A vault is a type of special feature that can occur in certain areas. It is possible for either type of vault to occur on any of the randomized levels in the Caverns of Chaos, though greater vaults only appear beyond the wall of flames (or a bit deeper than that).
A vault is a secret area in a level with no rooms — rather, space is divided by particular rock patterns. Much of the empty space in vaults is populated by monsters. Vaults are usually themed, consisting of monsters that are related in some way (though lesser vaults of completely random monsters are also possible). Monsters generated from a vault have a higher chance to drop items.
There are two types of vaults in ADOM: lesser vaults and greater vaults.
Lesser vaults[]
Lesser vaults take up a quarter of a dungeon level, and will always be found in one of the corners. The message "You feel excited." is seen upon entering a level where a lesser vault has been generated.
Vaults filled with random monsters (unrelated to each other) can occur on any danger level above 5, and often contain creatures that are more dangerous than those in the general area; specifically, mixed vaults contains monsters 3 danger levels higher than the DL of the dungeon level, and their DL may be further increased by 60% if "out of depth" monsters are created. This means that for a dungeon of danger level 10, monsters created in a mixed vault may be of danger level 20 (13 * 1.6), which in this case can include an Ogre king, Greater daemon, or Ultimate doppelganger. Thus, the player should explore these with extra caution.
A lesser vault is guaranteed to appear on the bottom level of the Puppy Cave, and there is always a frost themed vault at the bottom level of the Frost Giant Jarl Caves. The Unremarkable Dungeon may also have a lesser vault on any of its levels, though it is never guaranteed to have any.
Lesser vault themes[]
- CoC floors before D:4, Moldy Dungeon
| Kobolds | Many kobolds, some large kobolds, a few kobold shamans, one Kobold chieftain |
| Goblins | Many goblins, some hobgoblins, a few hobgoblin leaders, one hobgoblin chief |
- Unremarkable Dungeon, Puppy Cave level 6, CoC pre-Dwarftown
| Orcs | Many orcs, some orc scorchers, a few large orcs, one orc chieftain |
| Gnolls | Many hyenas, some gnolls, a few large gnolls, one gnoll chieftain |
| Jellies | Many gray oozes, some green slimes, a few gelatinous cubes, one yellow ooze |
| Least undead | Many skeletons, some zombies, a few ghuls, one shadow |
| Lesser undead | Many zombies, some ghuls, a few shadows, one ghost |
- Between Dwarftown and wall of flames
- CoC, after wall of flames
| Red dragons | Many red baby dragons, some red dragons, a few ancient red dragons, one great red wyrm |
| White dragons | Many white baby dragons, some white dragons, a few ancient white dragons, one great white wyrm |
| Blue dragons | Many blue baby dragons, some blue dragons, a few ancient blue dragons, one great blue wyrm |
| Black dragons | Many black baby dragons, some black dragons, a few ancient black dragons, one great black wyrm |
| Golems (rare) | Many stone golems and iron golems, one eternium golem |
- Last level of Frost Giant Jarl Caves:
- Many white baby dragons and frost giants, some frost giant berserkers, Haggar the frost giant jarl.
Lesser vault layouts[]
The numbers 1-4 represent monsters in order of increasing commonness within themed lesser vaults. In mixed vaults, these are replaced by random monsters. The / character represents a passage (secret or otherwise). The edges of the layouts will vary somewhat, depending on the overall dungeon layout.
