MAP19: The Shaft (Memento Mori II)

MAP19: The Shaft is the nineteenth level of Memento Mori II. It was designed by Jeremy Statz and uses the music track "Nothing So Cruel" by Mark Klem. It contains a separate area for multiplayer competition.

Mission briefing
According to both the text file and the Infopack:


 * The single scout sent into the mission 19 combat zone never returned. We've had to extrapolate almost everything about this area from the images and radio messages transmitted before the scout's demise in a temple-like area.


 * So far as we can tell, the 19th CZ is some sort of mining facility, entirely underground. The hellspawn have taken it over, and have been building onto it heavily.  We estimate the structure is nearly twice as large as we originally expected.  The ultimate purpose of the structure is unknown.


 * Mission priority is simply to wipe out the infestation. Leave nothing moving, if possible.  Secondary priority is the discover the structure's purpose.  So far as we can tell, there's little reason to the schizophrenic mess of structures making up this CZ.  If there's an ultimate purpose, we'd like to know what it is.

Essentials
A long and difficult level, The Shaft marks the beginning of Memento Mori II's final ramp in difficulty. The level consists of two phases: the "shaft phase" with two sequential wings, and the "teleport phase" with four wings that can be completed in any order.

Start and Yellow Key

You begin in a green-paneled room. Grab the shotgun and 4 shotgun shells and step onto the metal square ahead. This metal square is a platform, and will begin to lower (for convenience, this platform will be referred to as the "shaft platform"). Face east and ride the platform all the way to the bottom.

Once the elevator reaches the bottom, you will see a small room with a pool of water, a staircase and a door in the back. Beware of the former humans in this room - a shotgun guy, up to three zombiemen and up to two chaingunners in a pillbox near at the top of the steps. Kill them all and proceed through the door.

In this next brown-walled area, grab the super shotgun in the corner. Go by either side, kill the shotgun guys ahead and climb the stairs to a grey-floored area. Continue east. As you pass the metal wall with a lightning bolt, look to your right and prepare for a zombieman (Hurt Me Plenty) or a shotgun guy (Ultra-Violence and above) waiting in ambush. You will also need to pay attention to the imp and chaingunner (Ultra-Violence and above only) on the stairs in the east.

Head up the stairs in the east. Depending on your difficulty, you face a different set of monsters:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: One Hell knight, one imp.
 * Hurt me plenty: One Hell knight, five imps (one imp may have come out earlier).
 * Ultra-Violence and above: One baron of Hell, one mancubus, one chaingunner and one imp.

On Ultra-Violence and above, try causing monster infighting to save ammo. Once the coast is clear, step into the teleporter nearby.

This teleporter takes you to the platform within the caged-off slime pit in the previous area. Step off the teleport pad and find the skull switch to the right (south). Equip your super shotgun, flip the switch and fire - you will get the jump on the demon waiting in ambush behind the door. If going for 100% kills, find the spectre in the slime (Hurt me plenty and above only). Step back into the nearby teleporter to be taken back to the previous area.

When you teleport back, you will realise that walls ahead have opened. First priority is the caged chaingunner ahead, in position to fire on you. Next, you need to deal with the monsters that are released from behind the walls:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Two demons.
 * Hurt me plenty: One Hell knight, Four demons and two spectres.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: Two demons and one pain elemental.

As you cross into the area where these monsters came from, another pair of walls in the east opens, revealing large niches with baron of Hell faces. The following enemies are released:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Four demons.
 * Hurt me plenty: Two Hell knights.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: One Hell knight and one baron of Hell.

Enter into either large niche and find the green-floored area between them (on Ultra-Violence, watch for the chaingunner in there). Flip the gargoyle switch in this area.

Backtrack to the west and make a right (go north) at the four-way junction. A bridge has raised across the small slime pit here, allowing access to the yellow key. However, when you pick up the key, traps in front of and behind you open. Depending on the difficulty, you face:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Cacodemon in front, one chaingunner behind.
 * Hurt me plenty: Cacodemon in front, two chaingunners behind.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: One revenant in front and behind.

