E3M6: Devils Crucible (ConC.E.R.Ned)

E3M6: Devils Crucible is the sixth map in episode Hellish Extermination of ConC.E.R.Ned. It was designed by Matt Powell (cannonball) and uses the music track "Bluroc", originally created for Heretic by Kevin Schilder.

Essentials
Follow the path until you drop into a damaging blood stream containing a shotgun, chaingun and rocket launcher, which you should use to kill the shotgun guys, imps and spectres around you. Go up the steps on the north side of the room to a skull switch and press it to lower two teleporters behind you, but do not stand still as the block behind you will also lower to reveal a cyberdemon. Step on the west teleporter to get up to a nearby ledge (a barrier will keep you from being blasted by rockets) and open the door here to find an armor, then follow the corridor past some shotgun guys to another door which leads to a hall overlooked by a spiderdemon (two on Ultra-Violence and Nightmare skill levels). Cross the hall to find a supercharge between two staircases then go up the left-hand (south) staircase and push past some barons of Hell to a skull switch that will lower a BFG9000 in the center of the hall. Armed with this weapon, go up the north-west staircase and kill the spiderdemons with point-blank shots, then press the skull switch on the north wall before heading east to a teleporter that will return you to the central area.

Dodge the barons that have been released into the area then press the skull switch up the steps to lower the teleporters again. Enter the east teleporter this time to get up to another ledge, open the door here and follow a corridor past some more shotgun guys to another door. Open the door to reveal an octagonal arena containing a plasma gun and some imps, which you should kill before passing through the door; as you do so, a cyberdemon and some barons and cacodemons will rise from the floor. Fight your way across the room and press a skull switch on the east wall, then survive until the bars blocking the north-east and south-east doorways have lowered; you will then be able to go up some steps leading to another teleporter that will return you to the central area. The doors in the north wall have opened to reveal a crowd of imps, demons and barons along with a cyberdemon that teleports to the central area when alerted; fight your way past these enemies to reach an exit portal which will send you to.

Secret exit
Opposite the regular exit portal is a door which requires the red skull key to open; you can find this item in secret #2. Open the door and enter the teleporter behind it to go to the top of the block in the central area (telefragging the cyberdemon on it if you have not already killed it). Try to step off the block and you will be teleported to a red hallway which leads to the secret exit portal, which will send you to.

Other points of interest
On Ultra-Violence and Nightmare, you can get the two spiderdemons in the western-most room to infight by standing under the door to that room and waiting for the west spider to shoot at you.

Secrets

 * 1) At the west side, head to the south ledge and in the right square, look for a hidden button in the south-west corner. This lowers two alcoves with an energy cell pack and a megaarmor. (sector 112)
 * 2) At the east side, get to the teleporter, then lower the east wall with the candle to find a box of rockets, an energy cell pack, and a passage leading to the red key and an invulnerability. (sector 191) The red key is used to get to the secret exit.

Current records
The records for the map at the Doom Speed Demo Archive are:

The data was last verified in its entirety on December 20, 2021.

Things
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level: