MAP27: Vulcana II (Community Chest 4)

MAP27: Vulcana II is the twenty-seventh level of Community Chest 4. It was designed by Paul Corfiatis and uses the music track "Last Man Standing (Sacraficial Symphony)" [sic], originally composed by Kristian Aro for Whispers of Satan. The level is a thematic sequel to Vulcana from Whispers of Satan, also by Corfiatis.

Essentials
Vulcana II begins as a relatively simple hell fortress with a few tricks up its sleeve... until you get to the last stretch of the level, where you are forced to embark on what is best described as "Doom's version of Halo's infamous Warthog Run". Platform jumping skills and the ability to dodge around monsters (including hordes of lost souls) are a must. Don't expect to kill every monster on your first run!

Start and Yellow Key

You begin in at one end of a red rock cave. Right off the bat, you hear a cyberdemon and arch-viles waking up. Barely a moment later, they have teleported away. Collect all the ammunition in this room, as well as the four weapons: a shotgun, a super shotgun, a chaingun and a rocket launcher (a good hint as to the level's difficulty).

Follow the cave east. On the way down, your first real opposition will be two demons. The cave will open into a chamber with lava and an armor. Fire a rocket at the Hell knight opposite, but before you fire the kill shot, make sure the four lost souls in the area aren't attempting a charge at you. Continue forward past where the Hell knight was and open the door to the fortress proper.

The first room of the fortress has a path over blood. Kill the Hell knight at the other end. When you cross the midpoint of the path, two traps open, each with a cacodemon. When you cross onto the side of the room where the Hell knight was, an arch-vile teleports in behind you. Fortunately, at the same time, a small pillar will emerge, giving you a fighting chance against the arch-vile in this open room.

Continue east to a room with a grey marble square with a pentagram on the floor, the red door in the north, the yellow door in the south and a regular door in the east. We will call this room the "main fork". As you enter, a teleport trap will trigger:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Four imps.
 * Hurt me plenty: Eight imps and a demon.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: Eight imps and three demons.

Currently, the only door you can open is the east one. Open it and kill the revenant on the platform. Flip the switch and ride the platform down.

You will arrive at the entrance to a large red cavern. The initial opposition inside is limited - six lost souls and a mancubus on a perch in the north (not on Hey, not too rough and below). Your first task is to get to that perch to unblock bars in the south. Head to the northwest side and climb up the staircase. On your way there, you will encounter three imps (two on Hey, not too rough and below). Go to the perch where the mancubus was and flip the switch. As you do so, a trap will open in the southeast of the cavern, with two mancubi (one on Hey, not too rough and below). This one is simple - use rockets.

Next, go into the tunnel in the southwest. As you continue climbing up, you will encounter a cacodemon (not on Hey, not too rough and below), followed by up to 10 lost souls in a chamber. Continue heading upwards and you will meet, in order, two cacodemons (one on Hey, not too rough and below) and a Hell knight. At the very top is the ledge with the yellow skull key. Collect the key and drop back into the main chamber.

Collecting the key caused a pair of traps to be sprung. The first is consistent across difficulties - two pain elementals and two lost souls spawn into the room. The second is a teleport trap that populates the room:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Four imps.
 * Hurt me plenty: Eight imps and a demon.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: Eight imps and three demons.

In addition, an arch-vile will spawn at the entrance to this cavern. However, it will not step out onto the main floor of the cavern. Defeat this horde, then ride the platform up and make your way back to the "main fork" room.

Red Key

From the "main fork" room, open the yellow door in the south. In this next room, a well placed rocket will splatter the imps on the ledge (on Hurt me plenty and above, watch for one in the near corner waiting in ambush). Continue forward onto an outcrop in the north side of a large lava pool. You will be immediately set upon by up to six cacodemons, a revenant on a bridge and four imps at a fortress-like structure in the south. Three imps will also attack from the red stone pillars nearby. Head up the steps in the northeast corner of this area, where four imps and a revenant guard a switch. Flip this switch to raise a bridge to the structure in the south.

Carry on along the bridge to the structure in the south. As you enter, you will be attacked by an arachnotron and two Hell knights (one on Hey, not too rough and below). If you are playing on Ultra-Violence and above, entering this structure will result in two revenants teleporting behind you, so be wary. Inside, there is a red and orange teleporter. The orange one is barred off for now, so go through the red one.

