Heresiarch's Seminary: Solving the Puzzle of the Chapels
You should have reached the area with three portals at the northern end of the
Heresiarch's Seminary. If you look at the south wall, you'll see nine dark panels.
Just as in Shadow Wood, each of these panels corresponds to one of the nine puzzles
you must solve in the chapels. Each of the three portals lead to a different chapel.
The portal with the symbol of a wolf leads to the Wolf Chapel; the portal with
the dragon head symbol leads to the Dragon Chapel, and the portal with the griffin
leads to the Griffin Chapel. Note that each chapel has three portals, each leading
to the other two chapels and the Seminary. As you guessed, those portals also
have the corresponding symbols on them to indicate where they go to. The portal
leading to the Seminary has no symbol on it.
The three chapels are quite intricately connected with each other; pulling puzzle
switches in one chapel may open new areas in other chapels. This can become very
confusing; so I recommend that you simply solve the nine puzzles in the order
that I present them. This time it's not the best way of doing things though. In
many places you can solve more than one puzzle without leaving the chapel, but
for the sake of neatness, I'm doing things the long way. Of course, for those
of you who want to do things your own way and don't mind getting confused, :)
I've included many cross-links in this document.
The First Three Puzzles
Griffin Chapel (1)
Go to the Griffin Chapel. There are two cages with Chaos Serpents on the northwest
and northeast corners of the hall here, as well as another cage with another Chaos
Serpent on the south side. On the south side, there are two staircases on the
south, with really high steps. These are blocked with bars unless you've
solved the first puzzle in the Wolf Chapel. If you did, you can solve the second puzzle in this chapel. There are also
bars on the north side, which leads a deep chasm. If you've solved the first puzzle
in the Dragon Chapel, you can solve the third
puzzle in this chapel.
Go to the west side of the hall where there's a wall with a purple diamond at
the top. This is a secret door; open it and pull the switch inside. This is the
first puzzle switch in the Griffin Chapel. Besides solving the puzzle, it also
opens:
- Two pillars next to the two Serpent cages in the hall. The switches inside
these pillars opens the cages.
- The door on the north side of the hallway in the Wolf Chapel, which leads
to the second puzzle in the Wolf Chapel.
- The northern pair of rotating pillars on the west side of the Dragon Chapel,
which leads you to the second puzzle switch in that chapel, and also
open the bars blocking the northern passage on the east side of that chapel.
Wolf Chapel (1)
Go to the Wolf Chapel. The portal takes you to a small room with the three portals,
outside the chapel building. Go to the southwest corner of the level, where there's
a small staircase leading to a door in the building. Go inside and pull the switch
inside. This switch opens the door on the south side of the building, which leads
to long hallway.
If you've solved the first puzzle in the Griffin Chapel, you can solve the second puzzle in this chapel from here; and if
you've solved the first puzzle in the Dragon Chapel, you can also solve the third puzzle.
Turn right when you enter this place, and open another door there. The switch
inside is the first puzzle switch in this chapel. Besides solving one of the nine
puzzles, this switch will:
- Open the bars blocking the staircases with high steps, in the Griffin Chapel.
This leads to the second puzzle in that chapel.
- Open the southern pair of rotating pillars on the west side of the Dragon
Chapel, as well as the bars blocking the south passage on the east side of
that chapel. This south passage leads to the third puzzle switch in that chapel.
Dragon Chapel (1)
When you first enter the Dragon Chapel, beware of the crystal
vials on the ledges at the sides of the room. If you decide to grab them, be ready
for a nasty encounter. Also, watch out for slaughtaurs inside the main hall of
the chapel: there are many of them here. There's a circle of unlit lamps in the
front of the hall. If you've solved the first puzzles in the other two chapels,
the lamps will be lit, and a Krater of Might will teleport into this circle after
a while(how nice!). Go up the steps leading to the swamp pool, and go grab the
goodies behind the pool. Kill the Dark Bishops that appear. Now two doors have
opened on the east and west sides of the hall. Be careful when you enter one of
these doors, because monsters behind the other door will be sneaking up behind
you.
