Jiyva

Version 0.29: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Slime for the Slime God!

Jiyva is the ancient deity of the slimes. Followers are expected to support the spread and satiation of their fellow slimes by allowing them to consume items, and are forbidden from harming any slimes. Especially favoured followers will become as shapeless as their god, mutating wildly. Jiyva will gradually fill the dungeon with jellies, which will rapidly consume nearby items as well as slowly consuming items from elsewhere in the dungeon. As they spread slime across more of the dungeon, Jiyva will grant followers increasingly rapid health and magic regeneration, and will begin mutating them to better reflect Jiyva's image. Followers will later become able to call forth acidic ooze from the walls of the dungeon, and to turn monsters to slime with a touch.

As Jiyva is the amorphous god, its name is also shapeless and will be slightly different in each game: Jiyva Juub, Jiyva Jichodgh, Jiyva Jojaun...

Racial Restrictions

Demigods cannot worship Jiyva (or any other god).

Appreciates

• Exploring areas, other than the Slime Pits. Piety is gained faster than other exploration-based gods.

Deprecates

• Inactivity: You lose 1 piety per 340 turns, on average (1/17 chance every 20 turns).
• Attacking and killing slimes.

Altar

Unlike most altars, Jiyva's isn't guaranteed to be found in the Ecumenical Temple or the Dungeon. It is possible for the altar to be found at these locations, but only very rarely, and generally as part of a slime-related vault. The most common location for an easily accessible altar is in Lair levels 5 to 6, next to the entrance to the Slime Pits, where it has an approximate 50% chance of appearing. It occasionally spawns in the Sewer (which itself, may not appear in your game). And like any god, Jiyva altars can be randomly generated in the Abyss or revealed from a faded altar.

There is a guaranteed altar in the main vault in the final level of the Slime Pits, as well as a chance for further altars to show up on the earlier levels. However, killing the Royal Jelly without worshipping (or receiving penance from) Jiyva will immediately cause all altars to vanish. You'd have killed its last major worshipper -- and Dissolution alone can not sustain a god.

Given Abilities

Piety level -: "Squelcher"

• All slime and eyeball monsters turn neutral. (Passive)
• Jiyva protects you from the effects of slime-covered walls unless you are undergoing penance. (Passive)
• If there are no slimes on the current floor, Jiyva will spawn a jelly after some time has passed. (Passive)
• Slimes will now eat items they find on the floor; regular jellies will split after consuming enough items. Only artefacts are inedible. (Passive)

Piety level *: "Ooze"

• Regeneration: You regenerate health and MP quicker, even under Inhibited Regeneration. At 1* piety, you gain +0.80 HP/turn and +0.25 MP/turn, which scales to +1.6 HP/turn and +0.5 MP/turn at 6* piety.

Piety level **: "Jelly"

• You are shielded from corrosive effects (rCorr). (Passive)

Piety level ***: "Slime Creature"

• Gain random mutations: Jiyva gives mutations as gifts, including rare mutations unique to Jiyva. Mutations have a 25% per-level chance of losing a level, with bad mutations having a doubled chance. Then, 4 mutation levels are given out, which will tend to give max level mutations. This occurs only if you can safely mutate: mummies, ghouls, or lich form characters are not eligible.
• Oozemancy: Temporarily turns nearby walls within 4 tiles into slime-covered walls. Unlike Frozen Ramparts, you can move while sustaining these walls. (3 MP, 8-12 piety)

Piety level ****: "Dissolving [Species]"

• No new abilities.

Piety level *****: "Blob"

• Slimify: Coats your weapon with slime for a few turns, which turns the next enemy you hit with it into a slime. This only works against monsters with natural holiness or that are undead and not insubstantial (i.e. not ghosts). Natural monsters turn into slimes based on their HD (stronger monsters make stronger slimes), and derived undead simply turn neutral. In any case, the effect ends after it has converted one monster. Monsters converted in this way do not grant experience. (5 MP, 10-15 Piety)
• Jelly Expulsion: Hits that take 25% or more of your maximum HP (including torment) will generate friendly, high-end jellies, similar to the effect of The Royal Jelly. The number of summoned jellies is dependent on the severity of the damage. (Passive)

Piety level ******: "Royal Jelly"

• Unlock the Slime Pits vaults: The walls that block access to the slimy rune and other goodies will be removed. (Passive)

Punishments

Jiyva does not appreciate abandonment, and will call down fearful punishments on disloyal followers! Jiyva's vengeance is swift and gurgling. All slimes turn against those who offend Jiyva, and Jiyva ensures a plentiful supply of further slimes. Victims, too, will find their own bodies becoming unstable; regularly transmuting into strange forms and acquiring debilitating mutations, as well as having any gifts of slime mutations stripped away from them. Jiyva's wrath lasts for a relatively short duration.

