]]s are just there to drain your speed, but [[Killer Klown]]s are very hard to kill, because they jump around and somehow always heal up in the process.

In summary, take it easy, go slow, always have a set of up-stairs behind you, and methodically work yourself through the first four levels. Then return to your stash for the final preparation for your last push.

==The Final==
So this is it – one more level, and you will have accomplished the objective of the game: grabbing the legendary Orb of Zot. But, truth be told, many players have made it as far as you now to still die an even more infuriating death this close to the end. Don’t let that happen to you, and preparation is a good part of what it takes!

* Engorge yourself and grab a whole stack of [[bread ration]]s or [[meat ration]]s, even both. You won’t find much treasure in Orb 5, so filling up a few extra inventory slots won’t matter.

* If you have any debilitating mutations, now would be a good time to quaff a [[potion of mutation]] or two, to bring you back into an acceptable genetic state. Take the rest of these potions with you. If you only have one left, and you think you can live with your current mutations for now, it is better to keep it in case an [[orb of fire]] adds something really bad to you. You definitely should not enter Zot 5 with [[teleportitis]], as it would certainly get you into a place where you get killed within seconds. Also you should not have deductions to your INT, if possible, and not to your MP or HP. You’ll need all you can get in these areas.

* Again, make sure that your equipment is maximally enchanted. Take your best melee-weapon with you.

* Take all potions of heal wounds, curing, magic, brilliance, haste, and cancellation with you.

* Take all scrolls of blinking, teleportation, and recharging with you. And at least one scroll of magic mapping. If you have, a [[scroll of holy word]] may also come in handy.

* Bring along your staff of earth or fire, to boost your spells, and also as melee weapons. Bring along a staff of energy, for rapid recharging.

* Take a well-charged wand of digging. This is not for the fight in Zot 5, but for the [[ascension]] with the Orb.

* For the same reason, learn [[Passwall]], which may now become a very useful spell on your way up. If necessary, forget [[Stone Arrow]] to get the spell levels. You won’t need that spell anymore.

Prepared? If you have all your best equipment, and all you need for the ascension, then proceed to Zot 5. First read your map. You should find yourself in a roughly rectangular area with lots of rooms and connecting corridors, made of rock walls. Somewhere to the North or South there should be a long firewall made of stone (on some stretches it is an unnaturally hard wall), going in an east-west direction. Only a little hole in that wall should lead you into an area made up of mostly elliptical rooms, arranged symmetrically. For now, don’t go through that hole in the wall, but explore everything on your side of that wall – this is the safe area on this level.

Don’t ever teleport on this level, as this may get you into the unsafe area with the elliptical rooms. You would not survive.

Exploration of the safe part should get you into contact with draconians and the other regular inhabitants of Zot. But sometimes inhabitants of the unsafe area may trigger a teleportation trap, and then find you when you don’t quite expect them. Also, when you make too much noise they will venture out to see what is going on. If you see an [[ancient lich]] or an [[orb of fire]] – these would definitely come from the other side of the wall, and require urgent attention. A creature only found on this level is the [[orb guardian]], which is fast and hard-hitting, but restricted to melee. If you keep them at bay, you should be able to handle them.

Again, first deal with the folks in the safe area on your side of the stone wall. That can take quite a while. Don’t use Shatter near the stone wall, as it will not only attract opposition from the other side, but it would also create gaps for monsters to come at you from two sides. Generally, it is best to use your level-9 spells only when you face large concentrations of enemies here. Iron Shot or LCS should be your preferred options as long as you are close to stairs.

Now, all sets of upstairs are on the safe side of the wall, but eventually you will have to venture away from them to approach the hole in the wall. Behind it you find the chambers of the Orb. The first chamber is not elliptical, but looks more like a misshapen hourglass. In here you will mostly find orb guardians. Lure them out through the hole and eliminate them on the safe side, one by one. Whatever you do, you will make enough noise eventually to attract more monsters into that hourglass chamber, which is a good thing. It allows you to fight more of them closer to the stairs to safety. In doubt, retreat upstairs, to heal and recharge.

When the hourglass chamber is finally empty, walk in and shout a bit (type t twice). That should attract more enemies from the chambers to the east and west. When shouting does not work anymore, it is time to cast Shatter. That should create another manageable rush of the opposition towards you. Again, your goal is to lure out as many monsters as possible from the side chambers before you dare to show your fragile water-spout nose in there.

Once nothing comes out, pick one of the side-chambers and walk so far that you can cast a fire storm into the chamber (if available). That may fry some unseen opposition, and again attract more individual monsters for you to fight. After each fight, retreat a bit to heal and recharge. You’ll want to be at your very best for each individual skirmish. Clear this chamber methodically and then return to the hourglass chamber. From there repeat the operation with the side-chamber on the other side. Having cleared that, again just make some noise near the entrance to the next, an inner chamber, to lure out what is skulking there. Once you go in there, explore step for step. This chamber is much bigger than the previous chamber, and you need to make sure that you check all the corners before proceeding inwards. After a while you will be able to see the small opening to the innermost Chamber of the Orb. The Orb rests in there, but you may still want to play it safe and return through the outer chamber and the hourglass chamber to the other side, to clear that inner chamber first.

