Gnome Mines

At around more or less 400 feet (usually, though some entrances to the mine can be as deep as 700 feet or even more, luck depending) in the main dungeon, the player will find a connecting corridor moving to the left side of map. Moving further in, a room with a noisy large machine. Interacting said machine will activate the elevator that will provide access to the Gnome mines. The switch on the left of the elevator will bring the lift down a level. The switch on the right will bring it up a level.

Gnomes[]

The mines are populated by many monsters, most prominent of those creatures are the gnomes themselves. A fair number of the gnomes travel on foot and may prove troublesome if they come equipped with wand. More dangerous versions come in specialized Gnomish walkers, of which there are multiple variations.

Gnome King[]

Deep within the mines the Gnome King can be found sitting on his throne protected by his troll servants, Pain and Disease. An encounter with him may prove exceptionally rewarding, if the player can survive it.

Gnomish Jewellery Store[]

Near the Gnome King is a Gnome jeweller, who buys and/or sells rings, amulets, black spectacles, troy scales, and gems. He will also identify such items for a fee. His location is always slightly fixed near the location of the Gnome King, either one floor above or below the throne room.

Warning! It often appears that the inventory of jeweller often becomes empty if the player leaves the gnomes mines and returns to the jeweller. It's best to finish everything in the Gnome mines, including mining and selling access gems and buying/identifying all jewelry before leaving the Gnome mines.

Gnome Small Rooms[]

Gnome small rooms can be found in the Gnomish mines. These doors do not work like creature doors in the main dungeon and give a message about twisty passages when investigated. Gnomes will only exit the doors when a hostile gnome or gnome walker (or its variants) is near the door. A hostile door (where at least one gnome has exited) will permanently turn red on the mini-map.

One way to get many gnomes out is to allow a gnome riding a gnome walker (not digger or cutter) to empty his wand. After that, he will just ride back and forth on the floor, but cannot attack you. As he walks by gnome doors, additional gnomes will come out, often bearing wands.

Wine Cellar[]

The wine cellar is located at the lowest floor of the mines. A gold key from the Gnome king is required to unlock the cellar door.

Mining[]

If the player is lucky enough to find a pickaxe in the Gnome mines (note: sometimes it doesn't appear), the player may then proceed to mine the stones located at the very leftmost end of most floors. The pickaxe then must be equipped and press the default F key to mine. Random gems will fall until the rocks run out. Gems can be identified and sold at the jeweller.

Strategy[]

The primary strategy is to immediately go down the elevator to level where the Gnome King is (it's almost always on the third lower level/go down two levels, second floor), skipping all other levels. Try not to personally kill gnomes along the way (if possible - to make the gnome king friendly), this is usually done by:

Ordering pet(s) to attack any gnomes (as long as the player isn't attacking, it's strangely fine);
Casting teleport or using a wand of teleportation spell on gnomes obstructing the way.

Reaching the (friendly) Gnome king, he will provide a golden key for the giant rat wine cellar. All gnomes in the mines are now friendly and will move out of the way. The player may at the player's leisure, kill them without the gnomes being hostile (although ordering pets to attack will render nearby gnomes hostile towards them). Go to the lowest floor, kill the unique huge rats, collect the bottles of wine and drink the blessed ones at full HP. Weapons gathered here may have a +3 enchantment. The player may then opt to kill the Gnome king at a later date to obtain his crown.

Or kill everything in sight, including the gnome king and conquer the mines. Slightly harder, however the results are the same.

Note: If the player kills gnomes along the way, the reward will be reduced to 500 gold. Successfully completing the mission without harming any gnomes will result in a 1000 gold reward from the Gnome king.

Gnomish Walkers[]

Gnomish walkers are the most dangerous enemies in the mines. All walkers will reflect magic, while the Gnomish digger and Gnomish woodcutter does devastating melee attacks. The gnome pilots are often equipped with a wand of striking or wand of magic missile. Gnome walkers cannot normally be reached by melee attacks unless the walker is destroyed. The best way to deal with these enemies is to attack them from afar with thrown weapons, spells. or a previously acquired wand. 1 or 2 crude daggers will reliably kill a gnome and because of the throwing arc it is easy to hit them without striking the walker. Strong melee characters such as the barbarian can also attempt to get up close and attack with the "up" key like against flying enemies.