#####/####
####4..4.4.4####
####3..3######3..3####
###3..2##/#2..3#/##2..3###
###3.2####23....3444####..3###
/4..###12.33.2..2444444###..4/
###3..####23....3444####..3###
###3..2##/#2..3#/##2..3###
####3..3######3..3####
####4.4.4..4####
####/#####
#####/####
######3.3.4.3.######
####33.3.........3.3.3####
###3.4.....4.222.4......3.2###
/./.....4...22122...4.....././
###3.3.....4.222.4......4.2###
####3..3.........3.3.3####
######3.3..3.3######
####/#####
#/############/# #####....## ##....##### #44444##..####..##44444# ####...#####......#####...#### /......###....##....###....../ ###/#####....3##3....#####/### #.# ##.##.3213.##.## #.# #4# ##44###3333###44## #4# #.###..## #4444# ##..###.# #../..## #4444# ##../..# ####/## ###### ##/####
#/#### ####/# /....####################..../ #.44.323...3.......3..323.44.# #.44.###....333333....###.44.# #.44.# ####.22222..#### #.44.# #.32.# ###212.### #.23.# #.44.# ####.22222..#### #.44.# #.44.###....333333....###.44.# #.44.323...3.......3..323.44.# /....####################..../ ###### ######
#####/####
######........######
####3.....444444.....3###/#
###2........43##34........2.##
/./.........4#21#4.........../
###2........43##34........2.##
####3.....444444.....3###/#
######........######
####/#####
###############/############## #3.........444444444........3# #.##########################.# #4# ###2222122222### #4# #4# ###33332222233333### #4# /4####.....3333333......####4/ #4##......................##4# #4###########444############4# #.###########444############.# #3.........4444444..........3# ##############/###############
##/##### #/####### ##434333######### #3..4444## /44..3##222..33.# #/###3344/ ##4..3##2######/#####.###334## ##4#####/#####33333##..####.## /44# #342243##32223###/##./.4/ ######422224/232123###3444#### ##444342243##3222322/3444# ##44##########33333###3444#### /44## ########33444444/ #/## #/########
#/# #/#
#.# ######## #.#
#4###4....4###4#
#..4/....../4..#
###########4....4###########
##4..........3333..........4##
//.......2...3213...2.......//
##4..........3333..........4##
###/#######......#######/###
#4# #......# #4#
#.# #444444# #.#
#/# ######## #/#
#/# #### #/# #.# ###44### #.# #.# ###.3..3.### #.# #.# ###4..##.#..4### #.# ####4###4..####2###..4###4#### /..4.4.3.### #21# ###...4.4../ ####4###4..###2####..4###4#### #.# ###4..#.##..4### #.# #.# ###.3..3.### #.# #.# ###44### #.# #/# #### #/#
#/##########################/# /4..........................4/ #.#/########################.# #.#3#................33333.#.# #.#.#.####################.#.# #.#.#.22222.........23421#.#.# #.#.######################.#.# #.#444444.................2#.# #.##########################.# /4..........................4/ #/##########################/#
#/######################/# ###/#4#4#4#4#4##4#4#4#4#4#/# /./3..........22..........3# ###.##########33##########.## #4.#3#343#34#22#4343#343#.4# ##233#3#3#33321233#3#3#332## ##.#434#4343#22#34#343#4#.4# ###.##########33##########.### /./3..........22..........3/./ ###/#4#4#4#4#4##4#4#4#4#4#/### #/######################/#
#/##########################/# /4...........3.3............4/ #.############2#############.# #.##333......4.4..........##.# #.##2#3.....#...#.......#.##.# #.##123.......#...........##.# #.##2#3.....#...#.......#.##.# #.##333......4.4..........##.# #.############2#############.# /4...........3.3............4/ #/##########################/#
#/# #/# ##.######################.## #44444444444444444444444444# ##33##########2###########33## /.33#22222222222222222222#33./ ##33#.........1..........#33## #33######################33# #44444444444444444444444444# #############/##############
Greater vaults[]
Greater vaults only appear in levels in the CoC beyond the wall of flames, or on the fifth level of the Frost Giant Jarl Caves (where a greater vault is guaranteed). They are very large, taking up half an entire level. The message "You feel truly excited." appears the first time you enter a level with a greater vault. Greater vaults contain four 'grand treasures' — each of which is either a very large heap of gold (about a few tens of thousands), or a random artifact. The greater vaults contain enormous amounts of high level monsters, and very powerful monsters to guard the treasures.
As of v. 1.2.0, one greater vault is guaranteed to be generated in the CoC[1]; this is usually found on D:45 or D:46. As a general rule, PCs intending to clear out greater vaults on levels as deep as this should be wary of the quite large amount of corruption that (s)he can accumulate by spending too long on such levels.
