Choosing a god

This article contains advice from other players, which may be subjective, outdated, inaccurate or ill-advised. Take advice as you see fit, and read at your own risk!

Largely updated to 0.28

In Crawl, one's choice of god has a significant impact your game.

How Do I Choose a God?

There are two ways to choose a god. The quickest is to begin the game with a background that worships one by default: Berserkers, Abyssal Knights, Chaos Knights all begin the game serving a particular god. The former two also receive a small head start on piety.

Alternatively, you can find an altar dedicated to a god along the way, stand on it, and pray (with either '<' or '>' keys). When asked if you want to join its religion, press y to accept. They can be found as follows:

Most gods will have an altar in the Ecumenical Temple, a peaceful branch located between Dungeon floors 4 and 7.
A faded altar can spawn between floors 1 and 3, giving you access to a random god.
If the temple lacks a particular altar, it is guaranteed to be located between floors 3 and 10, with the following exceptions:
- Beogh's altar can be found in the Orcish Mines, but having a conscious (i.e. not asleep, paralyzed, etc.) orc priest or orc high priest in view grants hill orcs the ability to convert to Beogh on the spot.
- Lugonu's altar can be found in the Abyss or occasionally in a corrupted version of the Ecumenical Temple.
- Ignis' altar can rarely be found in an exclusive verison of the Ecumenical Temple.
- Jiyva's altar can be found on the sixth floor of the Slime Pits, occasionally in the Lair and lower dungeon floors, and very rarely in the Temple as an early jelly vault.

God Switching Disclaimer

Don't.
(Exceptions below)

Every god, bar Xom and Ignis, are viable to stick with for an entire three-rune game. You will incur penance, which, with a few exceptions, is rather dangerous. Elyvilon, The Shining One, and Zin will not incur wrath unless you swap to an evil god (chaotic for Zin; all listed in their wrath pages), while Ignis provides a weak wrath, and Ru, no wrath.

What do all the *** mean?

The asterisks are an indication of your piety, or your current standing with your god. Higher piety generally means more and stronger god-granted powers. See the piety article for more details.

God Choosing Disclaimer

Going into the mindset of picking one god and the best god for your character may not be the best idea. For example; lets say you are predetermined to start with Okawaru. D:3 provides an altar to Nemelex Xobeh, an unconventional. yet perfectly fine god. Meanwhile, Okawaru's altar may not spawn until D:9. Worshipping Nemelex would've given you ** to **** piety, along with cards that could've easily saved your life, by the time you get started with Okawaru! Of course, this doesn't prevent you from focusing on a single god; to learn them, or even just for fun. After all. this article can't change how you want to play the game. As a reminder: this guide is fairly subjective, so take advice with a grain of salt.

Overview

Ashenzari: Curses your equipment to give strong skill boosts; gain astral sight of layout & monsters.
Beogh: God exclusive to Hill Orcs; get permanent orcish allies that promote with exp.
Cheibriados: Slows you down (no running away), but gives strong buffs and (escape) tools.
Dithmenos: Stealth god, complete with passable passives for any character.
Elyvilon: Healer god, heal both yourself, and enemies to pacify them.
Fedhas: Create strong, stationary plants to fight with, scaling with large invocation skill.
Gozag: A midas touch; spend gold for potions or to to bribe your enemies.
Ignis: A powerful starting god designed to be abandoned once it burns out.
Hepliaklqana: Gives an ancestor to fight alongside you; especially great if you aren't great at fighting.
Jiyva: Free slime rune, OHKOs, tons of mutations, and regeneration - but 'leftover' items get eaten.
Kikubaaqudgha: To-be necromancer's choice: summon corpses, gifts knowledge of necromantic spells.
Lugonu: Easily come in and out of the Abyss, a demonic, rune-bearing plane. Send threatening monsters in and out, too.
Makhleb: Health on kills! And some good summons, too. Deep Dwarf god of choice.
Nemelex Xobeh: Control decks of powerful cards, that scale strongly with invocations.
Okawaru: "Generic" melee god: fight alone with two great buffs.
Qazlal Stormbringer: Loud and very destructive.
Ru: Sacrifice for great power, including an incredibly powerful screen-wide attack.
Sif Muna: "Generic" magic god, recover MP and (eventually) get every spell in the game.
Trog: Berserk and summon incredibly strong allies - no spells allowed! Obviously great for melee.
Uskayaw: Sustain combat for a long time, get a lot of benefits; including paralysis.
Vehumet: A god of destructive magic; gives and buffs attacking spells, recover MP on kill.
The Wu Jian Council: Martial artists: new attack options by moving around.
Xom: Good luck...
Yredelemnul: Allies galore! Necromancy for melee classes.
Zin: Defensive priest, with many strong abilities to save your skin.
The Shining One: Crusader: best against unholy enemies to rally against (most of them post Zot).

Primary Melee Fighters

These gods work best for characters who primarily kill monsters with weapons rather than with spells.

Okawaru the Warmaster

Okawaru is the "default" god for melee characters. You gain piety by killing; high-HD (strong) monsters are more rewarding. He only has one, relatively recent quirk: you must fight without any allies.

