Vivarium
The Portal
Reminder: This level is accessible only before you enter
any of the three masters' tombs. After you enter any one of their tombs,
the portal to the Vivarium will be closed forever.
The portal to the Vivarium is on the southeast corner of the Necropolis. This
shouldn't be too hard to find, unless, of course, the portal is already closed;
in which case you'll see a door that won't open no matter what you do. Get your
best weapons ready before stepping into the portal! The Vivarium isn't a nice
place when its inhabitants are still alive...
Goodies
There are four crushers in the centre of the Vivarium. There's combined mana in
the crushers; when they open, quickly jump on them, grab the mana and get out
before you get crushed.
There's a large area with many, many goodies on the south side of the Vivarium.
This is behind you when you first enter the Vivarium. There are two ways of getting
in there:
- Blast the wall with many symbols, behind you when you start, with a projectile
weapon. Note that there's a particular spot on the wall
which you need to hit; and since this is picked at random, you may need to
try several times. Once you hit the correct spot, the entire wall swings back
to reveal a large area full of goodies. I found that all the mage's
weapons will work here; for the fighter, only the Hammer and the Quietus works;
and for the Cleric, the Serpent Staff and the Firestorm works. For some reason,
the Wraithverge doesn't work (it seems to work sometimes, but I'm
not sure when).
- Go to the east or west sides of the Vivarium where there are a lot of traps.
Watch for the round, yellow projectile that is fired sometimes. This is the
Porkalator; you deliberately get hit by it so that
you turn into a pig. As a pig, jump out of the traps area and crawl through
the hole on the east side of the wall with many symbols. This also leads to
the area with many goodies, but it doesn't open the wall to let the baddies
in! After the effect of the porkalator wears off, you can get out by opening
the wall with many symbols from the inside. (I owe Arne this alternative way
of getting into this area.)
On the east and west sides of the Vivarium there are areas with traps. If you
look carefully, there's a stained glass wall in the north side of each of these
areas. Jump through the window to get into each of the traps area (watch out for
the traps!), and push (ie., run against it, not activate) the
stained glass wall. It's a rotating door. The stairs behind it lead to the each
of the two ledges overlooking the centre of the Vivarium. There's usually an item
or two on these ledges.
The Exit
The north side of the Vivarium has a dark area with some monsters shooting at
you. Shoot at the walls under the dark area (or punch it if you're close enough)
and it will lower. Step on it. When it rises again, walk to the pillar in the
middle, where there's a maulotaur statue. Walking up in front of it lights it
up and opens a door behind you. Watch out; there's usually a few baddies inside
who will blast you from the back. There's a portal behind this door that leads
back to the Necropolis. Before you enter the portal, walk behind it.
There's a porkalator there for the more observant people who don't rush into any
portals in sight! :)
After you collect the goodies in the Vivarium, step into the portal back to the
Necropolis, and continue your quest.
This episode: Necropolis
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