The innermost chamber is mostly defended by orb guardians. Now you know how to deal with them – let them come to you and then shoot them with Iron Shot or LCS. Eventually you will find that you are all alone, and you can walk into the chamber to admire the Orb. Don’t just snatch it up, but take a minute to consider your accomplishment! By no means are you forced to take the Orb right now – you could decide to go on and win this game with a few more runes, even all 15. By now you have seen and liberated 45 game levels, give or take one or two. But just to get the other 12 runes would send you through at least 41 more levels, and it would probably be a few more. Defeating a Ziggurat would add another 27 small levels to that list. You are by no means done with this game. If you really want to see more, please refer to [[ARCHIVED Majang's_Disquisition_on_the_Nether_Reaches|this extended game walk-through]], which is based on the same character. But you want your first victory, and here is your chance at it. If you really wanted to move on, you’d have probably done a few things differently by now. In any case, this walk-through is almost at its end. Grab the Orb!

Now a number of things are happening simultaneously: You are surrounded by a strong aura which reduces your stealth (whatever little you have of it) to almost nothing. And you are informed that you have just made new enemies – the mighty Lords of [[Pandemonium]] are now after you!

But you won’t let them get you! Lumbered with your new toy, you will now proceed on the fastest way possible to level 1 of the dungeon and the exit. For now, just teleport away from where you are – any place on this level is closer to the stairs! From where you end up, proceed to the stairs. You will see quickly that you are not alone. A number of various demons are now in hot pursuit. Most of them are harmless, and just running away will do the trick. But there are a few that you need to deal with, and fast:

* The [[balrug]] is as bad as its namesake from Tolkien: it will throw lots of painful fire magic at you if you don’t stop it first.

* A [[hellion]] deals damnation against you.

* A [[cacodemon]] and also a [[neqoxec]] will malmutate you. Catching teleportitis now would not be a good thing.

* The [[hell sentinel]] also likes to throw damnation, and he can torment you.

* A [[Pandemonium lord]] is a fearsome creature with varying characteristics. They are all named, like uniques. Some of them are very fast, so you may not escape easily. Fight them. Others you might just run away from.

Hopefully you can shake most demons once you reach the stairs. But you never need to wait long to be pursued by a new bunch. First thing on each level is to establish the shortest route to the next set of upstairs. If you are surrounded, teleport away. Just know that it takes much longer, since you are now carrying the Orb. It is a good thing that you have wands of digging and that you have learned Passwall. Both will help you to create shortcuts and to shake pursuers. If you have, use sources of [[regeneration]] to get your HP up while you are on your way.

On some levels you may reach the next set of stairs without getting molested. Before going upstairs then, use these few valuable turns you get to heal up and recharge. When the first demon shows up, just tip your hat and move on.

When you have made it out of Zot and the Depths, things should become a little bit easier. Most of the time, there should be a set of upstairs not too far away, and the walls are better suited for Passwall or digging. Remember that [[undead]] monsters can’t follow you upstairs, even if they are hot on your heels! In this situation, running is most of the time much better than fighting.

While rushing through, remember that these have been places that you have been struggling in with great difficulty on your way down. You would have thought that getting up would be easier, and it is, as long you don’t have to dodge those high-level demons.

Reaching the Exit, just use it like an upstairs. Congratulations on your first victory!

[[Category:Character guides]]

Abyssal Knight

2026-09-26T19:20:04Z

Bobross419:

{{obsolete}}
{{flavour|The Abyssal Knight is a fighter serving Lugonu the Unformed, ruler of the Abyss. They are granted some power over the Abyss, and must spread death and disorder in return. They are sent from the Abyss into the Dungeon to spread corruption and chaos, starting with a simple weapon of their choice and leather armour.}}
'''Abyssal Knights''' are warriors sent from [[the Abyss]] by [[Lugonu]], the god of corruption and chaos. Their purpose is to spread bloodshed and disorder in the [[Dungeon]], and must do so unflaggingly to earn Lugonu's favour.

==Preferred Species==
[[Hill Orc]], [[Merfolk]], [[Draconian]], [[Troll]], [[Demonspawn]], and [[Palentonga]] are the recommended races if you pick an Abyssal Knight Background.

==Racial Restrictions==
[[Demigod]]s cannot be Abyssal Knights, as they cannot worship Lugonu (or any other god).

==Starting Equipment==
Some [[species]] may receive different items based on their unique restrictions.
*+1 [[weapon of choice]] ([[unarmed combat|unarmed]], [[hand axe]], [[spear]], [[short sword]], [[falchion]], or [[mace]])
*+0 [[leather armour]]

==Starting Skills and Stats==
These are adjusted by your species' [[aptitude]]s.
*[[Fighting]]: 3
*Chosen Weapon's Skill: 2
*[[Armour]]: 1 (+1 if Armour Apt. >= Dodging Apt.)
*[[Dodging]]: 1 (+1 if Dodging Apt. > Armour Apt.)
*[[Invocations]]: 2

Choosing Abyssal Knight adds 5 to your starting [[Strength]] and [[Dexterity]], and adds 2 to your starting [[Intelligence]].

Abyssal Knights start with 60 [[piety]] with Lugonu.

Abyssal Knights also start their game in the Abyss:1, directly on an exit. The Abyss spawns monsters far out of your league, and has no items, so there is no point in staying.