Oka's simple, straightforward effectiveness has made him one of the most popular, yet criticized, gods in the Crawl pantheon. He provides two active buffs to the player:

Heroism, obtained at 1*, gives a +5 bonus to every non-magic skill. This is an incredibly cheap ability, and one easy to underestimate. Use this for every fight you might have trouble in; it will save more precious consumables.
Finesse doubles your attack speed, and obtained at 4*. Approximately 8 Invocations is required to get a decent success rate; but failing costs nothing but MP and a turn. Double attack speed is strong; stronger than even a Berserk, with no downsides (other than piety cost). This can turn many otherwise dangerous fights into a cakewalk.

And at 5* piety, you can force a single strong enemy into the arena; with a few turns to rest and prepare after your done.

After the activated abilities come the gifts of weapons, armour, shields, and ammo. Many individual items will be of little permanent use, but by the end game you will likely find yourself using plenty of god-given equipment. While Trog will also provide weapons, Okawaru is the only god who bestows armour, throwables, and shields as gifts.

Recommended Race and Class Combinations: Most melee characters not already worshipping another god. Any character who desires rare equipment, such asquick blades or specialized darts. Melee-magic builds who would be discouraged by Trog, such as Gnolls, Transmuters, and Warpers.

Trog the Furious

Trog is the most offensive-minded melee fighter's god. Piety is gained by killing living monsters, demons, holies and spellcasters. His abilities are tremendously useful throughout all stages of the game. These abilities are based off of piety, not Invocations, giving you leeway to invest into other skills. Trog is one of the few gods who can be worshipped from the beginning of the game, and one of the fewer gods that also gives you a strong ability. Trog is a great god for a player new to Crawl, or for any melee character who plans for a three or four rune run.

Berserk - immediately gained as a Berserker - temporarily provides massive boosts to damage, speed, and HP. However, Berserk prevents you from using useful potions or scrolls, and once it ends, you'll be slowed down. Make sure that you've separated or killed every monster around you, or at least have a means to escape.

Trog's Hand gives temporary regeneration and magic resistance, and is one of the few ways for a Deep Dwarf to heal. It pales in comparison to the other two abilities, but is useful against monsters who would otherwise banish or paralyse you.

Brothers in Arms summons always friendly, always berserk ogres, trolls, bears, and giants. Berserk gives monsters an even stronger buff to damage; in small numbers, they are more than a match for nearly every enemy in the game, including orbs of fire! Summon brothers early, and summon often; losing piety is much less dangerous than your life.

However, learning, training, or casting magic of any kind will offend Trog. Note that he doesn't mind use of magic scrolls, potions, or wands.

Recommended Race and Class Combinations: Any character with zero short term interest in magic. Trolls, Minotaurs, and Hill Orcs will have the easiest time due to their excellent melee aptitudes. Berserk and Brothers in Arms are both such a strong abilities for a starting god that even Deep Elves Berserker is a strong (albeit not recommended) choice.

The Shining One the Righteous

The Shining One is a slightly more defensive-minded god who crusades against evil. He will protect you from negative energy and may intervene to save your life. You'll gain piety gradually from destroying evil, undead and demonic, monsters. Consequently, undead and demonic players are unable to worship TSO.

TSO is tremendously useful for the Hells, Pandemonium, and Tomb. He grants you HP and MP for demon/undead kills, gives you rN+++, and holy attacks that are extremely effective for killing the lords of Pandemonium and Hells and everything in Tomb.

Immediately, you'll be surrounded by a halo that, within its range, increases everyone's accuracy and reveals all invisible things - including yourself. This halo will reduce your stealth, and TSO forbids stabs on natural (non demonic or animal) monsters.

Divine Shield is obtained from 3* piety, which grants temporary SH. It's low-investment and cheap, but not as cheap as many other gods.

Eventually, you'll get Cleansing Flame, which hits every enemy in a 2 tile radius around you. It only becomes effective at high Invocations, and only powerful against demons and undead, but it is a ridiculously strong AOE tool once you get there. Even if you get constantly tormented, TSO's HP and MP on kills means you can keep spamming Cleansing Flames until enemies around you are dead. You will also get the ability to summon Angels and Daevas at 5*, and they are strong summons. Angels are fast, use holy-branded weapons, and have late-game stats; able to compete in Zot and the extended game easily.

Make sure you bless a weapon at 6* before taking on the Hells or Pandemonium: use the best (non-artefact) weapon you've got. Blessing Demon whips, Demon tridents, and Demon blades will turn them into their respective holy variants, making them acceptable for the good gods.

Although a great choice for undead and demon-infested late-game, gaining piety with The Shining One is normally painstakingly slow. Therefore, many experienced players start off with a different god to get up to Zot, then switch to The Shining One when they are about to enter the branches where their holy powers are most useful. Once you are ready to take on the Pandemonium, switch to The Shining One and head for the Crypt, where you can even reach maximum piety. You may (will) suffer wrath, but you should be able to survive at this point (Blink and run away).

