1 - Arrival & Light Pillar Puzzle

Level 3: Pillars of Light is an interesting one. It has a good mix of different types of puzzles, and you'll have to get through some very difficult combat towards the end. The skills you've built up on the previous levels will be put to the test here.

This first room already has a puzzle in it. The clue on the wall mentions how a "pillar of light stands alone in the night." You might also notice some Torch sconces along the walls and an existing lit Torch. In order to open the door, simply remove all the Torches from the east and west walls, and place three in the sconces on the central pillar. You may need to backtrack to obtain a few Torches if you don't have any on you.


2 - Hallway

This hallway is inhabited by Crowerns. Note that there is a Frost Bomb in the first alcove, just to the south of the door, which you might want to hang onto for a more difficult encounter. You may also come under fire by a Skeleton Archer in the next room (3).


3 - Puzzle Room

There's a Skeleton Archer and a Crowern or two in this room. The Skeleton Archer is equipped with Frost Arrows, which deal a little extra damage, but you'll also be able to claim some for yourself when you kill him. To reach around the pits, take the path south below the central column in the room.

When all is quiet, you'll likely notice a locked gate... but there are those pits in the way, preventing your looting. Search the central structure and you'll notice there's a switch on its west side. Pressing it will open a door on the south side of it. Step inside and you'll notice a Shuriken in an alcove, and a hidden switch on the opposite wall. Pressing that one will open the wall in front of you, as well as the gate across the pits. What to do? The Shuriken is a clue - throw it across the pits, and it'll land on a floor switch, allowing you across. With the pits closed, you can claim your prize: a Short Bow and some Broadhead Arrows!

Also note that you may want to fall down the pits in this room. They'll drop you to a level below, where you'll be able to fight some Giant Snails, collect a Tar Bead and a Skull for any Minotaur party members you have. To leave it, flip the switch on the wall inside, which will activate a portal taking you back up.


4 - Intersection & Locked Door

There are two doors in this hall, one key-locked and one gate. The gate can be opened using a switch on the wall, but the door requires the Brass Key from (5).


5 - Skeleton Battle & Brass Key

In this room you'll have a slightly challenging fight against a few Skeleton Warriors. Try your best to avoid being cornered. If you're crafty, one of the floor switches in the room will open the pit in the middle, and you can use it to drop your enemies to the level below (although you won't get XP unless you jump down to finish them off). If you're finding this fight difficult, you can also approach it differently: drop an object on the floor switch, and then open the door to fight the enemies one-by-one.

Since the way in is closed, you'll want to find a way back in. Search the northwest alcove for a lever; this will open the southwest wall, allowing you back to the hallway at (4) - be sure to search it for two Tar Beads and a Baked Maggot. Also be sure to check the southern alcove for a Shuriken on the floor, and the northeast one for a Flask and a Cave Nettle plant. Of course, the real reason you're here is for the Brass Key in the southeast alcove, which you need for the door at (4).

Last, take note that the pit in the room takes you to the same location as detailed at (3).


6 - Toorum's Note #1

Check this alcove for a note on the floor, left by someone named Toorum. Toorum, it seems, is a previous occupant of the dungeon, and his notes sometimes contain clues on how to proceed. There are 16 of these notes which count towards the Toorum's Notes statistic - see our Toorum's Notes page for more details.


7 - Crystal of Life

A Crystal of Life awaits you in this chamber. You'll note that there's a stairway leading down just across them - that's your goal. So close, but so far.

Note that falling down the pits here will take you to a small room with a Herder in it, as well as some Leather Greaves on the floor. To return to Level 3, take the portal.


8 - Giant Spiders & Secret Rooms

Around this room, you'll find a couple of Giant Spiders. These guys are tough, fast and ugly. Although they don't do tons of direct damage, their venom has a chance of poisoning your party, which will cause slow, persistent damage that can be fatal. Exercise extreme caution around these monsters.

When the threat is gone, turn your attention to the switches and pits in this room. One is semi-hidden on the wall, while the other is a standard switch, but has a pit in front of it. To press the second switch, press the first to close the pits, and quickly dash over. Doing so will open a wall to the southwest, taking you to a secret room containing a Tome of Health and a Shuriken.

