Hub 1: Blight

Blight is the central map of the first hub in Deathkings of the Dark Citadel. The map has four sections, each containing a key guarded by a challenge, and a locked door corresponding to the key which leads to one of the four offshoot maps. The sections may be tackled in any order the player chooses.

Essentials
You begin on a raised area with four exits. In front of you is a mosaic of a solar system, with a planet represented by a coloured gem. Your objective is to find four of the five gems that represent other planets. One is located on each of four levels accessible from the raised platform.

You can collect them in any order, though it may be advantageous to travel to the level that contains your character’s third weapon first. The fighter's can be found in Brackenwood, the mage's in the Catacomb and the cleric's in Sump.

Drop down from the raised area into the segment of your choice. If you decide to change segments, you can open the four separating doors in a clockwise fashion, by using the left of the two doors.

Accessing the Badlands
To enter the Badlands enter the south west segment where you must find the Horn Key to open the path to the portal that will take you to them.

Enter the open passageway to the side to be confronted with a large pit with a walkway running around it. Stairs out of the pit are right next to you, while the key sits in a pool of water at the far end of the pit. Jumping on the pool lowers a wall in front of the exit and opens several doors around the edge of the walkway revealing a pen filled with chaos serpents ringing the walkway. To raise the wall blocking the exit, you must press a switch in each corner of the pen.

That done and key in your possession, open the Horn door and travel down the spiral staircase where you will find the portal to the Badlands. Refer to the Badlands page.

Accessing the Catacomb
To reach the Catacomb enter the north east segment. You must find the Emerald Key, which can be found down the open passage in this segment. Travel down the stairs, noting the blocked stairs that lead upwards, to find some chaos serpents. Killing one of them will open the barrier blocking the aforementioned stairs.

Go up said stairs and follow the narrow passage around the back of the room the chaos serpents were in to find the Cave Key and also a switch. This will open doors between the chaos serpent room and the narrow passage.

Key in hand open the door and travel down the spiral stair case to the portal to the Catacomb. Refer to the Catacomb page.

Accessing Brackenwood
To reach Brackenwood enter the south east segment. To access the portal to the map, you must first pick up the Cave Key. Go down the open passageway and down the stairs. You will come to a small room, with the key sitting on a raised pedestal.

Pick it up and you will be sealed in. However no bad guys will spawn in. In each of the three indents behind the key pedestal are additional pedestals. On the back of each these are switches. When all three are pressed the barrier blocking the exit will be removed. Be wary of the newly opened alcove containing a few flechettes. Entering it will lower the walls revealing a few chaos serpents.

Key found, open the door and travel down the spiral stair case to find the portal to the Brackenwood. Refer to the Brackenwood page.

Accessing Sump
To get to Sump enter the north west segment. Go down the set of stairs beyond the only open exit into a pool of slime. When you press the mural of Korax, the exit will be blocked and the walls around you will lower revealing several Stalkers in a pitch black area. Directly in front of you is a switch to reopen the exit. The Swamp key you need is directly in front of the switch.

There are a couple of side doors at points down the stairs. The rooms behind these contain a few Quartz Flasks guarded by chaos serpents.

With the Swamp key, you can open the swamp door back up at the top of the stairs. Then travel down the spiral stair case to find the portal to Sump. Refer to the Sump page.

Blight End
Once you collect and place all four required gems the portal to the next hub will raise out the ground behind you and a pair of Wings of Wrath will be spawned in front of it.

Accessing the Secret Map: Pyre
You only need four gems to complete the hub, however there is room on the mosaic for another gem. This is for a hidden gem that will allow you access to the hub's secret level, Pyre.

Once you have traveled down to both the Badlands and Sump portals jump up on the statue in front of either portal and onto the window ledge behind. Press the wall between both portal rooms, which will lower revealing a small alcove containing the gem.

Finding and placing this fifth gem will instantly teleport you back to the Ruined Village no matter your progress on the hub's main objective. The windows behind the altar up the stairs at the entrance to the church will have opened allowing access to the portal outside, the portal to Pyre. Refer to the Pyre page. If the player wishes to make another trip back to the Ruined Village after the red gem has been placed, he need only press use on the segment of the mosaic containing the gem.

Bugs
There are two triggers that open the doors between the sections. First, by the user manually opening them. Second, when the game script determines that two adjacent sections had their key-retrieval puzzle solved. If the player exits and re-enters the map before setting off the other trigger, the given pair of doors will overturn into the wall. This results in these doors poking into a few secret areas, as well as making the doorways look funny.

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