==Strategy==
Abyssal Knights begin with melee-oriented skills, supplemented by Lugonu's invocations. You start with enough [[piety]] to use Bend Space, a [[blink]]-like ability with a tendency to send enemies further away. This can allow you to [[pillar dancing|pillar dance]], or simply gain space to escape.

You can also cause [[banishment]] of enemies, corruption of levels, and easy travel to and from the Abyss. These are mainly defensive abilities, and help an otherwise melee character out of tight spots. Of course, your Abyssal Knight is free to branch into ranged combat or magic should you wish to,. Lugonu does not have any stringent requirements, and awards piety for all kills, making it easy to play an Abyssal Knight in any way you like.

Serving Lugonu has the advantage of making the [[abyssal rune]] easier to acquire; the rune is generated faster for Lugonu worshippers and they can escape the Abyss ''much'' more easily than anyone else. Getting ''banished'' to the Abyss is not the death sentence for Abyssal Knights that it is for low-level characters of other backgrounds. Also, the Corruption ability makes it easy to disrupt well-guarded stone-walled vaults, making it very useful when coupled with [[Apportation]] for grabbing runes without actually fighting its guardians.

==See Also==
*[http://pastebin.com/QnHCvEVv Pacra's Abyssal Knight guide] (outdated)

==History==
*Abyssal Knights were removed in [[0.30]]. Lugonu was made generally more appealing to switch to during a game.
*Prior to [[0.29]], Abyssal Knights started with only 38 piety (buffed alongside most other backgrounds). When starting the game, the Abyssal exit would always spawn somewhat near the player, instead of directly on top of them.
*Prior to [[0.28]], Abyssal Knights started with +4 Str, +4 Int, and +4 Dex.
*Prior to [[0.16]], abyssal stairs could not appear in the Abyssal Knight starting abyss.
*Prior to [[0.15]], abyssal knights started with +2, +2 weapons instead of +1.
*Prior to [[0.14]], abyssal knights started with 20 gold.
*This background was added in [[0.8]], but it was essentially available in earlier versions by selecting a [[Chaos Knight]] of Lugonu. Chaos Knights can only be of [[Xom]] after this update.

{{backgrounds}}
[[Category:Backgrounds]]

ARCHIVED Mr. K's Deep Elf Fire Elementalist guide

2026-09-26T19:18:36Z

Bobross419:

{{Version}}

{{Advice}}

'''THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN FOR AN EARLIER VERSION OF ''CRAWL'', AND IS NO LONGER RELIABLE. TO HAVE IT REMOVED FROM THE ARCHIVES, PLEASE UPDATE IT FOR THE CURRENT VERSION.'''

==Overview==
The '''Deep Elf Fire Elementalist''' is a [[conjurer]] with little resiliency, but possibly the greatest offensive arsenal in all of ''Dungeon Crawl''. Furthermore, the new skill training system, introduced in 0.9, allows you to compensate for weaknesses and enhance strengths more easily, making the character a reliable bet to get to (and clear) the Realm of Zot and even Ziggurats with little opposition.

*[[Deep Elf|Deep Elves]] have the best aptitude for magic in the game. This includes a whopping +4 to Spellcasting and Charms, +3 to Hexes, +2 to Necromancy, and +1 for everything else save for Earth Magic, which is at 0. Not only that, but they gain a lot more MP than average (+3), and get a guaranteed Int increase every 4 levels. You'd be crazy to play them as anything but pure blasters!
*That said, they do have less HP than average (-2), but since 0.9 all races start with a bit more HP, which tones down the early game difficulty slightly. You won't get crushed by your first hobgoblin very often anymore. You'll also have to devote some stat increases to Strength, which starts at 5.
*Moreover, while training the Fighting skill used to be the bane of all spellcasters, the new skill training system allows even Deep Elves, with their bad aptitude (-2), to simply focus Fighting and gain more HP without having to ever swing a weapon. This offsets their greatest late-game weakness, a lack of HP.

For an example of this character, see this [[Mr._K's_DEFE_example|DEFE journal]].

==Strategy==
The overall goal of a Deep Fire Elementalist is to get access to the most powerful [[Conjurations]] as early as possible to overpower their enemies with superior firepower. While defense still matters, never turn off your offensive skills until you've mastered them.

===Background===
The Fire Elementalist starts with a [[Book of Flames]] containing the following spells:
*[[Flame Tongue]]: your basic nuke. Not as good as Magic Dart, but still effective, except versus crimson imps. Stricly an early game spell.
*[[Throw Flame]]: long-range fire nuke. You'll use this a lot in the early game and a bit in the mid-game. By late-game, you should forget it.
*[[Inner Flame]]: don't bother, when it works it's brilliant, but often it won't. It can also kill you if the enemy happens to blow up too close to you.
*[[Conjure Flame]]: excellent tactical applications for this single-tile cloud spell. Undead and mindless enemies will happily walk through fire, intelligent monsters will stay away. Can be forgotten in the mid-game once you've learned other cloud spells or Fire Storm.
*[[Sticky Flame]]: not as good as it once was, due to its reduced range, but never misses and deals damage over time, perfect for some of the enemies prone to flight. Since dangerous enemies who can melee you for huge amounts of damage start creeping up in the mid-game, this spell's usefulness takes a nosedive right about then.
*[[Fireball]]: much better area of damage spell than Inner Flame. This will let you clear the Orcish Mines and the Lair. Upgrade to Delayed Fireball eventually for emergencies, like ghost moths, and keep it throughout the game unless you're desperate for additional offensive spell levels.

