Overview
This guide contains a lot of stuff, from information on acheivements, edible items, character design, crafting, items, and enemies.It also contains information on how to easily uncover a variety of secret, unique, and hidden items on each level.I may make note that some of the information I learn that is placed in this guide comes from other guides, and I will provide links to other helpful guides that I found useful.
Introduction
Dungeons of Dredmor is a place which offers a wide variety of skills and abilities to the player at the start of the Dungeon but you can only select a total of seven (7) for use for any one (1) adventurer in any one (1) playthrough. With dozens of choices people can easily pick random options and wind up dead without realizing what they could have picked wrong. Even so, you can pick an excellent skill set, but not have any understanding of the enemies, damage types and resistances, and items and their functions, which lead unsuspecting adventurers to their doom as they stumble about fighting enemies who have resistances to various attacks, and as adventurers use items which cause more self-harm than self benefit.
This guide is designed to teach as many of the basics as possible that the Adventurers Tutorial has not only had, but left out. As such, if you went to school to partake in the said Tutorial classes, then you will know some of what is included here, and are actually prepared enough that you can survive a few levels of Dredmor’s Dungeon before dieing tragically. With this though, should you remember the contents, you can survive several more before a lack of experience, skill, and luck leads to one’s doom.
Skills, Abilities, and Talents, of your Classes you received classes on.
When you picked from seven (7) Skills to learn with your life, you probably didn’t think in the long term of how they would effect you.
Well, here is an explanation of things to assist you.
Skills are classified into a variety of forms, in which they are mainly used by the three main Archetypes of Adventurers. These types of Adventurers are Warriors, Rogues, and Wizards.
In this guide we don’t go on into the classification of said Skills or the Archetypes, but of the Skills uses.
For example: there are numerous Skills that specifically are for making yourself combat capable with a specific type of weapon. Swords for example is a Skill that gives you expertise at using any Sword weapon, as well as special attacks and abilities usable mainly with a Sword weapon. While you may think weapons are incredibly important, and you will find many weapons of many types which will all be equally good in their own right, remember that you only need one (1) form of melee weapon to be a successful adventurer. As such, choose the one type of melee weapon you favor most if you wish to succeed, as there are numerous other Skills that need to be combined with your melee combat choice. Of course, you can choose a second (2) skills of weapons. Having a Sword and a Staff weapon means you can easily swap between standard damage types and special damage types. Having Sword and Axe means you can swap between two different weapons that are complemented in different means. Sword and Polearm or Axe and Polearm means you can strike the enemy first always before closing in. Never have three (3) unless you have little intention of surviving harm and long range combat.
Next, is for being capable of surviving harm. In this form there are many Skills, but you should focus on the Skills used for surviving harm whether by reducing damage, avoiding damage, or nullifying damage. As nullifying damage is a rare occurrence in which you have a high resistance to a specific damage type, we’ll ignore that and focus on the others. For example, everyone can wear armor, use a shield, and dodge, but only specific skills improve upon this talents. As such, you’ll need to pick at minimum one (1) type of defensive Skill. As such, if you choose to master wearing armor, you don’t need to choose to master dodging, and vice versa. However, with either one of those skills you can still use a shield, a heavy shield will benefit those who master armor while a light shield enable one to remain nimble and easily dodge attacks in addition to blocking attacks.
Nullification also gives one the option of potentially ignoring a damage type, and specific damage types are more prone to being either protected, dodged, or blocked, meaning for the biggest experts, resorting to more advanced guides and education would be desirable to discover the best combination.
You should always use at least 1 skills if you want to risk death but survive it, 2 to avoid risking death and certainly survive death, 3 if you don’t want to kill your enemies as they try killing you cause you haven’t learned other needed survival skills.
