Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup - New player guide

note, May 25, 2023 on Mitja Felicijan's blog

An amazing game deserves an amazing guide. All this material can be find in some +form on another on craw's official repository.

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup

Movement and Exploration

  • You can move around with the numpad (try numlock on and off), vi-keys, or +clicking with the mouse. Arrow keys work, though you can't move diagonally +with them. Pressing Shift and a direction will move until you see/hit +something.
  • Pressing > will take you down a staircase, and < to go up a staircase.
  • You can open doors by walking into them, and close them with C.
  • You can autoexplore by pressing o.
  • You can re-view recent messages with Ctrl-p.

Monsters and Combat

  • You can pick up items with , or g.
  • Wield weapons with w. Weapons have different stats.
    • (You may also engage in Unarmed Combat, though it isn't very effective when +untrained).
  • Attack monsters in melee by walking in their direction (or with +Ctrl-direction).
  • You can wait with . or s, passing your turn - such as to get monsters into +a corridor with you.
  • You can rest with 5, waiting until you are fully healed, or something +noteworthy happens.
  • Either mouseover and rightclick, or use x then v on the monster to examine +monsters. Monsters with a red border are 'dangerous' relative to your current +XP level (XL).
  • Quiver (often ranged) actions for further use with Q.
  • You can fire ranged weapons manually with f, or auto-target your quiver with +p or Shift-Tab. Throwing weapons can be thrown immediately, while +launchers (like bows) need to be wielded first.

Items and Inventory

  • View your inventory by pressing i. Most item related commands can also be +done with this menu.
  • You can wear amour with W; amour gives AC, while heavier body armour +reduces EV.
  • Autoexplore will automatically pick up useful items, such as potions and +scrolls, if you aren't in danger.
  • You can read scrolls with r and drink ("quaff") potions with q.
  • Equipment items may have brands, with special properties. Branded equipment is +blue when unidentified.
  • Equipment items may be artifacts, often with unique properties, and are +unmodifiable. They are written in white.
  • You can evoke wands with V.
  • You can put on jewelry with P, and remove it with R.
  • Gold is used in shops, which can be interacted with by either > or <.

Magic and Spellcasting

  • Once you find a spellbook, you can memorize spells with M.
  • You need to be the same XL as the spell's spell level in order to learn it, in +addition to training magical skill (to lower failure rate).
  • Cast spells by pressing z, then the letter assigned to the spell. You may +also Quiver a spell and then use it like a ranged weapon (with Shift-Tab).
  • You can view your memorized spells by pressing I (capital-i) or z.
  • Like HP, you can recover MP by resting (with 5).
  • Many spells can be positioned more effectively, or combined with other spells, +in order to get (more effective) use out of them.
  • Heavier body amour and shields hamper spellcasting.

Gods and Divine Abilities

  • You may look at a god's overview by praying at their altar (with > or <). +After praying, you can worship the god by pressing Enter afterwards.
  • Gods all have unique features about them. Trog, the god of the tutorial, is +also the god of rage and bloodshed, and so despises spellcasting.
  • Gods like and dislike different things. Most gods either like killing things +(like Trog) or exploring new areas (like Elyvilon), rewarding you piety +(divine favor) for doing so.
  • You should learn to use and even rely on divine abilities often, as they are +usually very strong. Trog's Berserk gives you 1.5x health, 1.5x speed (to all +valid actions), and a big damage boost. Note that Berserk prevents most +actions other than move and melee attack, and runs out very quickly if you +aren't attacking. And after berserk ends, you are slowed down and can't +berserk again for a short time.
  • In addition, the vast majority of abilities consume piety in the process. +Regardless, this ability is very cheap, and the benefits are incredible, so +don't hold back!
  • Pressing ^ will let you view your current god, abilities, and piety.