E3M4: The Azure Fortress (Heretic + Hexen)
From DoomWiki.org
| Heretic re-release maps |
|---|
| The City of the Damned |
| Hell's Maw |
| The Ossuary |
| The Stagnant Demesne |
| Fate's Path (deathmatch only levels) |
| This level has an original version |
E3M4: The Azure Fortress is the fourth map of episode The Dome of D'Sparil in the enhanced Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders re-release, included with Heretic + Hexen. It uses the music track "Mist" by Kevin Schilder.
Contents
Walkthrough[edit]
_E3M4_map.png)
Essentials[edit]
Take the dragon claw in front of you, then press the switch in the room behind it to lower the floor—as the floor drops, step north to get a Ring of Invincibility and a quartz flask (or two on yellowbellies-r-us skill level or lower). Kill the gargoyles waiting at the bottom then go through the door they were guarding to enter a round hub with one to three ophidians. Go through the north door to enter a hall with a fast-flowing pool, then pass through either of the eastern doors to enter a room with three cages containing undead warriors. Go east through another door and head north past some gargoyles to a four-way intersection, which is actually a crusher, then kill some waiting warriors and golems before going west to another door and passing through it. The yellow key is on a metal step at the west end of the room, protected by more golems.
Go back to the hub and open the east door to enter a spiral staircase, then go down to the bottom to find the green key sitting on a podium. Return to the hub and open the west door to enter a hall with two cages containing weredragons, then go to the west end of the hall to see a window with one to three iron liches behind it. Go south and east from here to reach a small chamber with a phoenix rod and some gargoyles, then continue east to the end of the corridor to get the blue key; taking it will release weredragons and disciples of D'Sparil into the corridor behind you, and open the cages you passed earlier. Go back to the large hall at the north end of the map and open the exit door on the east side to find a disciple guarding the exit teleporter to E3M5: The Ophidian Lair.
Secret exit[edit]
See secrets #9 and #10 below for information on reaching the secret exit to E3M9: The Aquifer.
Other points of interest[edit]
An ethereal crossbow can be found at the south end of the fast-flowing pool. Taking it will open a closet to the south with one to three disciples, a Bag of Holding, an energy orb, and a quiver of ethereal arrows.
Gauntlets of the Necromancer can be found in an alcove north of the large crusher.
After passing the weredragon cages behind the green door, go north to find a staircase leading down to a blue corridor lined with alcoves. Walking into any of the alcoves will cause all of them to rise, revealing various items including a map scroll; most of the alcoves contain sabreclaws, but the northernmost and southernmost alcoves are safe. Pressing the black wall at the north end of the corridor will cause the platform that held the yellow key to start moving up and down.
Secrets[edit]
- Enter the teleporter in the middle of the hub to return to the starting point, where the windows have opened. Kill the disciples behind the windows if you have not already done so, then step through either window to trigger the secret. (sector 254) The west side holds crystal vials and a Wings of Wrath, while the east side holds crystal vials and a Tome of Power.
- In the large northern hall, go down the steps and enter the pool to open the stained-glass window at the top of the steps. Go through the window before it shuts to get a quartz flask and a shadowsphere. (sector 212)
- From the room with the warrior cages, open the south-east door and go round the corner to reach a step with a pair of wall torches. You can open the north-east wall to find a flame orb and one to four quartz flasks, plus two crystal vials on yellowbellies-r-us or lower. (sector 180)
- In front of the door to the yellow key room are two green walls. Open the south wall with the trident on it to enter a storeroom with one to three nitrogolems. (sector 404) You can find a torch, a Tome of Power, crystal vials, and lesser runes among the boxes.
- After picking up the green key, go back to the yellow door to find that another part of the spiral staircase has opened. Go to the bottom of this staircase to find a hellstaff, a Chaos Device, and a crystal vial, plus one or two quartz flasks on bringest them oneth or lower. (sector 104)
- Open the skull wall behind the hellstaff in secret #5 to find sabreclaws guarding Time Bombs of the Ancients, plus two lesser runes on smite-meister or higher. (sector 269)
- Entering secret #6 will open the south-east wall of the spiral staircase. Go through this wall to find sabreclaws guarding a quartz flask, one or two crystal vials, and a teleporter to an enchanted shield. (sector 115) Use the teleporter behind the shield to go to a second chamber with a Morph Ovum, then open the trident wall to get back to the northern hall.
- Taking the blue key will open two windows just behind you revealing weredragons. You can open the walls north and south of the blue key which have two square panels on them to enter the enclosures. (sector 8) Depending on skill level, the north enclosure contains one or two crystal vials, a Tome of Power or lesser runes, while the south enclosure contains one or two crystal vials, a Bag of Holding or lesser runes.
- After getting the blue key, go back to the octagonal room where you found the phoenix rod, where two passages have opened. Enter the northern passage to find a firemace and two stacks of mace spheres, then open the skull wall to find a switch. (sector 381)
- Press the switch in secret #9 then go back to the blue key room. Enter the passage that has opened in the east wall to find one to three disciples protecting the secret exit teleporter. (sector 68)
Bugs[edit]
Demo files[edit]
Comparison of versions[edit]
Room design[edit]
- Additional sectors were added throughout the map to create more realistic lighting.
- The number of secrets was reduced from 13 to 10.
- The two secret sectors in the starting room were joined together, combining them into one sector.
- The enchanted shield and Morph Ovum accessed from the teleporter in secret #7 are no longer marked as secret.
- The two weredragon enclosures near the blue key were joined together, combining them into one secret.
- The switch that opens the passage to the secret exit was marked as secret.
- A closet containing disciples was added west of the blue key.
- A second passage was added south of the phoenix rod, which opens when the blue key Is taken.
Texture changes[edit]
- Most of the wall textures in the level were changed, using textures not found in the original release of Heretic.
- The starting room, the room east of the large hall, and the weredragon cages behind the green door were all changed to water floors.
- The hub was changed from a stone floor to an orange diamond floor.
- The large hall and the spiral staircase were changed from stone to tiled floors.
Thing placement[edit]
- The firemace in front of secret #9 was changed to appear in single-player.
- Comparison of maps
E3M4 (original)
E3M4 (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 north. (thing 48)
- facing south. (thing 49)
- facing west. (thing 50)
- facing west. (thing 585)
Statistics[edit]
Map data[edit]
| Things | 671 |
| Vertices | 2368* |
| Linedefs | 2541 |
| Sidedefs | 3604 |
| Sectors | 458 |
Things[edit]
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level:
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