The east door leads to a short corridor with two passages on the sides, the northern
passage and the southern passage. These will be blocked with iron bars unless
you've solved the first puzzles on the other two chapels. If you've solved the
first puzzle in the Wolf Chapel, you can solve the third puzzle in this chapel from here.
The west door leads to a short corridor with two pairs of rotating pillars on
the north and south sides, which block the passages behind them. You cannot pass
these pillars unless you've solved the first puzzles on the other two chapels.
If you've solved the first puzzle in the Griffin Chapel, you can solve the second puzzle in this chapel from here. There's
a switch on the left wall. This is the first puzzle switch in this chapel. Just
as in the other two chapels, this switch also opens:
- A door on the east and a door on the west side of the hallway in the Wolf
Chapel. The west door leads to a series of dark corridors and a room with
the third puzzle switch in that chapel.
- The bars on the north side of the hall in the Griffin Chapel, which leads
to a huge pit with lava at the bottom (yes, I was stupid enough to jump down
just to see what's at the bottom!) This place leads to the third puzzle switch in that chapel.
The other six puzzles
Griffin Chapel (2)
To solve the second puzzle in the Griffin Chapel, you need to solve the first puzzle in the Wolf Chapel. This opens the
two staircases on the south side of the hall in the Griffin Chapel.
Go to the Griffin Chapel, and down the stairs on the south side of the hall. Climb
up the passage on your right. This leads to an open area with a deep chasm on
either side of a walkway. Walk to the end of the walkway where it widens out into
a round ledge. When you walk here, a trigger is activated. This is the second
puzzle.
Across the chasm on the east side, there's a stained glass wall. If you break
the stained glass, a wall will open on the west side across the chasm. This leads
to the room with the Porkalator, in front of the ledge. Note that this stained
glass takes good aim to break. I've found out that it's possible to break this
glass with all the character classes. You need very good aim, that's all. Try
strafing to the sides and shooting from different angles if you've trouble breaking
the glass. (Thanks to Arco Vermaat for telling me that it's possible with the
fighter's hammer.)
Griffin Chapel (3)
To solve this puzzle, you must first solve the first puzzle in the Dragon Chapel. This opens
the bars that lead to the huge pit with lava at the bottom. If you noticed, there's
a small black arrow on the floor pointing at the pit. Now, take a deep breath,
and walk over the edge in that direction!
Presto! a magic blue bridge appears at your feet, leading to two openings across
the deep chasm. If this doesn't seem to work for you (ie., you fall into the chasm
and die when the bridge appears, or it doesn't appear at all), note that: you
must walk over the edge, not crawl like a coward. There's a small
gap between the edge and the bridge; if you crawl too slowly, you'll fall through
the gap to your death. Also, you must walk off the edge exactly
where the arrow is. If you walk off elsewhere, you'll miss the bridge and die
(or the bridge may not even appear).
Now go to the opening on the right first, and press the switch there. This will
open the bars that are blocking the opening on the left. After you press the switch,
go to the opening on the left and enter the teleport. This teleport takes you
to the southwest corner of the chasm, near the bottom. Follow the narrow passage
and jump across the small section of the chasm. The passage on the other side
leads to what I call the Crazy Walls Room.
There are many walls in this room that move back and forth. If you're not careful,
you'll be crushed between moving walls! The puzzle switch is at the far end of
the room. But don't run there yet! If you do that now, the ceiling
wall fall on top of you and kill you. You must first find four switches in this
Crazy Walls Room. The switches are behind walls with a purple diamond at the top.
They are located near the four corners of the room.
Note: Several times when I played this level I had problems with
walls that seemed to be stuck, and in places close to these walls I seem to be
able to "see through" them (DOOM level writers call this the Hall of Mirrors Effect).
The reason seemed to be that some ettins are stuck between the walls, and for
some reason -- I think it's a bug -- the walls cannot move and this causes the
wall-moving script to malfunction (my guess). This is especially irritating when
one of the four switches are behind the stuck wall! The way to cure this bug is
to either kill the ettin and quickly move out of the way before the wall crushes
you, or use the Disk of Repulsion on the ettin. For some reason this kills it,
and the walls go back to normal.
After you have activated all four switches, go to the end of the room where the
puzzle switch is. The ceiling won't fall down now. After you pull the switch,
the "Crazy Walls" move into some fixed position and then stops moving.
Wolf Chapel (2)
You must solve the first puzzle in the Griffin Chapel before you
come here; it opens the north door in the hallway in the Wolf Chapel. There's
a long corridor behind this door. Be careful of the stained glass walls and ceilings.
They've unexpected surprises for you!
At the end of the corridor is a big auditorium, with a triangular symbol at the
front and two pillars at the sides. You need to run and jump on both
pillars. This solves the second puzzle in this chapel. Before you stop to congratulate
yourself, some monsters are jealous of your progress...
Solving this puzzle also raises the floor where the triangular symbol is marked.
Now you can jump from this raised floor onto the small ledge with the Krater of
Might.
Wolf Chapel (3)
The switch that solves this puzzle is in one of the rooms in the dark corridors
on the western part of the Wolf Chapel.
If you have solved the first puzzles in both the Dragon Chapel and the Griffin
Chapel, you can enter the Wolf Chapel using the west entrance. From there, enter
the first door on the right.
Otherwise, go to the main hallway of the Wolf Chapel and enter the door on the
west, where there's a room with a deep pit with a pillar in the middle. (I still
don't know what this pillar is for. Enter the door on the left,
which leads to dark corridors. Go left when you enter the door, and go inside
another door on the left.
Now you should be in the room with two pillars and some Dark Bishops. The door
on the opposite side leads to a room with the puzzle switch. Once you pull the
puzzle switch, four platforms at the corners of the room will lower, with some
ettins on them. The two pillars in the first room will also lower, with some Dark
Bishops on them.
One of the platforms will rise when you step on it, and will take you to a small
secret room with an Icon of the Defender.
For those of you who are adventurous, you might want to try exploring other rooms
along the dark corridors. There's a room with something that looks like a fireplace.
Anyone knows what this is for? There's also a room which has three raised ledges
with Discs of Repulsion on them. Each time you take the Disc, the ledge lowers
into the floor. Once all three have lowered, Dark Bishops will teleport into the
dark corridors outside. By the way, the map seems to show that there's a door
from this room into one of the side rooms in the long hallway with stained glass,
but I can't get it to open.
Dragon Chapel (2)
To solve this puzzle you must first solve the first puzzle in the Griffin Chapel. This opens
the northern pair of rotating pillars in the Dragon Chapel.
If you haven't solved the first puzzle in the Dragon Chapel yet, do it now. Go to the west corridor where the rotating
pillars are (this is also where the first puzzle switch is). Go past the northern
pair of pillars. There's a wall with a dragon symbol on it. You need to open this
door by pulling a switch upstairs. Turn right and activate the wall where the
texture is different. This lowers an elevator which takes you to the ledge where
a slaughtaur was. There's a wall with a dragon symbol on the left: open it and
go up the stairs. Now you are on the high ledge in the northwest corner of the
chapel. There's a switch near the edge. Pull this switch and the door downstairs
that I mentioned will open. Now go back down the stairs and jump down into the
main hall of the chapel. Note: don't jump down straight from
the high ledge. You'll get hurt.
Now go back past the northern pair of rotating pillars and go through the door
that just opened. Go all the way to the end and pull the switch there. This is
the second puzzle switch. If you look through the window here, you'll see a swampy
pool with lots of goodies. You can get in there from the main hall of the chapel
outside. Go to the swamp pool and strike the northern wall (strike, not open).
