MAP22: Bite (BTSX-E2)

MAP22: Bite is the twenty-second map of the second episode of Back to Saturn X. It was designed by Matt Cibulas (RottKing) and uses the music track "Lurking," composed by Sarah Mancuso (esselfortium).

Essentials
Take the shotgun in the alcove to your left, which will lower the north wall to reveal a cacodemon, then go through and follow the left-hand passage until you drop into a slime pool. Take the super shotgun in the south-east corner then press the diamond button next to it, which will open a monster closet behind you holding demons and revenants, then use the neighboring lift to climb out of the pool. Follow the passage east and north until you see a door on your right, go through it and head straight forward until you reach a chamber with two imps - on the way you will pass a red key door that leads to the exit. Drop down the nearby hole to find an armor and the yellow skull key, but be ready to kill a Hell knight (or baron of Hell on Hurt Me Plenty (HMP) skill level or higher) that is revealed ahead.

Press the button behind the knight/baron to lower a lift behind you so you can climb out of the hole, but watch out for cacodemons that have been released into the chamber. Go through the now-open south door and turn left to face some imps, then follow the corridor south past a few zombies until you enter a diagonal corridor with some wall grates; when you are halfway along the corridor a closet containing one or two arch-viles will open behind you, so quickly head up a staircase on your left to get out of their sight. Follow the next passage until you go down some steps to a room with a fire column, collect the rocket launcher by the south wall and use it to kill a mancubus behind you, then go up the steps on the east side to a diamond button that is guarded by two imps. The button will lower the west wall to reveal some revenants - press the button behind this wall to lower a lift and ride it down to the bottom, dispose of two waiting barons then enter the north room and kill one or two revenants guarding another button. Pressing this button will lower a marble column visible through the window, revealing a teleporter you will need later.

Head south into the neighboring chamber and dispose of some waiting imps and demons, then go into a small cavern and look in the south-east corner for a button; pressing it will reveal a second button next to the lift. Get back on the lift and press the second button to go back to the floor above, then kill one or two waiting imps and knights before pressing a third button inside the north compartment to open the nearby wall. Backtrack to the red key door and go into the hallway opposite it, then push past one or two revenants to a button that will lower the floor, dropping you into a room with imps and a knight. Go down the steps and turn right, then enter the tunnel ahead and climb up a second set of steps to a small room with a knight and some zombies. Open the yellow key door at the south end of the room and dispose of any monsters waiting in the next area, including a mancubus, then make a running jump to the teleporter in the center of the lava pit (which you opened earlier) to reach a room hidden on the other side. When you step forward the wall ahead will lower to reveal a teleporter, along with walls to your left and right hiding one or two arch-viles.

Enter the teleporter to find yourself in an enclosed space with a berserk pack, a box of bullets and a box of shotgun shells, then shoot the button in front of you to lower the walls, revealing a room with several demons. Go to the outer walls to open three compartments that each hold a lost soul and a button; each button will open a door at the north end of the room and reveal some monsters, inlcuding an arch-vile behind the last door, so press the east button followed by the south and west buttons to avoid facing them all at once. When all the doors are open, go through them to find the red skull key, kill a few waiting zombiemen then go down either staircase to a room with a plasma gun and a locked door. Open the door and go straight forward to a staircase, climb it and pass through the bars that open at the top to return to the starting room. Watch out for a couple of chaingunners that have been released near the shotgun alcove.

Go back to the red key door and open it, kill a couple of waiting cacodemons then cross the wooden bridge to a door which will not open. Turn left at this point and go forward into a slime tunnel, then continue on to a cavern with imps and mancubi before climbing the steps to a door; opening it will reveal one or two barons along with a pain elemental and cacodemons hiding behind a wall to your right. Go into the pain elemental's compartment and press the diamond button here to open a second door behind the barons, then go back up the steps and through the door you just opened to kill another cacodemon. Drop down the hole to reach the room on the other side of the sealed door, dispose of a few knights then activate the lift in the south-east corner to go up to a button which will open a door at the north end hiding one or more revenants. Pass through the door and step on a red teleporter, which will send you to a room with imps and a demon (or knight on HMP or higher), then go forward into a red passage and run along this before it rises to the ceiling and crushes you.

You will land in a round room with demons, imps and a cyberdemon - use the lifts on the east and west sides to go up to the surrounding ledges, which will lead to two crucifix buttons that will lower the supercharge in the center of the room, as well as opening the north door to reveal one or two arch-viles plus a compartment on the south side holding one or more pain elementals. Activate the lift behind the north door, which holds a mancubus on HMP or higher, then go up and kill some imps waiting at the top before proceeding north to the exit button.

Other points of interest
The teleporter to the exit area is a point of no return, and the subsequent part of the level contains no secrets. So all secret hunting should be done before taking this teleporter.

The button at the north end of the room with the yellow key door will open a wall to your left concealing a pain elemental and a teleporter, which provides you with alternate routes to the yellow key and the button that opens the teleporter in the lava room.

Secrets

 * 1) In the second room you can access from the beginning of the level, near where a stray chaingun can be found, and immediately preceding the hallway containing the red key door, the wall in the northern-most section of the room behind the hanging legs can be lowered to reveal a small passage (sector 104) containing small amounts of ammo and health, and the chainsaw at the very end.
 * 2) South-east of the yellow key area is a small passage containing imps and health bonuses. You can press the off-colour wall west of the health bonuses to open it revealing a medikit and two energy cells. (sector 263)
 * 3) In the room accessed through the yellow key door, you can carefully get behind the eastern metal fence by using the small gap between the column and the lava pit. There, in a corner, are a medikit, an armor and a backpack. (sector 876)
 * 4) Similarly to secret #3, you can get behind the western metal fence, and from there you can drop into a ivy-covered entrance in the rock wall (sector 458) to access a small section of the level containing clips, rockets, armor bonuses and a supercharge. The wall at the end is a lift that leads back to the upper level of the main room.
 * 5) In the section of the ring-shaped room in the south-west corner of the map where the plasma gun can be obtained, the east side of the wall in the central section has a chunk that is slightly whiter and deeper. Push on that section to reveal a lift (sector 636) to a section of the level containing an energy cell pack, a medikit and a box of rockets.
 * 6) Inside secret #5, there is a pedestal with a switch that can be used to re-lower the lift and get out of the secret section. However, between the northern side of that pedestal and the northern wall there is another barely visible switch. Press both switches and then quickly take the lift down, to find another secret door open in the west side of the central section of the ring-shaped room, revealing a torture chamber containing a megaarmor. (sector 642)
 * 7) Follow the path behind the red key door until you reach a small room in the north-western part of the map, decorated with a hanging body and some flames behind a fence. Between the wooden column and the wall, there is a recess with a switch that lowers the bookcase and reveals a small alcove (sector 797) containing rockets, armor bonuses, a medikit and an energy cell pack.

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

The (absence of) data was last verified in its entirety on February 21, 2022.

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