Hub 2: Darkmere

Darkmere is a map in the second hub of Hexen, Shadow Wood. The player must collect the Swamp key from this map, and find two puzzle switches that require keys from other maps.

''Treacherous swamps have become even deadlier. The rot and the mire obscures many dangers as well as the means of progression.''

Swamp key
The entrance is blocked by trees. Cut them down (or burn them) to clear the way. After you fight a few ettins, you will come to a large porch building in a misty swamp infested with stalkers. There is nothing of value in the swamp, so you should proceed into the porch. Inside, there is pottery on top of raised platforms - as you proceed inwards, the pots drop down and break to release afrits. There are a few fléchettes scattered around. At the northern end is a wooden door, leading to a vestibule. There are a few crystal vials to pick up, along with Amulet of Warding for the mage or a porkelator for the cleric. To the right is a window overlooking more swamps inhabited by a new enemy, the stalker boss. This variant of the stalker can shoot damaging acid projectiles, making them more difficult to deal with.

To the left, the vestibule opens into a large killing floor covered in slime, with numerous stalkers in the muck and afrits flying around. Looking around, you will see many corpses hanging from the ceiling. To the north, there is a sealed stone door and monsters lurking behind the windows. To the west is a raised walkway with ettins, a prominent Icon of Korax, and maulotaur torches. This puzzle can be confusing, but it is straightforward if you know what to do. The second maulotaur statue from the left/south is unlit - light it up, and the Icon of Korax will slide open, unleashing a few more ettins (and afrit for the mage). The chamber within has several discs of repulsion, a Serpent Staff for the cleric, and a skullface switch. Press this to open the stone door to the north. Inside are narrow branching stairways with ettins, centaurs, and a slaughtaur for the mage. To the west/left, there is a wooden door you can open. Behind it is a skullface switch that opens the stone door to the north. This reveals another skullface switch which in turn opens the eastern stone door.

This door opens into a new area of the swamps, full of ettins and few afrits. The area is mostly occupied by a bungalow. A river passage to the southeast is full of stalker bosses. To the north is a portal back to the Shadow Wood. Near the portal is the entrance to the bungalow, leading to a vestibule. There is an Amulet of Warding for the fighter, a stone door that is "barred from the inside", and a sun/moon switch at the northwestern corner of the room. This switch is easy to overlook, but it is required for further progress. Once it is pressed, you should move on to the eastern portion of the swamp. It is most convenient to go through the southeastern passage. Alternatively, you can backtrack to the vestibule behind the slimy killing floor - you will discover that the window has opened up, and it leads to the same general area. Here you will battle a number of stalkers and stalker bosses. There are crystal vials under the portico near the opened window, and on the eastern dock. The dock also has a porkelator artifact for the mage. In the far south is an ascending passage with crystal vials and quartz flasks. It leads back to the beginning area - a convenient shortcut now that the bars have opened.

Back at the eastern dock, a fort looms in the fog. The slime flows off of a precipitous cliff - be wary of the current. If you have not done so already, you must press the sun/moon switch in the bungalow to the northwest in order to raise a bullhead switch. Pull the bullhead switch, and the drawbridge lowers. Many monsters await inside - green chaos serpents for all classes, centaurs for the fighter, and ettins for the mage and cleric. Inside the bailey, you will see a tower, a gibbet, and various doors and stairways. Your first order of business is finding the castle key, which will let you into the keep. Go through the wooden door to the northeast, and you will enter a storeroom with ettins, crystal vials, barrels, and a well. Jump down the well and you will land safely. There is an afrit, mana, and skullface switches set in the wooden beams. Press either of these and the well water will rise, and you will "hear a door open in the distance". This is referring to the stone door in the bungalow, located upstream in the northwestern swamp area. Head back there now, to the vestibule with the sun/moon switch, and the formerly barred stone door will be open. Inside the main room, there is a green chaos serpent, and many items - health, mana, fléchettes, an Icon of the Defender for the cleric, and most importantly of all, the castle key. With this, you can progress further inside the fort. Head back there now and take the winding steps up to the battlements. While you are up here, it makes sense to defeat the green chaos serpents along the allure. There are fléchettes along the northern parapet, and crystal vials to the south. Once the area is cleared, it is time to enter the keep. The castle door is right at the top of the spiral stairs. Inside, there is a green chaos serpent and a centaur. Once these are dealt with, you can enter. There is a central podium with an Icon of the Defender for the fighter, a bookcase, and suits of armor. The suit of armor to the north, next to the entrance, conceals a sun/moon switch. Pressing this will open the stone cellar door at the bottom of the descending stairwell to the south. Simply go back down and cross to the other side of the bailey to find it.

Down in the basement, there are a couple afrits, crystal vials, and a porkelator artifact if you are the mage. Behind the wooden door, there is a dining hall full of ettins, as well as afrits coming out of the fireplaces. To the left of the east wall with the Icon of Korax, you will notice an empty fireplace. There is a false wall you can push back, opening a narrow corridor full of mana and an ettin. You will come to a bullhead switch, simply pull it to activate the lift. This brings you to a new floor, with a crowd of green chaos serpents and centaurs to contend with. There is also a quartz flask. Beyond the floor indentation and maulotaur statues is a long aisle with burners on the floor. As soon as you approach, walls slide up and traps activate, creating a zig-zag gauntlet with streams of poisonous darts to run through. The burners are inactive for now. At the opposite, symmetrical end of the room, you attain the swamp key. The walls have changed shape and the burners are now active, blasting out fireballs in a consistent waving pattern. You now have three narrow corridors to choose from - two with erupting fireballs, one with darts. One of these corridors will allow you to pass, the other two will teleport you back. If one corridor teleports you, try the others until you get through. Make sure to use careful timing - if one runs just behind the stream of fireballs, it is possible to take little to no damage.

Now that you have the swamp key, your objective is complete. There are locked horn and cave doors concealing puzzle switches, but you need their respective keys. If you already have the other key(s), refer to the puzzle switch section(s) below. If not, head back to the northwestern bungalow and use the northern portal to return to Shadow Wood.

First puzzle switch
This puzzle switch requires the Horn key, which can be found on the Wastelands. Go to the room with the four fireplaces within the fort (the route is described above). Walk inside the second fireplace on the right and activate the switch to open the backwall. Follow the steps up, and pass through the rotating Horn Key door. Turn to the right and climb the staircase in the rocks. At the top you will find the first puzzle switch, and a portal leading to the Wastelands.

Second puzzle switch
This puzzle switch requires the Cave key, which can be found on the Caves of Circe. Go to the main area inside the fort, and open the Cave Key door that is found opposite the drawbridge entrance. Take the lift up, and drop down into the slime. Carry on down this river until you reach a staircase on you right, which leads to a large open cave. In this cave there are four passage entrances. From the entrance, take the second passage from the left and you should see two winged statues. The second puzzle switch is behind the statue on the right. The portal at the end of this passage leads to the Caves of Circe.

Castle key door skip

 * The central tower in the first castle room is locked and requires the castle key. In the south-west corner of the tower, there is an open window, which allows a jump from the nearby rampart. Jump from around (1780,1746) to the open window in the central tower.

Bugs

 * An Amulet of Warding is outside the map at -1488, 2400. The item is close to a switch found north of the rolling slime bottomed room, and would have appeared either for clerics or in co-op play.
 * An Icon of the Defender is outside the map at 1744, 2288. The item is close to a well, and would have appeared for mages or in co-op play.
 * An Ettin is caught by level geometry at 2304, 1616.
 * On hard difficulty, an Ettin at -1184, 2592 is tangled with a Centaur at -1200, 2608.