This lowers the pool into this area behind the window.
Dragon Chapel (3)
You should solve the first puzzle in the Wolf Chapel before you come
here. When you solve the first puzzle in the Wolf Chapel, the bars blocking the
south passage on the east side of the Dragon Chapel will be opened.
Go to the east corridor and down the south passage. Activate the wall with the
dragon symbols. This is an elevator that takes you to the highest ledge in the
southeast corner of the chapel. From there, jump down to the lower ledge on the
north (not back into the main hall!). A wall will open on the
right, with some baddies. The switch inside is the third puzzle switch in this
chapel.
The Heresiarch
So, you've solved the puzzle of the three chapels. Now, go back to the Heresiarch's
Seminary. All nine panels on the wall should be bright by now. Pull out your best
weapons and go into the main hall. The battle begins! You must face the Heresiarch
before you can get out of this place.
Although this document is supposed to concentrate on the puzzle side of the game,
I think a few tips on fighting the Heresiarch should be included here since it's
an important juncture in the game.
The Heresiarch has several modes of attack: he can fire a wavy trail of large
purple fireballs that are extremely damaging (they explode, too, so stay away
from them even when they miss you and hit the floor), or he can summon bouncing
blobs of fire that chase you. These blobs of fire look like skulls and stay around
for quite a long time before they disappear, if they don't hit you. When the Heresiarch
is badly hurt, he'll also summon Dark Bishops to help him. Note that the Heresiarch
can freeze into an invulnerable mode (when he has those purple swirly things around
him, not necessarily when he raises his arms -- thanks to Arne for correcting
me on this point). In this mode, all attacks are blocked, and most magical weapons
are actually reflected back at you.
Here are some strategies in fighting the Heresiarch:
- Since you should have an ample supply of quartz flasks by this time, just
ignore the homing bouncing fire blobs (they don't cost too much life); concentrate
your attention on attacking the Heresiarch. Stay away from the purple fireballs,
though. These may drain too much life and exhaust all your healing potions.
- Don't just fire at the Heresiarch from one direction; move about and fire
from different angles. This way, you've a much better chance of hitting him
because shooting at him from the same angle simply causes him to freeze into
invulnerable mode and your ammo will be wasted.
- Don't be too distracted by the Dark Bishops when the Heresiarch starts summoning
them. Just kill enough of them to keep their spiralling fireballs from draining
too much life; don't spend all your ammo on them since the Heresiarch is going
to summon more anyway. Instead, concentrate on attacking the Heresiarch.
His summoning the Bishops show that he's quite badly hurt already. Kill him
first, then you can take care of the remaining Dark Bishops.
- Also, don't touch those bouncing mana cubes when the Heresiarch
dies! They are very explosive and may kill you if you're greedy and think
that they'll increase your mana points.
After the Heresiarch dies, the Seminary will start to quake and tremble. Just
stay still in a safe place until things calm down again. Hint: watch out for ettins
that teleport in after you kill the Heresiarch. You're probably very low on life
at this point, and they like to come just at this wrong time to beat you up from
behind. Now, several places on the west side of the Seminary have opened. Go there
now, and enter the inner sanctum of the Heresiarch. Be careful! The Heresiarch
is dead, but his followers are still around seeking revenge, so don't put away
your weapons yet!
Jump inside the room where the Chaos Serpent was (you've probably seen this place
from the outside before). The wall on the corridor behind you will open, and the
portal leading to the next episode is standing there, waiting for you. Before
you enter, you may want to explore the secret level first. If you're ready to enter
the portal, make sure you have enough health and ammo left, otherwise
you're not going to survive the next episode (yes, it's that horrible!).
Previous episode: Shadow Wood
Previous document: Heresiarch's Seminary: solving the puzzle (1)
Secret level: Deathwind Chapel
Next Episode: Castle of Grief
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