Upon abandonment, all slimes will immediately turn hostile, and Jiyva will occasionally punish you with one of the following forms of divine retribution:

• You receive a few bad mutations. These mutations bypass all forms of mutation resistance except for Zin's protection.
• Polymorphs you into a bat, fungus, pig, tree, or wisp.
• Floods you with mutagenic radiation.
• Sends a number of durably summoned high level slimes and eyeballs to attack you.

Strategy

Jiyva is best suited for characters that can play fast and loose, whenever from innate strength or boosted regeneration. Everything Jiyva gives supports that playstyle, from saving more items to spamming Slimify and Oozemancy. Both offensive abilities allow you to take on much more than your character can chew -- hell, Slimify is an OHKO on almost everything in the game! Piety is gained rapidly, and hoarding 6* of piety serves no use, so use those abilities while you can.

Along with some extremely strong regeneration, it may seem like the slime god is best suited for early players. In many cases, yes, the abilities are more than worth it. However, altars to Jiyva will rarely appear in the Dungeon, and while common in the Lair, aren't guaranteed, either. Even then, you'll lose out on a variety of items. Meanwhile, high level PCs tend to acquire two things: lots of bad mutations, and lots of items. Jiyva gives many chances to clear bad mutations (and gain new, positive ones), and losing a scroll of blinking when you have five is much more manageable than if you don't have any at all.

Tips & Tricks

• If Jiyva does not spawn in the Temple, you can start by worshipping Elyvilon, The Shining One or Ignis. Since Jiyva is chaotic, but not evil, you will not face retribution for converting from the former two.
• Although you can (and will) freely mutate and eventually filter out the bad ones, don't expect to become a superhero. Jiyva will change your mutations unpredictably, and you may get horns, antennae, a beak, claws, talons, or hooves which may restrict your choice of armor. If you're a race who ignores most equipment slots (e.g. ogre, troll, felid, octopode), these are very welcome.
• Eye monsters summoned by Mnoleg or Pan lords will be neutral. Shapeshifters transformed into slime or eye monsters will turn neutral, too.
• High rates of magic regeneration and the allure of mutations such as Wild Magic may make Jiyva tempting for spellcasting characters. However, many offensive spells with a large area of effect, such as Iskenderun's Mystic Blast, Ozocubu's Refrigeration or Chain Lightning, among others, risk enraging Jiyva due to slain jellies caught in collateral damage. Magic-focused characters wishing to worship Jiyva should favour more subtle types of spells, such as those offered by Summonings, Hexes, Translocations, Necromancy or Transmutations. Ignition is also a good choice, as one of the rare mass destruction spells that will always spare allies.

History

• In 0.28, Jiyva was overhauled. Prior to this version:
  • Jiyva worshippers gained piety by having jellies eat items, which recovered HP and MP (instead of a flat regeneration buff). These jellies could be summoned at 1* of piety.
  • Jiyva gifted mutations more often, but not in bursts. Net mutations/time remained similar, though the logic meant that high level muts were far less common.
  • Slimify was available at 4*, and was cheaper. Oozemancy was not implemented.
  • Passive rCorr was unlocked at 3*, and slime spawning at 6*.
  • Jiyva could cure bad mutations as an invocable action, instead of favouring the removal of bad mutations with gifts.
• Prior to 0.27, Slimify produced death oozes when affecting the undead.
• Prior to 0.26, Jiyva's slimes would feed you when eating items.
• Prior to 0.24, Jiyva's Slimify ability didn't work properly on derived undead, and Torment damage would not trigger the slime-spawning ability.
• Prior to 0.19, Jiyva's jelly prayer paralysis was removed. Additionally, the Slime Pits were found on Lair:6-8 before the branch was shortened.
• Prior to 0.14, Jiyva's abilities were based off of your Invocations skill.