Orcish Mines

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Version 0.30: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.
The Orcish Mines are filled with the cave orcs native to the Dungeon, their humanoid labourers, and piles of freshly mined gold. Enterprising merchants have set up trading posts to help relieve the orcs of the latter.

The entrance to this branch can be found between levels 9 and 12 of the Dungeon.

This branch is 2 levels deep.

This branch contains the entrance to the Elven Halls.

Orc entry.png The Orcish Mines are an early branch full of orcs, gold, and the entrance to the Elven Halls. Although the Mines lack a rune, the bottom floor contains a guaranteed collection of shops, and the gold found along the way makes it easy to afford any particularly useful treasures they may sell.

Layout

The Orcish Mines are two floors deep and found between Dungeon:9-12. The entrance stairs are usually decorated with orcish idols and occasionally even altars to Beogh, and they are often guarded by a large group of orcs.

Orc:1 consists of very open, cavernous areas. Sometimes, these sections can be disconnected - you can access them by using the upstairs on Orc:2. The Mines are made almost entirely out of digging rock, so a wand of digging can make shortcuts or chokepoints. Expect almost no hallways aside from those you dig yourself.

Orc:2

Orc:2 features an end vault, often with organized buildings. These layouts can vary greatly (as can their difficulty), ranging from a handful of scattered rooms, to one huge room dominating much of the level, to an entire fortified compound housing Saint Roka and a throng of followers.

Orc:2's end vault guarantees 4 shops. Additional shops may spawn through random level generation.

Useful Info

It's easy to get surrounded in the Mines. You'll often encounter at least a few orcs upon entry, who will shout to alert nearby enemies. Use stair dancing to separate groups of orcs; even a crowd of orc warriors and priests can be a handful.

Monster difficulty is variable. Most denizens are plain orcs, warriors, priests, and wizards. You'll also encounter orc sorcerers, orc high priests, orc knights, and usually one or two orc warlords. A few other monsters, such as ogres and stone giants, can spawn. Since almost everything is armed, pay attention to weapon brands. There's a good chance to encounter orcs with electrocution, distortion, etc.

The mines typically contain 1000-3000 gold, and a host of shops on Orc:2. You'll also find plenty of equipment from the orcs themselves, so there's a good chance to find branded gear. Melee orcs carry plate armour and heavy weaponry, while you'll find plenty of robes from the mages.

Strategy

While plain orcs and orc warriors shouldn't be a big threat for those encountering the Orcish Mines, it's still a moderately difficult branch. The Lair is widely considered to be easier. After all, Orc can contain serious out of depth threats like ettins and stone giants, while swarms of orcs can be hard to deal with.

The Orcish Mines are worth clearing eventually - usually after Lair. While it isn't mandatory, the gold, guaranteed shops, XP, and access to Elven Halls make it worth it. The shops aren't guaranteed to be useful, but there's a good chance that you'll find something nice to buy.

Some characters, namely Venom Mages (Orc has less poison-resistant monsters than Lair), may want to dip into Orc "early".

Useful Traits

No resistance is mandatory for clearing Orc, but there are a few that are useful:

Monsters

o Orc.png Orc o Orc wizard.png Orc wizard o Orc priest.png Orc priest o Orc warrior.png Orc warrior
o Orc knight.png Orc knight o Orc sorcerer.png Orc sorcerer o Orc high priest.png Orc high priest o Orc warlord.png Orc warlord
g Gnoll.png Gnoll g Gnoll bouda.png Gnoll shaman g Gnoll sergeant.png Gnoll sergeant h Warg.png Warg
T Troll.png Troll (monster) T Deep troll.png Deep troll T Iron troll.png Iron troll
O Ogre.png Ogre (monster) O Two-headed ogre.png Two-headed ogre O Ogre mage.png Ogre mage
C Cyclops.png Cyclops C Stone giant.png Stone giant C Ettin.png Ettin

One of the Orc:2 final vaults, pf_orc_diabolical, features several demonspawn and common demons guarding a portal to the Pandemonium:

4 Chaos spawn.png chaos spawn 4 Hellwing.png hellwing 4 Ice devil.png ice devil 4 Orange demon.png orange demon
4 Red devil.png red devil 4 Rust devil.png rust devil 3 Neqoxec.png neqoxec 3 Sixfirhy.png sixfirhy
3 Smoke demon.png smoke demon 3 Soul eater.png soul eater 3 Sun demon.png sun demon 3 Ynoxinul.png ynoxinul
6 Demonspawn.png demonspawn (monster)

Uniques

6 Amaemon.png Amaemon R Azrael.png Azrael @ Donald.png Donald x Erica.png Erica
O Erolcha.png Erolcha e Fannar.png Fannar w Gastronok.png Gastronok @ Harold.png Harold
g Jorgrun.png Jorgrun @ Josephine.png Josephine f Maurice.png Maurice o Nergalle.png Nergalle
c Nessos.png Nessos @ Rupert.png Rupert o Saint Roka.png Saint Roka T Snorg.png Snorg
K Sonja.png Sonja o Urug.png Urug

History

  • Prior to 0.18, the Orcish Mines were four levels deep.
  • Prior to 0.14, the Orcish Mines' entrance was located on D:6-11.
  • Earlier versions of Crawl had sections of the Orcish Mines that were completely disconnected from all other areas. Using shafts, escape hatches, or teleports carelessly could maroon your character in an unescapable area, unless you had a source of digging or teleportation.
Dungeon branches
Dungeon exit.png The DungeonTemple entry.png The TempleDepths entry.png The DepthsZot entry.png Realm of Zot
Lair entry.png The Lair ( Spider entry.png Spider's NestSnake entry.png Snake PitSwamp entry.png The SwampShoals entry.png The ShoalsSlime entry.png Slime Pits)
Orc entry.png Orcish Mines ( Elf entry.png Elven Halls) • Vaults entry.png The Vaults ( Crypt entry.png The CryptTomb entry.png The Tomb)
Abyss entry.png The AbyssPandemonium entry.png PandemoniumHell entry.png Hell ( Cocytus entry.png CocytusDis entry.pngDisGehenna entry.png GehennaTartarus entry.png Tartarus)
See also: Portal