Zot:5

Version 0.11: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Zot:5 is the last level of the Realm of Zot. Part of the level is similar to the upper levels; the rest is taken over by the massive Orb chamber, one of several pre-designed vaults containing the Orb of Zot. Picking up the Orb allows you to ascend the Dungeon, escape, and win the game.

The Orb chamber is one of the hardest places you'll have to trudge through, on par with some of the worst Ziggurat floors. It prevents teleport-control and has indestructible walls, a layout that makes monsters likely to come at you, and a mix of the following top-tier monsters:

• Ancient lich: a very powerful spellcaster that can banish you or summon Tier-1 and -2 Demons or cast Lehudib's Crystal Spear et al.
• Orb of fire: very fast, constantly lobbing powerful fireballs, mutates you, high HP and resistances, hits hard.
• Electric golem: extremely fast, blinks, electric attacks
• Orb Guardian: tough, very fast, a lot of them.
• Killer Klown: blinks, has a somewhat random Chaos-type melee brand, but actually, it's not chaos.
• All kinds of dragons and draconians.

Charging in is almost certain suicide. To succeed, consider your build and plan your approach around that. The rest of the page provides helpful information and outlines common strategies.

Orb Chamber Map

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# hall_of_Zot_5
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NAME:       hall_of_Zot
PLACE:      Zot:5
ORIENT:     north
TAGS:       no_dump
LFLAGS:     no_tele_control
LFLOORCOL:  magenta
LROCKCOL:   lightmagenta
LFLOORTILE: floor_rough_magenta
LROCKTILE:  wall_zot_lightmagenta

#traps
SUBST:    C = X:900 c:100
KFEAT:    8 = any trap / w:20 floor
SHUFFLE:  ABab / ^^FF / ^^FF / ^^FF
SHUFFLE:  Aa / Bb
KFEAT:    A = any trap / w:30 floor
KFEAT:    B = any trap / w:10 floor
SUBST:    a=F, b=6 F
SUBST:    ^ = ^ .:10
SUBST:    . = .:500 ^
KMASK:    1! = no_item_gen
SUBST:    ! = ^ .:40

#monsters
MONS:     patrolling Orb Guardian, Killer Klown, electric golem, orb of fire
MONS:     ancient lich, orange crystal statue / silver statue / ice statue
SUBST:    8=8., 8=8., 5=5.
SHUFFLE:  234
SUBST:    ? = .:8 ?
SUBST:    ? : KLM
SUBST:    K = 4:30 5 8 9
SUBST:    L = 4 5:30 8 9
SUBST:    M = 4 5 8:30 9

COLOUR:   c = magenta
TILE:     c = dngn_stone_wall_magenta

KITEM:    Z = Orb of Zot

MAP
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XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.............XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.............XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXX...................XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX...................XXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXX..........3...........XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX...........3..........XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX..8.....................XXXXXXXXXXXXX.....................8..XXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX.......?..?.....8.8.....XXX...1...XXX.....8.8.....?..?.......XXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXX.8...........?.........XX..1...1..XX.........?...........8.XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXX......................X1...!!!...1X......................XXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXX.....4....2....8.8......1.!Z!.1......8.8....2....4.....XXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXX....?...?.....?...?...X1...!!!...1X...?...?.....?....?...XXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXX.......?....?..........XX..1...1..XX..........?....2.......XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX.....8..........8.8.....XXX...1...XXX.....8.8..........8.....XXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX...8....................cXXXXXXXXXXXc....................8...XXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXX.....8.8.8..8.........ccccccccccccccc........8...8.8.8.....XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXX...............8...XcccccccccccccccccX...8............8..XXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXX........8..8...XXXXcccccccccccccccccXXXX...8..8........XXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXa111accCCCCCCXXXXXcccccccccccccccccXXXXXCCCCCCccb111bXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXcc...............AA1.ccccccccccccccccc.1BB...............ccXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXcc...8.8..8.8.....cc1...ccccccccccccc...1cc.......8..8.8.8.ccXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXcc.8...8......8.8...ccc...ccccccccccc...ccc...8.8.8..8.......ccXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXc.8..8....8.8........ccc...............ccc.....8....8..8.8....cXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXc..8..8.8....8.8.8.5.cXcc.............ccXc.5.8.8.8....8.8...8.cXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXc..8.....8.8.......8.cXXc.............cXXc8........8.....8.8..cXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXc.8...8......8.8.....cXXcc.1...1...1.ccXXc......8.......8.....cXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXc8..8...8.8.8.8...8.8cXXXc...........cXXXc8.8..8..8.8.8...8.8.cXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXc.....8.........8....cXXcc...........ccXXc....8.8.............cXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXcc...5..8..8.8....8.ccXXc.............cXXcc8.....8....8..5.8.ccXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXcc8......8....8.8.ccXXcc.............ccXXcc.8.8....8....8..ccXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXcc..............ccXXXc...............cXXXcc..............ccXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXccccccccccccccccXXXXcccccccc@ccccccccXXXXccccccccccccccccXXXXXXXXXXX
ENDMAP

Please note that this Layout is outdated. While the general buildup still is the same, the chamber with the Orb can now have other (similar) layouts.