Another is the skills that gives player long range attacks, in which one uses either crossbows, wands, or spells. As crossbows require owning a crossbow, and ammo which is often destroyed under most circumstances when hitting an enemy or object, many often think of using the crossbow skill if they are willing to risk losing the bolts they heavily depend on. However, with either Smithing or Tinkering Skills, as well as high level Crossbow skills, Bolts can be crafted and/or recovered from the environment. Crossbow mastery ensures a never ending a supply of Bolts, along with Smithing or Tinkering mastery.
Throwing Weapons are common, and come in countless forms which can either harm or stun enemies. They are so common you will always have some. If you can craft with Smithing, Alchemy, Tinkering, or have Fungalmancy, you will always have a means of getting additional throwing weapons.
Of course, with Wands, one has a limited use ranged weapon that can also have other effects based on the Wand type. Some wands like Coral Wands will heal the user and allies it targets. Some wands do more than harm enemies, Meat Wands turn enemies into Meat food items and Bling Wands turn enemies into Zorkmids/Money. Regardless, wands have a limited amount of charges, and when used up, will turn useless until the Burnt Wand is re-crafted into a new wand. Thankfully Wand Skill both enables an Adventurer to better use wands as well as craft them.
Lastly, Magicks allow one to use spell points to cast spells that can do a variety of things. Some wizards like those who master Fleshomancy do more than just use spells to heal flesh and harm flesh but also create flesh such as food and summon companions. Necronomiconimics is used for Necromancy purposes, such as healing the undead, harming the undead and living, and creating the undead in various forms such as items or summon companions. The choice of Magicks you master also depends on what enemies are resistant or immune to harm.
One(1) ranged attack is a neccessity. Cause you will always have a crossbow slot no matter what, I often reccomend a crossbow. Of course, the other things can replace a crossbow as a superior ranged combat weapon in the right circumstances, and equal crossbows in most others, with only a rare few ranged combat circumstances making them inferior. Having two (2) at maximum is also okay. Never have three (3) unless you are content limiting your survival within Dredmor’s Dungeon.
You might have noticed I make mention to never have three (3) of any of these skill in my stated categories. This is commonplace. Some circumstances in life have a mystic number that is unlucky. Three (3) is unlucky with these circumstances.
Lastly, there are other skills that are Special Circumstance Skills that can be included with Melee, Ranged, and Survival in any combination of 1 to 3 of them in addition to itself.
Viking skillset is primarily melee and survival, giving you melee combat bonuses with swords and axes and with Viking based elements which are special damage types Voltaic and Hyperborean (Thunder and Ice). Being able to deal such harm and resist such harm is good. Sadly, not being with a sword, axe, or heavy armor, makes this talent not a good idea to take.
Fungalmancy is able to be all 3 skills, and is the best utility skill in being good at nothing but half-decent at everything. It focuses on fungus, which can be used to harm, heal, resist, and more.
Egyptian power Skill allows you a variety of talents, many for survival, few for combat, but specific forms of melee and ranged combat, meaning you need to combine the right combat skills. I always recommend at least one SCS regardless of whether you will focus on it or not.
Crafts skills can be called SCS’s, but they are far more than that. Smithing allows you to create ammo for Crossbows… create and upgrade melee weapons such as Axes, Swords, Daggers, Polearms… and you can create and upgrade Armor. Alchemy allows you to create Potions, upgrade items tied to magic, and to on rare occasions improve/upgrade Potions. Tinkering allows you to create and upgrade Crossbows and create ammo for Crossbows! It also allows you to create materials from traps and create traps. Lastly, a rare few Armor items that are light Armor can be made via Tinkering, and all items outside crossbows have limited upgrade options as well. Wands allows Wand crafting and Staff crafting and upgrading and recharging Wands. It is almost useless for other crafting purposes. As all crafts provide additions that are useful, I suggest learning one Craft Skill. Learn the Craft tied most important to your survival. Know alchemy is still useful for warriors in spite of not being warrior related, as it creates potions for healing and creates potions that temporarily improve armor or weapons you use.
Items, Types, Uses, and Crafting
Items exist in many forms.
Weapons, Armor(Head, Chest, Legs, Boots), Shields, Crossbows, Ammo, Thrown, Trinkets(Neck,Rings), Food, Drinks, Wands, Reagents(Crafts), Potions, Fungus, Quest, Junk, Traps include most all item types.
Weapons include Swords, Maces, Axes, Spears, Staffs, and Daggers. It goes in your hands for fighting. You have two hands. Spears use 2 hands for weapon purposes yet can be used with shields… thus you can have two weapons, or one weapon. Two weapons is important for dual-wielding, and only a rare few Skills allow you to fight duel-wielding. Duel-wielding is the only obvious one… but specific SCS skills allow it…
Armor includes Head Armor, Chest Armor, Leg Armor, and Boots. They go in the respective slot. Heavy armor is made of most metals and decreases dodge ability and sneak ability while boosting defenses heavily. Heavy Head Armor has some that decrease sight range.
Shields come in two forms. Light and Heavy. The only major difference is that Heavy adds slightest bit higher defence, block, deflect, and counter, at the cost of Dodge and Sneak in the slightest bit.
Crossbows are for the crossbow slot. They require ammo. Ammo is equipped in your Toolbet slots, not the crossbow slot.
Ammo goes in your Toolbelt slots. It cannot be used without a Crossbow. Ammo is destroyed on hitting an enemy with a high chance. Skills can decrease that chance.
Thrown weapons go in the Toolbelt slots. They are destroyed on hitting an enemy unless you have the right skill, which gives a recovery chance. You’ll find a hell of a lot of em… good thing you have like a dozen Toolbelt pockets/slots…
Trinkets are worn, You can only wear one on the neck, but you can wear two on the rings… clockwork limbs and gloves are worn in the ring slot.
Food is eaten to restore health. The higher the number of the Heart associated with the food, the longer will offer a healing effect and the stronger it will cause its effects. The number always equals the time of healing in turns. It can offer anywhere from 1-5 HP per turn from its effect, associated specifically with the number. They can be used from inventory or toolbelt.
Drinks restore MP. It heals MP over a short time to being instant. Always consider the number equaling the MP. Most Drinks are Alchoholic. Alchoholic drinks will be able to have effects if too much of Alchoholic drinks are used in a short time period. At first it is lower intellectual stats and higher physical stats, second are debuffs, third is physical harm via Alchohol Poisoning. All these negative effects go away over time and will not kill you itself. Used like Food.
Wands are not able to be equipped like weapons, yet most wands are weapons. They are used from the toolbelt, or from inventory. They require you specifically targeting something/someone in sight range. They have limited charges/uses that cause it to eventually burn out.
Reagents are used in crafting as ingredients. Specific Reagents are also other types of items at the same time. Sometimes weapons and armor are used when they are being upgraded into another type. Sometimes Reagents can be consumed like Potions, harming the adventurer. Fungus exist as Reagents and can be consumed like Potions, causing good effects UNLESS MUDWEN, Mudwen Fungus is poison! I reccomend keeping all Fungus you find and using them like potions as they all have beneficial effects from regenerate, lifesteal, damage resistance, and adding temporary damage bonuses to your attacks… Reagents are single use in crafts…
Potions are used like Drinks… except they have countless effects… many Potions explain their effect in limited form. Steely Potions gives Steel Armor effect… Verdant Potion is described as Poisonous, and will give the drinker a poisonous attack… the most obvious is Healing Potion and Mana Potion… as all Potions have positive effects, all Potions are important to collect and save. Some Potions will last a specific amount of turns, others will last a specific amount of effect ‘uses’ such as attacks or being attacked.
Quest and Junk items have no real importance. Quest items can only be found by accepting Quests from the Goddess Inconsequentia. They are needed for completing the Quest. Junk items are typically used solely for selling, Horse Armor and Scrap Metal for example.
