Dark Halls
Items in this room:
Gold Coins: 11 | Keys: 4 | Potions: 3 | Gems: 1
Ahead of you is a four way intersection with a skeleton in in. In the center of the intersection is another pressure plate on the floor that will lower a spike trap, so use caution when traversing that area. Walk to the intersection and turn left. Follow this hallway to the Odin pedestal. There's a Message Sphere room on the right if you want some lore, in addition to a set of Gold Coins inside a barrel. If you made this pit stop, then return to the hall and continue toward the large hanging tapestry at the end.
This section looks to be a dead end, but there are a few things we can do here. First off, burn the tapestry to reveal a recess containing some Gold Coins and a Red Potion. Using Odin Vision here will reveal two things. The first, and most obvious, is the glowing magical symbol on the wall across from him. The second thing you can spot is an item highlight on the floor to Odin's right. Back in your own vision, check out the area to the left of the pedestal (clearing out a cobweb in the Oculus version) to find a Lever casually leaning against the wall. Now shoot the wall opposite the pedestal with a fireball to dispel the illusory wall.
This opens the path forward, but has the unfortunate side effect of exposing you to another magic missile hallway. Quickly bring your Shield up and head to the end of the hall and duck into the area to the right of the blue circle to stand beside an Odin pedestal. Face away from the wall to spot a doorway leading to a new area. As soon as you reach this point, you'll be attacked by a Crawler. You should be able to take it out before it damages you, but you can always Dash past it to give yourself some extra breathing room. Once the enemy is dispatched, continue into the new area.
You're on a thin stone bridge spanning an endlessly deep chasm. Straight ahead of you is a Save Point in a new hall, and to the left is a fancy looking table with a large mirror. The table is on the other side of the chasm, so we'll have to do some work to get there. Running ahead slightly to save is recommended (watch out for the Crawler that charges you as soon as you enter the hallway!) just in case. To get across, you just need to Dash from pillar to pillar. As soon as you step on one, however, it begins to sink so you'll need to be quick. They are spaced close enough together that you can Dash to every other one, thus leaving you a handy path to return to the bridge. But we'll be taking an alternate path back, so use as many pillars as you want.
Once you've dashed across to the landing with the table, you'll hear a familiar screech behind you. Turn around to see two Big Mouths rising from the depths. You don't have much room to safely maneuver here, so quickly raise your Shield to avoid the incoming fireballs. Blast them both, then turn back to the table. Sitting upon its surface are a couple books and a dwarf bust. If you look in the mirror, however, you can see a Rune Tablet on the surface and a Small Key on a page of the open book. Grab both items, then steel your nerves for the return trip. To the left of the table is the remains of a wooden walkway. Step out onto it and look at the wall to find a length of rope nailed to it.
Grab onto this rope and move, hand over hand, across its length until you reach some wooden scaffolding. Grab onto this and then continue left using the planks from a couple more sets of scaffolds. You'll reach another rope, and then one more set of scaffolding. The inclination will be to Grab onto the rope to the left, but ignore that for now and climb down the scaffold instead to reach a small ledge with a chest on it. As soon as your feet touch the ground, a pair of Big Mouths will approach from beneath the bridge. Defend and defeat as usual. Once their gone, unlock the chest with the Small Key you just picked up for a Red Potion. Now climb back up the scaffold and use the rope on the left to return to the bridge.
Make your way to the Save Point for a much needed checkpoint. If you skipped this earlier, watch out of the Crawler. Zap the nearby barrel for some Gold Coins (this is in a different spot in the PCVR version, so don't panic if you don't see a barrel). Walk down this new hallway toward the large gate. Shoot the crate for some Gold Coins and then look near the skeleton to spot another Lever on the floor. There's a non-loose lever nearby, Grab that and move it to raise the gate. The intersection just past the gate should look familiar, especially with the Message Sphere looming in the distance. Turn right at the intersection and make your way back to the entrance.
There's an empty lever device against the wall between the intersection and the Save Point. Use one of the Levers on it, then Grab the lever and move it to the right. The spike trap in the intersection will lower down. Pick up the Rune Tablet sitting on top of it, then turn right and approach the gate. Use your last Lever in the nearby lever device and once more move the lever to the right to open the gate.
Just past the gate is another intersection. Straight ahead is another gate, so we can't go that way yet. To the right is a crate against the wall with some Gold Coins in it (non-Steam version) and to the left is a magic missile circle. Put up your Shield and start down the hall. About halfway, shoot the barrel on the right for more Gold Coins (again, PCVR moved this one). At the end of the hall turn right and enter a safer hallway.
Well, safe except for the two Crawlers that charge you from the opposite end. You should have plenty of room to zap them before they can reach you. Using Odin Vision here will show the presence of another illusory wall across from his pedestal. Zap this away and enter the new room.
Another large chasm room that can be crossed with sinking pillars, but this time there's a magic missile circle there to harass you. Raise your Shield and quickly Dash across the pillars to the table on the other side. Don't worry about trying to preserve any, just get to the table as fast and safe as you can. Once in front of the table, you'll trigger a pressure plate the causes the magic missile circle to be blocked so we won't have to worry about that anymore. Odin Vision in this room shows a hidden chest just below him, an item highlight across the chasm from that, and a skull and crossbones on the center of the table near you. Pick up the Blue Potion in plain view, then use the mirror once again to spot a Rune Tablet and a Small Key. Leave the book with the glowing red emblem alone like Odin's eyes warned you to.
Now to collect the hidden chest and highlighted item. I always go for the item first, but you can do these in any order. To get the item, we need to work our way across the pillars to the ledge on the right. If that's the direction you approached the table from, this may seem a daunting task. Yet all hope is not lost! Above the door is a Runic Plate that you can blast to restore the pillars. Once the pillars are back, make your way to the ledge on the right. Atop some of the rubble is a Large Key. Shoot the Runic Plate if necessary and make your way across to the other ledge. Shoot the area indicated by Odin to reveal the hidden chest and get some Gold Coins. Now just Dash back to the doorway to return to the hallway.
Turn right and head toward the large hanging tapestry. Burn it and then pick up the Rune Tablet that is revealed (tucked into the grate behind the skeleton). Turn around and head left down the hall toward the blue magic missile circle (with your Shield up, of course) and duck into the hall on the right at the end. Move the nearby lever to the left to raise the gate. Step through and dispatch the Big Mouth that attacks from further down.
Walk all the way to the far end of this hallway (moving around the lowered spike trap) and then turn left. This is the first magic missile hall, but luckily a gate lowered behind you as you traversed it earlier. This allows us to calmly approach the chest and open it up for some more Gems. Now head back to the lowered spike trap and make a left turn to reach yet another chasm.
There are four pedestals here with square indentations on top. Place the four Runic Tablets into these to lower the covers in front of the magic missile circles, raise the door across the pit, and raise some pillars. Dash across the pillars to reach the landing on the other side. If you realize you forgot something, there's a Runic Plate across the way above the doorway you can zap to raise the pillars once more.
You can use Odin Vision to spot a highlighted brick to the right of the chest. Press this to reveal a hidden compartment in the pedestal behind you, which contains a Small Key. Use that key in the chest for some Gold Coins. There are also two pots and a barrel you can break here for three more sets of Gold Coins (in the PCVR version, there are three breakable object that were moved here from other areas of the room making for six coins found by destroying stuff). That's all we need here, so go on through the exit door to the next room.