The Shining One also enforces a few 'knightly' conducts. Your halo will prevent you from going invisible, you will be unable to stab your opponents, and you will not be able to use Necromancy - including the ever-useful Borgnjor's Vile Clutch and Necromutation

Recommended Race and Class Combinations: Melee characters with dreams of the fifteen runes that lie in undead/demon heavy branches, such as the Abyss, the Crypt, the Tomb, Pandemonium, and the Hells. Those with good Invocations aptitudes, such as Hill Orcs, Merfolk, and Deep Dwarves, are particularly well-suited. Summoners also like TSO's halo accuracy and summon boosts.

Primary Spellcasters

On the other hand, if magic is your character's planned forte, you'll find Sif Muna, Vehumet, or Kikubaaqudgha more to your liking. All three gods will make certain spells available to you, no matter how the dungeon RNG feels about you.

Sif Muna the Loreminder

Sif Muna is the "default" god for spellcasters. Of the three, Sif is the least demanding, and the most predictable. Piety gain is straightforward: kill most monsters.

Sif's major appeal comes from spellbook acquirement: as you gain piety, she will gift you spellbooks, guaranteed to have at least one spell you haven't yet found, and weighted toward your current magic skills. Eventually, you will have access to every spell in the game.

Central to Sif Muna is Channeling; a * ability that gives you MP at the cost of a turn. This allows easy course correction if you get cornered with no MP. Divine Exegesis is acquired later on, but allows you to cast any spell in your library.

Sif Muna starts off slow, but the boost to spells remains consistent throughout the entire game. And you still retain access to every spell; even if you leave Sif Muna.

Recommended Race and Class Combinations: Any and all magically inclined characters, though those focusing mostly on magic schools (such as Deep Elves) benefit most from the variety of spellbooks. Vehumet and Kiku give more direct bonuses to specific schools; more importantly, they give spells much quicker than Sif.

Vehumet the Battlemage

Vehumet is the god for offensive mages, for whom piety is gained through the bringing of death, which his rewards further supplement.

Vehumet provides soley passive abilities, making him a strong, low-management god if you're new at playing a spellcaster. Killing monsters will grant you piety and may restore some MP. Later, Vehumet will reduce the chance of conjuration failure and increase your conjurations' range.

Like Sif Muna, Vehumet will gift you with spells. Unlike Sif, you get "only" 15 spells; but they start as soon as you hit 1* of piety, and scale in difficultly as you gain more. The last 3 spells will always be 3 level 8 or 9 conjurations, available as long as you still worship Vehumet.

While Vehumet doesn't provide any active abilities to worry about, that's also its downfall. Casters who run out of MP, or find themselves in a very tough situation, will find no support from the Battlemage. Unless in a Ziggurat, you won't receive enough MP on kill for your spells. Meanwhile, Sif Muna provides channeling and Kiku provides a mountain of corpses for emergencies. But a castable Fire Storm might as well be an active ability... once you get it running.

Recommended Race and Class Combinations: Conjurers and dedicated nukers of all kinds. Common ones include Demonspawn, Deep Elfves, Wizards, and Venom Mages. Tengu, with good aptitudes for Conjurations but a poor aptitude for Invocations, are especially suited for Vehumet.

Kikubaaqudgha the Soulstealer

Kikubaaqudgha is the god of the necromantic arts. Spellcasters who dabble in darker domains can opt to worship Kikubaaqudgha. This demon-god appreciates the slaying of living things and demons. Unlike every other god, the Necromancy skill determines Kiku's strength.

Kiku will allow you to summon corpses very quickly (1* piety), and very cheaply. Combine this with guaranteed Necromancy knowledge at * and ***, and any character can create an army on demand. This only gets stronger throughout each branch; with zombies remaining competitive all the way to Zot. They level off in the extended game, though.

But in extended; the Hells, Pandemonium, and Tomb, one thing is common - Torment. Kiku provides partial torment protection more comprehensive than TSO. And given a corpse, you can even invoke your own Torment.

At 6* of piety, Kiku will provide one of two gifts. Either the the Pain brand on a weapon of your choice, or a collection of high level Necromancy spells (Haunt, Borgnjor's Revivification, Necromutation, and Death's Door). The pain brand will be immediately powerful to any character, even those with little physical training; pain's damage is determined by attack speed and Necromancy. The collection of spells are useful late game, along with torment resistance.

Recommended Race and Class Combinations: Any character aspiring to become well versed in Necromancy, for differing reasons. The undead races especially profit from an easy way to torment your enemies without hurting themselves.

"General" Gods

Instead of choosing a god who will simply enhance your character's specialization, you can also go with a god who shores up your weaknesses or who'll provide some emergency help.

Makhleb the Destroyer

Makhleb is the god of violent death. Followers earn piety by killing enemies for the Destroyer.

Doing so will soon grant you a chance to heal some HP when killing your foes. This creates synergy with anything that can kill; and kill fast - Axes come to mind. Makhleb is often the god chosen for speedruns for this purpose. The healing alone would make most melee characters into a supreme force, but Makhleb also comes with strong invocations.

Lesser (2*) and Greater Destruction (4*) are decently strong ranged attacks. The former only costs 1 HP, while the latter takes piety out some time. Greater Destruction is notable for its piercing bolts, many elements are exclusive to Makhleb.

