Guide: Strange Temple

Guide based on the 02Feb Bugfix version of Cataclysm DDA.
Some of the information present here might not apply to future versions.

WARNING: This page may contain spoilers and ruin the joy of adventure. Conversely, being killed out of nowhere can also ruin the joy of your adventure. Reader discretion is expected.

A Strange Temple is an extremely rare underground tower-like construct that probably has something to do with the netherworld incursions. It's end-game territory and can contain extremely high-powered traps which are capable of drowning characters, summoning nasty critters, or igniting you.

That said, it's extremely sparsely populated and poses little to no threat to a properly-equipped character. Like most everywhere in Cata, you may be your own worst enemy.

Preparation

You'll need to locate and acquire a petrified eye in order to legitimately open the strange Temple. (They can show up in mansions, pawn shops, antique stores, or a mine finale; if you got your eye from a mine, that implies that you can handle the underground/combat aspects of a Temple.) Unless you're extremely hard up for thrills, exploration, or exotic gear, best to leave the Temple alone until you've got a petrified eye. The light pedestal takes the petrified eye, so you'll have to get one for each Temple you want to open. Otherwise, you can dig downstairs next to the metal grate to access the temple, and might require you to dig throught a wall to gain access.

Once you have located and obtained the means to open a Strange Temple, you should take a moment and make sure you're prepared for the task.

One quality is pretty much mandatory:

• The ability to see in the dark; light amp goggles are not ideal as one puzzle uses color.

Several requirements can be fulfilled in different ways:

• The ability to either fireproof oneself or dig through walls
• Unencumbered Perception 12+ and/or the ability to dig through even more walls
• Strong puzzle-solving skills, a hacksaw to breach metal bars, or (you guessed it!) just digging through the wall works too
• Some amount of combat capability: you should have a reliable way to deal with swamp-type insects and sewer snakes.

If you think wall-digging may be right for you, it's a good idea to bring along a fair supply of gasoline. About 800 units (two plastic bottles) ought to be adequate, in addition to your fully loaded jackhammer. Packing a shovel of some sort isn't necessary, but may help save on foot injuries and slow-terrain message spam.

And as with all serious undertakings in Cataclysm, it's good form to go in Full, Slaked, reasonably well-rested, in good shape and free from pain. If you're comfortable with your situation, [e]xamine that pedestal, put your Eye on it, and wait about 10 turns for the grate to open.

Let's rock.

The Interior

The Temple is about four or so stories deep; each story--barring the finale--has one major difficulty, which can be any one of:

• Fire Hall
• Color Vault
• Trap-filled Room

Fire Hall

The Fire Hall is a straightforward two-tile wide, roughly 30-tile long corridor, made decidedly more "interesting" by the random Fires that flare up throughout most of it. If you have Thermal Dissipation bionic and the stored Power to use it both now and on the way back out, feel free. You could try dodging your way down the hall but given that the fire isn't terribly predictable (nor is it entirely visible all at once, even with Full Night Vision), that's probably a bad idea. If you'd rather just avoid the entire thing, jackhammering alongside it will take about 180-200 units of gasoline, depending on whether you just rip off the wall or tunnel around it. Fireproof gear will help, but even decked out in full firefighter gear you will still die after being caught in a few fire traps and you won't have time to use bandages or first aid kits, so digging is really the best option.

Color Vault

This room is wide open and empty, barring the Vault and its switches at the far end. (Given the similarity between this and the Trap Room--at least from the stairs coming in--it may be a good idea to jackhammer diagonally forward and check for water.) Each of the four switches can be flipped by examining it, toggling a particular set of pillars up or down. In order that this not be a straightforward lock-cracking exercise, flipping switches also tends to summon swamp critters, such as giant centipedes, dermatiks, sewer snakes, and the occasional black widow. So if you're in the mood to pump up your combat skills as well as your brain, crack that sucker and we'll see you on the next floor. If you'd rather just get it over with, you can hacksaw through the metal bars or jackhammer through on the far side (where the Vault wall branches out from the room perimeter).

Flood Room

This room is about the same size as the Color Vault's room, but is filled with Raised Tiles. There's also a pool of deep water in each of the four corners of the room and two Swamp Snakes near the exit stairs. If your eyes are encumbered, take off whatever's encumbering them and check for water/traps. If you step on a Raised Tile, it takes about 10 turns for the room to flood. If you must wear eye-encumbering equipment, consider digging around the room entirely rather than risking your entire inventory, and possibly your life, to a flood.

The Payoff

The bottom floor of the Strange Temple (identifiable by the yellow "strange temple" text, rather than the usual purple) is a straightforward, non-trapped hall with an Artifact room at the far end. Head over and claim your prize(s). Please be advised that this is about the most dangerous place to test new artifacts in the game, thanks to the confined location away from your gear (and possibly behind obstacles that require bionic Power to pass), so it's probably a good idea to get outside first. Have fun!