MAP26: Reaper's Digest (Community Chest 4)

MAP26: Reaper's Digest is the twenty-sixth level of Community Chest 4. It was designed by Kristian Aro who also composed the music track "The Demons from Shawn's Pen (Doom E2M2 remix)," a remix of the Doom music track "The Demons from Adrian's Pen" originally composed for Whispers of Satan.

Essentials
Megawads often begin to ramp up the difficulty near the in the last few levels. Reaper's Digest marks that point for Community Chest 4. While the worst you've seen in Community Chest 4 so far is in the duo of and, this level takes it much further - much of the level is filled with encounters that will most certainly kill you if you are not prepared. Save your game often while working your way through this one.

Start and Blue Key

Right off the bat, you spawn in a room with two corners full of angry enemies. Each corner has three imps (Hey, not too rough and below), five imps (Hurt me plenty), or five imps and a chaingunner (Ultra-Violence and above). Grab the shotgun and sets of 4 shotgun shells and get to work on the monsters before your health depletes any further. If you need to patch up, this starting room alone contains two medikits (three on Ultra-Violence and above).

Open the door in front of you and head down the corridor into a large square room. The blue key lies atop a pillar in the middle, out of reach. Kill the three Hell knights in this room. As you do so, two groups of one (Hey, not too rough and below), two (Hurt me plenty) or three (Ultra-Violence and above) imps will enter from the corridors to the east and west.

Due to the brutal nature of this level, you probably should make a detour to the two non-official secret rooms. Head to the middle of each of the east and west corridors and open the door in the south walls to reveal a chamber. The west one contains a super shotgun and a box of shells (on Ultra-Violence and above, watch for a revenant inside). The east one contains an armor and a box of ammo (watch for a shotgun guy on all difficulties).

Next, go to the east corridor and open the door to a darkened corridor. You will see a baron of Hell in the distance. Do not rush it - draw it closer to you and finish it off with your super shotgun. As you continue forward into the first light patch on the grey floor, bars will lower in front and behind you, followed by a nearby wall opening with an ambush of three (Hey, not too rough and below), four (Hurt me plenty) or six (Ultra-Violence and above) spectres. This trap is deadly if you were not expecting it, and damage is almost inevitable. Fortunately, two medikits are offered as healing after this brutal encounter.

Go to the room where the spectres came from and press the skull button. Nearby walls will lower, revealing access to a pillared room with up to six imps and two barons of Hell. Dispose of the imps, then quickly make your way to the northeast corner of the room, where a rocket launcher and a box of rockets is available. With this, you have an adequate weapon for taking down the barons.

Continue west. As you turn the corner, you will be greeted by a Hell knight - no big deal since you have a super shotgun. Step down the steps into the corridor heading west and immediately pull back - a teleport trap will trigger, releasing up to three demons, followed by a revenant. At the other end of that corridor, you will find up to five imps and two arachnotrons waiting in ambush - not too much a problem either with rockets.

Behind where the arachnotrons were is a large wooden door. Open this door. If you are playing on Hurt me plenty and above, peek in and lure the baron of Hell inside out for an easier kill. After that, go through the doorway facing right (west). High on the wall before the staircase is a cutout with a chaingunner, who can easily end you. Head up the wooden stairs, and at the top you will find a group of up to two imps, three shotgun guys and a zombieman. Behind them will be a strong monster - a revenant on hey, not too rough and below, an arch-vile on Hurt me plenty and above. To dodge the arch-vile's attacks, you have to use the corner at the top of the staircase. Dispose of the monsters and flip the skull button that the group was protecting.

Backtrack to the corridor where you previously encountered the first teleport ambush. Halfway down it, there is a chamber in the north. At the far side, you can see two revenants. Try to misdirect their homing missiles left and right of the entrance to hit the shotgun guys in ambush, causing monster infighting. The switch you previously flipped raised a bridge across the blood in this chamber. Flip the switch on the platform where the revenants were.

You now have to backtrack further to the corridor where you were ambushed by spectres. When you return to the pillared room where you fought the barons, two traps will have opened, with four (Hurt me plenty and below) or six (Ultra-Violence and above) spectres to deal with. Back in the corridor where you were ambushed by spectres, you will realise that the bars have raised, allowing you to proceed further north. Continue north into a room with a soulsphere. It is not rigged to release anything, but the room does contain two mancubi and four chaingunners in cages - two on the north wall and two on the south wall. The latter two can ambush you from behind as you enter, so be prepared. Flip the switches in the east and west pillars in this room to unblock the route further north.

Further up is a room with six bookshelves. Collect the plasma gun. There are two imps hiding among the bookshelves - definitely not a problem. As you head up the steps towards the alcove in the north wall, an arch-vile will teleport into the alcove. Your plasma will come in handy here - the faster you burn it down, the less likely you'll have to play hide and seek with it among the bookshelves.

