Doom

Doom is a two-level dungeon in Malas, opened with the Age of Shadows expansion in February 2003 and held for years afterward as the largest and most lethal dungeon in the realm. Its lower level — the Doom Gauntlet — was designed as a grueling test of player strength and rewards survivors with the realm's most coveted Rarity 11 artifacts. A handful of creatures, most notably the Devourer of Souls and the Bone Daemon, are seen here and almost nowhere else.

Layout

Doom occupies two distinct zones. Level One is the dungeon proper — a sprawling level whose primary purpose, beyond the unique inhabitants, is to obtain the key to the Gauntlet. Every creature on Level One drops Daemon Bones, the reagent for the Summoning quest. Level Two, the Gauntlet, lies across Lake Mortis at the southern end of Level One; it is reached only by ferry, and once the boss cycle is engaged the only exit is a single moongate on the beach.

Stealable artifacts spawn on the ground throughout both levels at rarity tiers ranging from 1 (a Skull Candle, respawning roughly every thirty minutes) up to 12 (the Ruined Painting, which respawns approximately once every four months). Some require unusual approach paths — the Lamp Post, in particular, sits behind a lever puzzle that has frustrated would-be thieves for two decades.

Crossing to the Gauntlet

The crossing of Lake Mortis is its own small ritual. On the southern shore stands the Bell of the Dead; double-clicking it summons Chyloth the Ferryman, who will appear after a short delay if he chooses to. Chyloth demands a Golden Skull as fare. A party crossing together must be properly grouped before the bell is rung — only members of the same party may board on a single fare.

When Chyloth appears, target him with the Golden Skull. A confirmation menu will offer to teleport the party onto the ferry; from there, walk onto the teleporter tile to cross. Failing to pay him is unwise: after a few moments of being kept waiting, Chyloth will cast Flamestrike on the impertinent caller and summon a Skeletal Dragon, which is fully capable of inflicting instant death. Chyloth cannot be summoned again until the dragon is slain.

The Gauntlet

Beyond the beach, a wide corridor opens onto a vast central chamber large enough to contain the city of Cove. At its centre stand six pentagrams which once tracked the room's progression; they break frequently and should not be relied upon. Six smaller rooms ring the central hall: five host the Lesser Bosses; the sixth is a healer's chamber, sealed against the living and accessible only as a ghost. The resident healer charges 5,000 gold for resurrection — a steep price, but a convenient one when an entire raid wipes.

Hidden along the eastern wall of the entry corridor is a vendor shop, marked by lighter grey wall tiles just before the first corner. The shop is one of the few places in the Gauntlet safe enough to log out, and stocks reagents and supplies at substantial markup. It is operated by Nix, a long-running NPC fixture of the dungeon.

The Lesser Bosses

The five Lesser Bosses must each be defeated before the Dark Fathers will appear. The standard practice is to clear the rooms in order, starting with the east room and working clockwise. A room is currently infested when its door turns red and cannot be opened by hand; entry is by stepping onto the teleporter tile. Once inside, the only way out is victory or death.

The number of bosses spawned scales with the size of the party that enters. A small group of 8–12 players faces 2–4; a raid of 25 or more can face six or more bosses at once.

Each Lesser Boss has a chance to award an artifact upon kill, somewhat lower than the chance of a Dark Father kill.

The Dark Fathers

When all five Lesser Bosses lie dead, the Dark Fathers spawn in the main hall to confront the invaders. Up to four spawn at once, with additional waves appearing if called for. They are vulnerable to all damage types and are demon-class — the Demon Slayer property is highly valuable here. Their signature abilities are Whirlwind, Bleed Attack, and Unholy Bones.

Each Dark Father slain offers a small chance to award one of the realm's premier artifacts. When all Dark Fathers in a wave are defeated the gauntlet resets back to the first Lesser Boss room and the cycle begins again.

