Hexen 64 - Strategy Guide (Page 01)
Below are the cheat codes, hints and help for Hexen 64 - Strategy Guide (Page 01).
WALKTHROUGH OF HEXEN
by H.S. Teoh (yu107955@laurel.yorku.ca).
Converted from HTML version dated 1 Jan 96.
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NOTE: This walkthrough concentrates mainly on the puzzle side of
the game. So, with the exception of boss monsters and some tricky
places, the presence of monsters is mostly omitted in the directions;
you are expected to be able to deal with them yourself.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Episode 1: Seven Portals
Winnowing Hall
Seven portals: solving the puzzle
The secret level: Bright Crucible
Episode 2: Shadow Wood
Synopsis of the puzzle
Solving the puzzle
Getting the Keys
Finding the puzzle switches
The Hypostyle
The secret level: Sacred Grove
Episode 3: Heresiarch's Seminary
Synopsis of the puzzle
The planets
The three chapels
The fourth (secret) chapel: Deathwind Chapel
Episode 4: Castle of Grief
Synopsis of the puzzle
The Clock
The puzzle of the Gibbet
The secret level: Desolate Garden
Episode 5: Necropolis
Synopsis of the puzzle
The (almost secret) level: Vivarium
Tomb of Zedek
Tomb of Menelkir
Tomb of Traductus
Epilogue: Dark Crucible
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Segments of your Fourth Weapon
This information is already embedded in the text; but it's indexed
here for those who want a quick glance. (Note: this only applies to
single-player mode; for multi-player mode this information may not
be correct.)
1. The first segment of the fourth weapon is at the end of the
Seven Portals (Episode 1), in front of the portal that leads
to Episode 2.
2. The second segment is in one of the rooms in the Hypostyle
(end of Episode 2).
3. The last segment is in the room full of pitchers in the Heresiarch's
Seminary (Episode 3). Note that ALL THREE SEGMENTS of the fourth
weapon can also be found in the Desolate Garden (Episode 4).
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The Winnowing Hall
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This is the first level in Hexen. You start in front of some kind
of chapel. This level is very simple, so here's a sketch of how to
complete the level (the full solution is in the next section):
1. Get the Emerald Key from within the chapel
2. Open the door that requires the Emerald Key, and get the Silver
Key
3. Ring the bell at the top of the tower
4. Go back into the chapel, step into the teleport and enter the
portal to the next level.
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Getting the Emerald Key
The key is in a secret area somewhere in the chapel. Hint: vandalize
the chapel! (ie. smash the stained glass).
Once you find the secret passage, pull the switch inside to open
those big yellow slabs. Enter the now revealed door, and look for
a switch. This will lower the pillar in the centre of the room to
reveal the Emerald Key. Once you get the key, the big yellow slabs
begin to move. Careful! It's a trap. You will get crushed by the
slabs unless you run through when all of them are open. You need
to time yourself carefully for this.
NOTE: one of the yellow doors in the room will open if you're playing
deathmatch. The teleport inside takes you up to the top of the cliff
outside the chapel, where there's an item or two. This only applies
to deathmatch games, though. So far, I've not been able to open this
area in single-player mode.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WONDER WHAT THOSE SWITCHES BEHIND THE FIREBALL
TRAPS DO... it's simple. Those switches simply re-activates the walls
in case you get stuck behind them when they are deactivated. The
switches don't do anything when the trap is active.
Getting the Silver Key
Open the big door at the foot of the fort with the Emerald Key. Pull
a switch inside to open a door that leads to the battlements. Now,
go up to the battlements and walk to the mini-tower. When you get
there, a switch will pop out of the floor. Pull this switch to open
the inner door in the fort.
Tip: there's a platinum helmet somewhere on the battlements which
will increase your armor class: see if you can find it!
Now, enter the courtyard with the bell tower. Somewhere on the right
is the entrance to the cave with the silver key. Be careful once
you get the key, though, because another trap will be activated.
The easiest way to get out is to step in front of the first crusher,
and when it slams together, RUN forward against it. Once it opens,
you'll be running against the second crusher, and so on. This works
because of the way the crushers are timed.
