The Swamp

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Revision as of 20:22, 13 April 2018 by Slobodan (talk | contribs) (Fixed for 0.21. Added: correct flavour, new monster list, better history. Removed: lots of obsolete advice, the incomplete and partly obsolete list of swamp endings, some irrelevant history.)
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Version 0.21: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.
A swampy wasteland, complete with ooze, muck, flies and large slavering carnivorous monsters.

The Swamp is four levels deep and contains the decaying rune. A dungeon features only one of the Swamp and Shoals branches. If the Swamp is present, the entrance is located between Lair:3 and Lair:6.

A stair to a swampy wasteland, complete with ooze, muck, flies and large slavering carnivorous monsters.

Swamp entry.png The Swamp is a side branch that contains the decaying rune of Zot. Four levels deep, it is home to all manner of small water creatures and swamp insects, as well as hydras, dragons, and worms. The entrance to the Swamp may be found in the Lair between Lair:3-6. The Swamp is one of two water-themed branches that may be generated in each game (the other is the Shoals).

Layout

Each floor is large and open with trees and plants providing the only cover most of the time. You'll find small islands of land and the occasional ruin or vault amid large masses of shallow and deep water.

You can set trees on fire to create passages. The resulting forest fire will create immense amounts of steam and may go out of control, however!

Strategy

  • Due to Mephitic Cloud-breathing swamp drakes, Poisonous cloud-breathing Swamp dragons, and the general watery nature of the Swamp, it's a bad idea to attempt this branch without poison resistance or a source of cloud immunity. You could also rely on a large supply of potions of curing or Elyvilon's Purification ability to overcome confusion and poisoning, but these are costly.
  • Consider having some means of flying; without it, the shallow water can fatally slow you down if you need to retreat. Many of the monsters encountered in the Swamp receive speed boosts in the water.
  • Players lacking poison resistance can acquire it in the Swamp itself. If you can find, kill a swamp dragon for a chance to get swamp dragon scales, which have the rPois intrinsic.
  • Edged weapon users will also need some alternative means of killing hydras. See the hydra article for an in-depth list of methods.

Monsters

Common monsters

l Alligator.png Alligator F Cane toad.png Spiny frog w Swamp worm.png Swamp worm w Tyrant leech.png Tyrant leech
k Swamp drake.png Swamp drake l Komodo dragon.png Komodo dragon D Hydra.png Hydra D Swamp dragon.png Swamp dragon
y Vampire mosquito.png Vampire mosquito v Insubstantial wisp.png Insubstantial wisp n Bog body.png Bog body J Slime creature.png Slime creature
y Hornet.png Hornet i Spriggan rider.png Spriggan rider i Spriggan druid.png Spriggan druid t Ghost crab.png Ghost crab

Dangerous monsters

f Thorn hunter.png Thorn hunter

f Shambling mangrove.png Shambling mangrove

Uniques

D The Lernaean hydra.png The Lernaean hydra - found in certain Swamp endings.

  • Depending on which ending you get, you might also come upon undead variants of the usual Swamp inhabitants or a number of other dangerous monsters. Tread carefully on the last floor!


History

  • During it's history, the swamp has received countless changes to the list of monsters inhabiting it. Many unthreatening monsters have been pruned.
  • Prior to 0.17, the Swamp was five levels deep.
  • In 0.11, the Swamp was given an improved layout, with smaller and more compact levels, and more trees. It is also less misty than before.