Flip the switch in the alcove. The blue skull bars surrounding the switch will lower. Two traps, each with a cacodemon, will open in the south wall of this room. Furthermore, a teleport trap will be triggered in the room south of this one, with a complement as follows:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Four imps, a shotgun guy, a chaingunner
 * Hurt me plenty: Five imps, two shotgun guys, a chaingunner
 * Ultra-Violence and above: Six imps, three shotgun guys, a chaingunner

None of these groups are particularly resistant to rockets, so use them here to take out all the monsters quickly.

Backtrack to the room with the blue key. The bars blocking the switch in the north have been raised. Flip the switch and the blue key pillar will lower, but this also causes two (Hey, not too rough and below), three (Hurt me plenty) or four (Ultra-Violence and above) mancubi to be released into the room. Quickly move to the south edge of the room to make space for yourself to use your rockets.

Yellow Key

From the blue key room, head out to the west corridor and open the door. You will immediately be greeted by another arch-vile. From this point, you will arrive at a path of candles in a large outdoor area. Thepath is flanked by seven imps with a Hell knight waiting in ambush at the end. Further up, there is a pedestal with a revenant (not on Hey, not too rough and below) and a Hell knight behind. The far side of the outdoor area is relatively calm now, but as soon as go north of the pedestal, a teleport trap will open, filling the area with a large number of enemies. For those counting kills:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Eight cacodemons, eight lost souls, three imps.
 * Hurt me plenty: Eight cacodemons, 12 lost souls, five imps.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: Eight cacodemons, 20 lost souls, eight imps.

Make your way around the ledge clockwise to the northeast side of the outdoor area. This will be tricky, especially with all the lost souls and cacodemons flying around. You will need to be on top of your projectile dodging game here. Also, don't stand in any molten lava you see!

In the corridor at the northeast side of the outdoor area, puncture the mancubus waiting in it and open the door behind it. There is a Hell knight directly ahead (not on Hey, not too rough and below), but don't forget about the two imps in ambush positions when you enter this checkered-floor room. Fortunately, when you shoot the Hell knight, they will expose themselves as they have no ambush flag. As you traverse the middle of the room, you will pull a second Hell knight from a corridor going south - kill it here too.

This next area is best handled by going to the east corridor (where the Hell knight present on Hurt me plenty and above was). Turn the corner, head down the steps and kill the Hell knight at the bottom. if you are playing on Ultra-Violence and above, you'll find a group of three imps nearby - another rocket will do the trick. As you head east, look for a door in the right (north) wall. Open it, head up the steep staircase and equip the super shotgun before opening the top door. Kill the revenant at the top, switch to the rocket launcher and kill the revenant further up at the yellow key ledge. Flip the switch in the cage you are currently in to raise a bridge to the yellow key. Head back down and cross the bridge to the yellow key.

Red Key and Exit

Backtrack to the checkered-floor room. Go through the door in the north. Before going further, save your game - the level's nastiest trap is up next. If you don't manage this one well, you will die.

Halfway down the next corridor, bars will lower in front and behind you, and two nearby traps will open. Each trap contain four shotgun guys, two imps and a zombieman (a chaingunner, four shotgun guys, three imps and a zombieman on Ultra-Violence and above). Pull out your plasma gun and hold down the trigger. When you've finally subdued this horde, heal up and flip the switch in the eastern trap to release the bars, allowing you to proceed forward.

Go through the next door into a large red brick area. As you enter, you are sandwiched between two barons of Hell. While fighting them, don't forget about the two pairs of imps in niches on the south wall. Once you have disposed of them, go east and open the yellow skull door. Kill the three Hell knights inside and flip the switch to lower the yellow skull bars outside. This allows you to head down the steps to a platform overlooking lava. On your way down, be careful - there are two (Hey, not too rough and below), four (Hurt me plenty) or six (Ultra-Violence and above) shotgun guys waiting for you down there. Two demons (four on Ultra-Violence and above) will rush out from a corridor to the east. An arachnotron on a ledge further out (not on Hey, not too rough and below) will also attack.

The bridge leading to the isolated ledge the arachnotron is on needs to be raised. Two switches need to be flipped, in any order, to raise it completely:


 * Head east into the corridor where the demons came from. This leads to a square loop of corridors with four demons. Head to the south side to find an alcove with an arch-vile (and two spectres on Ultra-Violence and above). When you enter the alcove and flip the switch, two nearby traps open, with up to eight imps and a spectre (Ultra-Violence and above only).
 * Northwest of the steps leading down to this area, notice a set of green steps leading down. Follow this narrow path around to a room with a mancubus and a switch in an alcove. When you flip the switch, a nearby trap is opened with a Hell knight inside.