===God Choice===
[[Vehumet]] is a no-brainer. He guarantees access to the most powerful Conjurations in the game, makes them cheaper, gives them a longer range, and improves your success rate with them. If you've never learned [[Fire Storm]] at level 15, well... it's fun. The MP gain from killing also favors area of damage spells and a large MP pool, which you'll definitely have.

It's also possible to go for [[Sif Muna]], but the powers are simply not as good. Why get protection from miscasts when you can enhance your success rate to not miscast in the first place? Why train [[Invocations]] to spend a turn restoring MP when you can do it automatically by killing (sometimes gaining more MP than you just spent!)? Sif Muna's only real advantage is the infinite amount of books she'll provide, which is good late-game for versatility but can screw you over early because of its randomness. Vehumet's guaranteed book gifts are just more reliable, and it's not like you'll never be able to find or buy other books -- especially since you'll quickly be able to tackle the first few floors of a Ziggurat with ease. Also, by the late game, it's nearly guaranteed you'll have found a crystal ball of energy, which with proper Evocations training restores a lot more MP than Sif Muna's channeling, though with some added -- but manageable -- risks.

An alternate choice -- but only a late-game one! -- is [[Kikubaaqudgha]]. While losing your access to Vehumet's spell-enhancing powers hurts a lot, Kiku offers some advantages, especially once you've received all of Vehumet's books.
*Piety is easier to maintain when scumming the Abyss or Pandemonium. Vehumet only cares about destroying living beings and the undead, while Kiku accepts the deaths of living beings and demons, which are plentiful in the late game.
*MP regen via corpse delivery and [[Sublimation of Blood]]. Not as powerful as Vehumet's MP gain from killing, since it requires extensive preparation and doesn't work depending on the monster types found in the level, but still better than nothing.
*All books of Necromancy gifted as Piety rises. Access to the [[Necronomicon]], in particular, can be game-changing thanks to [[Necromutation]], [[Haunt]], [[Borgnjor's Revivification]], and [[Death's Door]].
*Protection from death curses, Haunt-induced sickness and torment. This is ''amazing'' for clearing the Tomb and mummy-themed Ziggurat floors, among others.

Do keep in mind that abandoning Vehumet has severe drawbacks. Not only will he visit punishments on you routinely, but your spells's success rates will take a dip and you'll lose the extra range and MP cost reduction. Also, if you're clearing Ziggurats (where gaining Vehumet piety is fine) and have a way of dealing with mummies (such as summons) then Kiku may not be for you.

===Early Game===
Kill monsters at range, always rest to fill up MP, and learn all the spells in your initial book (except for Inner Flame) as soon as you can. Finding an altar of Vehumet ASAP is a priority, so save your scrolls and only start reading them when you reach Dungeon level 4: this way, if you read a scroll of magic mapping, you may discover the Temple.

Once you earn Vehumet's second power, the failure rates of all your initial book's spells should drop down to 1%, no matter your skill. At this point focus Spellcasting to get as much MP as possible and to prepare yourself for the next batch of spells you'll learn. By now you should have found the Lair and the Orcish Mines: start by clearing the Lair, using Throw Flame, Fireball spam, and the occasional Sticky Flame. Just be careful not to bite off more than you can chew, and use potions of speed or any other tools at your disposal to escape whenever the situation looks too dangerous. Once you're done with the Lair clear the Orcish Mines for gold and the guaranteed level 4 shops -- a jewellery or book shop is an incredible boost.

Your most annoying enemies in the early game will be:
*Crimson imps, which are immune to fire, unless you stumble upon a wand of frost/cold/magic darts to take them out. A wand of polymorph other can work too: they'll turn into another tier 5 demon, most of which are ''not'' immune to fire. Failing that, just lure them to the level above, melee them until they blink, then go back down. That'll learn them. A weapon of holy wrath will work in a pinch.
*Centaurs. Their arrows hurt. Try to find a buckler, and don't forget, once you enter the Lair, to focus Fighting and get 3-4 levels for the extra HP.

===Mid Game===
Vehumet should have started gifting you books by now. The first book is the [[Book of Conjurations]], from which you can learn either [[Lightning Bolt]] or [[Bolt of Cold]], depending on your preference.
*'''Lightning Bolt''': lets you start training [[Air Magic]]. Can hit multiple enemies multiple times. Not very accurate, though, and ''extremely'' loud.
*'''Bolt of Cold''': harder to cast but does more reliable (and more silent) damage. You can just turn off [[Ice Magic]] to not train it; Vehumet's spell success enhancer and your Conjurations skill should be enough to let you cast it. However, if you're using a Fire Magic enhancer, it won't jive with Bolt of Cold.

[[Freezing Cloud]] is also an option, depending on your Conjurations and Air Magic skills. Along with Fireball it'll let you deal with pretty much anything you'll encounter.