Legend:

• X - Permanent rock walls that cannot be affected in any way
• x - Diggable rock walls
• c - Shatterable stone walls
• C - Permanent rock walls with a 10% chance of stone walls
• A, B - Floor with a 33% chance of being a trap
• a, b - Floor or Granite statues with a 1/100 chance of being a orange/silver/ice statue.
• . - Floor with a 1/51 chance of being a trap
• 1 - Orb Guardian, also 1/3 chance of a trap
• 2/3/4 - Random monsters (Killer Klowns, electric golems, or orbs of fire)
• 5 - 1/2 chance of an ancient lich
• 8 - 1/4 chance of a random hard monster, 1/3 chance of a trap
• ? - 1/2 chance of anything that can generate in Zot, weighted toward the above listed monsters

Preparations

The following items, abilities, and intrinsics are recommended for surviving the Orb chamber. They are ordered in terms of importance. A more experienced player can clear the chamber with fewer, while a player who just reached Zot:5 for the first time will probably want to have as many of them as possible.

• High HP (Fighting skill), MP (Spellcasting skill), experience level, AC, EV, SH, Piety, etc....
• Max fire resistance for orbs of fire
• Haste, potion of speed, wand of hasting. Berserk rage is a more risky option.
• Electricity resistance for electric golems
• High movement speed to outrun things. At least one (but preferably more) of the following is advised: boots of running, potions of speed, Haste, Swiftness
• High magic resistance for ancient liches ("extremely" resistant or better, to avoid Paralysis)
• Life protection and cold resistance for ancient liches
• An amulet of resist mutation for orbs of fire
• See invisible for ancient liches
• Blink as a possible escape alternative.
• Optional: Apportation with some spell power. Only if you plan to yoink the Orb instead of clearing the chamber.

Preliminaries

• Clear Zot:1-4. Optional, but it gives a large amount of experience.
• Optionally, use a scroll of magic mapping once you reach Zot:5 to locate the chamber.
• Clear everything outside the chamber first. This is like the upper levels of Zot. Teleports will be safer.

Monster Strategies

• Ancient liches are your top priority. Haste yourself always. They can summon monsters with torment (fiends), or cast iron shot/crystal spear for more than 80 points of damage. Remember that they won't cast anything if they can't see any foe, so try to keep them in your LOS the minimum amount time possible. Some of the best ways of killing them are: good weapons of antimagic (a short sword of antimagic is not a good weapon) or holy wrath, dispel undead, orb of destruction, shatter, iron shot, tornado, summon horrible things, summon dragon, or shadow creatures. Focus on the ancient liches, and when they are dead, use Abjuration/Mass Abjuration to clean up any remaining summons, or not. For example, if it is a reaper or a loro you can just run away; if it is a hellion kill it immediately; if it is a hell sentinel, blink and run away; etc.
• Orbs of fire are next on the list. (However, if you're seeing Ancient Liches and Orbs of the fire at the same time, you'd better start retreating.) They deal incredible damage and may mutate you if you don't resist mutations. There's no safe way to deal with them, since they chew through summons fast and resist almost everything. The best weapons are weapons of antimagic. Conjurers can use iood, iron shot, crystal spear, tornado, ice storm, or fire storm.
• Whenever you come across a melee monster (Killer Klown, Orb Guardian, etc.), grab its attention and retreat towards a safe place to kill it. Keep in mind that dragons and electric golems will shoot their breath/special attacks at you, so you may have to hide behind a corner to force it follow you.
• Speaking of Orb Guardians, they are fast and strong, but they can be confused. If you're swarmed by a bunch it's often a great idea to have them bashing one another instead of you.
• Moths of wrath may berserk monsters or you. Try not to be there when this happens to a pack of Orb Guardians.

Strategies

WARNING: the strategies below call for specific abilities and tactics, and may not apply to your character!

Clear the Chamber Gradually

The most straightforward strategy is to simply walk into the chamber, wake up as few monsters as possible, then retreat and kill them one by one. Repeat.

