Pillar dancing

Version 0.28: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

The term Pillar dancing is a technique for avoiding or otherwise forestalling a battle until a more opportune moment. In simplest form, pillar dancing is just walking in circles for an indefinite amount of time. However, there are quite a few complexities that come along with it.

To pillar dance, simply flee a pursuing enemy of the same (or lower) speed around a small "pillar" of walls - anywhere from a 1x2 block to a whole ring of rooms - always going away and eventually going the whole way round. Preferably, you should be in a mapped out, open area, to minimize the chances of another monster wandering in. If the pillar is large enough, and you far enough, so that monsters leave your line of sight, then your Stealth might cause the monster to forget about you and wander off.

If the enemy doesn't have any ranged attacks, then you should be regenerating both HP and MP. For the most part, monsters will also regenerate HP. So while not flawless, this strategy can be used to 'reset' fights from the beginning, or to just restore a few extra MP for a spell that'll kill the foe, guaranteed.

Random Energy

The main thing you have to watch out for is the energy randomisation mechanic. Monsters of 10 (normal) speed will occasionally get +/- 0.1 decaAut of time whenever moving, with faster monsters getting more. The main take away is to always be prepared to take at least 1 hit from any adjacent same-speed enemies you may be pillar dancing. An extraordinary lucky monster may get 1 attack every 10 turns. However, monsters that attack use up a full decaAut of energy, which makes it more likely for them to actually lose a turn. Monsters that attack slowly, like ogres, flat out can't catch up to you in this way.

Therefore, this same mechanic is a benefit of pillar dancing. Given enough time, enemies will lag behind a space, giving you a tile of distance. Said space can be useful for entering up the stairs without bringing any monsters up. You can still continue to dance with a space - it is even safer that way. Keep in mind that a monster will likely catch up, though (as it'll have 9/10 energy; in range of getting an extra move).

Also, this is the reason why using a 1x1 block as a pillar is not recommended. While the tactic is possible, getting a monster to lag behind means you won't get any space - it'll just move in the other direction, forcing you to do the same. Needless to say, this makes autopiloting harder.

Tips & Tricks

• Remember that both you and monsters can cross diagonals. Monsters will generally take the most efficient path to get to you, so one misstep means taking 1 attack.
• If a ranged monster is just on the edge of line of sight, you can still pillar dance them (of course, requiring a pillar of sufficient size to do so). As monsters can't attack you while out of sight, they'll always spend their first turn chasing you; and if they then attack, you will most likely be able to escape.

History

• In 0.29, random energy will be replaced with attacks of opportunity, a much stricter counter to pillar dancing.
• Prior to 0.26, food served as a (very) soft, medium-term counter to pillar dancing; running out of food would force you to take a turn to eat. Earlier versions had certain foodstuffs take even longer to eat.
• Prior to 0.21, monsters would spawn over time; these monsters could catch you off guard and interrupt the pillar dance. Pre-generated awake monsters still serve the same function, at a much rarer rate.
• Prior to 0.6, monster speed was not random, making pillar dancing much safer.