Lesser (3*) and Greater Demons (5*) are both strong summons, when available. Lesser demons can take out mid-game threats like hydras, while Greater demons remain respectable for the rest of the game . Allies in general are strong, reducing the amount of hits directed at you while increasing damage output, and these demons are no exception.

Recommended Race and Class Combinations: Most melee characters. Special synergy with those with hampered regeneration: Deep Dwarves, Vampires, and Ghouls. Djinni looking to cast spells as much as possible.

Dithmenos the Shadowed

Dithmenos is the god of stealth; but this isn't all he's good for!

Dithmenos immediately gives you an umbra, which certainly makes it seem like Dithmenos is for the sneaky. This umbra will eventually grow to your entire LOS, double your stealth, and reduce enemy to hit.

Shadow Step, given at 3*, will blink you within one space near an enemy within your umbra. This can be used to nail a stab with as few turns as possible... or you can use it to escape, get into a hallway with only one monster near it.

Dith's other abilities continue to help both the intentionally stealthy and a more regular character. Shadow Mimic will replicate your attacks - up to 50% of the time at maximum piety - great for spamming Hexes, Conjurations, or even just melee attacks.

The 5* Shadow Form halves damage taken (and dealt); giving any character an escape. The ability, as well as every hit, gives temporary HP drain; but it's an ability that lets you be fairly secure in your escape.

Less shadowy, but also free, perk comes the passive 4* ability to spit out fog on particularly strong attacks. Useful for enemies with any sort of ranged attack, including the various sources of torment.

Note that classically stealthy characters - Spriggans, Vampires, etc., don't particularly need Dith's help to do what they do. If playing by the normal XP curve, they will have all the stealth they'll need without the help of a god.

Recommended race and class combinations: Characters looking for some unique escape tools and power; that preferably benefit from extra stealth. Ultra stealthy, ultra low level Spriggan challenge runs looking to sneak runes like in the Lair rune branches and the Abyss deserve a special mention.

Gozag the Greedy

Gozag Ym Sagoz is the god of money. In order to join Gozag, you have to spend a service fee (waived by faded altar or monks). Followers gain no piety - instead, they turn corpses into gold (including dragons and dancing weapons), and spend it on Gozag's invocations. This gold can distract enemies, endazzled by riches.

If you have 400 gold, you are able to call in a Potion Petition. Each petition calls in 3 random sets of potions; but the potential to pop heal wounds, haste, and resistance at the same time is a rather strong panic button. Use it when you have to, preferably before you are one turn away from dying (as potions are still random). Note that this ability' costs are based on the potion set itself, and works even if you are undead.

With at least 800 gold, you can call in a shop directly at your location. Shops can give you a great spellbook, weapon to train in, or armour and jewellery to prop up your resistances. However, nothing is guaranteed, and the cost of each successive shop is increased.

With 3000 gold, you can Bribe Branch - turning enemies neutral, or even into your allies! Difficult levels, such as the Tomb or Zot:5, are made into jokes by bribing once or twice.

Recommended Race and Class Combinations: Characters who want a strong, spammable, panic button, or those who want the ability to ignore some of the most difficult floors in the game. Characters looking to dive through multiple Ziggurats may want to worship Gozag; where you always want to be hasted, and the quantity of gold created will keep most enemies distracted.

Elyvilon the Healer

Elyvilon the Healer... heals. Piety is gained by exploration, and partially retained if you switch to or from TSO or Zin.

At 1*, you gain the ability to Purify yourself from various status conditions. Many poisonous creatures exist in the Lair and before, while confusion is perpetually a threat until you get enough Willpower to prevent it.

At 2* piety, you can Heal others, potentially pacifying them. Keep in mind who it targets; animals like Hydras, followed by those of the same species, are the most likely to be pacified.

At 3* piety, you can Heal Self. Scaling greatly with Invocations, healing yourself is as powerful as you'd expect.

Elyvlion's tools are plain, but powerful. Healing can turn the tides of battle, give you enough healing to escape, and save your life. Almost nothing can outdamage 50+ hp per turn. Divine Protection will also save your life; whenever by activating it or by the standard good god chance.

Recommended race and class combinations: Any character with trouble surviving in combat can make use of her healing abilities. Good candidates include Deep Dwarves, who can't heal naturally.

Lugonu the Unformed

Lugonu is the god of the Abyss, with every ability revolving around his dominion over the demonic plane.

When starting as an Abyssal Knight, or otherwise banished to the Abyss, Lugonu will provide an immediate way out of their hell. This costs a small amount of piety, though definitely worth your safety. Though, if you had another god, you'll instead have to face their wrath. This ability makes the Abyssal rune a cakewalk, especially when combined with Lugonu's passive rune spawn buff.

More powerful than unbanishing yourself, is banishing monsters in return. Scaling off Invocations, Lugnou gives you the ability to banish any enemy, checking willpower in the process. Dangerous uniques are no more - and with the help of a scroll of vulnerability, even [[the Royal Jelly] can be sent to hell! Keep your distance and watch your piety; Banish, like other hexes, doesn't have the greatest success rates. But don't be too stingy, as worshipers can live just fine without their higher tier invocations. It is like other hexes, and is somewhat redundant with ranged magic in general.

