E3M5: The Eternal Citadel (Doom: Damnation)

E3M5: The Eternal Citadel is the fifth map in the third episode of Doom: Damnation. It was designed by Ofisil and uses the music track "Communion". The par time defined in the DEHACKED lump is 2:00.

Essentials
Go down the curved staircase to a chainsaw and medikit, then turn right at the junction and follow the black path through two archways before going round a corner. Pass under another archway and kill the demon that rises from the floor in front of you, then run due north to a berserk pack with a shotgun guy behind it - you will run over a platform that lowers as you step on it. Drop into the hole and look west to find the blue skull key, then climb up the steps next to it past some lost souls and go through the wall that opens at the top to enter a hall with a red carpet.

Kill the waiting shotgun guys then go up the steps in the north-west corner and follow the ledge until you see a blue key door on your right. Behind the door are ten barons of Hell facing a cyberdemon which is standing on the red skull key, and on Hurt Me Plenty (HMP) skill level or higher there will be two or four more barons facing towards you. Get the cyberdemon to hit the barons so they will fight each other, then finish off the survivors and press the unlit lion switch in front of the cyberdemon's chamber to lower the barricade so you can collect the key.

Go back to the main hall and open the large north door (requiring the red key), then follow the passage behind it and kill some imps that teleport in front of you. Continue following the passage to a chamber with a medikit and you will see four walls open in front of you; kill some more imps waiting behind these walls then head east down some steps. Another wall will open in front of you, revealing shotgun guys, demons and lost souls guarding the exit teleporter.

Other points of interest
After going down the curved staircase at the start, turn left and follow the path until you reach some marble steps with a shotgun guy. Go to the top of the steps and three walls will lower to reveal imps (one is replaced with a cacodemon on HMP or higher); step through the north wall to an octagonal chamber lined with skull switches and press the unlit east switch to open the south-east and north-west chambers. Enter the south-east chamber and press the unlit south switch to open the north-east chamber behind you containing zombies, then go into this chamber and press the unlit north switch to lower the central column revealing a lava teleporter. The teleporter will take you to a room next to the cyberdemon - approach the gargoyle face by the window then immediately step back to avoid a crusher trap, which will also activate some crushers above the cyberdemon allowing you to kill it more easily.

After dropping down the hole leading to the blue key, go east to a door with many imps behind it. Enter this room and press the eye switch on the west wall. A platform holding a rocket launcher will lower outside the room.

Secrets

 * 1) In the main hall, use the red pillar with a skull on it to lower the floor at the west side, revealing imps and an invulnerability. (sector 27)
 * 2) In the main hall, get on the ledge to the right and open the door at the south-east end. Walk through the pentagram and press the switch here, which lowers the pillar with the chaingun across the fence. Return to the lowered pillar and press the switch there, which opens up a small eye switch on the north wall. Shoot this switch, then head east, press the switch to lower the bridge, and continue east. Go straight east to pick up a plasma gun. (sector 145)
 * 3) In the area on the west side of the level with multiple skull switches and armor bonuses, in the south-west chamber, press on the south-west skull switch. After you do this and get through this area, return to the hall before these rooms, and the south-east corner will be open, with a supercharge inside. (sector 223)

Bugs
All of the multiplayer-only things have no flags set for any of the three difficulty classes, so they do not actually appear in the level:
 * two shotguns (Things 544 and 545)
 * two chainguns (548 and 549)
 * two rocket launchers (172 and 546)s
 * two plasma guns (542 and 547)
 * one BFG9000 (322)
 * two berserk packs (323 and 324)
 * one invulnerability (325)
 * three partial invisibilities (550 through 552)
 * eleven medikits (532 through 541, and 543)

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

Player spawns
This level contains twelve spawn points:
 * 1) facing north. (thing 520)
 * 2) facing west. (thing 521)
 * 3) facing south-west. (thing 522)
 * 4) facing east. (thing 523)
 * 5) facing west. (thing 524)
 * 6) facing north-west. (thing 525)
 * 7) facing north. (thing 526)
 * 8) facing south-east. (thing 527)
 * 9) facing west. (thing 528)
 * 10) facing north. (thing 529)
 * 11) facing north-east. (thing 530)
 * 12) facing south-west. (thing 531)

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