Artifacts

With Doom's release, the concept of Artifacts and explicit Rarity tiers entered the game. For the first time a class of items was deliberately created as Rare rather than emerging by accident from a development mistake. Artifacts may break the standard Item Property limitations or carry properties that would not appear on conventional crafted goods — the Spirit of the Totem, for instance, carries 15% Hit Chance Increase, well beyond the natural property pool.

Artifacts come from Doom by two distinct paths.

Stealable Artifacts

Stealable artifacts spawn on the ground in fixed positions throughout the dungeon, with rarity 1 through 12 indicating respawn frequency — the higher the rarity, the rarer the spawn. To take one, stand adjacent to it and target it with the Stealing skill. A minimum of 100.0 Stealing is required for any chance of success; even at the cap, success can take hundreds of attempts. At 120 Stealing the take rarely takes more than three tries. The crown jewels of the stealable set are:

• Blade of the Righteous — Rarity 12, spawns in the healer's chamber of the Gauntlet.
• The Inquisitor's Resolution — Rarity 12, spawns on Level One.
• Ruined Painting — Rarity 12, spawns in the hidden mage shop of the Gauntlet.
• Zyronic Claw — once highly prized, in later years more often kept as a showpiece.

Boss Artifacts (Rarity 11)

The Lesser Bosses and Dark Fathers each have a chance to drop one of the Doom Boss Artifacts — Rarity 11 items widely regarded among the best equipment in Britannia. The Ornament of the Magician, with its 2 Faster Casting property, is unrivalled in its class. The drop system for these artifacts has gone through three iterations.

In the original system, artifacts dropped directly onto the boss corpse — anyone with looting rights could grab them, which became a magnet for illegal script-looters. Lesser Bosses had a 0.1% drop rate; Dark Fathers, around 1%. High Luck on the top damagers raised these to 1% and 3% respectively.

In Publish 48, the system was changed so that when an artifact was awarded it dropped randomly into the backpack of one of the sixteen top damagers, eliminating the script-looting problem and distributing rewards more evenly.

The current system (also dating from Publish 48) follows the same point-accumulation model used by the Treasures of Tokuno event. Each Lesser Boss or Dark Father kill on which the slayer earns personal looting rights — not party rights — awards points. The more damage dealt relative to other participants, the more points earned; Luck increases the points awarded as well. Once the threshold is crossed, an artifact is delivered to the slayer's backpack (or bank box, if overweight) with the system message: For your valor in combating the fallen creature, a special artifact has been bestowed upon you. The artifact should be Insured at once.

Daemon Bones and The Summoning

Daemon Bones are dropped by every creature on Level One. They are the reagent for The Summoning, a quest given by Victoria the Sorceress, which produces the Golden Skull required to ferry across Lake Mortis. The Golden Skull is consumed on use, so a party making repeated runs must keep up a steady supply of Daemon Bones — the deeper consequence of Doom's design is that Level One is a permanent fixture of the dungeon's economy, not merely a corridor to the Gauntlet.

Practical Considerations

• Slayer weapons. Demon Slayer is the universally useful pick — it covers the Impaler, the Abyssmal Horror, and all Dark Fathers. Undead Slayer covers the Darknight Creeper and the Shadow Knight. The Fleshrenderer takes no slayer bonus.
• Resists. Mixed coverage is essential; the lesser bosses span all five damage types between them. A suit balanced for fire and energy will fare better than one stacked toward physical.
• Insurance. Insure every piece of gear before crossing Lake Mortis. Death is frequent and the Gauntlet is far from a town.
• Logging out. The hidden shop in the entry corridor is the only practical safe-logout point inside the Gauntlet itself. The beach moongate is the only exit.

Trivia and Asides

• The dungeon's lever puzzle, which gates access to the Lamp Post artifact, has its own substantial body of solved-walkthrough literature in the community.
• Doom held the title of largest, most dangerous dungeon in the realm until the Stygian Abyss expansion introduced its eponymous dungeon. By many measures of artifact value and combat tempo, the Gauntlet is still the more punishing fight.
• The realm's chroniclers occasionally refer to the inner Gauntlet as "Doom level 2." Both names are correct; the former is the older designation.