E5M3: Quay (Heretic)

From DoomWiki.org

Heretic maps
City of the Damned

M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9

Hell's Maw

M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9

The Dome of D'Sparil

M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9

The Ossuary

M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9

Fate's Path (deathmatch only levels)

M1 M2 M3

This level occupies the map slot E5M3. For other maps which occupy this slot, see Category:E5M3.

E5M3: Quay is the third level in The Stagnant Demesne episode of Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders. It uses the music track "Bluroc" by Kevin Schilder. It contains an entrance to the secret level E5M9: Skein of D'Sparil.

Walkthrough[edit]

Map of Quay
Letters in italics refer to marked spots on the map. Sector, thing, and linedef numbers in boldface are secrets which count toward the end-of-level tally.

Essentials[edit]

From the start, head up and find both an ethereal crossbow and a Tome of Power. Some fire gargoyles are waiting and an iron lich may try to snipe you from afar. Once you are geared up, drop down into the water and step onto the platform to the immediate northwest to lower a wall revealing more ammo and a silver shield. From the spot where you got the shield, head upstairs and find a yellow key, along with a passage that is opened onto the platform you dropped down from. When you drop into the large water area again, be prepared as there is now an open ambush containing a pair of iron liches. The chamber they emerge from contains some supplies that you may want including a Ring of Invincibility. Now enter the large gray building via the open stairway.

Inside, you will probably want to explore the large bridge room for supplies, but once you are done, take the higher of the two yellow doors. The area beyond is guarded by ophidians and overlooks the platform with the green key. Hit the switch you find nearby, which will raise stairs to the key and also release iron liches. Dash down onto the stairs, or if you prefer to play it a little safer with the lava, backtrack to the bridge room and use the other yellow door before you collect the green key using the stairs you just raised. Before you go, do not miss the dragon claw tucked on the lowest step, then either dash back to the upper level from the top of the stairs or teleport out using the side teleports in the lava.

Now that you have the green key, open the lower green door and draw aggression from the monsters inside, including a maulotaur. The maulotaur will be easiest to deal with if you can coax it into pursuing you into the bridge room, where you can then either fight it with space to dodge or simply avoid it. Now take the higher of the green doors and you will come to a large dark room with barrels along the edges. The platform on the far side marked with banners is a lift activated by using the middle banner. If you are playing from a wand start, this would be a good time to collect the secret hellstaff from a nearby area. Now go up the lift to the corridor that loops back to the other green door, and find two banners matching the ones used to activate the lift. These are hidden doors, the one nearer the low green door having a switch to lower the blue key, the other having the key itself. Taking the blue key lowers an ambush with even more ophidians.

Returning to the bridge room and heading upstairs past the blue door leads you to a confrontation with the iron liches who were sniping you near the start. You come to their overlook where you will find another switch which you should pull. You can also drop down to the ledge containing the phoenix rod and other desirable items; the wall with the banner activates a lift back up when used. Go back to the green key area and into the better-lit room of tan brick adjoining the Tome of Power room. The exit door has been opened and you can go inside, head down the corridor to pull a switch which lowers a small ambush in the room behind you, then head back and step onto the exit teleporter if you want to take the standard exit and go to E5M4: Courtyard.

Other points of interest[edit]

The firemace can appear in this level. If it spawns, it will appear in one of six different locations:

  • early water area, tucked to the south of the platform that will be reached later through the blue door;
  • lava surrounding the green key, west side;
  • lava surrounding the green key, east side;
  • near the switch which grants access to the blue key;
  • near the standard exit;
  • just before the teleporter to the ophidian tower.

Secrets[edit]

Official[edit]

  1. Backtrack to the very start of the level any time after you have climbed to the top of the stairs leading out of that chamber. Walls have lowered revealing some items including a Bag of Holding as well as some ophidians guarding the stash. (sector 22)
  2. The iron lich monster closet that opens when collecting the yellow key is considered a secret. (sector 48)
  3. Do the steps necessary to complete the level, but instead of taking the standard exit, go back to the bridge room and find a new chamber open in the water near the blue door. Take the teleport inside and find yourself in the ophidian tower, where you can pull a switch that opens the wooden bars. In the chamber past the bars, the southeast wall is false, with gargoyles coming out from behind it. Beyond the false wall is an alternate exit which will take you to E5M9: Skein of D'Sparil. (sector 84)
  4. In the large room with barrels along the sides, past the green door, drop off of the lift onto the barrels themselves and use them as a walkway. Following the north side path leads you to an enchanted shield beyond which is a secret door allowing you to escape the lowered chamber you drop off into. (sector 87)

Non-official[edit]

  • There is a mystic urn that can be collected much like the enchanted shield, just following the barrels on the other side of the room. It is not marked as secret.
  • On the approach to the standard exit, the walls marked with a spinal column motif can be lowered, leading to a hellstaff.
  • Past the blue door at the top of the stairs, the wall with the banner is a secret door. Beyond can be found Gauntlets of the Necromancer.

Bugs[edit]

You can skip pressing the switch that activates the green key staircase and the ensuing iron lich ambush by straferunning onto the green key pillar (even if you do not make it on, there is a solid chance that you can grab it).

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) 0:39.69 Ks4 2021-08-08 heretice5m3-39_69.zip
SM speed (secret exit) 0:09.94 aconfusedhuman 2022-05-14 h5p3s009.zip Cross-listed from Pacifist
Also Reality
SM max 7:27.46 Vincent Catalaá (Peroxyd) 2006-10-07 h5m3-727.zip
BP speed (normal exit) 0:39.86 Ks4 2021-09-29 heretice5m3b-3986.zip
BP speed (secret exit) 0:10.77 Aleksey Kamenev (4shockblast) 2021-09-21 h5b3s010.zip
BP max 8:03.89 Vincent Catalaá (Peroxyd) 2007-03-09 h5f3-803.zip
NM speed (normal exit) 0:41.46 Jean-Charles Dorne (JCD) 2010-04-09 h5n3-041.zip
NM speed (secret exit) 0:55.86 Jean-Charles Dorne (JCD) 2010-04-09 h5n3s055.zip
NM 100S 0:58.86 Jean-Charles Dorne (JCD) 2021-06-18 h5x3-058.zip
Tyson
Pacifist (normal exit) 0:41.77 Insomnia 2025-02-26 h5p3-041.zip
Pacifist (secret exit) 0:09.94 aconfusedhuman 2022-05-14 h5p3s009.zip Also Reality
NoMo (normal exit) 0:35.14 Ks4 2023-07-06 h5o3-3514.zip
NoMo (secret exit) 0:09.80 Insomnia 2023-01-25 h5o3s-009.zip
NoMo 100S 03:15 Bruno Vergílio 2005-11-15 hes5.zip
Stroller (secret exit) 0:17.94 Insomnia 2023-01-25 h5o3sstr017.zip

The data was last verified in its entirety on March 3, 2025.

Deathmatch[edit]

Player spawns[edit]

This level contains four spawn points:

  1. facing west. (thing 199)
  2. facing south. (thing 200)
  3. facing west. (thing 201)
  4. facing west. (thing 202)

Statistics[edit]

Map data[edit]

Things 607
Vertices 1130*
Linedefs 1188
Sidedefs 1635
Sectors 211
* The vertex count without the effect of node building is 967.

Things[edit]

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

External links[edit]