The Corruption ability, given at ****, makes many branch ends, including Zot:5, easier. This comes from two reasons; you break otherwise impassible stone walls, and the swarms of neutral, high level monsters, who duke it out with natural inhabitants. You can only corrupt once per level, but that's all you (should) need.

You can banish yourself too. This is an incredibly costly ability: all your MP, a large chunk of your HP, a huge piety cost, and the Abyss still isn't exactly safe. But is the Abyss more dangerous than Zot:5 or a Ziggurat

Finally, you can break a weapon with distortion at 6*. Distortion is not an amazing brand; teleporting enemies around. However, it provides bonus damage, regardless of how strong your attack was.

Recommended race and class combinations: Any character, preferably melee, seeking alternative means for dealing with particularly meddlesome monsters and levels. Characters already banished to the Abyss who desperately need a way out. Notably, Lugonu is rare to find outside the Abyssal Knight start.

Zin the Law-Giver

Zin is the god of order. He hates any form of mutation; and provides protection from them. Piety is gained from gold donation, which hurts on your shopping supply. However, gaining piety with a late-game character with enough gold is a quick task. Piety can also be obtained by killing the demonic and undead (thus, demonspawn and undead players are unable to worship Zin).

His most notable ability is Sanctuary; obtained at 5*, it scares monsters within a 9-tile radius and prevents almost all attacks. It is nigh-absolute. Almost every situation, every mistake, can be solved by using Sanctuary and a few items, especially near a staircase. And if you don't have stairs, at least you can heal or teleport away!

Much less expensive comes Recite, a free, 1* piety ability. It helpful in dealing with particularly dangerous demons, undead, or priests. Why not use it - its a free combat debuff. Anything that uses breath (such as reading a scroll) is still available, though will cancel Recite. Another buff, though not free, comes from Vitalize (4*). It isn't as powerful as a dedicated combat god like Okawaru, though it protects you from many statuses (including Poison).

Zin also provides ability to Imprison dangerous monsters (3*). Use it on the many uniques you have to run from; many mid and late-game uniques are still very threatening to your character.

Recommended Race and Class Combinations: Zin works well for any strong character (or player!), looking for safety against incredibly dangerous situations and mutations. Zin is a decent swap for already well-developed characters due to his fast piety gain.

Hepliaklqana the Forgotten

Hepliaklqana is the god of memory. You will gain piety when exploring.

While at first you'll be hazy, reaching 1* of piety will give you access to your (customizable) ancestor - and a loss of 10% maximum HP used to manifest it. Soon comes the ability to give them a class: knight, battlemage, or hexer. The ancestor will gain power, and even some new equipment, as you level up. The ancestor is strong enough to fight many battles on its own, though fighting together (even if its you just firing through your ancestor) is always stronger! Remember that enemies benefit from corridors as much as you; try and find areas where you can 2v1 enemies, but they can't exactly swarm you either.

Transference comes later on, giving you various clever repositioning techniques. From simply running behind your ancestor (this might not even require an ability), to swapping your ancestor with a monster to stab them. From 5* of piety onwards, using this ability will drain enemies affected.

Idealize (4*) is really the star of the show with Hep. For a piety cost, you will instantly heal and strengthen your ancestor; allowing it to win dangerous fights by itself.

Recommended race and class combinations: Hepliaklqana might not be noticeable for already strong characters - Minotaurs, Troll, etc. But for those who struggle with combat, and want a god that can explicitly (but slowly) carry them through fights later in the game - think Octopode, Mummy, or challenge runs - benefit most with Hep. However, characters doing fine on the power curve can greatly still appreciate Hep's ancestor.

Fedhas Madash the Natural

Fedhas Madash is the god of plants, allowing you summon plant allies to aid you in battle. Fedhas appreciates your contributions to the ecosystem; i.e., killing monsters.

From 0*, you gain the ability to pass and shoot through plants, and obtain peace from plant enemies (notable oklob plants and thorn hunters). Enemies will delay in getting past plant walls; more specifically, when you create thorny briar patchs with your 1* ability. Use this to get away, or to hit enemies with ranged attacks safely.

Fedhas' strongest invocations are the rapid-fire ballistomycetes and oklob plants, obtained at 3* and 5* respectively. Ballistomycetes need care; they will summon explosive spores, which will confuse and damage anything in its path (including you!). Oklob plants are stronger, shooting corrosive (very strong debuff) bolts at your opponents. Both are stronger than their enemy counterparts, and like any summon, will support a Fedhas worshipper through and through. In addition, you gain the ability to create overgrowths in walls (4*). This ability will overwrite even stone walls; allowing you to bypass stone-locked areas such as Slime:5 and Zot:5.

Recommended Race and Class Combinations: Characters who can afford to invest heavily into Invocations; especially Hill Orc and Demonspawn, who have a high aptitude.

Nemelex Xobeh the Trickster

Nemelex Xobeh is the god of cards. As you explore, not only do you get piety, but Nemelex also provides you with a set of three decks - Destruction, Escape, and Summoning - and cards that fit those three archetypes.