Ringing the Bell
This one is easy. :) Use the Silver Key you just found to get into
the bell tower. Climb to the top and strike the bell (or shoot at
it if you're a mage). The bell will ring, and will cause the teleport
inside the chapel to be opened.
NOTE: I noticed that with the Mage, there's a bug here that lets
you shoot at the bell from outside, without ever getting the Silver
Key. It's a little harder than in the Demo version of Hexen, but
it's still possible. I wonder if this is a slip by the level designers.
Now simply go back to the chapel and step into the teleport, which
will take you to a small room with the portal leading to the next
level, the Seven Portals. Stepping close to the portal opens a passage
to the right that leads back to the front of the chapel.
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The Seven Portals
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This level is a 'hub' level which leads to several sub-levels. To
solve this level you need to solve puzzles in the sub-levels.
For convenience, from now on I will refer to each of the seven gates
in this level by a number. The first gate on the left as you enter
the level is Gate 1, the second gate on the left is Gate 2, and so
on, going in a clockwise order around the level. Each gate leads
to a portal that takes you to one of three sub-levels.
The first three gates
The first gate that you'll open is Gate 2. This is opened by pulling
the switch on the pillar in front of the gate. You need to kill the
chaos serpents behind the gate first; then a quartz flask will appear
in front of a window at the far end of the room. Pick up the quartz
flask, and two passages at the side will open. A portal will rise
in the icy room beyond. This portal leads to the Guardian of Ice.
Guardian of Ice (1)
At this point, many passages are still inaccessible in the Guardian
of Ice, and the only way you can go is to the room at the far end
of the level. This room has four pillars. Pull the switch at the
end of the room and these pillars will rise and fall for a while.
Then they will all stop and a white arrow will appear on the ground,
pointing to one of the pillars. This is the teleport to go back to
the Seven Portals. DO NOT STEP INTO ANY OTHER PILLAR!! They will
crush you. Note that this teleport is RANDOMLY picked; you should
always watch for the arrow each time you play the game. For now,
step into the teleport.
This takes you back to Seven Portals, but now Gates 1 and 3 are open.
There is a switch behind each gate which opens a portal. The portal
in Gate 1 leads to the Guardian of Fire; the portal in Gate 3 goes
to the Guardian of Steel. Here, I'll take you through Gate 1 first
(of course, you can always go to Gate 3 first, if you want to).
Step into the portal in Gate 1 and you will go to:
Guardian of Fire (1)
The first room you see in front of you looks innocent... until you
step into it. Well, you have to go through it, so go in and see what
happens. After things have calmed down, enter the doorway to the
right which leads to a room with a lava pool. You'll find a switch
in a niche on the right side of the room. Pull it. This is one of
three switches you need in order to open Gate 6 in the Seven Portals.
Now go to the room with the lava pillar. There is a wall with a mask
on it to the left. This is a secret door that leads to a long room
with a bridge in the middle. There are lots of flechettes on the
bridge.
1. If you're greedy for flechettes (like me), aim VERY carefully
for the far end of the bridge and run across the bridge as fast as
you can! Do not swerve to either side; you will drop to your death!
When you reach the other side, clutch the door in fright until
things calm down :) Now jump to the narrow ledge on the left and
CAREFULLY walk down the ledge until you come to a new opening that
leads back to the room with the lava pool.
2. Or, if you're less confident, step onto the bridge quickly,
and step back. You can now watch the fun without having to be in
it. :) Now, go back to the room with the lava pool. A new passage
has opened. There is a switch in the newly-opened passage; pull it
to open the door at the end of the bridge that closed when you stepped
on the bridge. Walk along the ledge on the left side of the bridge
room, and enter the door. Take the Flame Mask. Jump back on the ledge
(I pity all you who are sacred of heights!) and go back to the room
with the lava pool.
That's all you can do on this level at this point. Go back to the
portal that leads to the Seven Portals. If you haven't been to the
Guardian of Steel yet, step into the portal in Gate 3 now. Otherwise,
you can proceed to Gate 6.