This takes you to a raised area in the south. Press the panel in front of you to raise it. This next sequence is tricky, so follow these steps precisely to avoid death:


 * Walk forward until the walls widen. A revenant will appear from a fake floor trap.
 * Bait the revenant into going for the punch. Do not cross the further metal arch yet!
 * Kill the revenant. Step under the further metal arch and turn around. An arch-vile will teleport in.
 * Fall off the ledge and feed it rockets. Hug the wall to avoid its attacks.

Now, the orange teleporter is unblocked. Step into it to be teleported to a chamber near the start of the map. A new path to the south is open. Head down it, and you will encounter a baron of Hell (not on Hey, not too rough and below) and two demons. At the top, you will find yourself facing the series of red stone pillars in the large lava pool. Your task is to jump from the top of one to the other until you collect the red key from its pedestal. If you fall off in the first half (before the bridge), there is a teleporter just south of the starting point to bring you back up; if you fall off in the second half (after bridge), you'll have to make the long trek back to the starting point via the orange teleporter.

Once you pick up the red key, a few traps open and you face a horde of floating monsters:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Three cacodemons, one pain elemental.
 * Hurt me plenty: Eight cacodemons, two pain elementals.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: Ten cacodemons, two pain elementals.

On top of all that, an arch-vile teleports into the entrance of this area. This is a tough one. The good news is that there are four medikits on the outcrop. The bad news is that you don't have a weapon that can take down the horde quickly, and hence will probably need all of them.

Finale, Part 1: The Escape

Return to the "main fork" room, and this time open the red door in the north. The next room is quiet except for a mancubus (not present on Hey, not too rough and below). If you look west, you will see the exit door behind a fence, requiring the blue key. While this looks like a simple key hunt, the 16 boxes of rockets suggest otherwise.

When you are ready for the most adrenaline-filled sequence in the megawad up to this point, head up the steps to where the mancubus was and flip the switch in the east.

At this point, not only does the cyberdemon you saw at the start of the level teleport in, three huge traps in the room open, with a grand total of:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Four Hell knights, 12 imps.
 * Hurt me plenty: Eight Hell knights, 26 imps.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: 12 Hell knights, 28 imps.

The good news is that you are not going to fight them, and you don't even need to expend ammo on them. However, the corollary of this is that you have to run. Follow the following steps for this first phase, and quickly:


 * After flipping the switch, the door in the north will open. Equip the rocket launcher and rush through it.
 * You will first encounter two cacodemons. Ignore them and focus on the revenant to the left (west) - don't let him come too close for you to use rockets.
 * Go west, then all the way south (be careful, this section is exposed to the chaos in the main room!). Flip the switch.
 * An arch-vile will teleport to the north end of this corridor. Rain rockets on it. Dodge into the exit door corridor if you need to hide.
 * Take the second left to a platform, flip the switch and ride it down to a red-walled basement.

You are safe from the main melee now. In the basement, follow the corridor around, killing five imps along the way. At the end, there is a Hell knight guarding a switch and a berserk pack. Seasoned players (and mappers) may recall that berserk packs in eerily quiet places are associated with a particular type of trap, and they would be right.

When you pick up the berserk pack and flip the switch, a large number of walls lower, revealing a massive ambush of spectres and demons:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Five demons, three spectres.
 * Hurt me plenty and above: 11 demons, four spectres.

Backed into a corner, you will need to unleash your punching skill to get out of this one in one piece. Once the coast is clear, go through the door in the north to a staircase heading down. Kill the mancubus at the bottom of the staircase, open the door and head through.

Finale, Part 2: The Vulcana Run

You find yourself on a ledge in the northeast of a massive lava cavern. This ledge has four imps, but the real issue is the massive horde of up to 49 assorted lost souls and cacodemons that will seek to hamper your progress in the next stage of this level. Get all the ammunition on this ledge and prepare for a rather difficult sequence that will push you to your limit.

In the first segment, you will have to jump from pillar to pillar to get to a ledge on the northwest. In addition to being harassed by the cacodemons and lost souls flying about, a few pillars have imps on them. Pull out your chaingun (or plasma gun if you have it) to melt the imps (or any pesky floating monster) as they come into view. As the ledge in the northwest comes into view, you will see a mancubus on it. Put some rockets into it to get it out of the way, then put one more between the green marble decorations to take out the two imps hiding behind it.

