E4M3: Sever the Wicked (Doom)

E4M3: Sever the Wicked is the third map of Thy Flesh Consumed in The Ultimate Doom. It was designed by Shawn Green, and was his first Doom level. It uses the music track "Deep into the Code."

Difficulty: Hard-very hard

Overview
The map title comes from Matthew 13:49: "So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just."

Walkthrough
When you start, there is a shotgun directly ahead. If you are having trouble, there are a few items to collect as well. You can proceed forward with a left turn to flip a switch, which raises a bridge that leads to invulnerability. Directly behind the starting point is a small drop containing a berserk, invisibility, and a backpack. If you head south and to the right, you can find a chaingun. Finally, directly ahead of the starting point and along the southern edge of the chasm is another invisibility.

Red key
You can collect the blue or red key when you start, but it is easier to get the red key first. The first step is to head down the stairs visible from the starting point.

There are two routes. The fastest route requires going up the stairs, and through the corridor. When you reach the door, some imps will attack you from behind. On the other side of the door is the platform containing the red key, but you can optionally take the left exit to retrieve a plasma gun. To get the key, jump down into the pit, and flip the switch near the pit. This lowers the red key which you can collect.

The other route requires taking the down staircase. This will lead to a room containing a lift, which lowers and reveals a teleporter and two flanking alcoves containing monsters. While you can collect ammo in this room, the teleporter is on the other side. This brings you to the southern section of the map, where you get attacked by approaching monsters. From the teleporter, you need to head north to the switch to lower the red key.

Once you have the red key, you need to return to the starting area. The southern teleport brings you to the north-west room, but a faster exit is in the western alcove. Use the left wall (marked with a different texture), which leads to a teleport heading to the starting area.

Blue key
When you have the red key, head north of the starting area for a direct route. If you don't have it, you need to jump down into the left half of the chasm, and press one of the two visible switches to lift yourself to the platform and circle around to the back.

The blue key is north of the central pillar.

Exit
With both keys, jump into the eastern half of the chasm. The red key door is at the end, which leads to a spectre and a staircase. Once you go through the blue key door, the exit should be accessible.

Secrets

 * 1) From the start, drop onto the ground in front of you and head down through the staircase. In the next room, take the upward staircase and continue along the hall until you reach a lion-faced door. Before you reach it, a door in the corner behind you (you also can open this door manually) will open, unleashing some enemies, but also allowing you to get some goodies.
 * 2) (2 & 3) In the wooden room at the far south of the map (where the red skull key lowers to) is an alcove in the west. There are four torches here, the two easternmost of which are standing on secret sectors. Unfortunately, you cannot trigger these secrets unless clipping is turned off and you walk directly through the torches.
 * 3) (4 - 22) Open the northern wall in the same alcove as secrets 2 and 3. There is a set of stairs leading up to a room with a soul sphere and some ammo. Every single sector leading up to and including the soul sphere room counts towards the level's secret score.

Bugs

 * As detailed above, it is impossible to get 100% secrets without cheating.
 * Between secrets 2 and 3 is a trigger that raises a crushing floor. However, it's activated by the use command rather than walking across it. The floor is lowered when you press the switch within the secret, or if you take the teleport.
 * A plasma gun near the exit has no difficulty flags set, and will never appear.
 * A rocket is located off-map, at one of the northeast corners.
 * In the PlayStation version of Doom, a "Texture Cache Overflow" may happen occasionally, requiring a system reset.

Routes and tricks
It is possible to complete the map in about 10 seconds by raising a bridge and then jumping across the gap from invulnerability powerup to the blue key door with precise SR50 jump.

Records
The Compet-N records for the map are: