Skip to content

Spelunking Returns

Spelunking uses worker timers, weighted outcomes, return queues, underground mapping, and expedition reward scaling.

Spelunker Rewards	Gold, mithril, mithril veins, den reveals, PP, souls, artifacts, new workers, injury, or death.
Treasure Hunter Rewards	Artifacts, unique Tier 5 artifacts, mithril, PP, souls, trap calamities, injury, grave injury, or death.
Underground Mapping	Every returning spelunker improves mapping, which feeds several scaling upgrades.
Main Safety Artifact	Stonewarden's Pact prevents Spelunkers and Treasure Hunters from dying.

How It Works

Part	Player Meaning
Return timers	Spelunkers use saved return timers; speed and rest modifiers change how quickly expeditions come back.
Outcome rolls	Return outcomes are weighted rolls, so upgrades that mention treasure, PP, artifacts, or better outcomes improve what comes back.
Underground mapping	Underground Mapping is tracked separately and feeds upgrades that scale damage, expedition quality, or late-game returns.
Return queue	Returned expedition text and rewards are queued so multiple spelunkers can finish without losing messages.

Tracked State

System	Player Meaning
Workers	Each spelunker has alive/resting/travel state while an expedition is out.
Return queue	Finished expedition messages and rewards queue up before they are shown.
Underground mapping	Mapping progress is tracked separately and feeds related upgrades.
Visual state	The game also tracks visual movement state for spelunker animations, but it does not change the strategic takeaway.

Entry	Type / Building	Effect / Use
Fertility Idol	Artifact	Passive: Underground Housing costs 5% less gold. Whenever you buy Underground Housing, there's a 50% chance to gain +1 dwarf.
Foreman's Forehammer	Artifact	Passive: Underground Housing costs 10% less gold.
Stoneshaper's Rod	Artifact	Passive: Underground Housing costs 20% less gold.
Stonewarden's Pact	Artifact	Passive: Spelunkers and Treasure Hunters can no longer die. Instead they become injured.
The Great Mother Figurine	Artifact	Passive: You retroactively and passively get +1 dwarf for every 3 underground housings you bought.
Eye Of Beholder	Artifact	Passive: Whenever a Treasure Hunter returns, all dwarves permanently gain +1% damage. After reaching +50% bonus, they get +0.2% instead.
Sacred Drills	Ballistics Workshop	Harpoons are now blessed with The Great Maw's holy water, making these mere implements so hungry for stone that they now drill into the mountain! Harpoons get bonus damage per Priest.
Mapped Destruction	Demolition Shack	Demodwarves get bonus damage per Underground Mapping.
Build Underground Housing	Khazad Greathold	Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you! Dwarves are born jacked and bearded, cradled in Mother's jagged embrace, then let loose upon the caverns. +2 Dwarves.
Spelunker's Guild	Khazad Greathold	Produces spelunkers and treasure hunters who delve deep into the underbowels of the mountain, seeking artifacts and ancient treasures. Some may even return back home.
Great Mother Altar	Shrine	Tier 1 - Underground Housing costs 10% less gold. Unlocks the Sanctification ritual. Tier 2 - Ores and gems are worth 20% more and +1.5% per Priest. Tier 3 - All dwarves cost 0.5% less gold for each Priest.
Great Shabu Altar	Shrine	Tier 1 - Increases the odds of good outcomes for Spelunkers, Treasure Hunters, Forge Artifact and Alchemy. Especially for obtaining unique artifacts. Unlocks Shabu's Laughter ritual.
Thunderline Network	Spelunker's Guild	Less time to return based on the listed upgrade value.
Ancestral Lore	Spelunker's Guild	Increases the odds of spelunkers retrieving PP by the listed upgrade value. In general, each time spelunker obtains PP, the base odds are reduced by flat 0.1%.
Drums In The Deep	Spelunker's Guild	Increases the chance of multiple dens appearing by the listed upgrade value when mountain reaches half health or is destroyed.
Explosives Kit	Spelunker's Guild	Spelunkers are now kitted with timed explosives, which they plant deep inside the mountain as a parting gift. Whenever a spelunker returns, the spelunker deals a listed share of mountain max health as damage.
Grand Lodge	Spelunker's Guild	Whenever a Spelunker returns, all dwarves gain bonus damage for the listed duration. Whenever a Treasure Hunter returns, they instead gain bonus damage for the same duration.
Mithril Divining	Spelunker's Guild	Through star-etched crystals and ancient runes, dwarven seers divine the whispers of mithril veins. Increases Mithril luck of all dwarves by spelunker mithril luck.
Relic Raiding	Spelunker's Guild	Increases the chance that dens drop artifacts by the listed chance.
Spelunker	Spelunker's Guild	Each spelunker returns after the listed return time with one weighted outcome: gold scaled by mountain level and mapping, 1-3 mithril, mithril plus 1-3 revealed mithril veins, 1-3 dens, nothing, an injury with doubled
Treasure Hunter	Spelunker's Guild	Each treasure hunter returns after the listed return time with one weighted outcome: a random artifact, a unique Tier 5 artifact, 2-4 mithril, 1-3 PP, 1 soul, a trap calamity, an injury with doubled rest, a grave
Antiquities Express	Spelunkers Guild	Less time to return based on the listed upgrade value.
Treasury Acquisition	Spelunker's Guild	Dwarves have an entire tree of science dedicated to maximum treasure extraction, which often means turning every nook and cranny, finding every last hidden vault, then blowing it all up just in case.
Underground Mapping	Spelunker's Guild	Represents how much the underground has been cartographed. Spelunkers do this automatically on their own, but gold can always grease its way towards deeper information.
Martial Culture	Prestige	All dwarves gain +4/6/8% damage for every 4 Underground Housings built.
Speleological Domination	Prestige	All dwarves gain +0.2/0.3% damage per Underground Mapping.
Explosives Kit	Prestige	Unlocks Explosives Kit upgrade in the Spelunker's Guild. Spelunkers are now kitted with timed explosives, which they plant deep inside the mountain as a parting gift.
Housing Batches	Prestige	Every 4 Underground Housings built, you get +2 dwarves.