Elite & Ultimate Variants

A comprehensive Caves of Qud mod that introduces powerful elite and ultimate variants of creatures, adding challenging encounters and exciting rewards to your adventures.

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GitHub: Download Latest Release

Features

Elite Variants

• Powerful Enhanced Creatures: Elite variants with 2.0x-3.0x stat multipliers (configurable)
• Multiple Enhancement Types: Physical mutations, mental mutations, cybernetics, and tier-appropriate equipment
• Visual Distinction: Silver glow and "elite" prefix for easy identification
• Natural Spawning: Elites spawn naturally during gameplay based on zone tier and player level

Ultimate Variants

• Legendary Boss Encounters: Ultimate variants with 3.5x-6.0x stat multipliers (configurable)
• Maximum Enhancements: More mutations, better cybernetics, and superior equipment
• Visual Distinction: Gold glow and "ultimate" prefix
• Rare Spawns: Lower spawn rates but higher requirements for balanced difficulty

Elite Army Spawning

• Coordinated Groups: Five army types ranging from small squads to titan pairs
• Leader-Goon Dynamics: Ultimates lead elites in organized formations
• Zone Limitations: Maximum 1 army per zone to prevent overwhelming encounters

Difficulty Presets

Five carefully balanced presets scaling from 25% to 100% power:

• Easy (25%): Relaxed difficulty for casual play
• Normal (50%): Balanced experience (default)
• Hard (75%): Challenging encounters
• Brutal (87.5%): Very hard difficulty
• Nightmare (100%): Maximum challenge

Smart Preset Application

• Manual Application: Use elitepreset wish command for instant preset changes
• Automatic Application: Use eliteautopreset to enable auto-apply when changing presets in options menu
• Seamless Integration: Change difficulty mid-game without console commands

Installation

1. Download the mod files
2. Extract to: [Caves of Qud Directory]/Mods/EliteVariants/
3. Enable the mod in-game: Main Menu → Mods → Enable "Elite & Ultimate Variants"
4. Start a new game or load an existing save

Quick Start

Recommended First Steps

1. Open Options → Mods: Elite Variants
2. Select a difficulty preset (Normal recommended for first playthrough)
3. In-game, use wish command eliteautopreset to enable automatic preset changes
4. Adjust individual settings in "Mods: Elite Variants (Custom)" category if desired

Important Wish Commands

elitepreset - Quick Preset Application

Most Important Command: Instantly apply a difficulty preset to all settings.

• Opens selection menu with all 5 presets
• Immediately updates all multipliers and spawn settings
• Shows confirmation message when complete
• Perfect for quick difficulty adjustments mid-game

How to use:

1. Press ` (backtick) to open wish menu
2. Type elitepreset
3. Select desired preset from menu
4. Settings apply instantly

eliteautopreset - Enable Automatic Preset Changes

Most Important Command: Enable automatic preset application for seamless difficulty changes.

• Attaches monitor to your character
• Automatically applies preset changes from options menu
• Updates occur every ~10 turns after changing preset
• Shows confirmation message when changes apply

How to use:

1. Press ` (backtick) to open wish menu
2. Type eliteautopreset
3. Confirmation message appears
4. Now changing presets in options menu will auto-apply after ~10 turns

Why use this? Skip the console entirely - just change the dropdown in options and continue playing!

Settings Guide

Main Category: Mods: Elite Variants

Difficulty Preset

Master control for all settings. Select from 5 balanced presets or choose Custom to manually configure.

Preset Breakdown:

Setting	Easy	Normal	Hard	Brutal	Nightmare
Elite Power Mult.	1.5x	2.0x	2.5x	2.75x	3.0x
Elite HP Mult.	2.0x	3.0x	4.0x	4.5x	5.0x
Ultimate Power Mult.	2.5x	3.5x	4.5x	5.25x	6.0x
Ultimate HP Mult.	4.0x	5.5x	7.0x	7.75x	8.5x
Elite Spawn Rate	50%	100%	150%	175%	200%
Ultimate Spawn Rate	50%	100%	150%	175%	200%
Min Player Level	10	16	20	23	25
Min Zone Tier	3	5	6	6	7

Note: Changing any individual setting in the Custom category will switch preset to "Custom"

Enable Elite Variants

Toggle natural spawning of elite variants (silver glow, moderate power boost).

Enable Ultimate Variants

Toggle natural spawning of ultimate variants (gold glow, maximum power boost).