On lower difficulties, you can cause infighting. However, on Ultra-Violence and above, you should probably pick up the key facing backwards and make a run for it. Once the key has been secured and the monsters defeated, backtrack to the shaft platform.

Red Key Part 1

Face west and ride the shaft platform up to the yellow door. Open the yellow door and continue forward. You are now on a platform in one corner of a large slime pit, with various ledges around the perimeter. You can also see the red key in a pillbox ahead. Kill the two shotgun guys on the ledge. On Hurt me plenty and above, you also have an imp to deal with on the southern ledge; on Ultra-Violence and above, another chaingunner is added on the southern ledge, and is a priority threat. A well placed rocket or two should kill the imp, chaingunner (Hurt me plenty and above only) and revenant (Ultra-Violence and above only) in the pillbox.

Once the coast seems clear, jump across the gap to the south onto the southern ledge. As you head to the west of the room, you will wake up a chaingunner and cacodemon in the east of the room (Hurt me plenty and above only). Carefully deal with them, then go through the door in the west of this room.

This door leads to a green corridor. As you enter, you will be wedged between enemies on both sides - up to four demons from the west, and a shotgun guy (Hey, not too rough and below), two shotgun guys (Hurt me plenty) or a revenant (Ultra-Violence and above). A nearby chaingunner will also be alerted. All these monsters will shred you in close quarters, so it is up to your super shotgun skills to keep you alive.

Next, proceed to the west of this hallway, and go up the stairs in the southwest. A demon (Hey, not too rough and below), two demons (Hurt me plenty), or a mancubus are waiting for you in this room. Again, the super shotgun should make short work of them. Flip the switch in the south, and prepare for a big fight. Parts of the west and east walls of this room will open, revealing a connecting corridor packed full of enemies:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Two shotgun guys, two chaingunners, one imp, one revenant.
 * Hurt me plenty: Four shotgun guys, three imps, two chaingunners, one Hell knight and one arch-vile
 * Ultra-Violence and above: Two shotgun guys (at a nastier angle), four imps, two chaingunners, two Hell knights and one arch-vile

On higher difficulties, the arch-vile is a huge problem. Use the corners of the walkway to dodge around, the plasma gun (if available) to mow down its meat shields and the nearby barrels for more crowd control. When the enemies have been cleared out, get into the teleporter ahead.

This teleports you to an isolated area with a narrow, metal-floored corridor. The following enemies will charge you down the corridor:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Two spectres
 * Hurt me plenty: Four spectres
 * Ultra-Violence and above: Two spectres and an arachnotron.

Once again, the super shotgun comes in handy. On Ultra-Violence and above, the spectre in the back cannot charge you until the arachnotron is dead, so let the arachnotron hit the spectre in front and cause some infighting, giving you some breathing room. After clearing out the enemies, head to the switch at the end of the hallway, flip it and immediately turn around - a window will open behind you, and up to five shotgun guys will begin teleporting into the area behind the window - be ready for them with your own shotgun. Head back into the teleporter at the other end of the corridor once you have dealt with them.

This will take you back to the connecting corridor in the previous area. Watch out for up to four shotgun guys. Backtrack to the green corridor.

Red Key Part 2

Head east along the green corridor, and be careful of the trap with a spectre and a Hell knight (Hurt me plenty and below)/baron of Hell (Ultra-Violence and above). Collect the ammo from their trap - you'll need it. Further east, notice that the central passageway with a silver UAC door has opened.

This next area contains an assortment of enemies - spectres, imps, shotgun guys and the like. On Ultra-Violence and above, you will also find a revenant and a Hell knight in this area. Beware of the barrels near the entrance, clear out the enemies and head south onto the grey metal floor. Be careful of the imp (Hurt me plenty and below) or chaingunner (Ultra-Violence and above) waiting in ambush in the west. Ignore the slime pool and catwalk in the east for now and continue south.