Guardian of Steel (1)
You start in a room that opens into a corridor with stairs on both
sides. Each flight of stairs lead to a similar chamber with a switch
and a fast door. Remember these two rooms: you need to fiddle with
the switches later. For now, enter go to either room and enter the
fast door. You will see two flights of stairs; one leading up and
one leading down. Take the one leading up and you'll get to what
I call the central room in the Guardian of Steel. You get to this
same room no matter which way you took.
There are two doors here, besides the two flights of stairs. One
of them needs the Steel Key: you don't have it yet. So, enter the
other door. This is an elevator. Another door opens when the elevator
reaches the bottom. Go out and you'll find yourself in a corridor.
One end of the corridor will be blocked; go to the other end and
you will see a room with a switch. Pull this switch. This is another
one of the three switches you need to pull in order to open Gate
6 on the Seven Portals.
Now, go back to the two rooms with the fast doors. The switch in
one of them--I leave it to you to find out which--will open the
blocked part of the corridor and close the other part where you just
went and pulled the switch. Go to where the corridor just opened
and pull the switch inside there. This switch is the third switch
that you need to pull in order to open Gate 6 on the Seven Portals.
That's all you can do here for now. Go back to the Seven Portals.
If you haven't gone to the Guardian of Fire yet, do it now by stepping
into the portal behind Gate 1. Otherwise, proceed to:
Gate 6
If you've pulled the switch on the Guardian of Fire and the two switches
on the Guardian of Steel, Gate 6 at the Seven Portals should be open.
Again, you must kill all the Chaos Serpents before the portal at
the far end of the room behind Gate 6 will open. Be careful on your
way to the portal, though. DO NOT STEP ON THOSE BRIGHT PATCHES ON
THE ICY FLOOR! Those are traps. Or, if you're good enough, run across
them so that you won't ever step into them accidentally again (don't
try this if you're not fast enough though). Enter the portal, and
you'll find yourself in a new part of the Guardian of Ice.
Guardian of Ice (2)
Go forward into the room in front and pull the switch. This switch
raises stairs in the room you just came from. Go back there and pull
the two switches at the top of each of the stairs that were just
raised. Now, the highest flight of stairs in the middle of the Seven
Portals will be raised. Some ettins will also teleport into the room
you're in. Now, take the passage that leads to an open area on the
left. There's a room on the right.
Enter that room (be careful of the trap in the room), and follow
the passage. This will take you on a winding flight of stairs that
has windows looking out to the open area you saw earlier. If you
explored that open area and slipped and fell, there is an elevator
that takes you up to the middle of this flight of stairs. Go the
top of the stairs and pull the switch. Take the platform up and you'll
find yourself in the room behind the dark room where you first entered
the Guardian of Ice from Gate 2. Go all the way to the room with
the four pillars. Now two new bright arrows on the ground will be
pointing at two doors which you can now enter.
The Fire Key
The door on the right leads to the room with the Fire Key. To get
the key, place the Flame Mask on the wall on the far end of the room.
This wall looks exactly like other walls with similar masks except
that the mask is missing. Placing the mask there will lower the pillar
with the Fire Key on it.
The Steel Key
The door on the left leads to a large icy room. If you're playing
a difficult level, RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN TO THE LEFT CORNER OF THE
ROOM. Parts of the floor and ceiling will start to move. After a
while, a switch appears in the corner where you have run to; pull
this switch. More ice movements. The room now has deep crevasses
in the floor; so be careful as you make your next moves.
Go along the ledge on the left and jump into the next icy room. The
Steel Key is resting top of some icy steps. Grab the key and watch
out as the ice in this room begins rising and dropping too (a pillar
of ice may even crush you if you're standing on the wrong spot).
Some enemies will appear. You can either kill them or flee back to
the first room (be careful as you jump though!) Carefully make your
way back to the entrance (you need good jumping skills here... the
ice is slippery too!) and get out of the room. Step on the teleport
that goes back to the Seven Portals.
Gates 5 and 7
Gates 5 and 7 should now be open. Again, you have a choice of where
to go first: Gate 5, which has a portal leading to another part of
the Guardian of Steel, or Gate 7, which leads to the room with
the lava pool on the Guardian of Fire.