Lure Monsters Out

By careful use of noise (shouting and spells are the most reliable means of generating this), you may be able to wake up a few monsters, get them chasing you, and run away. Note that due to the chamber layout and the patrolling Orb Guardians, this may be hard to do without getting swamped.

Go In With an Army

If you can, summon as many creatures as possible. You can then hang back as they fight the enemies. This may be accomplished in many ways:

• Divine companions: Angels and Daevas of The Shining One, Trog's Brothers in Arms, Makhleb's Greater demons, Beogh's orcish companions, etc.
• Evoked companions: Bottled efreets, elementals, etc.
• Summonings spells: Shadow Creatures is relatively low level, but very powerful (albeit short-lived) in Zot.
• The Demonic Guardian demonspawn mutation gives you demonic guardians when tension is high. Zot:5 qualifies.
• Grab as many weapons as you can, then use Tukima's Dance.
• Undead companions: Animate killed monsters and use Twisted Resurrection on earlier floors to gather abominations.
• Why compromise? Summon Dragon: There is no substitute.

It's worth noting that in Zot, almost any permanent servant will be annhilated quickly, especially when the orbs of fire start tossing around fireballs. Hordes of minions can certainly take down any given local, but you'll be going through a lot of minions! Since these "permanent" servants are comparatively short-lived, this makes summons and divine companions that much more attractive, especially as they depend less on limited resources like corpses.

Blast Your Way Through

A Conjurations specialist with a reliable means of recharging MP (potions of magic, Sif Muna's channeling, etc.) can often simply blast his way through with high-end spells like Lehudib's Crystal Spear, Fire Storm, or Ice Storm. Mind the noise and don't attract more monsters than your MP can handle.

Lugonu's Corruption

Worshiping Lugonu can make the Orb chamber trivial. If you corrupt the level at the entrance of the left or right side of the chamber (at "AA" or "BB" on the map), you will likely break through a path to the Orb room and in the meantime create walls and demons blocking the path of monsters. Once you get in sight of the Orb, apport it, read a scroll of teleportation and grab the Orb. Banishing yourself to the Abyss can save your life, but don't forget that you will return exactly to same spot.

Shatter/Lee's Rapid Deconstruction

If you don't worship Lugonu, but can cast Shatter or Lee's Rapid Deconstruction, you may use them to dig through the shatterable stone walls. Note, however, that this is much slower and will make a lot of noise, enough to instantly awaken almost every monster on the level. As a bonus, however, both spells deal great damage to low-AC'ed electric golems. Once you clear a path to the Orb, grab it quickly and teleport away as described above. Zin's Sanctuary ability is a nice addition.

Stealth/Stabbing

Walk into the orb chamber and try to stab any sleeping monsters (Orb Guardians, ancient liches, orbs of fire, etc.). Be sure to have a way to escape, preferably Haste, and make sure you are extremely stealthy if you want to try this approach. If an orb guardian wakes up, lure it outside the chamber and fight it to avoid waking up any other monsters. When you're in sight of the orb, grab it and teleport away.

Teleport with Safety System

If you worship Nemelex Xobeh, you can randomly teleport around and entomb yourself with a Tomb card in case of failure. If you land near enemies, blink away before entombing. If you worship Zin, you may use Sanctuary for a similar effect.

Alternatively, you can cast Death's Door and then randomly teleport, using the invulnerability to survive unlucky destinations. Note that this is very risky and it is advisable to dig out the rest of the level to increase the chances of teleporting out before Death's Door runs out (this will be changed in 0.12). If you also worship Nemelex, combine this with using a Tomb card to save yourself in case of bad luck.

Run and Teleport

The fastest and riskiest approach involves simply teleporting on Zot:5 until you land near the Orb, grabbing it, and teleporting repeatedly until you find an up staircase. Be hasted for as much of this as possible, using a scroll of vulnerability when you can to purge glow. Expect to take some damage as you flee. It's somewhat suicidal, but possible. On second thought, do not do this.

Requirements:

• Fast movement speed: Boots of running, Haste (rather than Swiftness, because the latter sacrifices Stealth).
• Very stealthy (Flight, Invisibility, Darkness, Lantern of shadows can help)
• Several potions of healing and a wand of healing with scrolls of recharging
• Fire resistance (rElec is also recommended)
• Apportation (high failure rate, but can save you some very critical turns)
• The ability to teleport several times in a row (two teleport wands and a few scrolls of recharging will suffice)
• 5 scrolls of magic mapping
• Several scrolls of fog and/or Summon Butterflies to avoid combat