In this new room, there is another slime pool surrounded by bars. Clear out the imps (and on Hurt me plenty and above, a shotgun guy), and be wary of plasma fire from the Hell knight (Hurt me plenty and below) or baron of Hell (Ultra-Violence and above) in the cage high on the north wall.As you approach the southeast corner of this room, a trap in front of you opens, revealing up to four demons and a spectre. Continue down the brown steps, and run across the stepping stones to the skull switch. Flip the skull switch.

Backtrack to the previous room with the catwalk and slime pool in the east. The bars unblocking the teleporter in the northeast are now open. Watch for fire from the two barons of Hell in the cage in the east, and deal with the enemies on the teleporter platform (cacodemon on Hey, not too rough and below, pain elemental on Hurt me plenty and above with an extra chaingunner on Ultra-Violence and above). Run into the teleporter.

This teleporter takes you to an isolated room, where you are immediately set upon by a shotgun guy (Hey, not too rough and below), a chaingunner (Hurt me plenty), or both (Ultra-Violence and above). Act fast and kill them. Flip the switch in the north of this room, and a platform in the southwest will lower. Ride it up to another small room with a big monster - a Hell knight (Hey, not too rough and below), or a mancubus (Hurt me plenty and above). The super shotgun should make them flinch often enough for you to come out unscathed. Flip the switch in the west, then open the door to the north.

Red Key Part 3

You are now back in the east end of the green corridor. As you head west, be careful of a nearby trap, which contains:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: One zombieman, one shotgun guy, one chaingunner.
 * Hurt me plenty: One Hell knight, two chaingunners.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: One Hell knight, three chaingunners.

This time, proceed all the way to the west and proceed down the steps into a cave-like area. Watch for up to five demons. Head east into the pillbox you saw earlier and pick up the red key. This triggers a trap in the centre of the cave-like area, which opens to reveal:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: One Hell knight and one chaingunner.
 * Hurt me plenty: One Hell knight and one revenant.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: Two revenants.

Since they cannot go directly for the pillbox (there is still a wall in the way), with some speed you can evade them easily. Proceed north, kill any monsters in the way, and you will be on the northern ledge in the first big slime pit. Follow it around and jump back to the yellow door you came through at the start of this area.

Transition to Phase 2

Head out the yellow door and lower the shaft platform. Watch for a Hell knight (Hurt me plenty and below) or baron of Hell (Ultra-Violence and above) on the platform. face north and ride the platform up to the red door, then go through it.

Follow the walkway around to a new room. There is relatively little opposition here:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: One cacodemon and one Hell knight.
 * Hurt me plenty: One cacodemon and one Hell knights.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: One cacodemon and one revenant.

This new room has a raised platform with four teleporters, one in each corner. Each one takes you to a different area, and your task in each wing is to flip a switch that removes one of the four barriers blocking the exit in the west of the room. Do note that once you step into a teleporter, there is no turning back - you are committed to completing that wing!

The four wings are:


 * Northwest teleporter: "The Chapel"
 * Northeast teleporter: "The Pit"
 * Southwest teleporter: "The Zoo"
 * Southeast teleporter: "The Elevator"

Northwest teleporter: "The Chapel"

Step into the northwest teleporter. This takes you to a green-walled area with a stained-glass window ahead. Kill the cacodemon (Hurt me plenty and below) or pain elemental (Ultra-Violence and above) ahead. Kill the chaingunner on the western stairs and go up the stairs to a big room, then kill the chaingunner or two in the "pillbox" in the north.

Next, look to the south of the big room. There is a circular stained glass window with a pentagram. Shoot this stained glass window, then backtrack down the western stairs and go up the eastern stairs. At the point where the eastern stairs turns a corner, watch for the following monsters from a nearby trap:


 * Hurt me plenty and below: One Hell knight and one revenant.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: One revenant and one arch-vile.

