Shame

Shame is one of the eight original Britannian dungeons — an Anti-Virtue Dungeon carved into a former mine on the southwestern side of the Peaks of Disgrace, straight north of Skara Brae, and just west of the Blighted Grove. The dungeon's flavor is elemental: each level steps further into the elemental planes, with mages on Level 3 conducting the summoning that drew the elementals into Sosaria in the first place. Together with its sibling Anti-Virtue dungeons (Despise, Hythloth, Wrong, Destard, Deceit, Covetous), Shame stands as the corruption of an honor virtue — its position in the canonical seven-virtue mapping varies between sources but the dungeon is always grouped with the Sin Dungeons.

Shame received a major Publish 73 overhaul that fundamentally changed the dungeon — new monsters, per-level Champions (the Guardian system), and a Random Magic Item Generation System unique to the dungeon. Modern Shame is one of the most rewarding dungeons in the game for solo players seeking high-tier loot.

The Guardian system (Publish 73)

The signature mechanic introduced in Publish 73 is the Guardian's Altar — one altar per level. Double-clicking the altar summons that level's Champion, a single boss creature whose drops include random magic items rolled with the dungeon's signature property generator. The system lets a solo player at any skill ceiling find a level matched to their gear and farm the boss repeatedly.

The level-by-level Champions:

The Random Magic Item Generation System produces gear with property combinations unique to Shame — slightly higher caps on individual properties than equivalent items from Treasure Maps, and an emphasis on elemental-resistance and casting properties consistent with the elemental theme.

Layout

Shame is five levels deep with one notable structural quirk: descent and ascent are through black moongates rather than stairs or ramps. The dungeon's monster difficulty roughly increases each level, with Level 1 explicitly recommended as a starter zone for newer players.

Level 1 — the abandoned mine

The first level appears to have once been a busy mine, now occupied by elementals and the creatures that came with them. The level is gentle enough that newer characters use it as their first dungeon experience. Earth-and-mining theme throughout.

Inhabitants:

• Earth Elementals
• Stone Elementals
• Cave Trolls (some are Wall Guardians)
• Mud Pies
• Scorpions
• Quartz Elemental Guardian (the level's Champion altar)

Level 2 — water meets earth

Descent to Level 2 brings the elemental presence into focus. The water-elemental theme overlays the earth one — kraken and sea serpents share the level with greater earth elementals.

Inhabitants:

• Cave Trolls (Wall Guardians)
• Clay Golems
• Greater Earth Elementals
• Krakens
• Mud Elementals
• Sea Serpents
• Water Elementals (Shame variant)
• Flame Elemental Guardian (the level's Champion altar)

Level 3 — the Mages' Lair

On Level 3 the cause of the entire infestation appears: two large towers stand on islands in the underground lakes, inhabited by Corrupted Mages and Vile Mages. They are conducting the summoning rituals that pull elementals into Britannia. The level is a fight against both magical and elemental threats simultaneously.

Inhabitants:

• Air Elementals (Shame variant)
• Blood Elementals (Shame variant)
• Flame Elementals
• Krakens
• Molten Earth Elementals
• Poison Elementals (Shame variant)
• Sea Serpents
• Scorpions
• Corrupted Mages
• Evil Mage Lords / Vile Mages
• Wind Elemental Guardian (the level's Champion altar)

Level 4 — the Eternal Gazers

The fourth level is small — just brick walls built into the mountain. Mages built it for some purpose long since obscured. Now it houses only Eternal Gazers, lone creatures that pose no threat to a competent solo player but are tedious to clear in number.

Inhabitants:

• Eternal Gazer

Level 5 — the final descent

The fifth and lowest level brings together the dungeon's varied threats. Two strangely afflicted humans — the Burning and the Crazed (their actual names randomized per spawn) — share the floor with elementals of every type. The Random Magic Item generator is most generous here.

Inhabitants:

• Burning (named human variant)
• Crazed (named human variant)
• Chaos Vortices
• Diseased Blood Elementals
• Eternal Gazers
• Krakens
• Molten Earth Elementals
• Sea Serpents
• Unbound Energy Vortices
• Wind Elementals

Strategy notes

Why Shame is the modern solo loot zone

The post-Publish-73 Shame is one of the few dungeons where a single player with mid-tier gear can consistently produce high-end magic items. The progression:

1. Start at Level 1, use the Quartz Elemental Guardian altar to summon the boss. Quartz is solo-friendly even for a 100-skill character.
2. Loot the random items it drops; equip the upgrades, sell or salvage the rest.
3. Step down to Level 2's Flame Elemental Guardian when gear allows.
4. Continue downward as ceiling permits.

The system rewards repeat farming — each Guardian summon takes only the time to clear the boss, no spawn timer, no multi-stage Champion-style waves.

Resistance profile

The mixed elemental theme means all five resistances matter:

• Physical — Cave Trolls, Mud Pies, Krakens
• Fire — Flame Elementals, Burning humans
• Cold — Air Elementals, some Blood Elementals
• Poison — Poison Elementals, Diseased Blood Elementals
• Energy — Wind Elementals, Eternal Gazers, Energy Vortices

A balanced suit (60+ in all five) is more important than a peaked single-element suit. Eater armor is wasted here — the mix is too varied for any single damage-eater to compound usefully.

Mage and Bard preference

Shame's elemental population is friendly to ranged damage. Magery with Energy Bolt and Flame Strike works well; Necromancy with Poison Strike and Wraith Form is also strong. Bards find good work here because elementals' lack of poison-immunity makes them susceptible to Tribulation chains, and the Champion altars are perfect for solo bard farming.

Skill training spots

• Level 1: A working Magic Resist training zone for characters at 70-90 skill. The elementals cast low-tier spells consistently.
• Level 2: Anatomy / Tactics training off Cave Trolls.
• Level 3: Magery and Eval Int training against the Corrupted/Vile Mages.

Anti-Virtue dungeon context

Shame is part of the eight Anti-Virtue Dungeons — also called the Dungeons of Sin — that mirror Britannia's eight virtues:

• Despise ↔ Compassion
• Hythloth ↔ Spirituality / Humility
• Destard ↔ Valor
• Wrong ↔ Justice
• Deceit ↔ Honesty
• Covetous ↔ Sacrifice
• Shame ↔ Honor
• Khaldun (or Wind in alternative mappings) ↔ remaining virtue

Each dungeon thematically corrupts its paired virtue. Shame's elemental-summoning corruption reflects an absence of honor — the mages exploit the elemental planes for selfish gain, betraying the boundary between worlds.

10th Anniversary item spawn

Like its sibling Anti-Virtue dungeons, Shame spawns 10th Anniversary Items as a low-frequency drop. The Level 5 spawn is generally the highest-yield floor for the anniversary event drops.

Geography

The entrance lies on the southwestern side of the Peaks of Disgrace, due north of Skara Brae. Adventurers reach it by:

• Recall to the dungeon's entrance rune (most veteran rune libraries carry one).
• Skara Brae moongate, walk north through the mountain pass.
• Ferry from the Britain west coast across the bay to Skara Brae's island, then north overland.

See also

Skara Brae, Peaks of Disgrace, Blighted Grove, Anti-Virtue Dungeons, Honor, Trammel, Felucca, Publish 73, Random Magic Item Generation System, Guardian's Altar, Quartz Elemental, Flame Elemental, Wind Elemental, Earth Elemental, Stone Elemental, Cave Troll, Mud Pie, Mud Elemental, Greater Earth Elemental, Clay Golem, Kraken, Sea Serpent, Water Elemental, Blood Elemental, Poison Elemental, Air Elemental, Molten Earth Elemental, Eternal Gazer, Chaos Vortex, Unbound Energy Vortex, Diseased Blood Elemental, Corrupted Mage, Vile Mage, Evil Mage Lord, Magery, Necromancy, Provocation, Discordance, Tribulation, Despise, Hythloth, Destard, Wrong, Deceit, Covetous, 10th Anniversary, Mark, Recall.