Wall

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

"I know not whether Laws be right, Or whether Laws be wrong; All that we know who lie in gaol Is that the wall is strong; And that each day is like a year, A year whose days are long." -Oscar Wilde, "Ballad of Reading Gaol"

The most prominent features of the dungeon, walls block movement and often line of sight. In general, destroying or bypassing them requires one of several wands or spells, sometimes fairly powerful.

Wall Varieties

Rock

This wall consists of simple rock.

Very common walls made from unworked stone that block LOS, but are relatively easily removed. Electrical attacks will bounce right off them. Rock is the only material for which the Passwall spell functions, allowing you to slip through it. Destroyed by:

• Formicids' digging ability
• Dig (or a wand of digging)
• Shatter
• Lugonu's Corruption
• Dissolution

Translucent Rock

The mineral this rock consists of is as translucent as good quality glass. Whether it is natural or magical, you can't tell.

Identical to rock walls, but they don't block LOS. Bear in mind that you can't blink or send smite-targeted attacks through them, even though you can see what's on the other side.

Stone

A harder obstacle than rock walls. Only the mightiest magic can shatter stone walls.

More durable than rock walls, these require stronger magic to remove. As with rock walls, electrical attacks will bounce off these. Destroyed by:

• Shatter (at high spell power)
• Corruption

Translucent Stone

It has been imbued with arcane magics which render it translucent.

The stone analog to transparent rock.

Metal

A wall of bluish-grey metal. As every dungeon electrician knows, this stuff will ground.

The most resilient normal walls of all. Destroyed by:

• Shatter (at very high spell power)
• Corruption

Crystal

For some reason, some dungeon walls, like this one, have been made of this polished crystal, imbued with arcane energies. They prevent its easy destruction, and make it reflect heat and cold.

Immune to most wall-removal methods, these reflect fire and cold the way stone walls reflect lightning. Destroyed by:

• Shatter
• Corruption

Trees

While the dungeon is filled with dim magic light, in most places it is not bright enough to sustain any larger plants. It is uneven, though, and there are spots where, with the grace of Fedhas, trees as big as those on the surface can grow underground.

"Only YOU can prevent forest fires!"
-Smokey the Bear

Functionally walls, these block movement and LOS. Despite having the ability to walk through plants, followers of Fedhas Madash still cannot pass through trees. If lit ablaze, they cause forest fires that spread fire to the spaces (and other trees) around them. Destroyed by:

• Lightning Bolt
• Fireball - cast or wrung from a wand of random effects. This may easily take 20 tries or more.
• Starburst
• Shatter
• Tornado
• Corruption
• The Lernaean hydra

Mangroves

This tree is specially adapted for growing in swampy conditions. Its vines are too thick to see through.

These function identically to trees, save that they grow in shallow water. Destroyed by:

• Lightning Bolt
• Fireball
• Starburst
• Shatter
• Tornado
• Corruption
• The Lernaean hydra

Slime Covered Rock

This wall is thickly coated with bright green slime. Ewwwwww.

Found only in the Slime Pits, these will deal acid damage to any adventurer who touches them. Passwall can allow travel through them, but will result in taking significant damage. Destroyed by:

• Dig
• Shatter (at high spell power)
• Corruption
• Dissolution

Rune-Carved Stone

A strangely slime-free wall, carved all over with countless protective runes. One often repeated set of runes seems to refer to 'the royal jelly.'

These walls make up the outside portions of the central chamber of the bottom of the Slime Pits. They are otherwise identical to stone walls. Destroyed by:

• Shatter (at high spell power)
• Corruption

Rune-Carved Clear Stone

A strangely slime-free stone wall, with strange lights twinkling within its airy confines. Mystical runes are scattered across its surface, seemingly referring to a 'Royal Jelly'.

These transparent walls make up the interior of the central chamber of Slime:5. If the Royal Jelly is dead (or if you have high piety with Jiyva), these walls will vanish, allowing easy access to the Slimy Rune of Zot. Without these methods, these walls can only be destroyed with:

• Shatter (at high spell power)
• Corruption

Unnaturally Hard Wall

You cannot affect this wall by any means.

Walls which are described as unnaturally hard are completely indestructible. The only way past them is to go around.

Translucent Unnaturally Hard Wall

This wall is imbued with magic that not only makes it indestructible but also makes it translucent like glass.

The indestructible variant of translucent rock.

Open Sea

Nothing but endless wind and waves, and not a lighthouse in sight. You'd be lost beyond all hope in short order - better not risk it.

While not walls in the traditional sense, these impassable tiles mark the outer borders of the Shoals and certain Sewers layouts.

Endless Lava

A sea of fire and brimstone that goes as far as you can see. Which is not far because of the thick smoke.
Unlike small pools of lava where flight or levitation may allow short trips, floating above this inferno would cook you in no time thanks to runaway convection.

The fiery equivalent of the open sea tiles, these mark the outer borders of a floor across lava pools.

Endless Salt

A seemingly endless, flat plain, wracked by blinding salt storms. Anyone venturing across it would be lost beyond all hope in short order.

Much like open sea and endless lava, these mark the outer borders of the Desolation of Salt.

Dimension's Edge

The edge of this tiny, isolated plane, where space itself dissolves into oblivion. Entering or affecting this black void is impossible.

Yet another impenetrable level border, this time bordering the Roulette of Golubria.

Iron Grate

This iron grate looks rusted, as if it could be disrupted with a spell or a wand quite easily. It's too strong to be breakable by hand, though.

These block movement, spells, and ranged attacks, but not LOS or smite-targeted attacks. They are usually found in special vaults, often sealing away monsters with smite-targeted attacks. They may also be generated as the result of stepping on a pressure plate. Destroyed by:

• Dig
• Shatter
• Corruption

Large Window

A window embedded in the side of an enormous metal pipe, allowing observation of the water flowing inside.

Large windows are found in certain Sewers maps, and function identically to transparent rock walls.

History

• Prior to 0.22, Lee's Rapid Deconstruction could destroy walls, doors, iron grates and statues.
• Prior to 0.20, wands of disintegration could destroy rock walls and some other obstacles in the dungeon (doors, iron grates, trees, orcish idols, and most kinds of statues). Also, eyes of devastation could disintegrate rock walls with their Energy Bolt spell.
• Prior to 0.17, you could find boring beetles, arthropods capable of digging rock walls.
• Prior to 0.11, you could find walls of solid wax:

These walls are built by bees. Occasionally a dungeon architect will manipulate bees into building wax walls for aesthetic reasons. (Theirs, not the bees'.) They are susceptible to fire and will melt and burn, given sufficient heat.

Wax walls were frequently found in killer bee vaults, though they could also appear near altars to Xom or in the Abyss. They often hid treasure, in particular royal jelly and honeycombs.