Destructive cards do that; destroy. These cards often replicate conjuration spells, like corrosive bolts and orb of destruction. Escape cards can give you space; from sight-blocking fog to literally-blocking walls, to conventional healing over time. Summoning cards let you create a mass of allies, of decent quality. All three sets of cards scale well with Invocations skill.

Cards are drawn randomly. But as the dealer, you get the ability to stack the deck. Literally - as a 5* power, you can stack a deck of 5 cards to use separately. You can look at three cards at 3* (but pick one), or play 4 cards at once with 4*.

Recommended race and class combinations: Characters will average/good Invocations skill growth can make the most out of Nemelex. Most characters can still find good use in Nemelex, though.

Exotic/Challenging Gods

The following gods either:

Have unique piety systems that you must take into account,
Have a different playstyle than any other character,
Are just weaker, or even outright dangerous to your character.

Ignis the Dying Flame

Ignis, as the name suggests, is a god of fire. And a god representing fire; like a fuse, it'll soon burn out in its entirely. Ignis worshippers, namely Cinder Acolytes, do not gain or lose piety over time, but start with 5* of piety.

Ignis comes with the proactive Fiery Armour, and the overall powerful Foxfire Swarm. The former gives you some AC and retaliatory damage, useful for fairly tough (but not too tough) early enemies. The latter creates a ton of foxfires, which are incredibly powerful early, but do not scale. Both powers are lost once you get below 1* of piety.

Rising Flame is a 'capstone' ability; available for free at any piety level, but only once. You will rise up to the floor above in 2-4 turns; effectively a better, always safe teleport. It is incredibly strong no matter when or where you use it (unless you can't, such as the beginning of a branch), but make sure you the other two invocations won't see use.

If sticking with Ignis, it will always provide rF+, no matter the piety level. However, it is desirable to switch to another god sooner or later. Ignis' unusually weak wrath encourages this. Gods like Yred or Zin both have piety systems that let you catch up without prior worship, though any god will work. The god is designed to be left at ~XL12 (after Lair or the Dungeon branch), though leave when it suits you best. Just beware of buffed(?) fire elementals!

Recommended race and class combinations: Cinder Acolytes are the only class that can use Ignis during the best time in the game - the early dungeon. Any species who has trouble with the early game - or any character - benefits from Ignis. Species that would really like a consistent early game, like Barachim and maybe Mummy (who also likes rF), benefit the most. Species like Hill Orc and Minotaur that can handle the 'weak spot' before you get another god, like the incredible consistently provided by Ignis.

Beogh the Brigand

Beogh can only be worshipped if your character is a Hill Orc. In exchange, he grants the ability to convert fellow orcs into allies!

Orcs will join you when they see you, when you nearly kill them, or when you would have killed them. You get a better conversion chance with higher piety and experience level, so waiting to complete the (now extremely easy) Orcish Mines is possible. They can take out Zot, if by your help and sheer numbers, but struggle in the task of taking over Hell or Pandemonium. Beogh will gift Orcs XP as you gain it; they will eventually level up into Orc warlords and can be gifted equipment. Polearms are especially nice for your army, able to hit behind you / other orcs for extra damage.

Beogh also gives you access to a powerful Smite. It is quite expensive in piety - but there's nothing else competing for it. It is a guaranteed hit on any enemy within LOS. Take out threatening uniques in just a few turns or an an annoying boggart, opposing orc high priest, or vault warden.

Recommended Race and Class Combinations: As stated, only Hill Orcs may worship Beogh. Hill Orc Monk is a decent combination. Hill Orc is a strong species, while finding Beogh late will setting your character way behind on piety. Orcs also have the option to convert if an orc priest pack is liable to kill you next turn. Beogh's ally play is redundant with Summonings and Necromancy, and orcs may get in the way of some destructive Conjurations.

Ru the Awakened

Ru is the god of sacrifice... not corpses and items, but yourself.

When you explore, Ru will occasionally grant the option of 3 different sacrifices. This can be as extreme as cutting your hand (removing two-handed weapons, shields, and a single ring), to as simple as losing a little Strength. Stronger sacrifices will be rewarded, and during the dangerous early game, you might want Ru's extreme power.

Ru's powerful aura will soon come and protect you - dissuading attacks, stunning your enemies, or even reflecting attacks back. While even at max piety there's "only" a 10% chance to do something, this still gives a noticeable combat buff for any character.

Ru's actives all come with a theme. They cost no piety; instead, they will exhaust and drain you of temporary max hit points. Draw Out Power will immediately replenish HP and MP, while curing a plethora of status effects. Power Leap can get you out of tough situations, and doesn't even drain you!

But the real star of the show is Apocalypse. Given at 5* of piety, it will brutalize every enemy in line of sight. Anything that somehow survives is given a debilitating status. From taking out hydrae to nuking an alarmed floor of monsters, this ability is incessantly powerful and should be used often. While it does drain you, killing packs of enemies will give you the experience needed to mitigate or even fully negate the draining.

Recommended race and class combinations: Melee characters benefit the most; naturally facing more attacks for your aura to negate, benefiting from "sacrifices" you wouldn't use (such as magic schools, Love, and stealth), and getting a ranged/AOE attack in the form of Apocalypse. However, any character who is willing to give in to the sacrifices is a good pick for Ru - and if you don't like any of them, you can leave Ru with no penalty (other than sacrifices you've already made).