The Guardian of Fire (2)
Now that you have the Fire Key, you can open the two doors in the
room with the lava pillar. In either room, you will find a switch.
Pull this switch and a platform lowers to ground level. Step on the
platform and it takes you to the area beyond the lava river which
is blocked by pillars (you can see this place vaguely from the room
with the lava pillar). Kill the monsters here and the pillars on
the lava river opens. If you ever need to get back to the room with
the lava pillar this is the way out. But for now, go to the other
side of the room where there's a wall with a fire mask symbol on
it.
Two elevators will lower on either side of you. Step into one of
them and you get to an area with several connected corridors. There
is a teleport here; step into it. This takes you to a room with a
switch. Pull the switch. Note that if you open the walls with the
fire mask symbol on them, you will get back to the connected corridors
with the teleport. For now, go back to the room with the switch,
and look behind where you teleported into the room. There's a teleport
symbol there: activate it and you'll be taken back to the Seven Portals.
If you've entered Gate 5 already, you're ready to solve the puzzle
on the Seven Portals.
The Guardian of Steel (2)
The new area on the Guardian of Steel where Gate 5 takes you is very
similar to where Gate 3 takes you. However, this area is on the opposite
side of the level. Again, there are two rooms with fast doors and
switches. The stairs from these two rooms lead to the central room.
Note that these stairs were blocked when you first came here from
Gate 3; now they are open.
Since you have the Steel Key now, open the steel door. Again, there
is an elevator that takes you to a corridor. One side of the corridor
is blocked; the other side leads to a room with a switch. Pull this
switch and a message tells you to look for another switch. This other
switch is in the room behind where the corridor is blocked. Now...
you guessed it! One of the switches in the two rooms with fast doors
will open this area. Go figure out which one it is, and pull the
switch in the room. More stairs have raised on the Seven Portals.
If you have not been to Gate 7 yet, do it now.
Gate 4: the Final Encounter
You have almost solved the puzzle! Go back to the Seven Portals.
By now, three flight of stairs have risen. The highest of them leads
to a switch and Dragonskin Bracers (your reward!). Pull this switch.
This is one of three switches you need to pull to open Gate 4. The
other two switches are at the top of the other two stairs. There
are two switches at the top of each of these stairs. The ones that
look like a cow's head are the ones that open Gate 4; the other two
switches open two doors on the Guardian of Ice. This is related to
the secret level of this episode.
After you pull all three switches, Gate 4 will be open. This opens
the arena for the final encounter in episode one. Go inside Gate
4 and kill the monsters there. There is a switch beside the big doors
at the far end of the room; pull this switch to open the doors. Beyond
the doors you can see a portal on the other side of a huge chasm.
This portal takes you to episode 2. But to get to the portal, you
must first kill the centaurs. After they are killed, a magic blue
bridge will appear across the chasm. Cross this transparent bridge
(don't worry! it won't break :) and the portal to episode 2 is waiting.
There are lots of goodies around, so take a break from your slaughtering
and collect the stuff around here. You find the first segment of
your 4th weapon here, and there is a combined mana hidden behind
the portal.
For those of you who are more adventurous and those of you who noticed
something on the map: you can jump across the chasm to a narrow passage
on the east side of the chasm (look at the map to make sure... "look
before you leap!"). You get a close encounter with some chaos serpents
on your way up the passage. At the top, you can find a pair of Wings
of Wrath on a ledge. Jump down the ledge to get back to the area
overlooking the chasm. If you're paranoid about the magic bridge,
you can use the wings to fly across the chasm. Or use them to explore
some other areas in this episode.
Now, take a deep breath, brace yourself, and step into the portal,
which will take you to Episode 2: Shadow Wood. Or, you may want to
visit the secret level first, if you haven't done so yet.
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The Secret Level in Episode 1: Bright Crucible
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Opening the Portal to the Bright Crucible
To get to the secret level, you need to solve a few more puzzles
on the Seven Portals.