Lastly, Traps. Traps made by adventurers don’t need to be disarmed via skills. Traps placed around the dungeon need to be disarmed or can harm the adventurers who step on them. Of course, enemies, foes, monsters, they can be hurt by traps… but they will avoid traps they see get placed as well as avoid traps made for the Dungeon to hurt adventurers. Clever use of traps, disarming and placing, can kill enemies…
This is all information on items and their purposes. I advise selling Weapons you do not have the training to Master, and keeping Weapons you can master for crafting purposes. I advise keeping the best crossbow you can and selling all lesser crossbows UNLESS you are a Tinkerer or Crossbowman/crossbow-woman. It is always nice to have a diverse selection of armor, and shields, sell only the weakest armor and shields, unless you are a Blacksmith, in which you should keep armor and shield to make them into better ones. Ammo and Thrown weapons are to be kept if you use them, otherwise, it is a good idea to put them into a Horadric Lutefisk Cube. You shall be rewarded for that… always keep food and drink. Food for healing, Drink for skills and/or magical powers. Wands are handy, but less useful ones can be sold. Bling and Meat Wands are better used than sold. Same with Coral Wands. Lastly Potions should be gathered and always kept in one’s toolbelt. Do not sell potions unless you are confident you don’t need the additional power offerreded by these wondrous liquids.
Traps can be sold or are dismantled into Reagents, depending on what you deem proper. Only a very talented and tricky adventurer can make the best use of them. If you read this guide, you need a better guide for trap usage.
Furnishings of Shrines, Chests, and more!
The Dungeons of Dredmor are filled with many things with from one to many purposes.
Shrines can be prayed at and/or given offerrings. Shrines that are prayed at give bonuses in the form of stats or powers. The Lutefisk God’s Shrine will only accept offerrings and only Lutefisk, but enough offerrings rewards rare powerful weapons, armor, and trinkets beyond your wildest dreams! They are oft called relics.
Chests can be opened, but some are locked. Locked chests can be smashed with a high chance of destroying their contents but a small chance of opening them. Lockpicks open locked chests with a chance that is higher and higher based on various stats such as Savvy and Nimbleness and Skills that improve lockpicking. Lockpicks always have a chance to open a chest or door no matter what. Improve the chances to garauntee success!
Crates and Barrels can be found and broken. When breaking them they can reveal treasure, or nothing. They can have anything from food, drinks, ammo, potions, thrown weapons, reagents, and even fungus.
Trees can be broken but rarely have any purpose behind doing so except making a path. Same with Wooded Barricaded Doors.
Oddball things called Goopies are known to eat items, nesting for years on end to digest the items before eating another item. During your adventure these harmless critters can be found nesting. Smash them to see what they may have failed to digest.
Uber Chests are special chests that cannot be opened outside special means. Sometimes a switch must be found or opened… or an unique enemy slain. They always contain rare items known as relics. If you want good gear you’ll need to find the means to open the chest. There is never an indication as to what the special method to open an Uber Chest is on sight, so you’ll likely open one if you explore the entire Dungeon level and pull every lever and slay every unique enemy.
Krong Anvils are sacred anvils to the God Krong. He upgrades any item that can be worn or equipped, and is the patron of all craftsmen whether Smiths or Tinkerers. However, Krong is a god who is fickle, and only is willing to favor his chosen. As such, unless you are a special person with special skills, Krong will occasionally curse your item with Shame. Shame curses cannot be removed. Krong anvils are single use without special skills. The Krong upgrades are random and un-changeable unless you have special skills.
Also, sometimes you will find Diggle Nests. They can have Diggle Eggs. They can be used for more than just making Food and Drink, but those purposes are rarely seen outside an expansion for the Dungeon.
There are also teleporter pads that exist. Red Satanic Displacement Glyphs are from the Realms of Id much like the Rusty Helmet and Green Armor. They are a two way teleporter pad. Nothing can indicate which one goes to which so use your memory with all them on your map. Next are Arcane Address Abodes. These blue pads are from another expansion to Dredmor’s Dungeon. One way pads, you must explore the invaded Wizardland Abode Dredmor’s minions conquered to leave.