Jiyva the Shapeless

Jiyva is the slime god - fittingly, only guaranteed to spawn in the Slime Pits. Assuming you can find them in the Temple or Lair, they are respectably strong. Exploring will rapidly give you piety.

The most notable thing about Jiyva are it's constantly summoned jellies. Jellies will constantly devour items, and Jiyva itself will slowly consume items on already explored floors. However, Jiyva, from 1* of piety, will give you massive regeneration. Jiyva provides a very respectable 1HP/turn, it ramps up to double that at maximum piety.

Your body will constantly be changing with bursts of (usually) good mutations, while naturally clearing bad ones. These "good" mutations might prevent you from wearing a Hat of the Alchemist, or lower your AC, but they'll last about as quickly as they appear.

Slimify (5*) is the real treat of Jiyva. It is a somewhat spammable ability (due to intense piety gain) that turns any threatening enemy into a neutral within 2 turns. (barring already insubstantials, including the orb of fire). Oozemancy (4*) is another, cheaper invocation, turning the walls into corroding acid walls.

Finally, Jiyva will unlock the Slimy Rune for free. However, you'll lose most of the items within the vault itself.

Jiyva is hard to recommend, if only because Jiyva altars are often found so late. Elyvilon or Ignis are potential gods to chew on before you find Jiyva's altar. Alternatively, you can switch to Jiyva late-game upon gaining a particularly bad mutation you can't cure, such as teleportitis, as long as you haven't killed The Royal Jelly yet. Late game, you'll have had plenty of chances to spawn consumables already.

Recommended race and class combinations: Going into a game expecting to use any god is a bad mindset, and this couldn't be more true for Jiyva. However, characters who struggle with any of the three 3rd runes and strong monsters, such as Felids or Spriggans, benefit most. Trolls, Vine Stalkers, and Vampires all have faster regeneration - or less time wasted before jellies eat your items. Cinder Acolytes can afford the time to wait until Lair or Slime, and (should) waste less consumables during the early game.

Uskayaw the Reveller

Uskayaw is the god of the (war) dance; like a ritual, piety comes and goes extremely quickly. Expect to get your piety to 6* in a long fight - but after a few calm turns, it'll fall down to 1* again.

Stomp allows worshippers to deal guaranteed, percentile damage to your opponents, while Line Pass gives extra mobility by crossing through and confusing a line of monsters. This is before Uskayaw will paralyse your enemies, giving you the chance to stab or otherwise obliterate your foes.

If the fight lasts long enough, Uskayaw will put your enemies in a pain bond; attacks that hurt one enemy will hurt others nearby. Axes will hit multiple times to hit multiple times again; that is, if you or the monsters can last it long.

You can end if off with a Grand Finale, instantly killing any foe in the game (success determined on piety and Invocations). It uses up all your piety, but it's both a teleport and a way to eliminate an annoying or tough enemy.

Recommended race and class combinations: Characters who can afford to invest heavily on Invocations, more specifically axe fighters (more damage) and stabbers (so many distractions!).

Xom the Unpredictable

Xom is an interesting god that'll likely cause you to die in a hilarious way. Most of his actions are either harmful, flavourful, or somewhat helpful. Eventually, Chaos Knights will end up with a large amount of beneficial mutations, but a god that'll still kill them on a whim.

Recommended Race and Class Combinations: Chaos Knights start off worshiping Xom. This is considered a "challenge class", and the game does not recommend it for any race.

Cheibriados the Contemplative

Cheibriados is the slow god; and has you undertake up to 10 aut slower movement (doubled time for regular classes). Being slow is a huge disadvantage; you can't reposition yourself or run away from an enemy without using some form of resource. But Cheibriados can give you means to escape; or prevent the need to escape all together.

As piety rises (by killing faster creatures), you will gain increased stats. At 6* piety, this equates to +15 Str, Int, and Dex. Chei worshipers can wear heavier armor while casting stronger spells and dodging more. Translocations are particularly useful and easy for slow and intelligent characters. But these stats start as slow as Chei itself; and Chei will leave you vulnerable to many threats normal speed in the early dungeon without much compensation.

Such compensation starts out small; Chei will immediately slow down the effects of poison, giving you more time to regenerate off it. Useful for killer bees and Lair, though somewhat effective with the beefy poison users in Zot.

From 1* of piety, you gain the ability to bend time, Slowing creatures down. This ability requires a decent amount of Invocations investment, though reducing an enemy's combat and chase potential is still quite useful.

Slouch is a powerful. 4* invocation that always hits every enemy within LOS. Threatening screens can just be completely negated, if expensive. Slouch is particularly effective against faster enemies, and particularly effective against packs of enemies: to the tune of killer bees, arachnids, and caustic shrikes. Those same enemies will give you piety back (though as Slouch is rather expensive, it won't work out). Notably, Slouch's damage is not based on Invocation skill.