First, don't forget to pull the switches on top of the two stairs
on the Seven Portals (not the ones that open Gate 4, but the ones
that give you a message that doors are opening on the Guardian of
Ice). After you pull both switches, enter the portal in Gate 2 to
go to the Guardian of Ice.
Guardian of Ice (3)
Two doors have opened outside the dark room where you enter the Guardian
of Ice. You can go to either room first, but I recommend the one
on the right since the Afrits in there might sneak up on you from
behind while you're busy doing something in the other room.
The Afrit Room
Go into the room on the right and get rid of the Afrits. Go down
the stairs on the right and pull the switch. Fireballs will start
to spew in the pit in the middle of the room. You need to run up
the stairs and jump across the pit to the opposite side. There's
a switch the small room here: pull it, and a portal behind this small
room opens. Now, jump back across the pit and go behind this small
room. Enter the portal, which takes you to a new are in the Guardian
of Fire.
The Traps Room
This is the room on the left. Don't rush inside; as soon as you step
in, the traps on the side walls activate. Time yourself carefully
(notice the pattern that the balls of spikes are shot across the
room) and go across to the end of the room. There is an icy room
on the left with a pillar in the middle. The other side of the pillar
has a switch you should pull. But DON'T JUST STAND THERE AFTER PULLING
THE SWITCH! You'll get poison darts on your back. You need to kill
the centaurs that appear before the door of the room opens again.
Leave the icy room and you'll see a portal that just opened. Get
your weapons ready, and your healing potions handy (yes, it's a very
nasty place inside there!) and step in to get to a new area in the
Guardian of Steel.
Guardian of Fire (3)
You start in a small room. The wall in front will open as you step
in. Go into the room and follow the ledge on the left. Be careful
on the way: there's a wall here that will push you into the lava
pit in the middle of the room: run fast to get past it. Now wait
a moment and the lava in the pit will rise. Now, go to the pillar
in the middle of the room and pull the switch. Jump back to the side
of the room and exit the room. You'll find yourself in the room with
the lava pillar. If you haven't been to the left room on the Guardian
of Ice, or haven't entered the portal there, go there now. If
you have activated the switch on the Guardian of Steel, go back to
the Seven Portals.
Guardian of Steel (3)
The portal in the Traps Room on the Guardian of Ice takes you to
an icy room on the Guardian of Steel. For those playing on high difficulty
settings: have PLENTY of healing potions in hand, and run around
and fire wildly as soon as you enter this place. After killing the
Wendigos here, the walls will lower to reveal a larger room. You
probably have seen this larger room from the central room in the
Guardian of Steel. Unless you're very, very expert in the game, don't
expect to kill the wendigos in the room (also, more will teleport
in after you kill them, so don't waste your energy): RUN for the
elevators (look at the map to find out where they are) and get out
before you get killed!
The two elevators take you to the two rooms behind the fast doors.
Now go to the other two rooms behind the fast doors and take the
elevators there. This will take you to the other area you can see
from the central room on this level. This place has a lot of crushers.
Always time yourself carefully when crossing these crushers. Look
for a switch somewhere inside here (it's behind a crusher... look
at the map to see where the switch is). Activate this switch.
Now go back to the central room in this level. Some walls have opened
in the area in the centre. Climb inside there, where there's a torch
on a dark pedestal. Jump on the pedestal and grab the torch. This
triggers something, and you'll get a message that stones are grinding
on the Seven Portals.
If you haven't been to the right room on the Guardian of Ice yet,
or haven't entered the portal there that takes you to the new are
in the Guardian of Fire, go there now.
The portal to the Bright Crucible
If you've pulled the switches in the Guardian of Fire and the Guardian
of Steel, go to the Seven Portals. The area behind the highest stairs
should now open. Go inside this area and jump into the water. There
is an invisible portal here that takes you to the Bright Crucible.
Solving the Puzzle on the Bright Crucible
Note: there are MANY horrible monsters here; you should figure out
a way of getting rid of them before you continue. Wings of Wrath
would be very helpful here (you can find them behind Gate 4 in the
Seven Portals).
