Dungeons

Dungeons in Stoneshard are the lair of the Enemies. Containing various monsters, these areas are the most dangerous (and also most interesting) places to explore.

Dungeon Basics

There are two types of Dungeons:

• Contract Dungeons
• Distant Dungeons

Contract Dungeons

Example of a Dungeon description on the Global Map

Contract Dungeons are always tied to Contracts. Each Contract Dungeon should always be connected to their respective town via a road. Their position on the map is randomly generated in every playthrough, although they should always generate in the vicinity of their respective town (ie. Mannshire dungeon won't be closer to Osbrook than to Mannshire). All Dungeons have fixed names and the dialogue about a Contract will always mention the Dungeon's name.

Contract Dungeons can be found near:

• Osbrook
• Mannshire
• Denbrie
• Rotten Willow Tavern

Distant Dungeons

Distant Dungeons are optional Dungeons, typically of higher difficulty than the Contract Dungeons. This type of Dungeon doesn't come with a Contract and is not connected by a road. Their position on the map is also randomly generated and their names are also fixed.

Distant Dungeons can be found by:

• Exploring the map
• Using Maps
• Scouting
• Hearing about them in random Rumours
• Asking about Abandoned Forts and Dungeons at Skinflint Homs
• Receive a Rumor from an NPC as a quest reward (Marlo or Venemist)

Difficulty Tiers

Example of Dungeon Tiers in a dialogue

Each dungeon has a Difficulty Tier ranging from 1 to 5, this is displayed as the amount of skulls next to a Dungeon's name. Tier dictates what kinds of Enemies and what kind of Loot can spawn in the dungeon. You can check the Tier when you hover a Dungeon on the Global Map, and the skulls are also shown in the dialogue window when selecting a Contract. The Tier of a Dungeon can change after it respawns.

Currently, the possible Dungeon Tiers are:

• — Tier 1
• — Tier 2
• — Tier 3
• — Tier 4
• — Tier 5

Dungeon Tier doesn't take your level or your gear into account. Contract Dungeons' Tier follows the current game progression: Osbrook -> Mannshire -> Rotten Willow Tavern -> Denbrie. Distant Dungeons don't follow this rule - a Dungeon without road near Osbrook can be a Tier 5 Dungeon. There are no level restrictions for entering high Tier dungeons, so confident Mercenaries can enter at their own peril.

Dungeon Respawn

Contract Dungeons will close after you complete or fail their corresponding Contract (and leave the dungeon entrance tile - if you are currently there or inside the Dungeon). Upon closing, any Loot or Enemies left inside will be lost forever. Distant Dungeons will remain open until you open the chest in the boss room. Opening the boss room chest will trigger their closure and respawn timer.

• Contract Dungeons will re-open after a new Contract generates, this typically takes 3-4 days.
• Distant Dungeons will re-open depending on their difficulty, Tier 4 typically takes a week to respawn, Tier 5 typically takes two weeks to respawn.

If you didn't accept a Contract, cleared its associated Dungeon, then sold (or otherwise disposed of) the Quest Items, the Dungeon will currently NOT respawn. You will have to accept the Contract and finish it (or wait until the timer runs out and incur the penalty for failing) in order to have the Dungeon respawn.

Dungeon Layout

Dungeons in Stoneshard use pre-made tilesets to construct each floor, but their configuration is randomly generated the first time you enter the Dungeon. After respawning, the Dungeon is generated again using the same rule. Therefore if you cleared a Bastion once, the same Bastion in the same spot on the Global Map will look different next respawn.

• Tier 1 and Tier 2 Dungeons always spawn with one floor.
• Tier 3 and higher Tier Dungeons spawn with two floors, this is the current maximum amount of floors.

The mechanics of layout generation are currently unknown.

