Difference between revisions of "Iskenderun's Mystic Tower"

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(Source / version updates once more. This page has a lot of tactics and strategy mentioned, so I hope my re-write doesn't edge too far away from factual information.)
(Complete overhaul to make the page sound less rambling, incorporating the 0.14 information from Tower's update.)
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{{version014}}
 
{{version014}}
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Iskenderun is a master of pure [[Conjurations]], and her mystical tower [[Wizlab]] certainly reflects this. Among the [[cloud]]s of purple fog reside deep elven and draconian students of the destructive arts, along with magically imbued statues capable of casting powerful magic.
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Suitable for a master of pure [[Conjurations]], '''Iskenderun's Mystic Tower''' is a [[Wizlab]] which reflects her taste for raw devastation. Among the [[cloud]]s of purple fog reside deep elven and draconian students of the destructive arts, along with magically imbued statues capable of casting powerful magic.
  
−
== Layout ==
+
==Layout==
 +
This Wizlab consists of a rectangular room with oddly structured rock walls, a wide open area in the middle, and the eponymous Mystic Tower in the center of the chamber. Purple smoke billows out from the walls, which are built with a checkerboard pattern that offers easy access to cover when needed. The entrance (as well as the exit) is located in one of the corners of the outer wall, out of any immediate harm's way. If you don't feel up to handling this area, don't be afraid to turn and run, particularly if you aren't able to benefit from the caster-centric loot at the end.
  
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The metal-walled main tower lies in the center of the chamber. The magenta walls along the edges of the room and the outside layer of the tower are spaced in a checkerboard pattern that breaks up line of sight, which aides against the irresistable ranged on all monsters within the vault: there are also [[LOS]]-obscuring purple smoke generators embedded in the rock. Spaced outside the tower are eight conjurer statues (2s below) that will hurl [[Orb of Destruction|Orbs of Destruction]] at you, notably destroying the rock cover if it misses and thus making it easy to continue firing orbs. The tower itself has a spread of [[deep elf mage]]s and [[purple draconian]]s (1s below).
+
Eight [[conjurer statue]]s stand guard in the open area, evenly spaced around the tower and hurling [[Orbs of Destruction]] at any intruder that gets within their [[line of sight]]. They are assisted by a horde of [[deep elf mage]]s and [[purple draconian]]s (roughly equal in composition) which will blast you with arcane forces once they spot you. Beyond these foes, there is a [[door]] leading into the tower found roughly opposite the corner you entered from. Inside you'll find one more conjurer statue, a few more draconians, and the Wizlab's loot: two [[Conjurations]]-themed [[artefact]] [[spellbook]]s, four mundane and random spellbooks, a [[robe of the Archmagi]], and two miscellaneous decent-quality items.
  
−
Once you've entered the tower through the door on one side, you'll have to deal with one final statue that guards the three inner doors. Each door contains a purple draconian sitting on top of some of the treasure contains: two [[Conjurations]] artefact spell books, four mundane and random spellbooks, a fixed [[Robe of the Archmagi]], and two miscellaneous decent-quality items.
+
==Monsters==
 +
{{monsterlink|Deep elf mage}}- These mages only generate with their Conjurations-focused spell set: [[Magic Dart]] (3d4), [[Force Lance]] (3d10), two slots of [[Iskenderun's Battlesphere]], and [[Iskenderun's Mystic Blast]] (3d12). They're relatively weak for Wizlab entrance depth, but are densely packed throughout the border of the tower.
 +
 
 +
{{monsterlink|Purple draconian}}- Lacking in magic but possessing a buff-dispelling breath attack, these comprise the main threat of the vault. Their breath deals a significant, irresistible 3d20, and they possess passable melee damage and high health. Losing buffs while attempting to destroy the conjurer statues can be lethal, so picking the draconians off first from the level border is highly recommended.
 +
 
 +
===Conjurer Statues===
 +
{{flavour|At first glance, this piece of sculpted granite seems inert. The red glow from its eyes, however, suggest it is no mere stone. Although it is rooted to its base, you are certain that it can
 +
still move parts of itself.}}
 +
 
 +
{{monsterlink|Conjurer statue}}- The conjurer statues spread throughout the laboratory can cast [[Orb of Destruction]] against you from any range within their line of sight. This produces a fast-moving projectile that ignores EV and deals immense damage, especially if it's cast at long range. The Orb must actually travel the distance from the caster to you, usually taking a few turns to do so, and will pursue you if you attempt to dodge it. Outrunning it is impossible, but hiding behind walls destroys it (rock walls will be destroyed in the process, while stone and metal are unharmed).
 +
 