There is another secret accessible from this room, however. If you fall down the pits, you'll wind up in a fairly large area a level below. Inside you'll find a locked gate, three floor switches (two behind the gate), a switch on the wall to the east, and two portals above the floor switches inside the gate. To get past the gate, you'll need to first get rid of the portals. Drop an object on the first floor switch at the west side of the area, and press the switch on the wall on the east side. Then, drop two objects on the floor switches inside the gate (one through the gate itself, the other through the bars on the east side) and the gate will open. Your reward is a Serpent Bracer, which will come in handy against the Giant Spiders on Level 3.

But wait, there's more! There is, in fact, a third secret within this secret. Remember those portals you turned off? Use the eastern wall switch to re-enable one, and step through it (now that the gate is open, you can reach it) to find yourself in another secret room. Inside you'll find a Scroll of Invisibility, a high-level Air Magic spell that will let you avoid enemies. Awesome! To return, use the lever on the wall and take the west portal back up to Level 3.


9 - Portal Puzzle

In this room, there are several portals that move in sequence around in a circle, making it difficult for you to get around. In order to pass here, you'll need to do some precise and quick footwork. Grab the Rock from the floor nearby if you wish, or ready another throwing object, then quickly follow the teleporter around the circle. Face east, and when you get the chance, throw your object across the central pit and it will land on top of a floor switch, sealing the pit. Next, stand on top of the new platform (the portals won't touch you here) and sprint for the east hall when you get the chance.

From here, you'll have some respite. Grab a Poison Bomb from the nearby alcove (and take note of the third Iron Door across the northern pit), then turn back to the platform in the middle of the room. You need to open the gate to the south by pressing the floor switch in the southwest corner. Ready an object and, in time with the moving portals, step west, drop your object on the switch, and quickly step back to the middle, then step south as quickly as you can and run through the gate. You should be able to make it just in time before it closes behind you.

Note that the pits in this room will take you to the same area described at (8).


10 - Lever

The lever on this wall will open the gate to the portal room, allowing you to get back and forth without having to redo the puzzle each time.


11 - Collapsed Tunnel & Spider Eggs

You'll find a collapsed tunnel here, stopping you from continuing this way. Check nearby for some spider eggs to smash up, and then search their remains for two more Broadhead Arrows.


12 - Locked Door

You'll need two Keys to get through this door, one from (13) and the other from (14).


13 - Spider Room

There are a ton of Giant Spiders in and around this room. This fight can be very difficult - try to take the enemies on one-by-one by luring them into the hallway outside to reduce damage coming your way. If you haven't brewed any up, a few Potions of Antivenom (Cave Nettle and Flask required) are very useful here. Otherwise, don't feel ashamed if you have to run back to the Crystal of Life at (7) a couple of times!

Once the room is clear, smash up the spider eggs and search the room to find two Blooddrop Blossoms, a Sandmole Hide Vest, a Loincloth, a Longsword, and, in one of the alcoves, an Iron Key needed for the door at (12).


14 - Sacrificial Chamber & Secret

This quick and easy puzzle can be found just north of (13). You'll notice a few things here: a closed floor pit, a switch on the nearby wall, and text reading "I demand a sacrifice." Creepy. What you'll need to do is place an item (any item) on the closed pit, and press the switch. Turn back, and you'll spot some Silk Hose and an Iron Key on the floor, as well as whatever item you sacrificed originally nearby. The Iron Key is, of course, needed for the door at (12).

There's a quick and easy secret here. Thought the Silk Hose were a bit peculiar? Drop them on the panel and press the switch, and you'll be granted the Nomad's Gloves for your offering.


15 - Inverse Pillar Puzzle & Iron Door

This room has a Giant Spider and some eggs inside it - dispose of them. You'll notice that this room bears a striking resemblance to the one back at the level's entrance (1), and it shares a similar puzzle as well. Remember the Iron Door you saw near (9)? To access it, you'll need to effectively perform the reverse of what you did before: rather than lighting the central column, place two Torches in the sconces on the east and west sides of the room. Doing so will open a secret passage which opens the Iron Door for you. To actually reach it, you'll need to backtrack to the portal room (9) and, if there's still a pit in the way, remove whatever object you may have placed on the nearby floor switch. Step inside the door and grab the Huntsman's Cloak as your reward (there's also a Cave Nettle on the floor just outside the Iron Door).

Note that to leave this room through the north door, you'll have to remove at least one of the Torches from the wall sconces, as it will have closed if you solved the puzzle above.