When you start, you are facing SOUTH. Turn right (face WEST) and
jump into the muck. Or, if you've already jumped down somewhere in
the process of killing the monsters, go to the WEST side of the level.
Step on the elevator in front of the ledge on the NORTHWEST wall
(the one with the Chaos Serpent). Enter the tunnel behind the ledge,
and keep going until you come to a room with spewing fireballs. In
the centre of the room there's a red object. Run into the room and
grab it.
This is the Heart of D'Sparil (for those of you who don't know: D'Sparil
was the first of the three serpent riders. He was the last boss monster
in the game Heretic). The fireballs will cease once you picked up
this object. Now, go outside to the EAST side of the level and take
another elevator on the NORTHEAST ledge where a chaos serpent is.
Go into the tunnel behind the ledge once you get up there, and follow
the corridor all the way to the end, where there is a stained glass
wall blocking entrance into a room spewing with fireballs. To get
into the room, you need to BARGE through it; just shooting at it
is not enough. Run against it, push it, and shoot at it (some combination
of these) and it will shatter. Now unless you want to get burned
by the fireballs, quickly place D'Sparil's Heart on the stand in
the centre of the room.
The fireballs will stop. If you like, you can barge through the other
stained glass wall too, which will take you up to another ledge where
another Chaos Serpent was shooting at you. Anyway, after placing
D'Sparil's Heart on the stand, a long flight of stairs will rise
from the muck in the south part of the level, all the way up to where
you first teleported in. Also, a hidden area on the north side of
the level has opened (behind where you teleported in). There are
a few serpents in there, and you can also find an Icon of the Defender.
Now, go down the long flight of stairs into the muck. Follow the
flow of the muck and go underground. Here's a portal that will take
you back to the Seven Portals.
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Shadow Wood: synopsis of the puzzle
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So, you've finished episode 1 and are ready to tackle episode 2.
Before I go into the details of how to solve this episode, here's
a birds'-eye view of what is going on:
Basically, you are heading for the Hypostyle, which is the conclusion
of episode 2. The portal to the Hypostyle is behind a gate inside
the temple on Shadow Wood. There are three panels on either side
of this gate. Each of the three pairs of panels have a different
symbol: the Swamp symbol (green), the Horn symbol (yellow) and the
Cave symbol (grey).
Each panel corresponds to a switch somewhere on this episode which
you must activate, and the symbol on the panel indicates which key
is needed to get to the switch. So, there are two switches which
need the Swamp key to get to, two switches which need the Horn key
and two switches which need the Cave key. Every time you activate
one of the six switches the corresponding panel will brighten up.
This way you can monitor your progress in solving the puzzle.
Once you find all these switches, the gate opens, and you will enter
the portal to the Hypostyle.
Here's how to get to the temple on Shadow Wood and see the six panels:
follow the left wall as you come out of the room where you start.
Go through the doorway on the left and go up the stairs. This is
the entrance to the temple. Go inside the temple, turn right and
go to the end of the corridor. Open the metal wall on your left,
and go down the corridor behind it. This leads to the room with the
six switches and the gate. Since you haven't solved any puzzles yet
at this point, the six panels will be dark (you need to walk up to
a panel to see the symbol on it if it hasn't brightened up yet).
OK, that's enough introduction. Time to actually solve the puzzles.
Since you need the three keys in order to get to the six switches,
you have to first find the keys.
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Shadow Wood: Solving the Puzzle
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Finding the Keys
There are three keys which you need in order to solve the puzzle.
You actually need a fourth key in order to get to one of the three
keys. The three keys are:
The Horn key
The Swamp key
The Cave key
(Note: I have arranged the order of finding the keys so that you
can get to one of the six switches nearby while finding another key;
so I suggest that you follow this order. Of course, I have included
hypertext links in the text for those of you who rather do things
your own order.)
The Horn Key
The Horn Key is in the Wastelands. You need to first open the portal
that takes you there. So, in Shadow Wood, go to the place where there
is a deep, deep drop and a narrow ledge. This is somewhere beside
the river. Now you need to carefully jump from ledge to ledge. Keep
going until you reach the end, where there is a switch (practice
your jumping skills here! Or, save your game a lot because it's very
easy to slip and fall to your death). Pull this switch. It opens
a wall somewhere along the narrow ledge you have just passed, so
start jumping back (have fun). The portal to the Wastelands is behind
the wall. Also, another wall opens to the main area in Shadow Wood.
