Overview
The NEXUS is an infinite continuum of static dungeons, which can make it pretty easy to lose your way. This floor-by-floor guide will help you find quests and characters that will aid you in reaching secret realms and even hunting the Gods themselves.
Floors 1-3 & the Goblin Engineer
The first floor introduces mechanics to players who are new to Classic Roguelikes.
DON’T FORGET: DEATH IS NOT THE END! If you die you will retain your character experience points and be able to return to the highest floor number you’d reached. If you have performed enough noteworthy deeds you may also acquire some lives which will let you keep your equipped items on death.
Practice killing enemies and using abilities until you are comfortable enough to go to floor 2.
You should open chests to collect consumable items, a weapon, and some armor.
Don’t just open chests randomly, different types of chests have different types of equipment.
Common Chest
Otherwise these chests will just clutter your inventory with useless common items.
Silver Chest
Silver Chests are always found within Enemy Fortifications which are special looking rooms that contain powerful enemies & have fewer entrances. These rooms should be approached with caution.
Gold Chest
Gold Chests can be found in the Boss Room typically being guarded by a Floor Boss and its minions. Don’t forget that you can track the Gold Chest Boss Room with your compass.
Shadowcrawl is as much about being prepared as it is about strategy, you always want to have the right equipment and items on hand for the situation.
Upon reaching the Third Floor you will gain the option to track Friendly Encampments with the Compass. Seek out the Third Floor Encampment to find the Goblin Engineer.
From here simply guide the Goblin Engineer to a portal and you will enter a brand new area not otherwise accessible, the Realm of the Shogoth!
The Shogoth & the Cult of Shadows (F4)
The Monolith of Shadows is much more challenging than your average dungeon, it contains a True Boss Enemy, The Shogoth and the Cult of Shadows that worship it.
Upon reaching the Fourth Floor you will gain the ability to track rare enemies with your compass. Select the skull icon to begin tracking The Shogoth.
Luckily you won’t have to face the The Shogoth alone.
Upon defeating The Shogoth you will find a special shrine in the middle of the Boss Room, The Door to the Void. The Shogoth had masked the power of The Void so now these doors will appear throughout the dungeon.
Interacting with them will grant you access to the Cult of Shadows. Joining a Cult grants you a religious Skill & Perk, in this case you gain the ability to resist poison and inflict poison on enemies as well as the ability to lay traps that deal damage based on your AGI stat.
Once you’ve joined the Cult of Shadows you should find your way to a portal and escape from this dangerous place. Upon doing so you will receive your first Trophy for defeating the The Shogoth.
New Sources Of Strength (Floor 5)
Now that you have all 3 Compass Icons we can begin finding new ways to become more powerful.
Kill Rare Enemies
Every floor has a Floor Boss that guards the Gold Chest. Hunting the boss on each floor can rapidly accelerate the rate at which you level up. Select the Skull Icon on the Compass in order to hunt rare/boss enemies.
FInd Unique Gear
You should open the Gold Chest on every floor as special abilities & perks can greatly increase your combat capability. Especially when used in combination with the right class or other abilities.
Select the Chest Icon to begin tracking the Gold Chest
Make Powerful Allies
Some characters want to trade for a certain item, but if you do not have their item do not worry. You are bound to run into them again soon on later floors. Just keep an eye out for the item they need so you can trade it next time you see them. Select the Home Icon to begin tracking Allied Encampments where quest giving allies reside
Now we need to become more powerful to prepare for coming battles. Floor 5 is harsh compared to earlier floors and it might be time to upgrade your gear.
First you must select the Home Icon icon on your Compass to begin tracking the Friendly Encampment, make sure to keep an eye out for new gear on the way. Once you arrive there is one particular ally you’ll want to enlist the aid of:
If Miya isn’t in the Encampment then try to see if anyone else in camp will follow you. Once you’ve checked for allies we can begin tracking the Gold Chest. Be careful however, it will be guarded by a Floor Boss.
On your way to the Gold Chest make sure to keep an eye out for Enemy Fortifications; Special rooms that look different from the rest of the dungeon. These rooms have more powerful enemies and fewer entrances but contain Silver & Gold Chests worth looting.
Upon defeating the boss, open the Gold Chest and claim a Unique piece of equipment from inside. Equipping it will give you a new perk or attack that can help you grow stronger. Collect the Gold Chest on every floor & find new ways to become powerful.
Finally you can seek out a Portal and leave the level. You will have to find one without the compass but luckily Portals are almost always in or adjacent to a wide open space. Zooming the camera out can help increase visibility too. Now it’s on to Floor 6!
It Takes A Village To Raze A God (F6-F7)
If she survived to the end of Floor 5, Miya will give you a Powered Kite-Shield capable of performing a Shield Bash on your enemies.
It would be helpful to repeat the steps of the previous floor on this floor as well. Seeking the Allied Encampment to Enlist Aid, finding the Gold Chest for Unique Equipment, and hunting the Floor Boss for Bonus Experience Points.
Beyond the Floor Boss however there are also rare-spawn enemies that you can unlock and encounter in The NEXUS.