Step from Time is an potentially stronger ability - one that's entirely defensive. Unlocked at 5* piety, it allows you to hide for hundreds or thousands of turns; by then, your foes would have scattered, looking for you. This benefits from large spaces; monsters will wander away in due time, giving you at least the space to escape.

Cheibriados worshipers are punished for making a mistake. A single move action can give 2-3* turns for every opponent you've seen. While Chei's later invocations help mitigate mistakes, you would rather not spend tons of piety to fix a common mistake. Being slow changes how you play Crawl in its entirely. Being flexible with how you play a slow character is a must.

Recommended race and class combinations: Characters and players who can play around the move speed penalty; preferably ones that can use every stat Chei offers. Nagas and Barachim are already slower than most everything in the dungeon, letting them gain piety at lightning speed and enhancing the damage output of Slouch even further. The latter has access to Hop, giving a powerful and free repositioning tool.

Yredelemnul the Reaper

Yredelemnul is the dark god of death. Followers gain the power to rouse the idle dead through Yred's own virtue; not by spellcasting or necromancy. Piety is gained (in 0.28) by having created zombies and spectres in your line of sight.

By worshipping Yred, you will automatically create zombies and spectres on kill. Useful on their own right, though they will dissipate if you leave the level at all (such as stairdancing). As long as you can see them, you can exchange zombies for various perks. (And you can recall them if you don't see them)

For 2 souls, and at 2* piety, you can summon a stronger, temporary ally. Respectable allies such as Profane servitors and Bone dragons may spawn at high invocations.

For 3 souls and 3* piety, you can drain the life from living creatures. Healing is always great for emergencies, even if the damage isn't all that great.

And at 5* piety, you can bind a soul to your command. It'll retain the same abilities and equipment it had in life, while having similar (often noticeably stronger when you first get access) stats and now-draining attacks. Unlike the rest of the zombies, these souls can travel through levels.

Notably, Yred's wrath is relatively light (especially after 3 runes), making a switch easy.

Recommended Race and Class Combinations: Characters who can afford to 'get the ball rolling' each floor with a heaping of undead. Important abilities are redundant to Necromancy or Summoning, and get in the way of Conjurations, meaning it is more often melee characters who favor Yred.

Ashenzari the Shackled

Ashenzari is the bound god of Divination, and gives players the ability to curse your items. In fact, this is the only way to gain piety; and once their cursed, you can't enchant them, or remove them without losing the item forever. In exchange, each curse will grant a selection of skill point buffs.

As you curse more and more, each individual buff only gets stronger - and Ashzenzari starts giving multiple passives. First comes more knowledge - instant identification of every item (1*), detection of items and monsters, and even the detection of portals. See invisible, Clarity, and the ability to scry through walls follow. Passives are the key word here - Ashenzari followers have to avoid deadly situations with their enhanced stats and knowledge.

Ash makes the Abyss much easier. You can see gateways in and out of the hellish landscape from far away, you can see walls and flooring that signifies a rune vault, and you can see the monsters coming in advance. This helps for characters that would otherwise struggle iwth getting a 3rd rune.

Recommended race and class combinations: Ashenzari works well for characters that could use a boost in their abilities. From casting high level spells, to getting that executioner's axe reasonably fast, to just dealing with out of depth enemies.

Qazlal Stormbringer

Qazlal is the bringer of storms - they expect you to be loud, be proud, and decimate your competition.

Qazalal will slowly improve your storm shield. This increases your SH and surrounds you with damaging clouds. However, this comes at the extreme cost of being loud, attracting a huge swath of monsters at high piety. But the storm shield continues to improve - granting you the otherwise rare Repel Missiles, and giving you (extra) resistances as you get hit.

To compensate for the sheer amount of monsters you'll face, Qazlal gives you some devastating Invocations. Upheaval (3*) will call in a smite-targetted blast. Disaster Area (5*) will clear a huge portion of the screen (but will never hit you, and tiles around you are discouraged). Elemental Force (4*) is less impressive, but summons allies to distract or fight with. These abilities are expensive, especially if you have to use them with every encounter.

Recommended race and class combinations: Characters who can survive huge encounters - specifically, Axe fighters. Fighters that can afford to spend a lot on the Invocations skill are preferred, as Qazlal isn't impressive without huge investment. Qazlal's abilities are practically Conjurations of their own - so it's a bit redundant to worship as a major spellcaster.

The Wu Jian Council

The Wu Jian Council are ascended martial artists; worshipping and killing in their name will give you some strong techniques.

You'll get 3 movement based attacks early on - Lunge deals extra for approaching an opponent, Whirlwind will damage adjacent enemies in motion, and Wall Jump will give extra mobility with a wall. It's up to you to make the most of these abilities, even if they aren't that strong to begin with. All three skills will act at the same rate as your movement speed (Wall Jump takes 2 moves), though your attack speed will be taken into account.

Serpent's Lash (4*) will give you two instant movements (not locked to attacking, but it boosts it). Heavenly Storm (5*) will create obscuring clouds and massively boost damage and EV, as long as you keep move-attacking.

Recommended race and class combinations: Obviously, only melee fighters benefit from most of Wu Jian's abilities. From those, fighters who can afford to stay out in the open, and who don't need another god's help, can decide to pick Wu Jian.