Backtrack to the platform. The bridge to the ledge has been fully raised. Follow the ledge around. About halfway along it, look left (south) and watch for a chaingunner in an alcove high on the south wall. Clear out the cannon fodder on the other side of the ledge. Climb a nearby staircase up to the highest ledge of the large red brick area to find a switch in the north. Flip this switch to open the next area, but watch for two cacodemons that will be released.

Go back down the staircase and head south through the doorway, down the steps. Watch for a baron of Hell at the first landing (not on Hey, not too rough and below), followed by two Hell knights (one on Hey, not too rough and below) just before the entrance to the next room. The next room has a central pedestal and three spectres (plus a chaingunner on Ultra-Violence and above). This pedestal is empty except on Ultra-Violence and above, where there is an arch-vile. You can peek using the entrance, but note that the arch-vile can successfully hit you unless you pull quite far back from the entrance.

Continue west along the corridor. This next area is maze-like. With the following path, you can get the red key and minimise the number of monsters you encounter:


 * Kill the first group (three imps, one shotgun guy further back)
 * At the first junction (box of ammo), turn right (east). Kill an imp and a demon (plus a spectre on Ultra-Violence and above).
 * At the next junction (box of shells), turn right (south). Kill the mancubus here (not on Hey, not too rough and below)
 * Open the door behind the mancubus. Flip the switch in this chamber, and the red key will lower.
 * Backtrack out to the large red brick area.

Your final test is a massive teleport trap. Things will get somewhat messy here.


 * Hey, not too rough and below: A baron of Hell, a Hell knight, a revenant, a cacodemon, a chaingunner, a demon, two shotgun guys, six imps.
 * Hurt me plenty: A baron of Hell, two Hell knights, a pain elemental, a revenant, a cacodemon, a chaingunner, two demons, two shotgun guys, 10 imps.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: A baron of Hell, two Hell knights, a pain elemental, a revenant, three cacodemons, a chaingunner, four demons, three shotgun guys, 12 imps, a zombieman.

Climb up the staircase back to the highest ledge of the large red brick area. Follow this ledge all the way around to the exit door in the east and open it. Flip the switch at the end of the corridor to exit the level.

Official

 * 1) At the eastern branching path, when it closes off, head through the interiors as if you were attempting to open the bars. When you reach the large wooden staircase, go up it until you hear a door open (this will occur about halfway up - the exact line is where the right side of the staircase begins hugging the wall). Run downstairs, through the door you came in, turn the corner and look to the right wall for an opening with health bonuses leading to a teleporter. Take it to receive a megaarmor, an energy cell, and a box of bullets. (sector 700)
 * 2) This secret is in the large outdoor area. Head onto the candlelit wooden path but veer right hugging the right wall. Follow the trail of health bonuses until you find a small white rock outcrop from the red brick wall. Go around that outcrop to find a switch with an energy cell pack in front of it. Press it and return to the wooden path, looking around the other wall for an opening. Inside is a partial invisibility. (sector 1179)
 * 3) Head through the large outdoor area to the next door and head back inside. Next to a Hell knight, there is a pool of blood near a misaligned wall. Open it to get boxes of rockets and an energy cell. (sector 1376)

Non-official

 * 1) In the west corridor from the blue key room, open the recessed wooden door halfway along the south wall. This reveals a chamber with a super shotgun and a box of shells (on Ultra-Violence and above, watch for a revenant inside).
 * 2) In the east corridor from the blue key room, open the recessed wooden door halfway along the south wall. This reveals a chamber with an armor, a box of ammo, and on Hurt me plenty and below, a chaingun (watch for a shotgun guy on all difficulties).
 * 3) In the north of the map, there is a corridor where bars lower in front and behind you and two traps with former humans and imps open. Check the northeast corner of the eastern trap for a staircase leading down leading to a chamber with a megaarmor, medikit, two boxes of ammo and a BFG9000. Watch for a revenant in this chamber.

Current records
The records for this map at the Doomed Speed Demos Archive are:

Miscellaneous demos
''This information was last verified in its entirety on January 23, 2018.

Player spawns
This level contains five spawn points:
 * 1) facing north-east. (thing 784)
 * 2) facing north-east. (thing 785)
 * 3) facing north. (thing 786)
 * 4) facing south-west. (thing 787)
 * 5) facing south-west. (thing 788)

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

Trivia
In one of the traps in the northeast of the map, there are two overlapping Hell knights - thing 641, flagged to appear only on Hey, not too rough and below, and thing 640, flagged to appear on Hurt me plenty and above. While not a bug and having no unintended effect on gameplay, this must be assumed to be a mistake, as a single Hell knight flagged to appear on all difficulties would achieve the same result. It is likely that the author wanted a different monster to appear on Hey, not too rough and below, but changed his mind or forgot to change the monster type.