16 - Tunnels & Gate Puzzle

Yet more tunnels full of Giant Spiders. There are a few things of interest here. At the ends of the west hallway, you'll find a Tar Bead and Shuriken on the floor, one in each corner. On the south column's west face (near the map marker above) you'll find a switch to open the door at the end, but only for a few seconds. On the north face of the same column, there's another hidden wall switch which will open a wall in the tunnel, releasing a Giant Spider to kill.

Since the way around to the north takes too long to reach the gate, you'll need to make use of the new passage you opened to get to the gate in time. A switch on the other side of the gate will keep it open permanently.


17 - Supplies

Check the floor of this room for a Grim Cap and Boiled Crag Beetle. Delicious!


18 - Tunnels

More tunnels infested with Giant Spiders to slog through. Search the floor (near the map marker above) to find some Leather Gloves.


19 - Secret Room, Gold Key & Secret Stairs

As you explore the tunnels near (20), you might hear the sound of a door opening in the distance. Backtrack to this marked location and you will find that the wall has opened, revealing two Giant Spiders. One of those Giant Spiders holds a Gold Key, which you'll need later at (25). Otherwise, you can search the floor for two Tar Beads.

Note that since the door seems to open on its own, the Giant Spider carrying the Gold Key may have wandered away by the time you visit the room.

There is one more secret in this room, and it's a big one. Search for a hidden switch on the wall of this room, and press it to reveal a staircase (C) leading down to an isolated area of Level 4, the "Slime Dungeon." Please see the Level 4 page for more details.


20 - Spider Note & Round Shield

Check the floor near the Torch on the wall for another one of Toorum's notes (which does not count towards the Toorum's Notes statistic). This one is a warning about the Giant Spiders in the area. Bit late for the warning. Search the alcove just south of this position to found a Round Shield on the floor, an upgrade from the Legionary Shields you might be using.


21 - Grim Cap

Check the floor at this location for a tasty Grim Cap.


22 - Supplies

Check this room for a Wooden Box. It contains a lot of goodies: two Tar Beads, three Cave Nettle plants, a Scroll of Shock, a Fire Bomb, Mole Jerky, and a scroll that suggests an alchemical formula using Grim Cap and Blooddrop Blossom ("witch flower"), but lacks the third ingredient. The final one is Cave Nettle (and a Flask, of course). This will produce a Sulphurous Potion, a useful concoction that allows its imbiber to deal more damage at the expense of defense.


23 - Spider Ambush

This room is full of Giant Spiders. What may not seem obvious is that opening one of the doors opens both of them. This means that there's a very good chance you'll be attacked from behind if you focus too much on the enemies directly in front of you. To avoid getting surrounded, as soon as you open the door, run back to a more defensible position. You may lose one or two party members here even if you're careful - be sure to have some Antivenom on hand. When the Giant Spiders are dead, you can search near the spider eggs for some Cave Nettle to treat your toxins with.


24 - Spectral Relay

This room contains an interesting puzzle. You'll notice a locked door, a round receptacle on the wall, a floor switch, and some iron bars blocking another floor switch. Stepping on the switch causes a white spectral orb to fire from a demon statue behind the bars, and you need it to reach the receptacle to open the door. To do so, drop an object through the bars on the floor switch, then step on the other switch and run out of the way so that the spectral orb reaches it unhindered. Before leaving through the now-open door, search near the demon statue for a tasty Baked Maggot.


25 - Stairs Down, Toorum's Note #2 & Gold Key Door

Hurrah! You'll recognize this area as the same one you saw from the Crystal of Life all the way back at (7). Pick up the Leather Cap on the floor to reveal another one of Toorum's Notes. Read it to learn that he dropped some Leather Greaves down the pit nearby (you may have already retrieved it, if not, see (7) for details). You can form a bridge across the pits by flipping the switch on the north wall near the stairs.

But what about that door, the one with the golden keyhole? Well, it requires a Gold Key. You may have already found it back at (19). If not, you'll want to backtrack there, though by this point, the Giant Spiders released may have wandered far, so you may have to simply explore the entire maze. You may have already killed the correct one, in fact - be sure to search the floors thoroughly. When you return, use the Gold Key with the lock and you'll be able to obtain the Knoffer Mace and a pair of Ring Boots.

When you're ready to proceed, rest up at the Crystal of Life, and delve down to Level 4: Archives.