Secret Rooms

Each Dungeon starting from Tier 2 has a chance that a Secret Room will generate in the Dungeon. Secret Rooms are special loot rooms that are not connected to other dungeon tilesets by usual means, instead the player must either passively detect the Secret Room by walking near it or by using the Examine Surroundings skill in the right place. Secret Rooms can spawn with various contents - freely placed items, corpses with loot, a treasure chest, etc.

Not all dungeons generate with a Secret Room. Currently chance is fixed at 5%, therefore finding a Secret Room is quite rare. This chance is calculated per Dungeon, so two floor Dungeons have the same chance for having a Secret Room as one floor Dungeons.

Detecting a Secret Room is indicated by:

• The player character comments about it.
• A Combat Log message "X has found a Secret Room" will be displayed.
• A crack will appear in one of the Dungeon walls, allowing passage inside the Secret Room.

Dungeon Conditions

Example of a Dungeon Modifier as seen on the Global Map

Dungeons can generate with certain negative effects that raise the Difficulty Tier of a Dungeon and apply a special condition, typically making the Dungeon more deadly. Each Dungeon Type has its own set of possible Dungeon Modifiers. Dungeon Modifiers have a chance to appear in Contract Dungeons upon Contract respawn. If the player fails a Contract, the next Contract Dungeon of the same Type as the failed Contract Dungeon is guaranteed to spawn with a Modifier. All Distant Dungeons always spawn with a Dungeon Modifier.

Dungeon Types

The Dungeon Type is decided at the start of Adventure Mode. There are four main dungeon types.

• Bastion
• Crypt
• Catacombs
• Cave

Dungeon's entrance tile, tileset, structure, inhabitants, contents, modifiers are strictly tied to the selected Dungeon Type. You won't find Brigands and Food in a Crypt, similarly you won't find Skeletons in a Bastion.

The Bastion

“

This bastion once provided protection to the surrounding settlements, but now it's just a den of brigands and deserters, who use it as a base for their raids.

„

The Bastions — old fortifications or broken down towers from the war period, abandoned by the Factions who had to divert their resources elsewhere. When deserted, these reliable strongholds of the past now slowly decrepit in the calloused hands of irresponsible new owners — Bandits and Rebels, becoming the perfect hideout for them, both as their base of operations and as a place to store their Valuables, Alcohol and their captives. A mercenary can expect to find Food, Materials, and some Medicine in abundance here.

The second floor of the Bastions, although somewhat more mossy and ruined, does not lose traces of the fortress's former grandeur.

Structurally, the Bastions consist of medium-sized rooms with frequent small rooms, fenced off with wooden partitions. Some rooms have a special purpose: forges, kennels, etc. Also here mercenary can find kitchens with Barrels of water and Cauldrons suitable for Cooking and brigand armories with reinforced doors and Workbenches inside.

Bastions usually have several Brigands guarding the entrance.

Negative Situation related to Bastion — Dangerous Roads.

Bastion is the first Dungeon type that mercenary will enter in the Adventure mode.

Bastion Contracts

• Captive Emissary
• Bounty Hunt
• Bandit Den
• Underground Workshops
• Stolen Shipment
• Hostage Rescue

Contract Bastions

• Fort-At-The-Outskirts (Osbrook)
• Three Shields Forepost (Mannshire)
• Crooked Tower (Denbrie)
• Margrave's Bastion (Rotten Willow Tavern)

Distant Bastions

• Fort Etbert — Tier 4
• Fort Gray Falcon — Tier 5

Bastion Modifiers

• Trapped Entrance — the entrance gate seals when you enter, re-open it by using the lever in one of the rooms inside the Dungeon.

“

I've been told that the first few scouts who ventured there triggered a trap of some kind and never made it back. So keep that in mind.

„

• Revelry — some Brigands have Drugs Effect/Aftermath or Drunkenness I.

“

Only a few days ago, these scoundrels raided a large, wealthy caravan. Obviously, that called for a celebration — so now half the gang can barely stay on their feet.

„

• Iron Discipline — grants enemies Iron Discipline.

