Game: Doom 2
Pwad: Deus Vult II
Filename: dvii-22-0550-bn.lmp
Skill and Style: 4 (UV-Max)
Map Level: 22 (You Shall Not Pass!)
Exe/Port used: GLBoom 2.4.8.1 (PRBoom Plus) -complevel 9

Totals:
Kills       100%
Items      100%
Secrets    100% and (Time- 5:50)

Comments:
This level is amazing...and it's concept also makes the level a massive bitch if you aren't quick and skilled enough.

The idea is that you're on a "timer".  Not one that kills you mysteriously after some set amount of time though.

The "timer"...Flying Barons.  You've run out of time when they kill you (Or perhaps the other enemies waiting in the level will do that too).

They're meant to be like the Balrog from Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring...impossible to kill at first, but then you reach the end and suddenly it's plausible to kill.

No, Gandalf will not be able to help you sadly.  A BFG and invul. sphere will though.

The catch?  They're both located at the end of the map.  That means you have to get there without being gang banged by the Flying Barons.

Thankfully the path you take is a linear one.  You just have to be very very fast in killing all that stands in your way.

A big help comes after getting past the first set of manco platforms.  You'll run over a new weapon called Sauron's Gauntlets.  They replace the chainsaw and are only located in this map AFAIK...and for good reason.  They can inflict tons of damage...enough to drop stuff like barons and archies in seconds.

Once you get them, there's no need to switch to anything else for some time as they will be good enough to kill whatever gets in your way.

The trouble starts after getting past the two archies that try to ambush you in one of the curvy hallways.  Remember those Flying Barons?  They get close enough that you'll have to be very quick about making progress or suffer a brutally painful death.  If quick enough, you can kill the bull demons, manco, and HWDs in the next curvy passage and have enough time to lure some of the Flying Barons away from where you need to go.

More fun and surprises later, you'll hit the summit.  A welcome pair of Soulspheres on top of each other are here as well as tons of BFGs likewise stacked on top of each other further in...and a few angry cybies.

In order to open up the exit and get the invul. sphere on the other side as well, you need to stand on the 2 switches with megaarmors on them.  Get the cybies to infight with the Flying Barons to make this easier.

Once you reach the invul...you can begin the slaughter of the Flying Barons.  Thanks to some outside help A.K.A some voodoo dolls, you'll get enough invul. spheres and cell ammo to waste all of them.  The cybies will likely be dead or close to it by this time, another reason why Flying Barons are so deadly.

Once everything is dead, run and exit the level.

All in all, I'm happy with the run.  I did a crappy 6:26 about an hour or so before this run, decided that was going to be it and packaged it all up, ready to be sent off.

About 20 minutes ago I just felt like trying again knowing full well my sanity was close to broken (Took me over 200 attempts in the span of 2 days to get that 6:26 run).  Took less than 20 attempts to score a 5:xx run, my target time.

Still, there's a few rough edges here.  It's common to have a few FBs get blown back to other side of the map, making them quite tricky to kill.

...Or, in the case of one FB in this run, stuck and I couldn't get it to move out.  Thank god my gamble with using the RL payed off here or I would have been pissed.

A good time I'd say should be around 15 or so seconds faster than this...depending on how lucky you get with FBs that are blown way back.

Brian "Anima Zero" Nesser
Bri8527@comcast.net