Dungeon Descent
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Trunk-only: This article pertains to a feature of Crawl which is being tested. It will likely change before the next release, and may even be removed entirely.
Dungeon Descent (Descent, Ironman) is a Crawl variant, similar to Dungeon Sprint. Descent is similar to the main game, but you can never go back up a floor, only down.
Useful Info
Descent mode has a number of changes from regular Crawl:
- When going down a regular set of stairs, you get the Peek status. During a peek, you can go back up without spending time on the lower floor (note: you still wait 1.5 turns after going back up). You also get to view the location of all 3 stairs, and the surrounding area of said stairs.
- Using an escape hatch or shaft does not let you peek.
- Making any move (other than going up) during Peek destroys the stairs, thus preventing you from traversing upwards. Using a hatch or shaft destroys the stairs on use.
- A Debt mechanic is introduced. If you don't have enough gold, you can still buy items from a shop, but doing so puts you into debt. While in debt, you cannot buy items, and collected gold is used to pay off the debt. Once you collect enough gold to pay back the item's cost, it clears. (There are no other downsides to going into debt, and there is no interest.)
- Runes of Zot are optional; Rune locks do not exist.
- The malevolent force mechanic does not exist.
- Certain vaults do not appear.
- Branch order and length is adjusted. See below for details.
Map
New characters start on level one of the Dungeon. Delvers start at level 2.
Branches in unbolded italics indicate that they are not part of the intended progression - you will skip branches if you enter them.
The Dungeon (12 levels)
The Lair (5 levels) | 
The Depths (4 levels)
Orcish Mines (2 levels) | 
The Slime Pits (5 levels)- One of {
The Swamp OR 
The Shoals } | One of { 
Snake Pit OR 
Spider's Nest } 
Elven Halls (3 levels) | 
The Crypt (3 levels)
The Vaults (5 levels)- The Slime Pits (5 levels) | The Depths (4 levels)
- The Depths (4 levels)
The Realm of Zot (5 levels)
On Zot:5, there is an exit to the end of the game, so the orb run only lasts for one floor.
Special:
- The Abyss and Pandemonium work like normal; their portals appear in Depths as usual.
- Portals to the Vestibule of Hell appear in Depths. The Vestibule allows you to go back into Depths. The four hells (Cocytus, Gehenna, Tartarus, Dis) lead you back to the Vestibule at their ends.
- The Temple and Tomb do not exist.
With the given branches available, it is possible to get 13 runes of Zot.
History
- Descent mode will be added in 0.31.