Vehumet's second book is the [[Book of Power]]. Make sure to learn [[Orb of Destruction]] (blowing up uniques with a single spell is great!) and, if you feel like it, [[Iskenderun's Mystic Blast]]. The latter is cheap, elementally neutral, and can replace Sticky Flame in your arsenal. [[Poisonous Cloud]] is another option, especially if you've still got to tackle most of the Mines, Lair, or Elven Halls by the time you can learn it.

You'll eventually receive the [[Book of Annihilations]] from Vehumet. Keep track of your failure rate with Fire Storm, and when it's at ~40%, make an attempt to memorize it. It may take you a couple of tries; keep in mind that if you fail, the book will punish you with a Conjurations miscast, dealing severe damage, so don't do it unless you're at full HP. When you do learn it, focus Conjurations and Fire Magic to decrease your failure rate until it's sub-10%. Congratulations! You're now ready to destroy everything that crosses your path.

Your most annoying enemies in the mid game will be:
*Centaur warriors and yaktaurs. See centaurs in the early game. Blow them up good.
*Hubris. Once you acquire the Book of Power, and especially the Book of Annihilations, you'll turn into an engine of destruction... but you're still incredibly fragile. It's important to keep an eye on your MP and remind yourself to take it slow and easy.

===Late Game===
Reduce Fire Storm's hunger cost by whatever means necessary (staff of energy, amulet of the gourmand, items with +Int, focusing Spellcasting) until you can cast it reliably without starving yourself. Then it's simply a matter of casting it to catch as many enemies as possible in its blast radius (to recover as much as MP as possible), waiting for the rest of the level to run over because of the loud noise, and repeating the process until everything within a mile has been cremated.

Your end-game spell arsenal should look a little like this:
*[[Fire Storm]]: duh.
*[[Ring of Flames]]: protection from fire and most sources of cold damage, Fire Magic enhancer.
*[[Repel Missiles]]/[[Deflect Missiles]]: for yaktaurs and whatever else decides to take potshots at you.
*[[Blink]] + [[Control Teleport]]/[[Controlled Blink]]: to reposition yourself or escape.
*[[Fireball]]/[[Delayed Fireball]]: it's a free Fireball, it can let you kill enough enemies to regain MP for that last Fire Storm you need.
*[[Abjuration]]/[[Mass Abjuration]]: Vehumet will also gift you all the [[Summonings]] books, so take the opportunity to learn them both to counter summoners. Though a Fire Storm to the face also works brilliantly.
*[[Orb of Destruction]]: still a great spell in the late-game for dealing with monsters that are extremely resistant to Fire, such as golems or bone dragons. You can also use it to dig rock in a pinch.
*[[Haste]]: nothing much to say about it. It's Haste. Kill stuff faster. Or run away faster.
*[[Sublimation of Blood]]: amazing for emergency MP regeneration. Try to always carry around a few chunks of meat if you can. Otherwise, if you're at full HP, you can use it on yourself, but it'll hurt.

Many, many more spells deserve to be included in this list; take a look at the `Conjurer guide` to learn more.

==Skills==
Other than normal caster-oriented skills, you should consider training...
*[[Evocations]]: in the late-game you'll want to use a [[crystal ball of energy]] to regen MP. You may also come across powerful rods or legendary decks of cards; both of these will benefit from high Evocations.

But not training...
*[[Stealth]]: by the end game, you'll be slinging raging infernos around routinely, so... turn off Stealth at the start. It won't affect your survival too much, and it'll divert some much-needed XP to other skills (Stealth eats up quite a bit of XP).

[[Category:Character guides]]

Spellclaws

2026-09-26T19:01:48Z

Bobross419:

{| cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" border="1"
|- style="font-style:italic;"
|Rank||Effect||Flavor
|-
|1||You perform a melee attack whenever you cast damage-dealing spells.||You feel destructive magic coursing through your claws.
|-
| colspan="3" |
The attack speed is always 1.0.
|-
| colspan="3" |
'''Species notes:''' [[Revenant]] start with this mutation. Exclusive to [[Revenant]].
|- style="font-style:italic;"
| colspan="3" |
[[Good_mutations|Good mutation]]
|}
<noinclude>
==History==
*Added in [[0.33]] with the [[Revenant]] species.

[[Category:Mutations]]
[[Category:Good Mutations]]
</noinclude>

Sickly merfolk siren

2026-09-26T18:54:45Z

Bobross419:

Rending Blade

2026-09-26T18:53:39Z

Bobross419:

{{version033}}
{{Spell info}}

'''Rending Blade''' is a level 4 [[Forgecraft]]/[[Conjurations]] spell that temporarily uses '''all''' of your remaining MP to create a [[rending blade (monster)|magical blade]] that attacks when you hit with a melee attack.

[[Reaver]]s start with this spell in their library.

==Useful Info==
Summons a [[rending blade (monster)|rending blade]], which is initially leashed to the caster. Whenever you hit with a melee attack, the blade attempts to dash through enemies using Rending Slash, dealing irresistible undodgeable damage to all of them. Hitting multiple enemies in a single attack, such as with an axe, can trigger the blade multiple times at once (max. 3 times per player action<ref>{{source ref|0.33.1|spl-summoning.cc|4782}}</ref>).

The blade can dash through up to 4 tiles. It will prioritize the most [[HD]] of enemies in can hit in one dash without leaving your [[line of sight]], iterating all possible paths from its current position and all adjacent positions if necessary.