Enable Elite Army Spawning

Toggle spawning of organized elite groups with leader-goon dynamics.

Enable Debug Mode

Show detailed spawn information and statistics in message log (for testing/development).

Custom Category: Mods: Elite Variants (Custom)

All settings available as dropdowns with predefined values for stability.

Elite Settings

• Power Multiplier (1.0x - 3.0x): Stat/AV/DV scaling for elites
• HP Multiplier (1.0x - 5.0x): Health pool scaling
• Enhancement Multiplier (1.0x - 3.0x): Number of mutations/upgrades
• Level Offset (0 - 30): Additional levels added to elite variants
• Spawn Rate (50% - 200%): Probability multiplier for elite spawns
• Equipment Tier Bonus (0 - 4): Equipment quality boost above zone tier

Ultimate Settings

• Power Multiplier (1.0x - 6.0x): Stat/AV/DV scaling for ultimates
• HP Multiplier (1.0x - 8.5x): Health pool scaling
• Enhancement Multiplier (1.0x - 4.0x): Number of mutations/upgrades
• Level Offset (0 - 30): Additional levels added to ultimates
• Spawn Rate (50% - 200%): Probability multiplier for ultimate spawns
• Equipment Tier Bonus (0 - 6): Equipment quality boost

Spawn Requirements

Note: These use INVERSE scaling - lower values = harder (enemies appear earlier)

• Min Player Level for Elites (5 - 25): Player must reach this level before elites spawn
• Min Zone Tier for Elites (1 - 7): Zone must be this tier or higher
• Min Player Level for Ultimates (15 - 35): Player level requirement for ultimates
• Min Zone Tier for Ultimates (3 - 8): Zone tier requirement for ultimates
• Min Player Level for Armies (10 - 30): Player level requirement for army spawns
• Min Zone Tier for Armies (2 - 7): Zone tier requirement for armies

Army Settings

• Army Spawn Rate (50% - 200%): Probability multiplier for army encounters
• Leader Stat Bonus (100% - 200%): Additional power for army leaders
• Goon Stat Bonus (50% - 150%): Power level for army goons

Advanced Settings

• Max Elites Per Zone (1 - 8): Density limit for elite spawns per zone
• Spawn Cooldown Turns (10 - 100): Minimum turns between elite spawns
• Mental Mutation Cap (1 - 5): Maximum mental mutations per elite
• Physical Mutation Cap (1 - 5): Maximum physical mutations per elite

All Wish Commands

Preset & Settings Commands

elitepreset

Instantly apply a difficulty preset. Opens selection menu with 5 presets.

eliteautopreset

Enable automatic preset application when changing dropdown in options menu.

EliteVariantsSettings

Display current settings in message log (legacy command, prefer options menu).

Spawning Commands

spawnelite

Spawn a single elite variant at your location. Opens creature selection menu.

spawnultimate

Spawn a single ultimate variant at your location. Opens creature selection menu.

spawnarmy

Force spawn an elite army. Opens army type selection menu (SmallSquad, ElitePatrol, etc.).

Natural Spawning Control

elitespawn:status

Display current natural spawning status, statistics, and settings.

elitespawn:toggle

Toggle natural spawning on/off without opening options menu.

elitespawn:reset

Reset natural spawning statistics and cooldowns.

Army System Commands

elitearmy:status

Display army spawning statistics (armies spawned, composition breakdown).

elitearmy:reset

Reset army tracking data and zone limits.

Debug Commands

elitedebug:toggle

Toggle debug mode (detailed spawn logs in message log).

elitedebug:status

Show debug mode status and current debug settings.

elitedebug:stats

Display detailed spawn statistics (attempts, successes, failures, reasons).

elitedebug:bypass

Show help for bypassing spawn restrictions during testing.

Testing Commands

elitetest:full

Run complete automated test suite (all systems).

elitetest:equipment

Test equipment system (verify tier-appropriate gear).

elitetest:mutations

Test mutation caps (verify mental/physical limits).

elitetest:multipliers

Test stat multipliers (verify power scaling).

elitetest:armies

Test army compositions (verify all 5 army types).

elitetest:settings

Test settings system (verify preset application).

elitetest:spawn

Quick spawn test with detailed stat report.

Quick Visual Testing

elitequick:equipment

Spawn 5 elites with different equipment configurations for visual inspection.

elitequick:mutations

Spawn 5 elites with different mutation cap configurations.

elitequick:tiers

Spawn 3 elites/ultimates showing tier differences.

elitequick:armies

Spawn all 5 army types in sequence.

elitequick:stress

Spawn 10 random elites/ultimates for stress testing.

elitequick:reset

Reset all settings to defaults and clear tracking.

