The Lair

Version 0.34: This article is up to date for the latest stable release of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

Most adventurers find the Lair of Beasts to be an exciting change of climate. And indeed, there is something to be said about getting gored, mauled and eaten rather than sliced, burnt or stabbed. The Lair contains the entrances to one of the Swamp or the Shoals, one of the Snake Pit or the Spider Nest, and to the Pits of Slime. The entrance to this branch can be found between levels 8 and 11 of the Dungeon. This branch is 5 levels deep.

The Lair of Beasts (commonly known as the Lair) is a branch filled with natural beasts. While the Lair itself doesn't have a Rune of Zot, it features entrances to three themed branches that do. There is one poison-themed branch (the Snake Pit or the Spider's Nest), one water-themed branch (the Swamp or the Shoals), and the acid-themed Slime Pits.

The staircase to the Lair is located on D:8-11, and is often surrounded by plants, fungi, or occasionally an oklob plant. There may also be multiple denizens of the Lair scattered around the entrance, like yaks, basilisks, or a komodo dragon.

Layout

The Lair is 5 levels deep. Floor layouts vary significantly, including wide open chambers with almost no cover, series of interconnected small chambers with narrow hallways between them, and open areas dotted with either small forests or ponds. The topography of the Lair is quite irregular; while narrow passages exist, often there will be few true one-tile-wide tunnels, ensuring the various pack animals have ways to swarm passersby. In any case, there will often be pools of shallow water, deep water, and occasionally lava placed throughout.

While there are very few altars found in the Lair, those wishing to worship Jiyva can often (66%) find an altar immediately outside of the Slime Pits on Lair:4 or 5.

Lair:5

The bottom floor of the Lair is generally fairly open, but will always contain one or two end vaults that contain both an assortment of stronger monsters and a selection of treasure. These vaults may range from a secluded set of caves to a forest containing a temple or perhaps several bands of spriggans. See the #Lair:5 vaults section below for what to expect from the different options.

Like other branch ends, Lair:5 is usually more dangerous than the preceding floors, so explore it carefully.

Strategy

At the very least, this branch is worth doing for the XP, items, and access to 3 different rune branches. Lair is usually easier to tackle than the late Dungeon (D:13+) and Orcish Mines, as the other branches are more likely to have nasty out-of-depth monsters. Dungeon has the threat of banishment and otherwise scary OODs (even storm dragons at the worst). Orc can host brutish ettins and stone giants, and has a paralysis threat in orc sorcerers.

Lair is filled with animals. A good chunk of enemies (cane toads, black mambas, skysharks) are fast and potentially deadly. Hydras can be obscenely strong melee threats, depending on the number of heads. Ravens can rapidly inflict Doom, elephants can shove you off the stairs, lindwurms and rime drakes can fire elemental ranged attacks, and death yaks are tough pack enemies with high willpower.

Poison resistance can be helpful, due to the common presence of fast venomous creatures, but is very far from necessary. Most other resistances aren't necessary either, though having swappable resistances (rF+ for lindwurms, rC+ for rime drakes, rCorr for oklob plants...) won't hurt.

The Lair's sub-branches are significantly more difficult than Lair itself. At the bare minimum, you'll want to clear Lair:1-5 before entering any of the branches. Many players will additionally clear Dungeon and Orc before attempting any of the branches. Also, note that the Slime Pits is much more difficult than the other possible branches, so is often saved for much later in the game.

Monsters

Common Monsters

Y Yak	Y Death yak	Y Dream sheep	Y Elephant	Y Catoblepas
h Wolf	h Black bear	h Polar bear	F Blink frog	F Cane toad
S Water moccasin	S Black mamba	l Wyvern	D Steam dragon	l Komodo dragon
k Rime drake	l Basilisk	S Electric eel	k Lindwurm	b Raven
l Skyshark	D Hydra	w Torpor snail	B Boulder beetle	t Mountainshell

Rare Monsters

t Fire crab

H Manticore

s Wolf spider

l Alligator

S Anaconda

Monsters native to a lair branch may reside at its entrance; merfolk for the Shoals, redbacks for the Spider's Nest, etc.
There are also many pregenerated vaults with monsters inside (ex. a Hive filled with killer bees and a queen bee).