 +
==Recommendations==
 +
All damage you'll sustain here is non-elemental and subject to [[AC]] and [[SH]]; as such heavily armoured thugs should have an easy time of it, so long as they go slowly, luring enemies into combat a few at a time and not spending more time in the line of sight of the conjurer statues than they have to. EV-based fighters will have a harder time of things, as Orbs of Destruction ignore EV entirely. It's still certainly possible, but caution is advised, and you may wish to [[blink]] into melee range with a statue to greatly reduce its opportunities to kill you. Elemental spellcasters of all stripes should be able to easily out-blast the wandering mages and draconians, but be aware that purple draconian breath will regularly strip you of your buffs, and the conjurer statues are very resistant to most elemental magic. Straight [[Conjurations]] or [[Earth Magic]] (particularly [[Lee's Rapid Deconstruction]]) should carve them up quite easily, however. In all cases, remember: you ''cannot outrun an Orb of Destruction'', but you can hide behind cover safely. The rock walls will crumble after getting hit once, however, so don't expect a single rock wall tile to block multiple Orbs.
 +
 
 +
In general, this Wizlab is only truly dangerous if you fail to take your time. Conjurer statues are deadly if allowed to hit you multiple times, or while fighting other foes. A single Orb of Destruction, however, is unlikely to one-shot even the weakest (reasonably leveled) character, and since you can always just walk away from them, there's little excuse to get killed by them. Explore the level, keeping to the wall edges and avoiding the deadly open space, killing off mages and draconians as you go and exploring further when you run out of opponents. They aren't terribly dangerous individually, but a large enough group can deal heavy ranged damage quickly, especially for low-AC, low-HP characters; keep your buffs up to minimize the [[Iskenderun's Mystic Blast]]s and don't abandon cover carelessly. If you have [[Silence]] and feel comfortable in your melee skills, killing off the deep elves is easy, but the draconians and statues will still be trouble. [[Invisibility]] works well here, except in that it has no effect against the deep elves. Finally, if you have a [[scroll of fog]], you can cut line of sight to all attackers, stopping ''most'' attack spells briefly. This has no effect on any Orbs of Destruction already in flight, however.
 +
 
 +
Once you've cleared out the mobile forces, take out the statue guarding the entrance, heal up, and head inside. The final statue isn't any different than the others you've faced so far, but it is several tiles away; blinking into melee or to avoid its shots is advisable here. Once you've cleared that, take out the last few purple draconians and the loot is yours.
 +
 
 +
==Recommendations==
 +
*High [[HP]], [[AC]], [[SH]]
 +
*[[Lee's Rapid Deconstruction]]
 +
*[[Blink]] or [[Controlled Blink]] as an emergency Orb dodge
 +
*[[Silence]] (but not vs. statues or draconians)
 +
*[[Invisibility]] (but not vs. deep elves)
 +
*[[Haste]]
 +
*[[Repel Missiles]]/[[Deflect Missiles]]
 +
 
 +
==Map==
 +
The symbols in the map below are defined as follows:
 +
 
 +
'''v''' - Metal wall
 +
 
 +
'''x''' - Rock wall
 +
 
 +
'''.''' - Floor
  
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As with most portal vaults, the exit is available without fighting anything, further inside the initial diagonal tunnels. If you decide to stay, anticipate heavy amounts of incoming conjurations in worst-case scenarios; especially fragile or weak characters should seriously consider leaving this tower alone.
+
'''+''' - Door
  
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There's no surefire way to ensure your survival in this area; [[Repel Missiles|Repel]] or [[Deflect Missiles]] will help protect you from Mystic Blast and the draconians' breath attacks, but won't do anything about the statues' Orbs of Destruction nor the battlespheres. [[Silence]] will only work on the mages and not the statues or draconians, making it a questionable tool to manage the vault. Shields of [[Reflection_(ego)|reflection]] can reflect up to and including the orbs of destruction, though they naturally have their own opportunity costs. Movement aides such as [[Blink]] or [[Swiftness]] can help you dodge the Orbs, but will usually leave valuable cover in the process. Even [[scroll of fog|scrolls of fog]] to immediately obscure LOS and thus briefly block all threats won't stop any orbs mid-flight or directly-adjacent monsters. Altogether, as such, high [[AC]], [[HP]], and (possibly) [[SH]] provide main deciding factors for most characters taking on the vault.
+
'''"''' - Purple smoke generator
  