“

Some say this gang isn't just your average riff-raff, but battle-hardened veterans of several campaigns. So if they truly know how to fight together, letting them swarm you all at once is bound to end badly.

„

• Hefty Stockpiles — grants enemies ability to use some consumables, tools and throwing weapons.

“

The bastion they took over had cellars stocked with all kinds of combat supplies. I have a hunch these fellows didn't let them go to waste.

„

Bastion Secret Rooms

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The Crypt

“

During its pinnacle, the Triune Hand Order built numerous crypts across the entire Aldor to help the souls of the departed join with the Host. Although the crypts used to be heavily guarded, they were completely abandoned after the war — something which malicious cults quickly took advantage of...

„

The Crypts — spacious underground mausoleums consisting of several large halls leading to separate tombs, closed with stone slabs, the entrance to which can only be opened with a Crowbar. The dead did not find long-awaited peace in these cold corridors — Skeletons, Restless, Ghasts and other filth resurrected by the evil will of the necromancer pose an obvious threat to the mercenary. However, the crypts are filled with sarcophagi, coffins and burial urns, in which, with the right amount of luck, you can find enough Valuables.

The second floor of the Crypts is a much less refined place than the decorated halls above: in some places the tiles give way to rough stone, debris and scattered bones are also not uncommon here.

At night, Ghouls feast outside the Сrypt, so visiting the location at this time of day can be dangerous.

The Сrypts in the north of Aldor are made in a rather strict manner, but closer to the south, in the Steppes, they look more like ancient burial mounds.

Negative Situation related to Сrypt — Nightmares.

Сrypt Contracts

• Cleansing Ritual
• Restless Crypt
• Undead Tide
• Stolen Grimoire
• Unholy Manuscripts
• Ominous Light

Contract Crypts

• Old Grave (Osbrook)
• Raven Hill (Mannshire)
• Bone Mound (Denbrie)
• Black Retreat (Rotten Willow Tavern)

Distant Crypts

• Last Breath — Tier 4
• Bernarhof's Cenotaph — Tier 4
• Triune Hand Necropolis — Tier 5

Crypt Modifiers

• Trapped Entrance — the entrance gate seals when you enter, re-open it by using the lever in one of the rooms inside the Dungeon.

“

I've been told that the first few scouts who ventured there triggered a trap of some kind and never made it back. So keep that in mind.

„

• Miasmas - increasing Intoxication, can cause Coughing.
• Maddening Whisper — lowering Morale and Sanity, can falsely show enemies outside Vision.

“

It's not a place for the faint of spirit. No matter what happens, don't give in to the whispers and promises that emerge from the shadows — they'll lead you to your grave.

„

• Blasphemous Ritual — dead Enemies can be resurrected randomly.

“

I don't know what manner of sorcery desecrated that crypt's halls, but our attempts at reclaiming it have yet to amount to anything — the undead just keep rising over and over on their own.

„

• Restless Spirits — high chance to summon Wraith when you open sarcophagus.

“

Rumor has it, some vile sorcery disturbed the eternal rest of everyone buried in that crypt. Those who don't obey the warlock directly now stalk the halls as wraiths… A gruesome fate.

„

Crypt Secret Rooms

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The Catacombs

“

The many ruins of monasteries, abbeys, and chapels is what remains of the time when Aldor was ruled by hierophants rather than kings, Over the last few years, most of these places became the center of troubling rumors — locals do their best to avoid them.

„

The Catacombs — underground chambers of abandoned or destroyed monasteries. However, after the outbreak of the Crimson Plague, the smell of dried blood has settled forever in these holy walls, and with it, horrors unimaginable to the average person. Scriptoria and libraries were turned into slaughterhouses by bloodthirsty monsters that had lost their human appearance - Proselytes who kidnapped local people for their terrible rituals. But if a mercenary takes measures to avoid bleeding to death in the cursed dungeons, he will receive a worthy reward — monasteries have always treated their wealth with special attention. Also in the Catacombs mercenary can find lecterns with Treatises.

