The Crypt

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

A huge repository for the ancient dead. The air is chill and fetid, the walls cold and damp. Bones are strewn liberally everywhere and the whole place resounds with the keening of the tortured souls of the unquiet dead. The Crypt is five levels deep and can be found between Vault:2 and Vault:3. It contains the entrance to the Tomb.

These stairs lead to an ancient crypt. Unfortunately, not everything that was buried there had the decency to stay dead.

The Crypt is a 5-floor branch, its entrance found on Vaults:2 or 3. It is filled with all manner of undead opponents, and although it does not contain a rune of Zot, it does hold the mummy-guarded entrance to the Tomb, as well as a large amount of treasure guarded by powerful undead foes on the final floor.

Layout

the Crypts are made up of claustrophobic, winding hallways and large open chambers, all of which are built of dig-proof stone or metal walls. Web traps are a common sight here, choking hallways but also allowing cautious players to ensnare pursuing opponents.

The Crypt is also a very silent place (one might even say "dead quiet"), so noises will carry farther than you're accustomed to. While the majority of the Crypt's inhabitants attack you in relative silence (flying skulls are one of the few forms of undead capable of alerting others of your presence), even the noise made by your weapons striking your foes will be attracting attention. See the page on noise for more details.

Useful Info

Players will find their poison, draining, or pain-branded weapons all but useless here; holy wrath weapons and Dispel Undead are much more useful for clearing out the almost entirely undead population here, and scrolls of holy word make excellent room-clearing nukes, particularly if you worship a good god. Negative energy resistance will come in handy to negate enemy draining attacks and mitigate the impact of torment (an uncommon but significant threat). See invisible is also worth keeping on hand, as vampire knights can be surprisingly dangerous to players who fail to notice them until they reach melee range.

Beyond that, there are a handful of casters capable of hitting you with various elemental spells, and many of the opponents here hit fairly hard (ghouls, bone dragons, and ancient champions are particularly nasty in melee), so high AC/EV and a rank of fire and cold resistance will certainly help. Finally, don't be afraid to look up opponents you aren't familiar with, as many of the opponents here behave in very unusual ways, and a few of them (curse skulls, liches, ancient liches), curse toes, and the powerful unique Khufu) are extreme threats that deserve serious caution.

Useful Traits

• A holy wrath weapon
• Dispel Undead
• Strong physical defenses
• Negative energy resistance
• See invisible

Crypt:5

The fifth floor of the Crypt always has a treasure vault, which can be sized anywhere from a modest room to all of the map. These always contain some of the most powerful undead enemies in the game, but often hold living and golem opponents as well.

Eye to Eye With the Devil: A small chamber which forces you to deal with multiple ancient liches, offensive statues, and other potent threats before reaching the loot.

Haunted Forest: A full-floor graveyard, filled with dead trees, gravestones, and mausoleums, each of which contains a variety of angry inhabitants.

Cryptofortress: A full-floor undead fortress, guarded by iron golems. Exploration will reveal powerful liches, mummies, and vampires guarding the various loot heaps.

Monsters

W Shadow	W Hungry ghost	W Silent spectre	W Flayed ghost	3 Soul eater	2 Reaper
W Wraith	W Freezing wraith	W Shadow wraith	W Phantasmal warrior	W Eidolon
z Flaming corpse	n Plague shambler	n Ghoul (monster)	D Bone dragon	z Flying skull	z Curse skull
p Necromancer (monster)	q Deep dwarf death knight	e Deep elf death mage	z Wight	z Skeletal warrior	z Ancient champion
V Vampire (monster)	V Vampire mage	V Vampire knight	V Jiangshi
L Unborn	z Revenant	L Lich	L Ancient lich

Placed by vaults

( Dancing weapon	9 Iron golem	9 Crystal guardian	z Curse toe	p Hell knight	H Sphinx	A Profane servitor
M Mummy (monster)	M Guardian mummy	M Mummy priest	File:Greater mummy.png Greater mummy	M Khufu

History

Prior to 0.14, there were crystal golems instead of crystal guardians.

Prior to 0.13, the Crypt had another monster set. Zombies, skeletons, and skeletal warriors were by a very large margin the most common monsters. It also was more quiet.