Casting this spell costs a minimum of 4 MP. Any MP beyond the minimum is temporarily lost, although any extra MP increases the effective spellpower of Rending Slash: the bonus is equal to <code>50 * log2(1 + extra_MP/10)</code>%.<ref>{{source ref|0.33.1|spl-summoning.cc|4740}}</ref> When the blade dies or expires, the extra MP used to form it is returned to you. For a [[Djinni]], casting the spell instead costs only 4 HP.

The damage of the blade's Rending Slashes equals <code>2d(6 + power/12)</code>.<ref>{{source ref|0.33.1|zap-data.h|2661}}</ref>

==Strategy==
A spell primarily for melee-focused hybrids. It is less effective in corridors due to it being unable to attack from behind the player, but does not require much space: a corridor intersection is sufficient to let the Rending Blade reposition and then attack.

Losing access to all your MP is a major downside: even if your character relies entirely on melee, many divine abilities require MP, so watch out before using this spell. It is poorly suited for blaster casters, but [[Forgecraft]] users are less hindered as they can summon constructs before casting this spell. Buff up, summon allies, and ''then'' cast Rending Blade. You don't actually ''lose'' your MP: the blade merely borrows it, and if for any reason the Rending Blade disappears (times out, takes too much damage) then the MP, minus the four MP actually used to cast it, is refunded back to you.

The rending blade attacks once for every monster hit. It has great synergy with [[Axes]] and [[Wu Jian]], which allow hitting multiple enemies at once (as a bonus, none of Wu Jian's abilities cost MP). [[Coglin]]s and [[Okawaru]] worshippers under Finesse can attack quickly, and fast weapons like [[quick blade]]s naturally benefit. Alternatively, [[Polearms]] make this spell easier/more flexible to use, as the reaching provides space for the Rending Blade to function.

[[Coglin]]'s <code>SpellMotor</code> gizmos particularly synergize with the Rending Blade: <code>SpellMotor</code> will make your Coglin attack in melee when casting spells, so if a monster is in melee range when you cast Rending Blade, you: (1) summon the rending blade, (2) attack in melee, possibly hitting up to two times, and (3) thereby trigger the rending blade into actually slashing. Note that reaching weapons will also get triggered by <code>SpellMotor</code> against monsters two tiles away. Increasing your <code>Rev</code> with the <code>SpellMotor</code> will also lower the cost of spells, so natural MP regeneration even while the Rending Blade is out will let you cast up to level 4 spells occasionally, with excellent turn efficiency if any monster is within your melee range: (1) cast any spell, (2) attack in melee, possibly hitting up to two times, and (3) thereby trigger the rending blade.

==History==
*This spell was added in [[0.33]].

==References==
<references/>

Purified mutation catalyst

2026-09-26T18:48:54Z

Bobross419:

{{version035}}
{{stub}}
Interacting with the Purified mutation catalyst in at the end of [[Gulch]] will grant you one beneficial [[mutation]].

Potion of mutation

2026-09-26T18:46:23Z

Bobross419:

{{version034}}
{{flavour|A potion which mutates the drinker, removing several mutations then granting a few random mutations, which are likely (but not guaranteed) to be beneficial.}}
{{item
|itemtype=Potion
|name=Potion of Mutation
|cost=70
|weight=4.0
}}
A surprise in every bottle! When drunk, a '''potion of mutation''' first removes 2-3 [[mutation]]s, then adds 1-3 random mutations (each with a 60% chance of being "[[good mutations|good]]" and 40% to be random), then has a 50% chance to add one good mutation. This potion is affected by [[mutation resistance]]. In addition, characters who are already mutated are less likely to gain further mutations.

Followers of [[Zin]] incur [[penance]] if they knowingly drink this potion at less than ****** (160) piety. Once that piety threshold has been reached, however, Zin suppresses the mutation-adding effects of the potion, so followers can drink it to only remove mutations.

[[Poltergeist]]s and [[Revenant]]s cannot use this potion intentionally, but drinking an unidentified potion of mutation will cause them to suffer [[drain]].

==Strategy==
Potions of mutation should generally be saved for removing bad mutations, not getting good ones, since these potions are the only source of mutation removal for most characters. There is no guarantee that a potion of mutation actually removes a desired mutation; it can take many, many potions just to get an "alright" mutation set. Plus, the most detrimental mutations like [[Initially Attractive]] and [[teleportitis]] are more harmful than the best good mutations are helpful.

Still, prevention is better than the cure, since potions of mutation are reliant on [[RNG]]. You might quaff all your potions just to end up back where you started. See the [[Malmutate#Strategy|Malmutate]] article for ways to avoid getting mutated in the first place. However, there are some cases where malmutation is practically unavoidable, so these potions are obviously helpful.

==History==
*Prior to [[0.32]], the extra good mutation was guaranteed for [[Oni]].
*Prior to [[0.27]], potions of mutation removed 2-4 mutations and provided a guaranteed good mutation.
*Prior to [[0.21]], potions of mutation removed 2-6 random mutations instead of 2-4.
*Prior to [[0.20]], potions of mutation just attempted to give 1-3 random mutations, with separate [[potions of beneficial mutation]] and [[potions of cure mutation]].

