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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