Greater vault themes[]
| Greater giant vault | Hordes of fomorian giants, stone giants, and ogre lords; some stone giant lords, frost giant jarls, and fire giant kings; one or ten titan(s) .. |
| Greater fire vault | Hordes of fire lizards, fire drakes, red baby dragons; some fire elementals, red dragons, and ancient red dragons; one or ten great red wyrm(s) |
| Greater undead vault | Hordes of ghosts, spectres, vampires; some ghost lords, master liches, and lich kings; one or ten emperor lich(es) |
| Greater karmic vault | Hordes of karmic lizards (7, 6) and karmic baby dragons (5, 4); some karmic dragons and ancient karmic dragons; one or ten great karmic wyrms
[Note that prior to v. 1.2.0, goblins may erroneously be generated instead of ancient karmic dragons[2] ] |
Greater vault layouts[]
The numbers 1-7 represent monsters in order of increasing commonness. The $ character represents a grand treasure, guarded by a 2 monster. The / character represents a passage (secret or otherwise). The edges of the layouts will vary somewhat, depending on the overall dungeon layout.
########################
###7777777777777777777777###
##777....................777##
##7766666666666666666666666677##
##776........................677##
##77.6..55################55..6.77##
##77..6..54#$2..233332..2$#45..6..77##
#77...6..54#22..311113..22#45..6....7#
/7....6..54/..4.31$$13.4../45..6....7/
#77...6..54#22..311113..22#45..6...77#
##77..6..54#$2..233332..2$#45..6..77##
##77.6..55################55..6.77##
##776........................677##
##7766666666666666666666666677##
##777....................777##
###7777777777777777777777###
########################
######## ###### ########
#777777# #3333# #666666#
/777777###333$# ##666666/
#7777775##3#### #5666666#
#######5##/###################5#######
#55544..............44555#
#5######################5#
#5#$733322221222233357$#5#
#5#575.33222222233..575#5#
#5#474..333222333...474#5#
#5#57444443333344444475#5#
#5##########5###########5#
#55544....55555.....44555#
#######5###################/##.#######
#6666665# #22222######3##.777777#
/666666## #22$22///3333###777777/
#666666# #22222###$333# #777777#
######## ####### ###### ########
###################################### #77.............6666666............77# #.##################################.# #.#...........55666666655..........#.# #7#55############################55#7# #.#55##$##$#####.22122.####$##$##55#.# #.#55##.##/##.....222....##/##.##55#.# #7#..##/#33333333333333333333#/##..#7# /7#44#44444444444444444444444444#44#7/ #7#..#55555555555555555555555555#..#7# #.#..#66666666666666666666666666#..#.# #.#55#77777777777777777777777777#55#.# #7#55#..........................#55#7# #.#55#############33#############55#.# #.#............444..444............#.# #.################55################.# #77............666..666............77# ######################################
Not in 1.1.1 ################################ #777777777777777777777777777777# #7..#.#....#......#...........7# #7..#.######..##############..7# #7.66666666#55555555#...#666667# #7.####....##44.....#...#####.7# #7.#.....#...4###...3...#.....7# ####76666666#...3......3...4.66667#### /...7.#############/############.7.../ ####7666666#.3...22222..5#6......7#### #7...#..#4#...2$$$2..5#67777777# #7...#....#...22122..5#67####### #777.#.#######22222..5#67777777# ###7..4...43.........5#6...#..7# #777......#.........3546......7# #7..########################..7# #777777777777777777777777777777# ################################
Not in 1.1.1
This layout will often have additional passages
if it is generated on the right side of the dungeon.
########
#666666# ###################
#665566############43434343434345656#
/655556/65456545654............36565#
#665566############43.34343434.45656#
#666666# #.4.47777773.36565#
######## ###7########.######
#7# #.#
#7# #.#
#7# #.#
####################7### #.#
#22........334456734443# ###/####
#$222......334456733333# #666666#
#$$122.....334456777777# #665566####
#$222......334456666666# #655556.../
#22........334455555555# #665566####
######################## #666666#
########