Dungeon Descent

Trunk-only: This article pertains to a feature of Crawl which is being tested. It will likely change before the next release, and may even be removed entirely.

Mode with a branching, one-way path through the Dungeon.

Dungeon Descent (Descent, Ironman) is a Crawl variant, along with Dungeon Sprint. Descent mode is similar to the main game, but you can never go back up a floor, only down.

Useful Info

Descent mode has a number of changes from regular Crawl:

• When going down a regular set of stairs, you get the Peek status that allows you to preview the next floor. During Peek, you can go back up without spending time on the lower floor (note: you still wait 1.5 turns after going back up). You also get to view the location of all 3 stairs, and the surrounding area of said stairs.
  • Using an escape hatch or shaft does not let you peek, so you get none of the above benefits.
  • Making any move during Peek (besides going up) destroys all upstairs on the level, preventing you from going up again. Using a hatch or shaft will also destroy stairs.
  • Ignis' Rising Flame ability still lets you go up a floor.
• A Debt mechanic is introduced. If you don't have enough gold, you can still buy items from a shop. Doing so puts you into debt, which prevents you from buying other items until it is cleared. Any gold you collect is used to pay off debt. Debt is exactly equal to price - current_gold; there is no interest, and there are no other downsides to going into debt.
• Runes of Zot are optional; rune locks do not exist.
• The malevolent force mechanic does not exist.
• Certain vaults do not appear.
• Branch order and length is adjusted. See below for details.

Map

New characters start on level one of the Dungeon. Delvers start at level two.

Branches separated by a bar (|) are choices you can make, e.g. on D:12, you can enter either Lair or Depths. Branches in unbolded italics indicate that they are not part of the intended progression - you will skip branches if you enter them.

1. The Dungeon (12 levels)
2. The Lair (5 levels) | The Depths (4 levels)
3. Orcish Mines (2 levels) | The Slime Pits (5 levels)
4. One of { The Swamp OR The Shoals } (4 levels) | One of { Snake Pit OR Spider's Nest } (4 levels)
5. Elven Halls (3 levels) | The Crypt (3 levels)
6. The Vaults (5 levels)
7. The Slime Pits (5 levels) | The Depths (4 levels)
8. The Depths (4 levels)
9. The Realm of Zot (5 levels)

On Zot:5, there is an exit to the end of the game, so the orb run only lasts for one floor.

Special:

• The Abyss, Pandemonium, and other portal levels work like normal. Their portals appear in the usual locations, and you can escape back to where you came.
• Entrances to the Vestibule of Hell appear in Depths. The Vestibule allows you to go back into Depths. The four hells (Cocytus, Gehenna, Tartarus, Dis) lead you back to the Vestibule at their ends.
• The Temple and Tomb do not exist.

With the given branches available, it is possible to get 13 runes of Zot.

Strategy

Without one of the most important escape tools in Crawl, stairs, Descent is naturally harder than the main game. Essentially, you are shafted when entering each new floor: resting is harder, you can't stair dance, and escaping from dangerous out-of-depth monsters is difficult. You can no longer "retreat upwards, then go down a different downstair", so you are more reliant on consumables to get out of bad situations.

At the time of writing, there is no compensation to monster or item generation in Descent.

Due to the changes in the Dungeon's layout, there are a few oddities:

• As there is no Temple, you'll find all the altars in the main Dungeon.
• Branch entrances are guarded by appropriate monsters. So you can find hydras and bog bodies near the Swamp's entrance in Orc, bone dragons and curse skulls near the Crypt's entrance in Spider, etc.

History

• Descent mode will be added in 0.31.