This next segment is a cave that you can either speed through, or patiently clear out (monsters outside will not enter it, as there is a monster blocking linedef at the entrances). In order, this is what you will encounter:


 * First stretch: Four lost souls (one on Hey, not too rough and below) and a demon
 * First chamber: 12 lost souls (four on Hey, not too rough and below), a demon and a baron of Hell (Ultra-Violence and above only)
 * Second stretch: Six lost souls (three on Hey, not too rough and below) and a demon. As you enter, an arch-vile will teleport behind you. Note that this stretch has a "recovery area" in the east, with health and ammo. Watch for the four spectres that will emerge from there!
 * Second chamber: Seven lost souls, a demon, a pain elemental and a baron of Hell (Ultra-Violence and above only). Note that on Hey, not too rough and below, there are four lost souls only.

The third segment is similar to the first one - jump from pillar to pillar, some having imps on them. Your destination is a ledge in the south. Once on the ledge, go into either cave and make your way to the south side, where a baron of Hell is protecting a switch. Kill it and flip the switch. As soon as you flip the switch, up to six spectres will teleport into the cave. When you head out of the cave, you will find a spiderdemon and an arch-vile waiting for you at the teleporter area. Dodge around them and hop into the teleporter.

You will find yourself on top of a ledge with the blue key, north of the room where your escape started. Carefully collect it from the pole it is on and then double back a little. This starts some crushers. Instead of being thick in the middle of the horde with crushers to deal with, the monsters will attempt to close in on you and get squashed by the large crusher in front of you (hopefully, including the cyberdemon). When the horde is down and the crusher goes up, drop down to lure two revenants out of their traps and into the crusher.

Head west, south, then take the second right (west) to go to the exit chamber - mind the crushers. If you were counting the arch-viles, you would realise that one has not appeared yet. It finally appears as you head further into to the exit chamber. Kill it and flip the switch to exit the level.

Secrets

 * 1) Just before the main fork, there is an arrow on the automap that points north. Open the wall where it points to and you will find a berserk pack. (sector 1363)
 * 2) Just before you reach the yellow skull key, head onto its ledge, then go back to find an alcove with backpacks. (sector 1393)
 * 3) Pick up the yellow key and drop down, then head for the northwestern stairs. An opening to the right of the stairs contains a soul sphere. (sector 259)
 * 4) Open the yellow door and you can spot a skull switch in the wall slightly to the left. If you can shoot it from ground floor with a super shotgun, then you open the left wall for a megasphere. (sector 1374) An alternative way to reach this secret is by getting the red key first and then using an arch-vile jump from the arch-vile that teleports in to reach the platform, and shooting the switch from there.
 * 5) In the outdoor area past the yellow door, drop into the lava to the south (grab a radiation suit as well) and head east around the building. Spot some ammo on a red ledge and enter the cave for a teleporter, where you can pick up a plasma gun. (sector 518)
 * 6) Take the yellow teleporter in the southern marble hall to be whisked close to the beginning of the level. Follow the path as if you were going to get the red key, and just before the red platforms, open a wall to the right for an invulnerability. (sector 1395)
 * 7) Open the red door and then climb the steps to the switch. Press the misaligned wall near the switch to open it revealing a soul sphere. (sector 1351)
 * 8) In Secret #7, open the right wall for an invulnerability. (sector 1353)
 * 9) When you reach the vast hellish cavern with the lava platforms, drop all the way down to the right of the entrance. Grab a nearby radiation suit and head through the tunnel here to find a BFG9000 and some energy cells. (sector 1295)

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 eight spawn points:
 * 1) facing south. (thing 1121)
 * 2) facing west. (thing 1122)
 * 3) facing south-east. (thing 1123)
 * 4) facing east. (thing 1124)
 * 5) facing east. (thing 1125)
 * 6) facing south. (thing 1126)
 * 7) facing north. (thing 1127)
 * 8) facing west. (thing 1128)

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

Trivia
Another alternative way of reaching Secret #4 is to get to Secret #6 and press a switch that is present there. However, this switch is closed off at the very beginning of the level. After the arch-viles you saw teleport away one of them resides in a closet where he crosses a linedef blocking the switch off for good. The only way to reach this switch inside Secret #6 is by playing in mode. If you are playing in nomonsters and discover the switch in Secret #6, after pressing it, run back to the entrance of the outdoor area and you will spot an alcove with a switch. If you get it before the wall rises, press the switch to teleport onto the ledge, where you can easily shoot the switch and claim Secret #4. This switch only accessible in mode is similar to the one from MAP11.