The deeper the mercenary descends into the cellars of the monastery, the more tense the atmosphere. And no wonder: it was here that the victims of the incurable disease that struck this land suffered, died, and changed.

Structurally, the Catacombs are large halls divided by carved double doors. Smaller branches lead to the monastery's workrooms with Workbenches and storage areas on the first floor, and to the infirmaries, where mercenary can find a variety of Medicine, on the second.

From the outside, the Catacombs are safe: only overgrown ruins, silence and… corpses with some Loot.

Negative Situation related to Catacombs — Pestilence.

Catacombs Contracts

• Rumors of Bloodsuckers
• Echoes of the Plague
• Corpse Stench
• Lost Relic
• Fate of the Scouting Party
• Mysterious Disappearances

Contract Catacombs

• Pilgrim's Rest (Osbrook)
• Chapel of the Guiding Star (Mannshire)
• Brotherly Abode (Denbrie)
• Cenobium of the Triune Host (Rotten Willow Tavern)

Distant Catacombs

• Monastery of the Host Inextinguishable — Tier 4
• Chapel of the Holy Terror — Tier 5

Catacombs Modifiers

• Trapped Entrance — the entrance gate seals when you enter, re-open it by using the lever in one of the rooms inside the Dungeon.

“

I've been told that the first few scouts who ventured there triggered a trap of some kind and never made it back. So keep that in mind.

„

• Summoning Ritual — summoning circles that spawn Blood Golems scattered across dungeon, step on it to erase the ritual circle.
• Blood Hex — give blood hex condition (-13% Bleed Resistance, -26% Healing Efficiency), can cause Bleeding.

“

Our scouts reported that the air there is stagnant, heavy, and reeks of stale blood. Taking in more than a few breaths somehow makes old wounds open anew…

„

• Cannibalistic Frenzy — grants all enemies Cannibalistic Craze.
• Rite of Ascension — grants enemies Ascension. To get rid of the effect, you need to clear the room with the ritual octagram and the six Proselites inside. The growing whisper will indicate the proximity of the room.

Catacombs Secret Rooms

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The Cave

“

An intricate system of caves and underground passages — a common sight in Aldor, the realm surrounded by impenetrable mountains.

„

The Caves — optional locations that are something between Dungeons and Points of Interest. They are always represented by only one floor. The main Loot in them are Ore Veins as well as rare mushrooms and herbs. Occasionally, mercenary will come across piles of bones and the remains of less fortunate adventurers, which often hold valuable items. The Сaves are not tied to one faction of Enemies and their inhabitants can be very different, sometimes in the tunnels can be found representatives of two different factions of enemies at the same time. However, Bat Swarms are spread almost everywhere.

Caves are divided into three types, each with their own visuals and enemy and loot content.

Regular Caves

Regular Caves are beast (from Wolves to Young Trolls) lairs or bandit hideouts.

Flora: Silverleaf, Spider Vine, Pale Puffball, Rotbloom, Azurecap.

Mines

Mines are shafts and adits abandoned due to war. Most often, they are inhabited by Brigands, but inside mercenary can also meet various types of underground monstrosities, such as Crawlers. In the mines can be found Campfires and Barrels of water, as well as containers with Loot. Ore Veins are common is the mines.

Flora: Spider Vine, Pale Puffball, Azurecap.

Overgrown Caves

Overgrown Caves are ancient mossy tunnels in which can be found the ruins of Axonian burials. Their natural inhabitants are Rockeaters.

Flora: Silverleaf, Marble Truffle, Pale Puffball, Rotbloom, Honey Hyssop.

List Of Caves

• Smoky Tunnel
• Storm Hollow
• Rusty Mine
• Mossy Ledge
• Three Knives Hideout
• Raven Cleft
• Beast Burrow
• Olaf's Shaft
• Damp Ravine
• Gnarly Ash

Cave Secret Rooms

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Page last edited during patch: 0.9.3.9