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The diagonal out-reaches of the vault are the most important tool for any attempt at the vault: obscuring LOS prevents monsters from firing at you or orbs from hitting you, drastically reducing the barrage. Taking the level slowly by awakening and picking off the deep elves and draconians while stepping through the rock to the safe corners or orthogonal edges is the ideal approach, as it allows resting and abusing the immobility / slow regeneration of the statues. Running into the metal border of the tower will mostly negate the threat of the statues, as the orbs' slow turning and imprecise flight path will easily harmlessly hit the metal, but will also allow the majority of the deep elves and draconians to wander over to the player at once. Moving constantly through the open space leaves no cover and makes it difficult to dodge orbs, making it the most dangerous of paths.
+
'''=, -''' - One of these two will be the entry door to the tower (60% chance of =, 40% chance of -).
  
−
==Monsters==
+
'''1''' - Thirty-two deep elf mages or purple draconians, divided as follows: four have a 95% chance to be draconian, and a 5% chance to be deep elves; six have a 60% chance of draconian, 40% of deep elf, and twenty-two have a 40% chance of draconian, 60% of deep elf. The final mix is roughly even.
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{{monsterlink|Deep elf mage}}- These mages exclusively have their conjurations-focused spell set: [[Magic Dart]] (3d4), [[Force Lance]] (3d10), two slots of [[Iskenderun's Battlesphere]], and [[Iskenderun's Mystic Blast]] (3d12). They're relatively weak for Wizlab entrance depth, but are densely packed throughout the border of the tower.
 
  
−
{{monsterlink|Purple draconian}}- Lacking in magic but possessing an dispelling breath attack, these comprise of the main threat of the vault against the cautious. Their breath, as with all monster dispelling breath, is fixed at 3d20, and possess passable melee and high health. Losing buffs as one might try to defeat the conjurer statues can be lethal, so picking them off from the level border is highly recommended.
+
'''2''' - Conjurer statue
  
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===Conjurer Statues===
+
'''D, E, F''' - Treasure (with a purple draconian on top)
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{{flavour|At first glance, this piece of sculpted granite seems inert. The red glow from its eyes, however, suggest it is no mere stone. Although it is rooted to its base, you are certain that it can still move parts of itself.}}
 
−
{{LightRed|8}} [[File:Conjurer statue.png]] The '''[[conjurer statue]]s''' spread throughout the laboratory can cast [[Orb of Destruction]], a fast-moving separate projectile that will skip EV to deal immense damage and will take wide turns while wobbling through their path, which will break up the rock border or dissipate against the metal tower if dodged. Rush-down, buff-abuse tactics are ideal for breaking down each statue, though all but one or two can be avoided outright. Their elemental resistances limit magic against them to select [[summon]]s, earth magic and non-elemental conjurations (and they are especially weak to [[Lee%27s Rapid Deconstruction]].)
 
  
−
== Source ==
+
''''''' - Swaps places with '''F''' if '''-''' is the entry way
−
The 1s are the above deep elf mages and purple draconians: four have a 5% chance to be deep elves and a 95% chance to be draconians each, six have a 40 and 60% chance for deep elves and draconians, and the rest (twenty-two) have a 60% chance to be deep elves and a 40% chance to be empty floor, each. The 2s are the conjurer statues, x designate (notably destructable) rock, v designates metal, and " are purple smoke cloud machines. The entry door is randomly the = (60% chance) or the - (40% chance), and the other doors in the chamber will lead to isolated purple draconians on-top of the primary vault loot (DEF, with F swapping with the ' when - is the door in). [[http://s-z.org/neil/git/?p=crawl.git;a=blob;f=crawl-ref/source/dat/des/portals/wizlab.des;hb=7225c62f196562aaa461aaba55639fb25dfc82fc#l1244|A 0.14.1 source link.]]
 
  
 
<pre>
 
<pre>
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</pre>
 
</pre>
  
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== History ==
+
[[http://s-z.org/neil/git/?p=crawl.git;a=blob;f=crawl-ref/source/dat/des/portals/wizlab.des;hb=7225c62f196562aaa461aaba55639fb25dfc82fc#l1244|A 0.14.1 source link.]]
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*Before [[0.14|0.14-9ae1ffb6 and 0.14-ffe6da32]], the vault had many minor differences. The level was more rectangular and the outside was fringed with stone, which made it resistant to the statues' orbs of destruction. The top- and bottom-most statues weren't present, and statues would dilute their casting slots with [[Iskenderun%27s Mystic Blast]]. The entry door was fixed at the point where the = is on the above map, the robe of the archmagi was absent from specific definition, and the draconians were evenly divided with the deep elf mages in a 33% chance for either or nothing for each 1 above (as an artifact from before purple draconians got their dispelling breath). Altogether, the vault was mostly less dangerous, aside from the chances for a very large amount of purple draconians.
+
 
