Nekravol

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Doom Eternal missions
Nekravol
The Ancient Gods, Part One
The Ancient Gods, Part Two

Nekravol is the tenth level of Doom Eternal. Having retrieved the Crucible from Taras Nabad, the Doom Slayer travels to the Nekravol intending to use its Argent energy transmitter to reach Urdak and stop the Khan Maykr from resurrecting the Icon of Sin. The Nekravol is actually divided into two parts - the first part sees the Slayer gaining access to Nekravol's Citadel and traversing its lower levels, while the second part sees the Slayer climbing to the top of the facility to reach the transmitter.

This level is a point of no return - upon entering the slipgate to it, the Fortress of Doom cannot be accessed again until post-game.

"With the Crucible blade forged anew, you begin your journey to the Khan Maykr's heavenly realm of Urdak to stop her from gaining full control of the slumbering Icon of Sin. To reach the Maykr world you must pass through Nekravol, City of the Damned. At the core of Nekravol towers the accursed Citadel, wherein human souls are sorted, tortured, and converted into Argent energy. At the tower's peak, Argent is transmitted directly to Urdak, providing you with the only known point of entry to the Maykr city."
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Lore[edit]

The Nekravol is a titanic Hell city, referred to both as a factory and a fortress. It centers around the Citadel, which serves a very important role: the creation of Argent energy for Urdak.

The creation of Argent starts with the sorting of Hell's victims by Kalibas the Sightless Judge. Humans who are deemed unworthy to be processed further are discarded into the Blood Swamps. Those who are worthy are taken further into the facility and tortured until their spirits are broken, at which point their souls are extracted by the Evulsor and turned into Hell essence, while their bodies are dumped in the wastelands of Hell, where they transform into demons over time. The Hell essence is then combined with Wraith energy to create Argent energy, which is then transported to Urdak. The factory uses both Sentinel and Maykr technology as it was built by Argenta slaves under the guidance of the Khan Maykr and the Hell priests.

Walkthrough[edit]

Objectives[edit]

Battle through the soul factory
Destroy the Eyes of Kalibas (0/4)

Essentials[edit]

Follow the platforms over the lava until you get to some stairs, kill the arachnotron and two cyber-mancubi waiting at the top. Turn right at the top of the stairs and leap over two fireball launchers, then climb up the blocks in front of you - time your climb to the top step carefully, as flames will rise from it at regular intervals and you need to time your movements to catch a monkey bar as it rises. Swing to a climbable wall and look right to leap into a tunnel, go round the corner to deal with a pinky, carcass and prowler then continue forward until you drop down a hole. Continue following the path until you reach a large outdoor area then turn right and head towards a large gate, where a tyrant will teleport in to block your way - this super-heavy demon will bombard you with rockets and seeker waves, but is slow to turn so dash as much as possible to evade its fire; there is an Onslaught powerup above the arena that will help you inflict more damage on the tyrant as well. As a matter of fact, this may actually be one of the easiest tyrants to kill in the game because of the Onslaught powerup. Once the tyrant falls, dispose of the other demons that teleport in then stand on the green pressure pad that appears in front of the gates to open them.

Go through the gates and drop into the pit behind it, then press the skull switch in front of you to release an imp and zombie followed by a baron of Hell. Shoot the green switch next to the doorway that the baron came through to open a nearby gate, quickly step through and strike the punchable block behind it to push it out - you must now shoot the switch again to open the gate, go round to the block and jump to a climbable wall overhead before the block retracts. Once you get to the top, turn right to step into a cage that will carry you to the chamber of Kalibas. Kalibas's brain is protected by a shield, and the four columns around it will open every so often to reveal eyes which shoot plasma projectiles at you; you must shoot the eyes while they are exposed, but stay on the move as the platforms you are standing on will fall into the lava and pain elementals and gargoyles will enter the area as well. Once all four eyes are destroyed, the shield around the brain will fall; punch it to destroy Kalibas and reveal a launcher leading up to a climbable wall.

Go up the slope and look to your left to see a green switch; these switches control some of the crusher traps in this area and can be used to instantly kill demons (needed for the Tricks and Traps challenge). Go past the first crusher and head up the slope, then quickly shoot the button at the top to bring down another crusher on some more demons, including two spectres guarding a mastery token. Head up the slope leading out of this room to find a Praetor suit point, then drop into the pit next to it and quickly dash forward to grab a climbable wall. As soon as you climb the wall, use the launcher in front of you to get to the floor above and find an Argent cell next to another crusher trap; several heavy demons will spawn in this area, starting with a dread knight and ending with an arch-vile that spawns on the first floor by some bladed columns. Once the arena is clear, go back to the second floor to return to the pit you traversed earlier, head for a climbable wall on your right and use it to reach the top-most floor.