{{potions}}

Piety

2026-09-26T18:44:36Z

Bobross419:

{{version034}}
'''Piety''' is a measure of your standing with your chosen [[god]] and a resource used to activate divine abilities.

==Useful Info==
Piety is measured on a scale from 1-200; most characters start at 15 piety when first worshipping a god. If piety drops below 1, you are excommunicated and incur [[penance]]. Piety is gained by doing what your god likes, and lost for doing what it hates (see below for details).

At certain piety thresholds, your god will grant abilities. Active abilities can be invoked with the '''a''' command; most cost piety to use. Passive abilities work automatically, and usually don't have a cost. Piety is also used, passively, for obtaining [[gift]]s and for resolving [[penance]].

==Estimating Piety==
You cannot see your exact piety number in-game, but you can estimate it from the number of stars shown by your god's name on your HUD:<ref>{{source ref|0.31.0|religion.cc|4446}}</ref>

{|border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3
|-
!Ability Level !! Piety !! Description
|-
| || 1-29 || Noncommital
|-
|*|| 30-49 || Aware of your devotion
|-
|**|| 50-74 || Pleased with you
|-
|***|| 75-99 || Rising star
|-
|****|| 100-119 || Shining star
|-
|*****|| 120-159 || Favored servant
|-
|******|| 160-200 || Prized avatar
|}

Not coincidentally, these stars are the levels of piety required for you to receive new abilities. You don't always get a new ability for each star. For example, [[Okawaru]] gives the ability to invoke Heroism at *, and then nothing until Finesse at ****.

Note that many gods grant powers that improve with your exact piety, not just your star level. Also, 'excess' piety can be used to invoke abilities more often. Therefore, gaining piety remains helpful until you reach the maximum.

==Piety Gain==
Usually, you'll start with 15 piety on worship, though [[Monk]]s start at 50 piety. Worshipping from a [[faded altar]]s gives a +20 bonus, even for Monks.

You can gain piety by following your god's conduct. A majority of gods reward you for one of two things:
*Killing creatures, or having an [[ally]] kill a creature. Some gods don't give piety for specific kills, e.g. [[Lugonu]] won't reward you for killing monsters in [[the Abyss]].
*Exploring the dungeon, i.e., revealing new tiles. You are not rewarded for exploring the [[Temple]] or deep water in [[the Shoals]].

Different gods may have different means of gaining piety. For example, [[Zin]] appreciates [[gold]] donations (and killing [[evil]]/[[chaotic]] creatures), while [[Yredelemnul]]'s piety is solely determined by the number of friendly [[undead]] in sight. [[Gozag]] does not use piety at all - this god only cares for gold.

===Penalties===
For all gods but Ashzenzari and Ru, piety gain slows down by x2/3 at 4*, and slows down by another x2/3 (to x4/9) at 6*.<ref>{{source ref|0.31.0|religion.cc|2433}}</ref>

For Okawaru, Sif Muna, Trog, and Vehumet, if you would gain piety while on [[gift timeout]], your actual piety gain is reduced by x1/4 (however, piety gain is treated as normal for reducing gift timeout itself).<ref>{{source ref|0.30.1|religion.cc|2436}}</ref>

==Piety Loss==
Using most types of abilities will cost a set amount of piety. This can bring you below a piety threshold, so watch out.

You can lose piety by doing things your god dislikes - [[Trog]] hates it when you cast [[spell]]s; [[The Shining One]] hates when you do [[evil]]. Specifically, doing anything your god dislikes will reduce your piety directly, then inflict [[penance]]. While you're under penance, you don't gain piety - instead, any piety you would've gained is used to decrease penance.

In addition, [[Ostracise]] will temporarily reduce piety. The lost piety can be reclaimed by gaining XP. However, your "actual" piety is still used for the purposes of piety gain and excommunication. For example, if you had 4* of piety and Ostracise dropped you down to 2*, you'd still be under the 4* piety penalty.

===Piety Decay===
Most gods have a piety decay. When worshipping these gods, your piety will naturally decrease over time. Every 10-30 [[decaAut]] (i.e. turns), the game makes a roll to deplete 1 piety. Depending on your god, there is a 1/17 or 1/35 chance to do so. Therefore, on average, you'll lose 1 piety every 340 or 700 turns, respectively.

Gods with fast piety decay (lose 1 piety roughly every 340 turns):
<div style="column-count:2; width:500px">
*[[Beogh]]
*[[Dithmenos]]
*[[Jiyva]]
*[[Kikubaaqudgha]]
*[[Lugonu]]
*[[Makhleb]]
*[[Okawaru]]
*[[Qazlal]]
*[[Sif Muna]]
*[[Trog]]
*[[Vehumet]]
*The [[Wu Jian Council]]
*[[Yredelemnul]]
*[[Zin]]
</div>

Gods with slow piety decay (lose 1 piety roughly every 700 turns):
*[[Cheibriados]]
*[[Elyvilon]]
*[[Fedhas]]
*[[Hepliaklqana]]
*[[Nemelex Xobeh]]
*[[The Shining One]]

[[Uskayaw]] has extremely fast piety gain and decay, while [[Ignis]] has none. [[Ashenzari]], [[Ru]], and [[Xom]] have their own unique piety systems, which do not use the normal decay function. [[Gozag]] doesn't use piety at all.

