Dust

Dust is used as a power source by The Crystal to power rooms. Unlike the other resources however, Dust will not carry over to the next floor without special items, and there is no easy way to gain a steady income of it, not even a base income like the others. It is most commonly found by exploring new rooms and killing monsters.

Powering Rooms

Every 10 Dust that you have can be used to power an entire room. The benefits of powering a room are as follows: 

• Powered rooms allow the building of Modules both minor and major, providing more resources and defence for the dungeon and room respectively.
• Powered rooms will not spawn monsters. This is incredibly useful for protecting key areas of your dungeon.

If the crystal is hit by any monsters (certain monster types always go straight for the crystal) your dust will be gradually depleted with each hit. Losing even a small amount of Dust can be detrimental enough to end a run outright. If you run out of Dust the Crystal will explode resulting in a Game Over.

As Currency

Dust is sometimes used by The Merchant as a currency to trade with to obtain items, armor and devices. When a dust merchant is present, selling items in order to obtain more dust can significantly increase survivability on that floor. It is also a good tactic to buy as much as you can before leaving the floor because dust cannot be taken with you.

Sources of Dust

• When opening a new room, there is a chance to find dust. The passive skill Pilfer (Max O'Kane, Esseb Tarosh, Ayairi Whairydd) gives extra dust when opening a room with dust. A Third Eye also grants the Pilfer skill to a hero.
• A Dust Factory can occasionally be found in the dungeon. This costs 30 industry to trigger and can give a significant amount of dust or give none and destroy all module spots in the room.
• A Shop occupied by a Merchant gives 1 dust for every 10 wit used to operate it. This amount is rounded up, so 1-10 wit gives 1 dust, 11-20 wit gives 2 dust, and so on. Having a Shop operated by a hero (possibly augmented by Mechanical Pals to increase wit above the next multiple of 10) can yield a significant income of dust. A single unaided Mechanical Pal will yield 1 dust if built in a room with an occupied shop, making it useful to have at least rank 1 Mechanical Pal unlocked throughout the game.
• The Dust Box item and Zugma Walker both possess the Secret Compartment skill that allows you to carry 10/20% (max 10/20) of your current Dust to the next floor. The Dust Box must be equipped by a hero when leaving the floor. The effects of multiple instances of Secret Compartment stack, but only if you equip them on different heroes.

Dust From Monsters

Monsters have a chance to drop dust when killed, with more powerful monsters generally having a higher probability. See the Monsters page for more details. Dust loot probability can also be influenced through the following methods:

• An Emergency Generator powers a room without dust. When operated, it increases dust loot probability by 0.5% for each point of wit used to operate it.
• Active Skills: Cooking with Gas (Chef Nanor), War Profiteer (Warden Mormish), and Dust Drainer (Esseb Tarosh) all increase dust loot.
• Passive Skills: Nyctophilia (Hikensha, Golgy Phurtiver, Ayairi Whairydd) and Pickpocket (Golgy Phurtiver, Sara Numas, Ayairi Whairydd) increase dust loot.

Note that the skills Hold the Line (Lady Joleri Tulak, Kreyang) and Dust Thirst (Lady Joleri Tulak) decrease dust loot.