Using a wand of striking can deal enough damage to destroy the walkers outright if you start shooting from a distance;
Casting magic missile or using a wand of magic missile can be aimed at ceilings to hit the gnome pilot on the walker after a bounce. If the walker happens to be facing away from the player, a properly aimed magic missile can even hit the gnome pilot twice by bouncing it off the walker;
Casting lightning (if light level is level 2 or higher) or using a wand of lightning can hit the walker and jump to the pilot;
Casting teleport away or using a wand of teleportation can be used to teleport the walker out from under the gnome. The player can then dispatch the gnome easily and use the unattended walker as target practice;
Pets can attack the pilot while it is riding the walker. The unmanned walker is then easy to destroy;
A reflective amulet or shield will reflect the pilot's magic missile attack (but not striking attacks or attacks by weapons on the walker itself).

Once the gnome pilot is slain, the walker will be disabled and may be dispatched at your leisure with melee attacks.

Tips[]

Gnome train — A Gnome driving the mine cart.

Attacking and destroying gnome walkers and its variants, does not constitute a hostile action for the Gnome king;
Pickaxes are often found in the mines. Wielding one will allow a character to dig the boulders at the left end of some levels of the mines. Simply wield the pickaxe and interact with the boulders by pressing F (default) or clicking on the boulder (hint: attacking with the pickaxe doesn't work). When dug each boulder will reveal gems which can include portal stones, firestones, etc.;
Although a rare occurrence, there is a chance that a pickaxe is nowhere to be found in the Gnome mines. Usually one pickaxe available (more possible, though rare) at the far end of a floor near the boulders;
An empty Gnomish walker or its variants may be used as a training dummy to train low level weapon skills. It has a substantial amount of health and will not react if the player attacks it;
If the player waits in front of a closed door, the gnomes on the other side it will often bunch up behind it and immediately zap the half-open door with several wands when you open it, resulting in a convenient mass murder-suicide;
At the very bottom of the mines, at the level of the wine cellar, there is a switch that will call the elevator to your location. If you find yourself out of reach of the elevator, go the the bottom of the mines and pull the switch;
Warning: Gnomes mines is an example where the pet AI shines (sarcasm). If the player decides to use the peaceful route (which is often the case) and not attack any gnomes, the player may find that dealing with dangerous creatures to be more troublesome than usual. Pets will often decide to attack less dangerous creatures such as gnomes (who are far away) while ignoring the closer and stronger creature the player is currently facing. When attacking the giant rats in the wine cellar for example, it is best to kill of all gnomes on the same level or else the player find oneself dealing with two huge rats with no pet in sight;
Warning: While exploring the mines, the player may come upon the mine cart dungeon feature which can kill a character instantly if not approached with the right timing. Don't let your character be in front of the mine cart when it is passing! The player cannot levitate above the mine cart as the tunnel roof is too low. Levitating is not fast enough to flee an approaching cart, which makes levitating doubly dangerous. However, the gnome driving the cart can easily be dispatched by striking at him while he turns into the tunnel near the skull and bones sign. This will slow the train down considerably and make it easy for even a burdened character to outrun it;
Warning: While the game makes it clear the player has entered an anti-magic field when you enter the Gnome king's throne room, it does not make any mention of the fact that you are also unable to teleport within the deepest levels of the mines as well. Be sure that you have another escape plan that does not include teleporting away while clearing out the lowest levels of the mines! Note: Teleportation is disabled here to prevent players from teleporting directly in to the wine cellar.*

Bugs[]

Using a teleportation spell or wand on yourself (or accidently get hit by one) may result in your character teleporting between levels (literally in the walls) near the anti-magic field, rendering your character stuck and cannot teleport out, due to the anti-magic field. There is no workaround to solve this problem when it occurs i.e. end game;
Using a teleportation spell or wand on other creatures may accidently teleport them between levels in the elevator shaft, rendering the elevator stuck and the player unable to access certain level. The only way around this is to (ironically) use teleportation and somehow get below the creature stuck in the elevator shaft. Doing so will make the creature fall, freeing the elevator;
Creatures stuck in the elevators may also occur, regardless of the player using a teleportation spell or wand as the aforementioned;
Rarely, unoccupied walkers may move without a pilot.

Trivia[]

The mechanism that activates the elevator allowing descent into the gnome mines is a valve which activates a steam engine and a green light. If those clues weren't enough, there is writing on the ~~rightmost~~ fourth wall requesting that the player vote for Wazhack on Steam's Greenlight page;
The text that appears when you investigate an empty gnome door, "all you see a maze of twisty little passages, all alike," is a reference to the game Colossal Cave Adventure (1977), one of the first computer adventure games. Colossal Cave Adventure was also one of the inspirations for Rogue, which in turn inspired the entire rogue-like subgenre.