E1M8: Hell's Maw (Heretic)

E1M8: Hell's Maw is the eighth and final level in the City of the Damned episode of Heretic. Iron liches are the boss enemies here.

Essentials
At the beginning, go to either side of the platform that you are on to collect the Gauntlets of the Necromancer and an Ethereal Crossbow. Drop down and run across the lava, collecting Quartz Flasks and then running up the stairs. Pull the switch and then teleport back to the starting area and pass through the passage that has opened. The next room is full of pods. Push them aside instead of bursting them, as they will only grow back when destroyed. Pull the switch and collect the Dragon Claw. The red rooms behind you will open when you do so, and you may wish to collect the items inside. Now drop down and kill the Iron liches using whatever means are necessary.

To find out more about these foes, see their page.

When they are dead, a passage will open to the south. You are not quite done, as several enemies are waiting in the passage to kill you. Kill them and hurry through the lava cave to a platform that lowers. Ride it up to the exit switch and complete the episode.

Secrets
There are four hidden chambers in the corners of the pod room, each counting as a secret:


 * 1) In the northwest corner, a Silver Shield. (sector 31)
 * 2) In the northeast corner, a Shadowsphere. (sector 33)
 * 3) In the southwest corner, a Ring of Invincibility. (sector 58)
 * 4) In the southeast corner, a Bag of Holding. (sector 54)

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

The data was last verified in its entirety on February 23, 2023.

Player spawns
This level contains four spawn points:
 * 1) facing north-east. (thing 4)
 * 2) facing north-west. (thing 5)
 * 3) facing north. (thing 6)
 * 4) facing north. (thing 7)

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