ADOM Guidebook


Sharad-Waador's quest and the blue dragon caves

Sharad-Waador is an ancient karmic wyrm found in the unreal cave system branch off the CoC at D: 46 or D: 47. He is found on level 4. He is nonhostile and will assign a quest to kill an ancient blue wyrm, Srraxxarrakex, who is his mortal enemy. This is a difficult quest and is in no way necessary to finish the game. Part of the difficulty is the presence of Srraxxarrakex's children: many different blue dragons including ancient blue dragons which see invisible. Blue dragons breathe lightning bolts, which will damage a PC without very good resistance or immunity as well as destroying items, both worn and in the pack. There is no way to prevent the item destruction. Items can be left in Sharad-Waador's room for safekeeping while on the quest. Sharad-Waador does not move unless he is attacked or the PC reneges on the deal to take the quest.

To receive the quest, the PC must first decide what equipment will be left behind, drop it, stand on the down staircase in Sharad-Waador's room, then 'C'hat with him. This sequence of events is necessary because Sharad-Waador will not chat with the PC until the PC is on the down stairs, and after chatting with the PC demands that the PC descend immediately. If the PC moves off the staircase at this point, Sharad-Waador becomes hostile. A trick that can be used is leaving some of the PC's precious but 'might be needed' equipment on the stairway. Sharad-Waador does not become hostile if the PC emerges from the blue dragon caves without moving from the stairway. This provides a means of protecting very valuable equipment (such as scrolls of chaos resistance) that might be needed to save the PC's life. Despite the fact that Sharad-Waador does not see invisible, he will detect an invisible PC that emerges from the blue dragon caves without killing Srraxxarakex and become hostile if the PC moves from the stairs.

The blue dragon caves consist of five levels, DL: 1-5. In addition to the many varied blue dragons found in these caves, other nasty high level monsters may be found here, including chaos wizards and greater molochs, for example. It is wise to have some means of dealing with greater molochs along, whether it is simply speed for running away, phase daggers or demon slayers. High speed is virtually essential for killing Srraxxarrakex, as well. Upon entering the fifth and final level of the caves, the following message is generated: "These ancient caves are covered with marks from huge reptiles... hundreds of such marks." Srraxxarrakex will be found on this level.

When the blue dragon caves were first implemented, there were complaints that the quest was impossible due to the item destruction. The amount of item destruction has been toned down a bit in more recent versions, and some players will actually scum these caves because killing the blue dragons generates large amounts of valuable equipment, sometimes including very valuable items such as scrolls of chaos resistance or rings of djinni summoning.

The main reason for taking this quest however, is because Sharad-Waador rewards the PC with a huge pile of equipment for completing it. Among this equipment, which generally does not contain anything remarkable, is the artifact dagger Needle. Be very careful with this pile of equipment. Needle is indistinguishable from ordinary daggers until it is identified. It is best to have a blessed scroll of identify at the ready, to identify all the treasure the PC has taken from the blue dragon caves and the heap of stuff Sharad-Waador provides. The junk can then be safely dropped without risking misplacing Needle. When Needle is combined with its twin, the artifact dagger Sting, held by the Assassin Prince, they become the most powerful weapons in the game, at least in terms of raw to-hit and to-damage. If a PC planning an ultra ending makes it this far, check section 2.11.3.1 and get the Filk quest from the Assassin Prince. He can then be killed for Sting, if desired.

3.9.1 Srraxxarrakex

Sraxxarrakex is a very powerful ancient blue wyrm, more powerful than any other ancient wyrm in the game. He is, as might be expected, immune to shock. One of the things that makes him so difficult to defeat is the fact that he naturally regenerates and casts powerful healing spells at the same time. He has three attacks per round, so he can, for instance, breathe a lightning bolt, attack in melee, cast heal, while still getting natural regeneration per round. His vital statistics:

You examine Srraxxarrakex, the ancient blue wyrm. Diagnosis: Level: 1, DV: 60, PV: 40, Hits: 951, Attacks: 3, Damage: 20-76. Speed: 113.

This means the PC must be capable of dealing massive amounts of damage quickly in order to defeat him. He can be attacked in almost any way, including melee, missiles and magic. He is of course vulnerable to dragon slaying missiles and melee weapons.

Killing him is worth 1.6 million experience points.


Updated June 26th, 2009