Gulch
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| As the upper Dungeon has its sewer drainage system, so too do the Vaults. These gutter gulches serve as a containment space for accumulated garbage, various abandoned experiments, disorderly encroaching pests, and the particularly-broken corpses of intruders all alike. A great deal of mutagenic energy emanates from the mystic slag and mouldy waters running through it, such that even crossing its threshold will temporarily mutate new guests. Still, the widely-renowned defences of the Vaults would never dismiss any potential security front: mild maintenance via punished guards manage just barely enough direction to send such gulch monstrosities at anybody who would dare try to extract hidden riches from such filthy chambers. |
The Gulch is a temporary portal level found in the Vaults floors 1-4. Gulches are defined by their connection to poison, mutation, garbage, and otherwise being generally disgusting. The portal is heralded by "the sound of rushing sludge"; if you take too long (6000-8000 auts), the entrance permanently closes.
Upon entering the Gulch, the player will receive three temporary mutations that must be cleared with gained XP. The player will be warned about this when trying to enter the portal.
Layout
The Gulch has a variable layout that follows a few patterns. The player will immediately be ambushed by a few monsters upon entry, and the starting room always contains negatively-enchanted slashing weapons of flaming and non-slashing weapons of freezing (this is so that the player can reasonably deal with a possible Slymdra, if needed).
The ending of the Gulch is guarded by a boss monster (see below), if sewage sovereigns are encountered, they will be in a duo. Gulch loot consists of venom-branded weapons, alchemy/hexes/forgecraft spells and enhancers, jewellery/armor/talismans of rCorr/rPois/flight, potions of mutation, and a guaranteed purified mutation catalyst which gives one good beneficial mutation when interacted with (by pressing > or <).
Monsters
l  alligator |
S  anaconda |
w  tyrant leech |
G  great orb of eyes
|
x  crawling flesh cage |
J  formless jellyfish
| ||
k  mongrel wurm |
F  roaming sludgefish |
f  fungal shambler |
9  rusted inspector
|
Rare Monsters
G  telencephalon |
w  torpor snail |
J  slime creature |
t  snapping turtle |
k  lindwurm |
f  deathcap
|
Boss Monsters
H  scrapshell chimera |
a  sewage sovereign |
J  colossal amoeba |
J  slymdra
|
Strategy
Gulch can pose major threats to characters who are behind the power curve when they find it (such as those starting Vaults after their first rune). That said, the loot can be well worth your trouble, if you're prepared.
Most of the enemies have a notable weakness in one of the following forms you can prepare for:
- Constructs that can be targeted with Lee's Rapid Deconstruction.
- Possess animal intelligence, making the target extra susceptible to Elyvilon's Pacify ability.
- Using buffs or summons that can be susceptible to Yara's Violent Unravelling.
- Of a chaotic nature and vulnerable to Silver or Zin.
- Having low to moderate willpower to be targeted by Hexes or hexing wands.
Come prepared to deal with threats that can heavily poison you and pack tools that cover at least some of the above categories. Note that none of these solutions will cover all the possible threats found in Gulch, and that both melee and magic characters will find enemies who threaten their playstyle.
History
| Temporary Portals | |
|---|---|
| Early Game | Ossuary • Sewers |
| Mid Game | Bailey • Gauntlet • Ice cave • Volcano |
| Late Game | Desolation of Salt • Wizard Laboratory • Ziggurat (Mega-Zig) |
| Throughout the game | Necropolis |
| Peaceful | Bazaar • Treasure trove |