Uniques

6 Amaemon	x Erica	e Fannar	w Gastronok
g Grum	@ Harold	@ Joseph	@ Josephine
@ Kirke	@ Maggie	o Nergalle	c Nessos
F Prince Ribbit	@ Rupert	T Snorg	K Sonja
o Urug

Lair:5 vaults

The last level of the Lair is more difficult than the previous levels. It always includes at least one of these vaults -- either one large vault, or two small vaults.

Large lair end vaults

• minmay_lair_end_enchanted_forest: A forest populated by various wild beasts as well as several spriggans, some spriggan riders, and a few boggarts.
• due_jungle_book: A temple in the middle of a jungle. This vault contains a spectral anaconda with necromancer and dire elephant buddies.
• evil_forest: A forest with a temple guarded by a wizard, who can occasionally have very dangerous spells like Paralyze, Lehudib's Crystal Spear, or Banishment. Past the wizard is a room containing a gateway to the Vestibule of Hell guarded by several demons. Entering the gate at this point is a fast way to die -- at least wait until you're ready for the Depths.
• minmay_lair_end_frog_pond: A large pond containing many frogs, vampire mosquitoes, some electric eels, and a few tyrant leeches.
• evilmike_catoblepas_cave: A series of caves full of yaks, death yaks, and catoblepae signified by the presence of petrified plants and statues around the entrance.
• grunt_lair_end_beastmaster: A deep troll shaman has tamed some beasts including a catoblepas, a pack of death yaks, and one the following: hydra, lindwurm or dire elephant.
• gammafunk_lair_ancient_temple: An open stone structure that has been flooded. Contains an assortment of aquatic monsters, some mythological beasts, and a merfolk avatar.
• cheibrodos_lair_end_hotspot: A miniature volcano full of fiery monsters. The central chamber contains a fire dragon and its hoard.

Small lair end vaults

• wormcave: A cave full of tyrant leeches, torpor snails, hornets, and lindwurms. There's also a single fire or ice dragon guarding a room full of piles of gold, but that fight is optional (don't open the runed door if you aren't ready to face it).
• hangedman_lair_caniforms_friends: An assortment of hound- and bear-type monsters. Expect fire damage from hell hounds, electricity damage from raiju, and heavy physical damage from angry polar bears.
• guppyfry_lair_end_dragon: A grove of trees surrounded by a small lake. Full of lizards and lesser dragons, with one proper dragon in the center.
• hangedman_lair_in_review (S): A series of ruined rooms. This vault is a review of the Lair's monster set: you'll be seeing a variety of different monsters found in the Lair, plus a few more dangerous creatures like manticores.
• hangedman_lair_tendril_chambers: A circular area cut into several wedge-shaped sections full of fast, often venomous monsters (wyverns, black mambas, cane toads, etc.). One or two of the wedges lead to a central chamber that in turn leads to a stone room that contains the treasure and a more dangerous assortment of monsters like wolf spiders, redbacks, and a guardian serpent.

History

• In 0.34, mountainshells were introduced, and ravens were brought back with new mechanics.
• In 0.30, skysharks were introduced.
• Prior to 0.29, the Lair had 6 levels; Slime spawned from Lair:5-6, and the other branches from Lair:2-4. Jiyva's altar near the entrance to Slime was about 50% (based on vault choice) instead of 66%.
• Prior to 0.19, the Lair had 8 levels.
• Fire drakes were replaced by rime drakes in 0.18, trapdoor spiders, brain worms were removed.
• Ravens, giant mites, boring beetles and goliath beetles were removed in 0.17.
• In 0.15, torpor snails were introduced.
• Prior to 0.14, the Lair's entrance was located on D:8-13.
• In 0.12, the dragon-themed and deep troll shaman ending vaults on the eighth floor were added.
• Prior to 0.9, a scroll of magic mapping would reveal the secret rooms of the temple on Lair:8.