Go into the trap and flip the switch at the end of the trap. This opens a door in the west. Continue up the stairs, through the "pillbox" where the chaingunners were and through the newly opened door.

You are now in a large room with a bloodfall. Walk along the ledge and watch for up to two cacodemons and two pain elementals on the attack. At the end of the ledge, watch for a chaingunner (Hurt me plenty and above only). Flip the switch and prepare for a huge ambush.

Multiple traps will have opened. The first releases a Hell knight and a shotgun guy (hey, not too rough and below), a chaingunner (Hurt me plenty) or a revenant (Ultra-Violence and above) into the pillbox, and they will head straight for the ledge you are now on. Nerves of steel and a plasma gun should cut them down quickly. The second set releases the following monsters into the big room with a circular stained glass window:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: One baron of Hell, one chaingunner and one imp.
 * Hurt me plenty: One baron of Hell, one mancubus, two chaingunners and one imp.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: One baron of Hell, one mancubus, one arachnotron, three chaingunners and one imp.

Once the monsters from the first trap are down, rush east, down the eastern stairs and up the western stairs. Clear out the enemies as best as you can. Run into the unblocked teleporter in the east to return to the room with the four teleporters and complete this wing.

Northeast teleporter: "The Pit"

Step into the northeast teleporter to be teleported to a marble-walled area. You will be immediately set upon by up to three imps. The blood pit below is inhabited by an assortment of monsters, but on Ultra-Violence there is a priority target - an arch-vile. Take it out first.

Next, continue counter-clockwise around the walkway surrounding the blood pit. You will encounter a shotgun guy, a chaingunner and on Hurt me plenty and above, an arachnotron. As you continue forward past the lit section of the wall, you will trigger a trap in the north wall that releases two cacodemons and a revenant (Hurt me plenty) or a baron of Hell (Ultra-Violence and above) behind you. Take them out and continue around.

At the end of the walkway, you will face a shotgun guy (Hey, not too rough and below), a shotgun guy and an imp (Hurt me plenty), or a pain elemental (Ultra-Violence and above). Watch for the Hell knight behind the window ahead. Find the switch at the end of the corridor and flip it.

This opens the brown door north of the switch. Go through this door to a cage overlooking the blood pit and flip the switch on the south wall. Unfortunately, this also triggers a large ambush:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Three spectres behind you, two chaingunners further north, a chaingunner and a mancubus teleport into the blood pit.
 * Hurt me plenty: Two spectres and a chaingunner behind you, two chaingunners and a Hell knight further north, a revenant and two mancubi teleport into the blood pit.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: Two spectres and a revenant behind you, a pain elemental and a chaingunner further north, a revenant and two mancubi teleport into the blood pit.

Get out of the cage and back onto the walkway. Go all the way clockwise to a flight of steps descending into the blood pit - the bars blocking it should have be raised. As you step into the blood, a trap ahead opens, containing:


 * Hurt me plenty and below: Two chaingunners
 * Ultra-Violence and above: A Hell knight and a chaingunner.

Enter the blood pit and fight your way to the switch in the northwest. When you flip it, watch for a trap with two shotgun guys (Hey, not too rough and below), one shotgun guy and one chaingunner (Hurt me plenty) or two chaingunners (Ultra-Violence and above). Run into the unblocked teleporter in the north to return to the room with the four teleporters and complete this wing.

Southwest teleporter: "The Zoo"

Step into the southwest teleporter to be teleported to the start of a long hallway with two metal "tracks" on the ground. In the walls of this hallway are cages containing pairs of assorted monsters. On Hurt me plenty and below, you won't see anything harder than a chaingunner in these cages, but on Ultra-Violence and above, some cages have Hell knights and one has a revenant. While dealing with them, you will also be confronted with monsters on the floor. In order:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Spectre, Hell knight, two shotgun guys, Hell knight.
 * Hurt me plenty: Cacodemon, Hell knight, two shotgun guys, cacodemon.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: Cacodemon, arachnotron, two shotgun guys, pain elemental.