Utility Commands

elitecleanup

Destroy all elite creatures and clear tracking (fixes lag from too many spawns).

How Spawning Works

Individual Elite/Ultimate Spawning (Natural)

When a creature spawns naturally, the mod evaluates whether to transform it:

7-Step Decision Process:

1. Natural spawning enabled? Check if feature is turned on
2. Creature eligible? Must be hostile creature, not merchant/vendor/legendary
3. Zone tier requirement met? Zone must be high enough tier
4. Player level requirement met? Player must be high enough level
5. Zone density limit OK? Zone can't exceed max elites per zone
6. Global cooldown expired? Enough turns since last spawn
7. Random roll succeeds? Roll against spawn chance percentage

Ultimate vs Elite Priority:

• If player meets ultimate requirements, ultimate is tried first
• If ultimate roll fails, elite roll is attempted
• At high levels/tiers, more ultimates spawn naturally

Army Spawning

Armies spawn from spawner objects (placed manually or via wish commands):

Requirements:

• Army spawning enabled
• Player level ≥ global minimum for armies
• Player level ≥ army type minimum (15-35 depending on type)
• Zone tier ≥ global minimum for armies
• Zone tier ≥ army type minimum (tier 5-8 depending on type)
• Zone doesn't already have an army (hard limit: 1 per zone)

Army Types:

Type	Leaders	Goons	Min Level	Min Tier
Small Squad	0	2-3	15	5
Elite Patrol	0	4-5	20	6
Elite Warband	1	4-5	25	7
Ultimate Host	2	6-8	30	8
Titan Pair	2-3	0	35	8

Key Differences:

• Individual spawning is probabilistic and continuous
• Army spawning is deterministic (if conditions met, army spawns)
• Armies have leader-goon party dynamics
• Individual elites are independent

Interactions with Vanilla Content

Legendary Creatures

Most legendaries are excluded from transformation due to:

• ExcludeFromDynamicEncounters tag
• IgnoresBeguiling or IgnoresPhase tags
• Manual placement (not natural spawning)

Force spawning an elite legendary (via spawnelite/spawnultimate wish commands):

• Preserves all original mutations and abilities
• Adds new mutations they don't already have
• Stacks elite bonuses on top of legendary power
• Results in extremely powerful super-boss encounters

Faction Relationships

Elite variants preserve their original faction:

• Elite snapjaw is still snapjaw faction
• Elite Putus Templar is still Putus Templar faction
• Enables elite vs elite faction warfare
• Player faction relationships apply normally

Equipment & Loot

• Elites drop their equipped items when killed
• Equipment is tier-appropriate and often powerful
• Higher tier zones = better elite equipment
• Ultimate variants have best-in-tier gear

Troubleshooting

Elites Not Spawning

1. Check elitespawn:status - is natural spawning enabled?
2. Verify player level meets minimum (default: 16 for elites, 25 for ultimates)
3. Verify zone tier meets minimum (default: tier 5+ for elites, tier 5+ for ultimates)
4. Check elitedebug:stats to see why spawns are failing

Game Lag After Many Spawns

Use elitecleanup wish command to destroy all elite creatures and clear tracking.

Preset Not Applying

1. If using options menu, wait ~10 turns for auto-apply
2. Or use elitepreset wish command for instant application
3. Verify you ran eliteautopreset at least once per character

Armies Not Spawning

1. Check army spawning is enabled in options
2. Verify minimum requirements (default: player level 20+, zone tier 4+)
3. Check zone doesn't already have an army (limit: 1 per zone)
4. Use elitearmy:status to see statistics

Performance Notes

• Elite spawning checks run every 10 turns (minimal performance impact)
• Zone density limits prevent overcrowding
• Global cooldown prevents spawn spam
• Eligibility checks are cached for performance

Credits

Created by mythraps for Caves of Qud

Version History

v1.0.0 (Initial Release)

• Elite and Ultimate variant system
• 5 difficulty presets with smart scaling
• Elite army spawning with 5 army types
• Automatic and manual preset application
• 40+ wish commands for customization and testing
• Comprehensive options menu with combo box interface
• Natural spawning with safety limits
• Debug and testing tools

License

This mod is provided as-is for Caves of Qud. Feel free to modify for personal use.