Another thing associated with Arcane Address Abodes are the Arcane Addresses. They are mystical multi-colored graphitti containing words needed to visiting a very specific non-randomly generated Arcane Address Abode via Arcane Address Keys and the Planar Portal Travel Teleporter at a Planar Realm accessed via Arcane Keys. Found in an expansion of some sort.
Vending Machines supply specific items of limited quanitites for Zorkmids. Brax’s Shop sells almost anything. Really. He buys stuff you sell him for less their value too. He buys almost anything. Really. Anything. Except Shamed items.
Vending Machines can also be summoned via 3 runes put in 3 slots with a summoning lever. Different combinations make different Vending Machines. For example putting them in the order they appear on the ground from top to bottom makes a FUD machine. The opposite order of placement will cause a different machine, DRINKs to appear.
Item and Skill Combos
This is an extra part of the guide to mention that various things in the game compliment eachother.
Healing is important, everyone needs to keep a good state of bodily well being.
Eating a Greedy Blungecap and a Fairy Wodgewodger will give you the effects of both fungus, allowing temporary health regeneration and temporary lifesteal. Combined together you can rapidly restore a large amount of health in a short time in melee and ranged combat. Because these fungus both last more than several turns they are good to have together and use.
Potions with the same effects exist as well, giving lifesteal and regeneration in a stronger form for a longer time. The Dire Potion and Lively Potion when both used do this.
Finally skills that perform these effects exist as well. They exist typically in seperate skill trees though, but when you use these skills together you can wage battle effectively.
Another excellent combination is when you can stun an enemy and then damage them.
In regards to this, Puffballs are a fungus that stuns and confuses enemies on a large scale. They can then be attacked with other throwing weapons, crossbow bolts, or spells/abilities, with impunity.
Also, some weapon skills cause stunning. The Mace skill tree has a Stun effect that happens on occasion, and a special attack that can be used on occasion that also causes a stun effect. Both of these things also have a chance of knockback, allowing random, and on-fire, stunning. This enables the player to perform an extended repeated assault. As the enemy is close-by, using a skill tree that offers more assault abilities/attacks can quickly finish the bloody job on one, and even multiple enemies.
Finally, Geologists rejoice, as a Geomancer can use their attacks to stun, and knockback enemies and when combined with a proper weapon skill tree or items, can ensure a large amount of time to bludgeon, followed by anything else, that is desired.
Summoning can also be useful. It creates distractions, and rarely powerful allies.
Wand users can use Bony Wands to create a maximum of 9 Zombies with a single casting. Then other wands can be used to do damage from a far distance in safety while the zombie army takes heavy blows for you.
Fleshomancers can create a weak, fragile companion to distract potent enemies, and as long as you have meat you can make more and more. You can then use your powers to enhance yourself while your minion takes damage so you can buff and heal yourself.
Big Game Hunters can summon a ferocious pack of Hunting Diggles to attack enemies, and the Hunter’s Lure can aggro a single enemy to you while the pack will distract, as well as maim and kill the other enemies. This is a very useful tactic and shows summoning has purposes for dividing enemies into easier battles rather than performing smaller less complex purposes.
Special Thanks and Links
This section is to give people thanks for their discoveries, as well as a magic take-me link to their own guides. The adventurers deserve their own guides looked at as it contains high detail on things not fully explained in my guide.
My basic fungal knowledge was acquired via a fellow adventurer with a love of fungus.
His guide is: Fungal Forewarning
Link When Available: [link]
My basic information on vending machines and the vending summoning was acquired from a fellow adventurer with a love for magic, transmutation, and conjuration.
His guide is: Vending Magic
Link When Available: [link]
A special thanks to my family for supporting my desire to adventure across the realms.
This guide is contract to changes based on the Adventurer’s Guild of Heroes and the guide’s creator.
All rights reserved until year Zxbzmx Flargthorp.