You will reach a part where the walkway has broken into pieces over a blood pit. Kill the imps (Hurt me plenty and below) or Hell knight and revenant (Ultra-Violence and above) in the cages at the far end of the blood. Next, head to the western tip of the broken walkway and see if you can just spot a chaingunner (Hey, not too rough and below) or a revenant (Hurt me plenty and above) on a nearby platform - kill it so it doesn't harass you later.

You are now ready to begin jumping across the broken parts of the walkway to the next half of the hallway in the east. Near where the next half of the hallway begins, watch for an imp positioned to the north.

This next part is fairly similar to the first part, with cages in the walls and monsters on the floor. In order, you will meet these monsters on the floor:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: One imp, then one imp.
 * Hurt me plenty: cacodemon, Two imps, then one Hell knight.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: One cacodemon, then one mancubus.

At another blood pit, the walkway has crumbled, and you are set upon by assorted monsters. Make a dash for the grey island in the east, grab the radiation suit and flip the switch on the island. This unblocks the teleporter in the west, but also opens a big trap:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Two mancubi and one revenant.
 * Hurt me plenty: Two mancubi, two revenants and one chaingunner.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: Two mancubi, two barons of Hell and one chaingunner.

Monster infighting works very well here. Keep them distracted and run into the unblocked teleporter to return to the room with the four teleporters and complete this wing.

Southeast teleporter: "The Elevator"

Step into the southeast teleporter to be teleported to a small rectangular room. There is a Hell knight, a cacodemon (on Hurt Me Plenty or above) and a revenant (on Ultra-Violence and above) that need to be killed. This room is actually an elevator, and pressing the switch in the northern wall causes the elevator to descend. During this long ride, you will be confronted with enemies from all sides, and this is arguably one of the hardest parts of the level.

Now flip the skull switch (the monsters which stayed in their alcoves will be crushed). Be ready to fight a Hell knight (on Ultra-Violence or higher). Enter the teleporter to return to the room with the four teleporters and complete this wing.

Exit

Back in the room with the four teleporters, head up either flight of stairs in the west. Kill the mancubus at the top of the stairs, and then flip the switch in the east to end this long and grueling level. While the next map is a relative breather, the next maps are only going to get harder from here...

Secrets

 * 1) In the nukage pit immediately following the yellow keycard door, the northern section of wall by the platform you enter the room on has a razor-thin recess. Drop into the pit and open this recess to find a sergeant, an energy cell (sector 499) and a teleporter. Enter the teleporter to access the chaingunners' pillbox in the area east of the large elevator with a berserk pack.
 * 2) In the hallway south of the room with the nukage pit mentioned in secret #1, ascend the westernmost stairs to the south. The northeastern wall behind a green torch and a box of bullets is bordered by metal. Open it to find a blue armor. (sector 149)
 * 3) In the corridor (south of the room where secret #2 is found) with the teleporter leading to the switch that unlocks access to the tan rock hall, a section of the western wall has a candle floating in front of it. Walk through this wall to get a backpack. (sector 521)
 * 4) In the hallway south of the room with the nukage pit mentioned in secret #1, enter the second door from the east on the southern side. In the very south of this area is a nukage pit with stepping stones and a switch. This same switch that opens the bars blocking the teleporter to the switch that opens access to the red keycard also opens bars blocking the perch to its northeast. Return to the tan rock hall right south of the door you entered and press upon the eastern, central wall to open it. Follow the rock stairway, and then do a running jump into the perch (sector 228). You will be able to acquire a medikit, a box of rockets, a rocket launcher and a bulk cell. It is far easier to reach this area through straferunning rather than normal running.
 * 5) While inside the mine (accessed through the southwestern teleporter in the four teleporters room), one of the cages from which enemies attack after you traverse the broken railway does not have any bars. Step into this cage and open the eastern wall (sector 746) to find two stimpacks and a blue armor.

Current records
The Compet-N records for the map are:

The data was last verified in its entirety on May 29, 2014.

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