Portal

Version 0.17: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

This page is about the dungeon feature. For the obsolete card or spell, see Portal card or Portal (spell) respectively.

A portal is a (generally) temporary gateway to a special level. Each such level has multiple possibilities for its exact layout and inhabitants, but always follows a specific theme. You will almost certainly encounter some of these in every game, but it is extremely rare to ever find all of them in a single run-through. In the console version of Crawl, portals are represented by the ∩ glyph.

Portals are either silent or announced. Silent portals will exist until you enter them, even if you leave the level. Announced portals are timed, and will eventually close if you do not get to them fast enough.

When a portal times out somewhere out of sight, you may get a message such as: "The floor vibrates strangely!" Treasure troves and Ziggurats won't ever time out, but after they are used once, they may never be entered again.

The following comprises all portal levels, with their in-game description and a brief explanation:

Early Game

Ossuary

A sand-covered staircase

Zombies and mummies and traps, oh my!

The Sewers

A glowing drain

Wade through rat- and snake-infested waters. Mind the kobolds.

Mid Game

Bailey

A flagged portal

Ranged weapons and/or a slugfest with orcs, gnolls, elves, and goblins.

Ice Cave

A frozen archway

Assorted frigid monsters and ice statues abound. Bring cold resistance.

Labyrinth

A labyrinth entrance

Find the exit, beat the minotaur guarding it. Bring extra food.

Volcano

A dark tunnel

Everything is on fire. Including you, if you forget your fire resistance.

Late Game

Wizard Laboratory

A magic portal

The private laboratories of any one of several strange characters.

Desolation of Salt

An expanse of salt containing some heavily guarded treasure.

Anywhere

Bazaar

A gateway to a bazaar

Shopping trip!

Malign Gateway

A portal to somewhere

Not a true portal, but the short-lived result of a spell: eldritch tentacle imminent. Walk into it to blink and take some damage, if you really want to.

Treasure trove

A portal to a secret trove of treasure

A collection of treasure customized for your character... at a specific, peculiar price. (No portal timer.)

Ziggurat

A gateway to a ziggurat

The ultimate challenge. (No portal timer.)

History

• Desolation of Salt was added in 0.19
• Prior to 0.14, a shorter timer would be started upon first seeing the timed portal.
• Prior to 0.13, many timed portals were not announced.
• The Spider's Nest was upgraded from a portal level to a full-fledged dungeon branch in 0.11.