MAP17: House of Thorn (Memento Mori)

MAP17: House of Thorn is the seventeenth level of Memento Mori. It was designed by Eric Sambach, and uses the music track "Dreadnaught" by Mark Klem.

Walkthrough

 * Letters in italics refer to marked spots on the map. Sector numbers in boldface are secrets which count toward the end-of-level tally.

Other points of interest
The megaspheres in the dungeon at the very northwest of the map seem to be reachable on multiplayer mode only, but can be collected in single-player mode too. There are six skull switches, therefore abbreviated by S and numbered from (left) south to (right) north. On entering that dungeon you are facing the two central switches (S#3 and S#4). Each switch lowers a lift of the "stairs" with an item on it. Be fast, as the lifts stay lowered just for short while. Push S#3 (to lower the lift in front of S#6), S#4 and S#6 (from the lowered lift - simply push the wall below it to lower the lift in front of S#2). Run to the lowered lift in front of S#1 and step over on the lift in front of S#2. No need to hurry anymore, wait for the lift to raise. S#2 lowers the lift with the northern megasphere, so it is pretty useless for you. So instead step on the banister south of the lift you are on and walk over to the southern megasphere.

Do the same procedure again mirror-inverted to get the northern megasphere.

Official

 * 1) Inside the dungeon you start the level in, the southwestern cellar contains a lantern on a wall; shoot this wall to reveal a box of shotgun shells (sector 173).
 * 2) When the elevator west of the dungeon is lowered, the southeastern wall can be walked through, leading into a compartment (sector 309) containing a soul sphere.
 * 3) The sector containing the switch (sector 316) in secret #2 that lowers the elevator is also marked as secret. However, it is impossible to register due to being too small for the player to enter.
 * 4) Upon leaving the elevator, enter the marble room in the northeast of the house and press on the demonic face at the south. It will open a portion of the eastern wall (sector 253) to reveal a blur artifact.
 * 5) In the library where the blue keycard resides, press on the bookcase west of the couch. It will unveil a secret room (sector 113) behind the desk containing two chaingunners, (a backpack on easy and medium skill levels,) a shotgun, a chaingun and a super shotgun.
 * 6) After descending either elevator in the stone area following the yellow key door, the wall east of the eastern torch is covered in muck. Press on this wall and the platform (sector 233) between the elevators will lower, allowing the soul sphere resting upon it to be obtained.
 * 7) After descending either elevator in the stone area following the yellow key door, a portion of the northern wall is covered in muck. Press on this wall and it will lower to reveal a blue armor (sector 296).

Non-official

 * 1) The fireplace inside the house contains a berserk pack. However, the floor inside will heavily hurt you.
 * 2) At the main staircase the lowest sector of the eastern handrail is a lift that allows climbing onto the banisters. From there you can jump over to the western handrail at the top of which a wall to the southwest can be walked through, leading into an alcove containing a megasphere.

Bugs
Due to a secret being impossible to reach, you can only obtain 85% Secrets on this level.

Routes and tricks
The switch that raises the staircase in the northeast of the map can be flipped early when the elevator around it is lowered, as long as you are facing the linedef the switch is on and within activation range. Walk against the east or west sides of the platform the switch is on, and face the linedef before triggering it.

Although the intended method to obtain secret #6 is to lower the platform it is on by pressing a hidden switch, you can also take the elevators to either side of it, and strafejump onto the platform from there.

The megaspheres in the room west of the red keycard are meant to be obtained in cooperative multiplayer gameplay only, but it is possible to acquire them in single-player. To do so, flip the two front switches, press one of the first inner switches, and then run to the second platform lowered on the other side. Wait for it to raise, and then walk onto the outer edge. From there, you can walk onto the platform the megasphere rests on and obtain it. You can do so for both sides. However, because it takes up more time than is needed to finish the level, this is only used in episode and full-game runs, where it is used to obtain one megasphere in preparation for the next level.

Current records
The Compet-N records for the map are: