Asphalt Mines

This article is a stub. You can help Caves of Qud Wiki by expanding it.

This article is a stub. You can help Caves of Qud Wiki by expanding it.

Asphalt Mines

	Hills
	JoppaWorld.11.0.1.1.10

Asphalt Mines

---

Rubble encases this abandoned mine where ancient tribes siphoned the black blood for their own inscrutable purposes.

Perfect

The Asphalt Mines are a location at the northern edge of the world map, just east of the Six Day Stilt. Most levels contain a large amount of asphalt pools and many scattered pools of oil.

Floors

Strata	Name	Zone tier
0	surface	3
1-4	upper shafts	3
5-8	middle shafts	3
9-12	deep shafts	3
13-17	Darkunder	3
18	City of Bones	3
19	Great Sea	3
20-25	Tunnels of Ur	7
26-30	Swilling Vast	7

Surface

An example of the surface layout of the Asphalt Mines.

The surface zone of the asphalt mines is populated by snapjaws. It may also be populated by other random or legendary creatures.^{[citation needed]}

Asphalt mines, Strata 1-18

An example layout of the upper shafts.

All floors of the asphalt mines will have scattered loot laying around. This loot varies randomly but may include: arrows, ammo, scrap, cooking ingredients, steel or carbide weapons, steel or ape fur armor, tonics, and more. Creatures in these areas include:

eyeless crabs, fire snouts, drillbots, albino apes, quillipedes, eyeless king crabs, humors,

Very rarely: boulderers, brainers, luminaries and Mechanimist pilgrims

Middle Shafts, Stratum 5

Stratum 5 of the Asphalt Mines will always contain some ancient bones with all of the following guaranteed items:

• laser pistol
• solar cell
• floating glowsphere
• basic toolkit
• five servings of canned Have-It-All
• one random data disk

Great Sea, Stratum 19

An example layout of the Great Sea.

Every tile that is not occupied by a wall or stairs on this stratum is completely covered in pools of asphalt.

Tunnels of Ur and the Swilling Vast, Strata 20-30

An example layout of the Swilling Vast.

lava pools will generate instead of asphalt pools.

Creatures at these depths include:

fire ants, worker ants, fire ant queens and great magma crabs

Always at strata 30: Hamilcrab, cyclopean merchant

Tips

This section is opinion-based. Your mileage may vary.

• The Asphalt Mines are one of the only reliable sources of large quantities of oil in the game.
• Descending to the Tunnels of Ur (level 20 or below) will generally involve downward stairways emerging in the middle of a pool of lava at the bottom. Players who wish to travel through this region or to reach Hamilcrab must enter the dungeon with a strategy for dealing with this challenge.
  • A spiral borer can help by providing alternative stairwells, though there is no guarantee the new stairwells won't go directly through lava.
  • The Freezing Ray ability or a freeze ray will freeze multiple spaces of lava into "walls" which can then be knocked down with a pickaxe or similar solution. It will not solidify the lava on you or a companion, however.
  • Lava won't stick to lacquered equipment.
  • Lava can be removed from your equipment (or that of a companion) by cleaning with water. It may take several repetitions.
  • The Jump ability can get you over the lava. This ability can be obtained on a temporary basis by cooking with e.g. sliced bop cheek or congealed rubbergum.