Hub 2: Wastelands

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

''These once fertile lands have been rendered barren and lifeless except for those creatures serving Korax. The planet has been split asunder here and pitfalls abound to swallow the unwary.''

Horn key
From the start, follow the passage out to the first open area where you can see a Krater of Might on a ledge. Go to the cave to the south, and at the first fork take the righthand path. Keep following this passage round, past the area to the right (with Brown Chaos Serpents) until you reach a left junction with what looks like a dead end. This is a rotating door, which rotates clockwise when activated. Go through here and climb the steps to a new area, then head to the landbridge over lava to the east. At the end of the bridge the Horn key can be found, which is used to access the puzzle switches on Darkmere and the Caves of Circe.

First puzzle switch
This puzzle switch requires the Cave key, which can be found on the Caves of Circe. From the start of the map, head south. Keep doing that until you reach an open, fairly dark area with a large number of Brown Chaos Serpents. Use the Cave Key to unlock the portal and the teleporter. Step in the teleporter, which will lead you to a lava area in the centre of the map, where you will be surrounded by Afrits. Kill all the Afrits and a magic staircase will appear allowing you to reach the raised platform. Go inside the large V shape and find a Mystic Urn and the first puzzle switch.

Second puzzle switch
This puzzle switch requires the Swamp key, which can be found on the Darkmere. As you arrive at the first open area, make sure you slay all the Ettins there. After doing that, go to the cave in the north and continue until you see the light of day again. You come to a wide passage that stretches out east and has many Ettins. In order to reach the northern section of the level that holds the Swamp Key door, you need to start killing the monsters. If you are playing on the two easiest difficulty levels, you still need to kill at least four Ettins more. On the higher ones, the corresponding amount is seven.

Once you have reduced their numbers, three sliding blocks will move aside nearby revealing three new caves. They all lead north and connect to another deep passage in the open air where Centaurs abound. As before, begin slaying the enemies to make progress. On the three easiest skill levels, you have to kill seven Centaurs. The amount depends on the class when playing on the two highest levels (the Mage nine, the Cleric eleven, the Fighter twelve).

When enough of Centaurs have fallen, a wall in the eastern part of the passage will lower down, revealing a large slime lake populated by Stalkers. Beyond this lake there are some steps leading up to the Swamp Key door. Go inside and activate the switch. This will lower a large wall north-west of your position, revealing a large temple like structure. Fight your way inside the structure and you will see a portal leading to Darkmere. Behind this portal you will find the second puzzle switch.

Optional areas
A couple of secondary zones become accessible once the sliding blocks have opened. Just north of the westernmost blockade, there is an entrance to a pathway. You can take it to reach a ledge that holds the Krater of Might you saw earlier. Similarly, north of the easternmost obstacle, there is a junction where another cave leads east. When you have taken a few steps in it you will come to a new fork. If you go right, you will eventually come to a Porkalator. You need to be careful, anyhow, because the cave is dark and there is a Brown Chaos Serpent there as well as a deathdrop right beyond the artifact. As you return to the fork, you may choose the remaining route. It will lead you to a long pathway that takes you to a ledge in the east - the one that holds a pair of Boots of Speed and overlooks the Ettin passage.

Bugs
(Fixed in version 1.1.) The easternmost sliding block causes a visual problem once it has slid aside. When you are standing on the edge of the ledge with the Boots of Speed, one side of the block becomes rendered through the northern wall. This results in a big HOM as the block wall is located considerably lower than the ledge.