Once you’ve obtained all the power you can from this floor it’s time to move to Floor 7 where there’s work to be done. Find a Portal and escape.
Assuming you’ve been leveling up and collecting rare loot you’ll be ready for the challenges of Floor 7. The Goblin Engineer has been spotted in the area so we should contact him again. Set your Compass to the Home Icon and begin tracking the Allied Encampment.
Once again make sure to look out for Enemy Fortifications with Silver Chests in them that contain rare loot BUT BE CAREFUL! These rooms are deliberately death-traps for players.
It’s important at this point in the game that you’re structuring your equipment in a way that maximizes your abilities. The Player Build Guide will be coming soon and will be full of tips to help you maximize your combat capability.
Once you’ve looted the Gold Chest and killed some Rare Enemies head for a Portal, and be prepared for a fight!
The Forest of the Black Goat (Floor 8)
The forest itself is toxic and filled status inflicting traps & large poisonous insects. Even though the Boss Arena is huge, the forest itself is a confusing maze that can be easy to get lost in. Make sure to set your compass to track rare enemies so you can try and locate Shub-Nugurath.
On the bright-side however you might not have to face it all alone. If you’ve ever managed to escort Miya the Lady of Blades to a portal then upon arriving in the forest you will find her there preparing for combat.
A Worshipper of the Goddess Anima. Shub-Nugarath fears the sacred Blood Goddess and masks her power. As a result, Miya seeks to destroy Shub-Nugurath and unveil Anima‘s power. Upon speaking to her this time she will warn you of the incredible danger you’re in and instruct you to leave. If you object she will instead insist that you join forces. This would be a wise choice as Miya is a powerful combatant who will prove a formidable ally in the coming battle. As a Human Blood Knight she is capable of stunning enemies for lengthy amounts of time and dealing incredible damage with her blood magic. Take advantage of her shield bash to inert Shub-Nugurath’s young.
Once you have defeated Shub-Nugurath you’ll discover a Secret Shrine in the middle of the Boss Arena. The Font of Anima! However BE CAREFUL, large open areas are extremely dangerous and leave you at risk of getting swarmed & surrounded.
Shub-Nugurath had been masking the power of The Blood Goddess Anima and now her power is unsealed. This will cause Fonts of Anima to appear regularly throughout the dungeon levels. These shrines let you change your Cult to The Servants of Blood!
The Servants of Blood gain the ability to Steal Health with their melee attacks and cast powerful Blood Magic over 2 tiles at a cost to their own health. Joining will cause you to leave The Cult of Shadows and lose your poisonous perk and agility trap.
Once you’ve decided, you should VERY CAREFULLY find a portal and exit the level.
Corruption & The Glitches (Floor 9)
Floor 9 is a fairly standard floor but be prepared for a fight. On the Boss Floors most of the enemies use a single, intense combat style causing you to adapt heavily to it in order to survive. Move with caution as you re-adjust to the more varied enemies of The Nexus!
Corruption is a global stat that is shared among all save files within the game. Meaning increasing it for one character increases it for all characters, even new characters. As Corruption steadily increases it can also release the “Glitch” enemies into your game.
They will move around in-between save files hunting your characters. Killing “Glitches” kills them permanently and lowers the Corruption level. For now though there should be very few weak “Glitch” enemies present, if any.
If you feel comfortable with your build the way it is you could hunt some Rare Enemies and go to the next floor HOWEVER it can always be beneficial to loot the rare chest on every floor.
The next floor hides a powerful Boss Enemy so it might be beneficial to be as strong as possible.
Once you are done gaining strength on this floor you should find a Portal and go to FLOOR 10
The Demon Butcher (Floor 10)
This floor will largely be like any other floor EXCEPT that the Friendly Encampment has been taken over by a powerful Demon who has transformed it into a deadly Boss Room.
It is largely recommended that you avoid the Undying Kitchen of the Butcher as the enemies in there are far more powerful than most you’ve seen so far. That being said, killing him can unlock some interesting features in the dungeon.
There are options if you wish to fight The Butcher. If you’ve been increasing your power this whole time then you might be strong enough to beat him, and you can take a useful ally into this fight as well.
Once the Butcher is defeated Roz will become an idle NPC again and talk to you. Killing the Butcher itself also unlocks new cults & demons to be added to the dungeon.
Upon defeating The Butcher you can discover within his kitchen a terrible dark Altar of Meat. Worship at this altar will replace your cult and comes with a few benefits HOWEVER BE WARNED: It makes you a blood-heretic, tantamount to demon-hood and as such you will be hunted by the Cultists of Anima.
However forming this pact will grant you the Undeath perk as well as the ability to cast Blood Magic in exchange for health. Undeath does grant your character the ability to leech smalll amounts of health as well as granting them a few other properties including changing how they endure physical damage and status effects.
Overall if your character is a mage or a battle-mage the Servants of Blood which you may already be a member of might be a better fit for your build. However tanky characters and the Trogloth in particular recieve an incredible boost to their defensive capabilities with the Undeath perk.
Once you have collected everything you want from this floor find a portal to FLOOR 11