If you go there, you'll find that yet another wall has opened to
reveal lots of ammo and healing potions. You probably need this before
you enter the Wastelands. Now, brace yourself and step into the portal.
In the wastelands, go down the steps to the exit from the sad-looking
area where the portal took you. If you look down the exit, this is
WEST. (Sorry for giving the wrong direction in previous versions!
So I DID get you lost. :) Thanks to Remy Horton for pointing this
out.) It's very easy to get lost here, so keep your map handy. I'll
be using the compass a lot. The exit leads to a ledge with brown
serpents on an opposite ledge. BE VERY CAREFUL IN THIS LEVEL; AVOID
STANDING ON THOSE PILES OF DIRT ON THE GROUND... Now take the descending
passage on the left and this takes you to the area between the two
ledges. Enter the tunnel on the left (EAST). The tunnel will fork
into two; take the right one. This goes on for quite some time. As
you go on, watch for an exit to the right (SOUTH)--you may miss
it if you're not looking.
This exit leads to what I call the Two Portals room. It has a closed
portal and a blocked teleport. You need the Cave Key to open these
two; if you don't have it, go back to the tunnel and continue down
the tunnel. This time, keep an eye on the LEFT (NORTH) wall. Somewhere
along the way you'll see a square wall with a different texture from
the tunnel walls. If you reach an open area before you see this,
YOU'VE MISSED IT: go back into the tunnel and look for it.
This square wall is a revolving door. Open it and enter. Watch for
the brown beastie waiting on the other side, though. Go up the winding
path to a big open area. Go left (EAST), and you'll find a narrow
walkway with lava on both sides. Go to the end of the walkway and
you'll find the Horn Key. Note that once you get the key, the walkway
breaks into pillars. You must jump from pillar to pillar all the
way back if you don't want to fall and get burned by the lava.
If you ever fall into the lava, simply follow the walkway until you
reach the beginning, and pull the switch. This lowers a platform
to take you out of the fire.
If you're following my order of getting the keys, go back to Shadow
Wood now (retrace your steps through the tunnel, and back to the
starting room).
The Swamp Key
Go to the river in Shadow Wood, and walk downstream. Don't worry
if you see a wall ahead; it will open. Go all the way until you reach
metal bars that block your way. There are stairs to the left which
lead to a high cliff with a green swamp below. There is a tower in
the middle of the swamp; run and jump onto the base of the tower.
Pull the switch there. This will raise several metal pillars on the
sides of the swamp. Now, jump into the swamp and look for a switch
on the wall. Pull this switch. This opens the metal bars blocking
the river, so now you can jump back to the river. Climb up the stairs
again, and this time, turn left and jump on the pillars you just
raised. These pillars lead to a high area where the chaos serpents
were firing at you earlier. Don't panic if a poison dart hits you;
it's almost unavoidable. Of course, don't get hit by too many darts,
otherwise your life may get too low.
(Alternatively, after pulling the switch at the base of the tower,
run to the rising pillars and get on one of them. This way, you can
reach the high area without getting hit by the traps. This may not
work with the Mage because he's too slow to get to the pillar before
it's too high to reach. Thanks to Jeff Rife for providing this tidbit.)
There's a switch on the high area that raises steps to go up the
tower. Jump to the base of the tower (don't drop down to the swamp;
it's just a LITTLE too high and you'll get hurt). Now climb up the
tower and pull the switch. Now the portal beside the swamp is open.
This portal takes you to the Darkmere.
Smash down the rotten trees in front of you when you first enter
the Darkmere. Enter the building and go to the room flooded with
muck. Now, look for a piece of furniture that is different from the
rest (you can find out what it is yourself, I won't spoil the fun
here). Go up to it and activate it. This opens the door next to it.
Activate the switch behind the door, and the other door in the room
opens.
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