 +
==History==
 +
*Prior to [[0.14|0.14-9ae1ffb6 and 0.14-ffe6da32]], this Wizlab had many minor differences. The level was more rectangular and the outside was fringed with stone walls, which made it resistant to the statues' Orbs of Destruction. The top- and bottom-most statues weren't present, and statues would dilute their casting slots with [[Iskenderun's Mystic Blast]]. The entry door was fixed at the point where the = is on the above map, the robe of the archmagi was absent from specific definition, and all of the '''1'''s had equal odds of being draconians, deep elves, or nothing (as an artifact from before purple draconians got their dispelling breath). All told, the vault was significantly less dangerous.
  
 
[[Category:Dungeon Branches]]
 
[[Category:Dungeon Branches]]

Revision as of 19:14, 18 July 2014

Version 0.14: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Suitable for a master of pure Conjurations, Iskenderun's Mystic Tower is a Wizlab which reflects her taste for raw devastation. Among the clouds of purple fog reside deep elven and draconian students of the destructive arts, along with magically imbued statues capable of casting powerful magic.

Layout

This Wizlab consists of a rectangular room with oddly structured rock walls, a wide open area in the middle, and the eponymous Mystic Tower in the center of the chamber. Purple smoke billows out from the walls, which are built with a checkerboard pattern that offers easy access to cover when needed. The entrance (as well as the exit) is located in one of the corners of the outer wall, out of any immediate harm's way. If you don't feel up to handling this area, don't be afraid to turn and run, particularly if you aren't able to benefit from the caster-centric loot at the end.

Eight conjurer statues stand guard in the open area, evenly spaced around the tower and hurling Orbs of Destruction at any intruder that gets within their line of sight. They are assisted by a horde of deep elf mages and purple draconians (roughly equal in composition) which will blast you with arcane forces once they spot you. Beyond these foes, there is a door leading into the tower found roughly opposite the corner you entered from. Inside you'll find one more conjurer statue, a few more draconians, and the Wizlab's loot: two Conjurations-themed artefact spellbooks, four mundane and random spellbooks, a robe of the Archmagi, and two miscellaneous decent-quality items.

Monsters

e Deep elf mage.png Deep elf mage- These mages only generate with their Conjurations-focused spell set: Magic Dart (3d4), Force Lance (3d10), two slots of Iskenderun's Battlesphere, and Iskenderun's Mystic Blast (3d12). They're relatively weak for Wizlab entrance depth, but are densely packed throughout the border of the tower.

d Purple draconian.png Purple draconian- Lacking in magic but possessing a buff-dispelling breath attack, these comprise the main threat of the vault. Their breath deals a significant, irresistible 3d20, and they possess passable melee damage and high health. Losing buffs while attempting to destroy the conjurer statues can be lethal, so picking the draconians off first from the level border is highly recommended.

Conjurer Statues

At first glance, this piece of sculpted granite seems inert. The red glow from its eyes, however, suggest it is no mere stone. Although it is rooted to its base, you are certain that it can

still move parts of itself.

8 Conjurer statue.png Conjurer statue- The conjurer statues spread throughout the laboratory can cast Orb of Destruction against you from any range within their line of sight. This produces a fast-moving projectile that ignores EV and deals immense damage, especially if it's cast at long range. The Orb must actually travel the distance from the caster to you, usually taking a few turns to do so, and will pursue you if you attempt to dodge it. Outrunning it is impossible, but hiding behind walls destroys it (rock walls will be destroyed in the process, while stone and metal are unharmed).

Recommendations

All damage you'll sustain here is non-elemental and subject to AC and SH; as such heavily armoured thugs should have an easy time of it, so long as they go slowly, luring enemies into combat a few at a time and not spending more time in the line of sight of the conjurer statues than they have to. EV-based fighters will have a harder time of things, as Orbs of Destruction ignore EV entirely. It's still certainly possible, but caution is advised, and you may wish to blink into melee range with a statue to greatly reduce its opportunities to kill you. Elemental spellcasters of all stripes should be able to easily out-blast the wandering mages and draconians, but be aware that purple draconian breath will regularly strip you of your buffs, and the conjurer statues are very resistant to most elemental magic. Straight Conjurations or Earth Magic (particularly Lee's Rapid Deconstruction) should carve them up quite easily, however. In all cases, remember: you cannot outrun an Orb of Destruction, but you can hide behind cover safely. The rock walls will crumble after getting hit once, however, so don't expect a single rock wall tile to block multiple Orbs.