==Strategy==
Piety is a "semi-renewable" resource. It is much easier to obtain than [[scroll]]s or [[potion]]s, but still finite for most of the game (since there are only so many monsters to kill, tiles to explore, etc.). Still, you'll constantly gain piety, so don't be too stingy with divine abilities.

Some gods have different piety systems, so you should treat their piety differently. See each god's page for more specific advice.

==History==
{{CBA|0.35|Piety decay will be removed.}}
*Prior to [[0.19]], there were five possible piety decay speeds.
*Prior to [[0.16]], gods didn't treat followers' kills the same as the player's for purposes of piety gain.

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Game mechanics]]

Summon Vermin

2026-09-26T18:43:23Z

Bobross419:

{{version034}}
{{monster spell info}}

'''Summon Vermin''' is a monster-only spell which summons 2-3 of the following creatures into existence<ref>{{source ref|0.34.1|mon-cast.cc|5558}}</ref>:

*{{monsterlink|Hell rat}} (33.3%)
*{{monsterlink|Swamp worm}} (16.6%)
*{{monsterlink|Goliath frog}} (11.1%)
*{{monsterlink|Tarantella}} (11.1%)
*{{monsterlink|Jumping spider}} (11.1%)
*{{monsterlink|Demonic crawler}} (16.6%)

{{monsters with spell}}

==History==
*Prior to [[0.31]], spell summoned [[redback]]s instead of [[swamp worm]]s and [[goliath frog|goliath frogs]]
*Prior to [[0.14]], the spell was able to generate [[rock worm]]s.
*Summon Vermin was added in [[0.13]].

==References==
<references/>

Goji

2026-09-26T18:39:54Z

Bobross419:

Jorgrun

2026-09-26T18:38:34Z

Bobross419:

{{version030}}
{{monster info}}

==Useful Info==
'''Jorgrun Earthshaker''' is a [[unique]] [[dwarf|dwarven]] [[Earth Elementalist]]. He wields a [[staff of earth]] (33%) or a [[vorpal]] [[quarterstaff]] (66%).

==Location==
*[[The Dungeon]]:12-15
*[[The Orcish Mines]]
*[[The Elven Halls]]:1-2
*[[The Snake Pit]]:1-3
*[[The Spider's Nest]]:1-3
*[[The Shoals]]:1-3
*[[The Swamp]]:1-3

{{monster spells}}

==Tips & Tricks==
*Jorgrun is a big threat for a variety of reasons:
**[[Iron Shot]] is a high damage spell for the areas Jorgrun is found in.
**[[Grasping Roots]] prevents you from moving, going upstairs, and it gives [[scrolls of blinking]] a chance to fail. This can be lethal if Jorgrun shows up when you're fighting other monsters. Being over [[deep water]] or [[lava]] prevents the roots from affecting you.
**[[Petrify]] incapacitates you for up to 10 turns, sets your [[EV]] and [[SH]] to 0, and makes Lee's Rapid Deconstruction ignore AC.
*Like all mages, Jorgrun can't do anything while [[silence]]d. Melee characters should silence if possible. Anyone can make use of a [[phial of floods]] to disable his casting.
*[[Curare]], if it hits, will slow Jorgrun, which can make a big difference in combat.
*Try to avoid him if you have low [[willpower]]; being Petrified around Jorgrun is basically death. If you get hit by Petrify, you can quaff a [[potion of cancellation]] to end it immediately. If not, a [[scroll of teleport]] is a strong option. You might end up someplace dangerous, but chances are that other monsters can't hurt you as much as Jorgrun.
**Certain god abilities can take care of Petrification; [[Elyvilon]]'s Purification and [[Ru]]'s Draw Out Power end Petrifying; [[Zin]]'s Vitalisation makes you immune. In a pinch, [[Yara's Violent Unravelling]] or a [[wand of quicksilver]] can remove petrification.
*Lee's Rapid Deconstruction can be used on walls or creatures made of wall-like materials:
**[[Gargoyle]]s and players in [[Ice Form]] and [[Statue Form]] are innately vulnerable to LRD. Be very careful; Transmuters shouldn't use these forms against Jorgrun; Gargoyles should avoid the fight or be prepared to escape.
**Users of the [[Simulacrum]] spell should be wary, as Jorgrun can explode the simulacra against you. Using Simulacrum can still be a good idea - Jorgrun will hesitate to LRD if he's in the blast radius - but it's something to be aware of.
**Low-AC characters should stay away from [[wall]]s while you're fighting him, as LRD can deal heavy damage with shrapnel even if you're not petrified. Even heavily armoured characters may wish to stay away from walls made of crystal or metal during the fight.

==History==
*Prior to [[0.23]], Jorgrun could not spawn in [[Swamp]]. 0.23 also added [[Grasping Roots]] to his spell list.
*Prior to [[0.22]], Jorgrun had [[Shatter]] in place of [[Iron Shot]], and spawned significantly later.
*Prior to [[0.17]], Jorgrun was a [[deep dwarf (monster)|deep dwarf]] and could not regenerate.
*In [[0.15]], his glyph was changed from 'q' to 'g'.
*Jorgrun was added in [[0.12]].

[[Category:Dwarf]]