Doroklohe's Tomb
| A highly decorated stone wall.
It is covered with disturbing, horrifying images. |
Doroklohe's Tomb is an extremely dangerous Wizard Laboratory that also serves as the not-so-final resting place of many extremely powerful monsters. Its layout is simple: you are initially dumped into a single-tile room which you can exit through one of four doors. Beyond that lies a small foyer with two exits, followed by a massive chamber filled with several 3×3 tombs made of rock walls. At first this area will appear to be empty, but you'll hear threatening noises as you explore. After a time (somewhere around 200-250 turns), the walls of all the tombs (including the one you entered through) will vanish, revealing that each one contains a single monster and some treasure.
The main danger posed by Doroklohe's Tomb is being overwhelmed by multiple dangerous opponents -- if you are not confident in your ability to handle facing several very dangerous spellcasters simultaneously, consider leaving; there are few areas in the game where things can get out of hand more quickly. If you are going to stay, consider staying by the exit as you wait for the tombs to open; the entrance to the main chamber provides a reasonably functional choke point, and you'll be able to retreat quickly should you start getting overwhelmed. Also, be aware that at least some of the monsters you'll fight will be smart enough to pick up the tomb's loot and use it against you.
If you have a means of digging, you can make this death trap considerably safer; opening the tombs prematurely will allow you to dispose of their contents one at a time. Using Shatter will allow you to open tombs while dealing heavy damage to their inhabitants, but doing so will wake up everything in the entire level; be very careful not to open too many at once.
The treasure in the tomb comes in three possible sets:
- Scrolls: A variety of scrolls, including several rare ones like brand weapon, holy word, or acquirement.
- Armour: An assortment of armour -- mostly body armour, but with a few other pieces of armour thrown into the mix. The boss will always be sitting on a robe of resistance, though it's especially likely to be cursed and/or negatively enchanted.
- Miscellaneous: A wide variety of items that you might find while exploring a level of the dungeon, such as equipment, consumables, books, and maybe even some gold.
Monsters
The monsters in this wizlab are selected from three possible sets, with the probabilities indicated. The monsters within each set are grouped into three tiers: The boss monster (one per wizlab, indicated on the map by a |), the high-tier ordinary monsters (six of them, indicated by a *), and the low-tier ordinary monsters (12 of them, indicated by a %). Some maps may have alternate arrangements of tombs, possibly including a couple extra monsters from the lower two tiers. Often, the tomb closest to the entrance will already be open, letting you get an idea of what sort of challenge you'll be facing.
The monster sets are:
Demons (25% chance): The boss monster will be a 1 or a 2, a set that includes such lovelies as executioners, hell sentinels, and fiends. The stronger "ordinary" monsters can be quite nasty as well, including things such as tormentors and hellions, and even the "weak" monsters can include neqoxecs. Be very careful about taking on this set: it can sometimes be weak, but it might also be very lethal.
Golems (25% chance): The boss here will be a single electric golem with an escort of several crystal guardians, war gargoyles, or iron golems. The weak monsters will pose relatively little threat -- a combination of gargoyles, earth elementals, and the occasional toenail golem, most of which can be kited with ease. High AC helps here, as does having fire, cold, and electricity resistances (a potion of resistance or two is enough). Spellcasters that rely primarily on elemental damage may want to give this one a pass, as just about everything here is highly resistant to all elements; conversely, spellcasters with Lee's Rapid Deconstruction or Shatter will have a particularly easy time with the monsters here (with the exception of the electric golem, but even it will dislike being caught in assorted explosions of shrapnel).
Mummies (50% chance): Probably the nastiest of the monster sets, and unfortunately the most common. The boss will be an ancient lich or royal mummy, and the high-tier monsters will be a mix of zombified monsters from the Depths (67%) and mummy priests (33%). At least the lower-tier monsters will be easy: more zombies and guardian mummies, none of which make noise, so you can stealthily skirt around the edges and draw their attention one by one. Take this monster set very slowly, making sure not to be in view of more than one spellcaster at a time, and don't hesitate to retreat.
MAP
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^_______b....cc......d%d......ee....f_______^
^_____bB.....cC%.....dDd.....%Ee.....Ff_____^
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^__........%......o*.....*p......%........__^
^__.......nnN....oO.......Pp....Qqq.......__^
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^_...mm...............................gg..._^
^_...mM..%......*.....|.....*......%..Gg..._^
^_...mm...............................gg..._^
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^__.......uuU....tT.......Ss....Rrr.......__^
^__........%......t*.....*s......%........__^
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^____ll...............................hh____^
^_____lL.....kK%.....jJj.....%Ii.....Hh_____^
^_______l....kk......j%j......ii....h_______^
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^________________...........________________^
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^____...____^
^__.......__^
^_...!=!..._^
^_.<.=A=.<._^
^_...!=!..._^
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ENDMAP