In general, this Wizlab is only truly dangerous if you fail to take your time. Conjurer statues are deadly if allowed to hit you multiple times, or while fighting other foes. A single Orb of Destruction, however, is unlikely to one-shot even the weakest (reasonably leveled) character, and since you can always just walk away from them, there's little excuse to get killed by them. Explore the level, keeping to the wall edges and avoiding the deadly open space, killing off mages and draconians as you go and exploring further when you run out of opponents. They aren't terribly dangerous individually, but a large enough group can deal heavy ranged damage quickly, especially for low-AC, low-HP characters; keep your buffs up to minimize the Iskenderun's Mystic Blasts and don't abandon cover carelessly. If you have Silence and feel comfortable in your melee skills, killing off the deep elves is easy, but the draconians and statues will still be trouble. Invisibility works well here, except in that it has no effect against the deep elves. Finally, if you have a scroll of fog, you can cut line of sight to all attackers, stopping most attack spells briefly. This has no effect on any Orbs of Destruction already in flight, however.

Once you've cleared out the mobile forces, take out the statue guarding the entrance, heal up, and head inside. The final statue isn't any different than the others you've faced so far, but it is several tiles away; blinking into melee or to avoid its shots is advisable here. Once you've cleared that, take out the last few purple draconians and the loot is yours.

Recommendations

Map

The symbols in the map below are defined as follows:

v - Metal wall

x - Rock wall

. - Floor

+ - Door

" - Purple smoke generator

=, - - One of these two will be the entry door to the tower (60% chance of =, 40% chance of -).

1 - Thirty-two deep elf mages or purple draconians, divided as follows: four have a 95% chance to be draconian, and a 5% chance to be deep elves; six have a 60% chance of draconian, 40% of deep elf, and twenty-two have a 40% chance of draconian, 60% of deep elf. The final mix is roughly even.

2 - Conjurer statue

D, E, F - Treasure (with a purple draconian on top)

'' - Swaps places with F' if - is the entry way 

MAP
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
vxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxv
vxxx..x.x.x.x.x.x.xx"xx.x.x.x.x.x.xx.xxxv
vxx<xxAx.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.xx.xxv
vx.x"xxx.x..........x.............xx"x.xv
vx.xx...............................xxxxv
vxxAx...............2...............x.xxv
vx.xx................................x.xv
vxx.......2.......v...v.......2.......xxv
vx.xx...........v.vv.vv.v............x.xv
vxx............vvv11.11vvv............xxv
vx.x..........v.v1vvvvv1v.v..........x.xv
vxx..........v.v1vvvEvvv1v.v..........xxv
vx.x........vvv1vvvv+vvvv1vvv........x.xv
vxx..........v1vvv.....vvv1v..........xxv
vx.x.......vv1vvv.......vvv1vv.......x.xv
vxxx........v1vvv.......vvv1v........xxxv
vx".x...2.....vD+...2...+'=.....2...x."xv
vxxx........v1vvv.......vvv1v........xxxv
vx.x.......vv1vvv.......vvv1vv.......x.xv
vxx..........v1vvv.....vvv1v..........xxv
vx.x........vvv1vvvv+vvvv1vvv........x.xv
vxx..........v.v1vvvFvvv1v.v..........xxv
vx.x..........v.v1vv-vv1v.v..........x.xv
vxx............vvv11.11vvv............xxv
vx.x............v.vv.vv.v............x.xv
vxx.......2.......v...v.......2.......xxv
vx.x.................................x.xv
vxx.x...............2...............x.xxv
vxxxx...............................xxxxv
vx.x"xx.............x.............xx"x.xv
vxx.xx.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.xx.xxv
vxxx.xx.x.x.x.x.x.xx"xx.x.x.x.x.x.xx.xxxv
vxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxv
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
ENDMAP

[0.14.1 source link.]

History

  • Prior to 0.14-9ae1ffb6 and 0.14-ffe6da32, this Wizlab had many minor differences. The level was more rectangular and the outside was fringed with stone walls, which made it resistant to the statues' Orbs of Destruction. The top- and bottom-most statues weren't present, and statues would dilute their casting slots with Iskenderun's Mystic Blast. The entry door was fixed at the point where the = is on the above map, the robe of the archmagi was absent from specific definition, and all of the 1s had equal odds of being draconians, deep elves, or nothing (as an artifact from before purple draconians got their dispelling breath). All told, the vault was significantly less dangerous.
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