E2M4: The Ice Grotto (Heretic + Hexen)
From DoomWiki.org
| Heretic re-release maps |
|---|
| The City of the Damned |
| The Dome of D'Sparil |
| The Ossuary |
| The Stagnant Demesne |
| Fate's Path (deathmatch only levels) |
| This level has an original version |
E2M4: The Ice Grotto is the fourth map of the Hell's Maw episode in the enhanced Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders re-release, included with Heretic + Hexen. It uses the music track "Build" by Kevin Schilder.
Contents
Walkthrough[edit]
_E2M4_map.png)
Essentials[edit]
This map consists of an ice area and a grotto area, which are separated from each other by a large wall.
Ice area[edit]
Collect the dragon claw in front of you and step on to the ice, then go south until you reach a lava river—as you advance, watch out for gargoyles and weredragons hiding behind the rocks, as well as disciples of D'Sparil firing at you from the dividing wall. Go south through the lava, passing an alcove with an ethereal crossbow, then continue south while noting the openings in the rocks to your left. Go into the second opening to reach a fork; the left-hand path leads to a Morph Ovum, while the right-hand path leads to the yellow key.
Go to the fort on the south side of the ice area and open the yellow door to get inside, then press the switch at the south end of the room to raise stairs behind you leading up to a phoenix rod. Taking the weapon will open the windows around you revealing some gargoyles, but it will also open two teleporters on either side of the entrance door. Enter the western teleporter to go to the fort’s eastern tower, where a disciple guards the green key, then go through the tower door to drop back into the fort and pass through the entrance door to get back outside. Go back to the starting point and look west to see a green door, open it to face one or two weredragons blocking a staircase, then go up the stairs to get on top of the dividing wall.
Grotto area[edit]
Drop off the west side of the dividing wall to land in the grotto, then fight through a wave of enemies to reach the western building which contains a large hall with a trident symbol. Climb up the steps on the west side of the hall to reach the balcony, then pass through the open curtains and follow the corridor south and east to find a weredragon guarding a map scroll and a wooden door. Go through the door to find two or three gargoyles protecting a switch, which will open a number of silver doors throughout the grotto. Leave the hall and go to the eastern building, then go inside it to find the blue key in a pool of water.
Leave the building and go south to a large blue door, pass through it then climb the steps to a ledge overlooking the ice area (if you fall off, a switch has opened below the ledge which will lower a lift for you). Go east through a small door and collect the mystic urn behind it, then go down the stairs to another door and open it to enter a circular chamber with an eye in the center. The room is completely dark, so use a torch if you have one to help you see the iron lich on the north side of the room; you must destroy the lich to lower the bars at the south-east end of the room, while watching out for the disciples inside the surrounding cages.
Once the bars have lowered, open the door behind them and go up the steps to enter the southern cage, press the switch at the west end then open the small door to face a disciple guarding three more doors. Go through the open right-hand door and follow the ice path to a blue exit door, then enter the teleporter behind it to go to E2M5: The Catacombs.
Secret exit[edit]
After entering the eye room and opening the disciple cages, go back to the fort where you found the phoenix rod at this point to see that the two compartments at the south end have opened to reveal staircases. You can fly up to the staircases if you have Wings of Wrath, otherwise you will need to use the teleporter in the north-east corner to go up to one of the towers and press the switch inside it to lower two lifts underneath the windows. Go up both staircases to enter the northern and eastern cages and press the switches inside them to open the middle and left-hand doors in the three-door room, then go to that room and enter the left-hand door to find a path leading to a red exit door with another switch behind it. Press this switch then go back to the three-door room and take the middle door to reach the exit teleporter to E2M9: The Glacier.
Other points of interest[edit]
After opening the silver doors in the grotto, you can enter the room on the west side of the trident hall. A Chaos Device is hidden In the south-east corner, and an enchanted shield is hidden behind a wooden pillar in the north-east corner.
Secrets[edit]
- Entering the alcove with the ethereal crossbow on the east side of the lava river will open a closet to the north containing one or two fire gargoyles. Enter this closet to find a crystal geode and a Tome of Power. (sector 164)
- Go around the east side of the fort to find an entrance to a cavern with Gauntlets of the Necromancer and a shadowsphere. As you enter the cavern you can walk through the south wall to find one or two weredragons protecting a Bag of Holding. (sector 360)
- After opening the silver doors in the grotto, go into the north-eastern building and climb the steps to the Wings of Wrath. After doing so, go back to the blue key building to find that a teleporter has opened, which goes to a ledge on the east side of the map where you can get mace spheres and a firemace. (sector 435) You can also fly to the ledge using the Wings, but the secret can only be triggered by using the teleporter as the destination teleporter is the actual secret.
Bugs[edit]
Demo files[edit]
Comparison of versions[edit]
Room design[edit]
- Additional details have been added to every part of the level.
- A third secret was added above the ice field. The teleporter in the blue key building was adjusted to go to this secret, rather than to the dividing wall.
- The entrance door to the fort now requires the green key to exit.
- The green door near the starting point was moved slightly, and now has a staircase behind it rather than a teleporter.
- A lava pool was added in the north-west corner of the grotto.
- The area after the blue door was significantly altered and extended, creating new paths to the normal and secret exits.
Texture changes[edit]
- Multiple ice textures are used in the eastern part of the level.
- The dividing wall and southern fort use a light gray brick texture.
- The entrance hall of the western building in the grotto was given a tiled floor and red curtains.
- The north-western room in the western building was changed to a boathouse.
- A water pool was added to the blue key building.
Thing placement[edit]
- Mace spheres and the firemace can now be obtained in single-player. In the original level these items only appeared in multiplayer.
- Comparison of maps
E2M4 (original)
E2M4 (Heretic + Hexen)
Areas / screenshots[edit]
Speedrunning[edit]
Routes and tricks[edit]
Current records[edit]
The records for the map at the Doom Speed Demo Archive are:
| Run | Time | Player | Date | File | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SM speed (normal exit) | |||||
| SM speed (secret exit) | |||||
| SM max | |||||
| BP speed (normal exit) | |||||
| BP speed (secret exit) | |||||
| BP max | |||||
| NM speed (normal exit) | |||||
| NM speed (secret exit) | |||||
| NM 100S | |||||
| Tyson | |||||
| Pacifist (normal exit) | |||||
| Pacifist (secret exit) |
The (absence of) data was last verified in its entirety on August 10, 2025.
Deathmatch[edit]
Player spawns[edit]
This level contains four spawn points:
- facing south. (thing 8)
- facing south-east. (thing 9)
- facing east. (thing 10)
- facing north. (thing 11)
Statistics[edit]
Map data[edit]
| Things | 745 |
| Vertices | 4896* |
| Linedefs | 5110 |
| Sidedefs | 7037 |
| Sectors | 517 |
Things[edit]
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level:
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