Darrow Lake is one of the first mandatory story missions of Episode 4.
Mission Summary[]
James and Minerva must travel together, and locate Pelinal's sword for Freija.
Gameplay[]
Darrow Lake[]
Tell Minerva to follow you, go forward, take out some orcs and archers. Move along the path until you find a cave, past the wooden bridge (don't forget to pick up supplies from the crashed blue AMC crates scattered along the way). Enter the caves to find a building. Enter inside, dispose of some other Necromancer's minions and go right. Head down the stairs and go outside. Enter the building to the right. Exit the building on the other side, but watch out for the Necromancer's jumpscare (this will spawn a void totem and raise dead orcs, unless you blow up, shatter or burn them). Enter the building to the left, and continue straight to the stairs. Go down the stairs and follow the path. Eventually, jump down into the hole where the water is flowing, and you'll end up at the Grotto.
The Grotto[]
From the start go left (you can take the boat ride there is you want to). When you enter a big room, step onto the round touch-plate in the center of the room to open a big gate. Follow the path (here you can also talk to the Mouse-man and pick up some supplies, including an UDP45 and Incendiary rounds). Continue moving until you enter a big sandy cave with sea view. Climb up the wall across from where you came in to enter a dark sand-covered ancient underground town ruins full of desert nether brutes. Locate the pyramid temple, and press the switch on the bottom to light the torches. Go into the building across, and jump onto the platform in front of the throne of Jungim the Seamaster. Now backtrack to the caves with the boat (you will be ambushed by the enemies, including a Troll, on your way back).
Head across to the outside area, take out all the adversaries and jump up onto the short waterfall. Climb the cliffs (watch out for archers) until you see a building. Enter inside and take out some nether brutes. When you enter the caves just after the waterfall, go left. Follow the path until you enter an area with water. Climb the rocky wall to the left. Then at the top jump down into the hole. Then turn around, go down the stairs, and then hop across the gap. Continue down the path into some ruins, wipe out more foes, including several beholders, then back into another cave. Eventually, it'll split into two paths. The one on the left will lead you to Knight's Fall, but you'll need a cogwheel to enter. So you'll have to go right. Enter some green caves, turn left, then head straight into the blue caves. Continue going straight until you're outside. Pick up the cogwheel, then finally get back to where you saw the metal gate to Knight's Fall. Insert the cogwheel and proceed inside.
Knight's Fall[]
The first thing you'll be doing is jumping from spinning gear to gear. Then press the switch to raise the platform you're on. This will bring you up to the castle. Watch out however, as there is a Dragon flying around the castle (not to mention many other enemies). You can deal with it by using the nearby cannons and mounted bolt throwers. Leap across the lava onto the area to the right, then go up the stairs. Jump onto a broken ledge, then jump onto another broken ledge. Head inside the building, then go up the stairs until you enter a big room. Enter the hallway across the room to get the fire key. Then use it to open the door here. Watch out for yet another Naaldir's jumpscare. Make your way inside the room, then cross the bridge. Take out the enemies including several skull knights, collect the supplies and go onto the elevator which will automatically lower into a big arena with the sword in the stone in the middle. Interact with the sword to start a boss fight with a giant dragon known as Vegunth. After defeating him, the ceiling will blow up, and suddenly a starship will appear in the sky. It's not over just yet. Out of the blue... PATCOS will appear, along with a hologram of Magnus Giesler! After a dialog between James and Magnus, the fight with PATCOS will begin. The fight is almost the same as the one in the end of the EP2, only difference is that PATCOS can now also shoot homing missiles.
Secrets[]
There are a total of two secrets in this mission.
The Grotto[]
- When entering the big sandy cave with sea view, you'll need to do some platforming on the left of the opening go get a gold Amulet.
- After entering the caves from the waterfalls inside the building, you'll notice a big hole. It's pretty high but actually not too high to jump and ledge climb onto. Continue the path to find a Megasphere.
Knight's Fall[]
- (Unmarked) In the beginning there is a hidden switch you can shoot. It'll raise the first gear. Then jump onto the next gear and shoot the four switches. Then the gear will raise allowing you to jump onto a platform with a Magic Crossbow, Silver Bolts, and a Magic Upgrade Orb.
Evidence/Lore[]
There are four stone tablets throughout this mission. The inscriptions on this tablets can be deciphered with your PDU.
- Epitaph of Goldsworn the Tower and Ossaem the Temperate: right after the Wayshrine, not far from the end of the Darrow Lake.
- The sacred water flow tablet: not far away from the previous one, right near the hole that leads to the Grotto.
- The tablet about Pelinal's journey to the grotto of Jungim: just before the touchplate that opens the gate to the sandy caves area in the Grotto.
- The tablet that tells to light the torches: near the statue between the pyramid temple and Jungim's throneroom in the dark sandy cave in the Grotto.
- Cpl. Winters' from the EDF Panama log: in the Grotto, in the caves not far away from the metal gate leading to the Knight's Fall, you can find a dead EDF scout's body with some supplies.
Other Items of interest[]
- When you first find the temple after the caves in Darrow Lake, jump onto some rocks to get on top of the building. Then jump down the hole to find some Mana and Medieval James Chibi.
- There is a big wooden door it the stone building in the Darrow Lake. It opens with a hard-to-see switch nearby and leads outside to the cliff where you can find an ogre staff, some blue mana and a rope.
- When going down the stairs after the tomb in Darrow Lake, there is a dig site to your left. If you have the shovel, use it to dig up Super armour.
- After getting the cogwheel in the Grotto, go onto the islands, and look behind on the farthest rocky pillar. There is a small purple cave with a Minerva Chibi inside.