Kill the mancubus at the top of the nearby slope and head up it to find some more climbable walls around a column with fire jets; time your jumps past the jets, then when you get to the other side look left to see some cages full of humans rising from below. Ride one of these cages up to the floor above, then carefully walk past two crushers to enter a hall with a buff totem, which is on a column to your right as you enter the room and can only be reached by following the overhead ledges. Once the totem is destroyed, dispose of the arachnotron, cyber-mancubus and pinky then look at the human cages rising from the floor in this room - ride the right-hand cage up until it retracts into the wall and quickly leap across to a climbable wall, then jump left to land in an enclosed space with a skull switch. Pressing the switch will activate two crushers on the opposite side of the hall, so time your run past them then turn left to face a marauder approaching your position; kill it along with a whiplash then go up some stairs to a second skull switch that will open a large barrier of horizontal bars.

With the barrier open, head past it to a final arena that is overlooked by a statue of Olivia Pierce. You will have to kill various heavy demons, culminating in a battle with two Doom hunters - this is your only opportunity to get the Doom Hunt challenge, so pick your moment to attack carefully. Once the arena is clear, use the monkey bars to swing up to a pillar between the entrance doorways then turn left to jump to a passage containing three crushers as well as fire jets; after running this gauntlet, collect the Praetor suit point ahead then turn left to get to the back of Olivia's statue. Punch the statue to make it crash through the floor, then drop into the hole to finish the level.

Challenges[edit]

  • Die by the Sword - Kill two demons with the Crucible
  • Tricks and Traps - Kill eight demons using crusher traps
  • The Doom Hunt - Perform a "left-side" glory kill on the Doom hunter

Secret encounters[edit]

  1. From the second Praetor suit point you will arrive at a pit; a gore nest can be found in a tunnel under the platform you are standing on. You will have ten seconds to kill a Hell knight and a mecha zombie.
  2. After opening the barrier to the final arena, backtrack past the first pair of moving crushers to find that a gate leading to a gore nest has opened. You will have 30 seconds to kill a baron and two zombies.

Special items[edit]

The automap station in this level is just below the second Praetor suit point.

  • Three extra lives
    1. After defeating the first tyrant and opening the gate it was guarding, use the monkey bars either side of the gate to swing up to a third monkey bar next to a barred window. As you pass the window, look left to grab a climbable wall and head to the top then jump off to enter the opening on your left. A 1UP can be found here.
    2. After passing the third crusher trap and reaching the top floor of the nearby pit, turn left at a T-junction and head a slope to a 1UP.
    3. A 1UP is on top of a pillar in the final arena, reachable using the monkey bars.
  • Two Argent cells
    1. By the third crusher trap.
    2. Just before the final arena.
  • Two Crucible charges
    1. In the same room as the "Famine Mode" cheat code
    2. In the final arena.

Collectibles[edit]

  • One Sentinel crystal
    1. Turn left at the top of the staircase near the start and leap over some fireball launchers to find the crystal.
  • Three Praetor suit points
    1. After climbing up the slope past Kalibas, turn right to find a path leading to a Night Sentinel spirit.
    2. A Night Sentinel is at the top of the slope past the second crusher trap.
    3. The final Night Sentinel is encountered just before you reach Olivia's statue.
  • Two Codex pages
    1. "Nekravol - Part I" - after getting inside the citadel, follow the passage until you have to drop down a hole. Jump across to the ledge in front of you instead and follow it to the page.
    2. "Fuel the Eternal Flame - Part I" - after killing the marauder, go to the end of the passage it came from to find the page.
  • Three toys
    1. "Baron of Hell" - after collecting the first extra life, drop down the hole next to it to find a question mark.
    2. "Gladiator" - from the first secret encounter, climb out of a hole to find a question mark.
    3. "Doom Hunter" - after climbing up the first set of human cages you will see two crushers in front of you. There is a cracked wall on the right side of the first crusher; dash through it to find a question mark.
  • One cheat code
    1. "Famine Mode" - in the area where you fight the marauder are some human cages rising from the floor. As a cage passes you, drop down the shaft to find a room containing a question mark.
  • One album
    1. "KEEN - You've Got to Eat Your Vegetables!!" - by the gore nest for the second secret encounter.
  • Two mastery tokens
    1. In the room with the second crusher trap, guarded by spectres.
    2. In the same place as the "Doom Hunter" toy.

Areas / screenshots[edit]

Trivia[edit]

  • In the Hellified region of Exultia, the Nekravol can be seen in the distance.
  • At the end of the level is a large statue of Olivia Pierce. The Slayer knocks it over to reveal a path to the upper levels of the Citadel.
  • The Tricks and Traps challenge may be named after the Doom II level of the same name.
  • The design of the Nekravol was strongly influenced by traditional depictions of the Tower of Babel, including especially The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Tower of Babel by Lucas van Valckenborch.
  • Depictions of the Nekravol in concept art and on in-game album covers include a carving in relief of the same beastly pentagram which makes up the Demon Keys of Doom 64. This detail is not apparent while in the level itself, however.