Quake II/Outer Courts

Armament
By this point in the game, you should have collected all the available weapons and have plenty of ammunition, although there is no shortage of ammo to be picked up in this level. You should also be bringing full or near-full Armor from the previous level.

Unit objective
The primary objective for the Palace Area unit is to neutralize the Strogg leader's communication system. This means shutting down a Communications Laser, which turns off force fields in doorways through which you pursue The Makron to a Matter Transporter and through it to his base on an asteroid where you fight him in single combat.

Level objective
The objective for this level is to find the Data Spinner and take it to the Lower Palace.

Strategy
You will have to fight a lot of enemies in this level. There are lots of Icarus, a good few Guards and several Gladiators. There are Tanks in the Palace building. You'll meet some Medics if you back-track. Not all of the enemies are just there when you first enter a new area. Some appear over the mountains or come out of previously closed areas when you pass a certain point and your back may be towards them. Always be on your guard for new threats from behind and above, particularly when you first make your way along the causeway over the lava into the palace building. Some enemies also appear in areas that you've previously cleared, so if you go back for something again watch out for new threats.

It is best to start this level with full health and plenty of Armor. There is Armor to be picked up, but things aren't going to get any easier in the remaining levels, so don't pick it up unless you are low enough that you will get full credit. You may decide to leave it all until you have cleared a path to the exit and then come back for it (but watch out for new enemies in previously cleared areas).

There are several areas where it probably won't work to just rush out and dodge around with a powerful weapon, even if this is your normal style. You will be attacked from many directions, including from above. Moving cautiously until you've identified a threat and then retreating to cover and firing from there is often going to work better.

Walkthrough
You begin this level in a small room with a door out to a large open area. Step through the door and try to spot one or more Icarus out there, maybe above you. Perhaps tickle them with some Blaster fire, but then step back inside. Try to entice them to come lower so that you can pick them off more easily without wasting too much ammo. When things look clear, pick off the Guards up on the ledge to the far right, perhaps with the Blaster. Then, step outside and walk a few steps looking up often and making sure that you've got all the Icarus (there are seven in hard difficulty) If you leave this area and return later, more Icarus may have appeared. Go to the right and look down to the two dark caves in the mountainside. Some Guards will come out of the left-hand cave. A well placed grenade will reduce their number; then go around to the left and down the slope to pick off the survivors. When you reach the bottom, take care with the right-most cave. There is one, possibly two, Gladiators in there, but it is so dark you can't see them. Use a weapon that creates some light so that you can see what you're aiming at, for example, the Hyper-Blaster, and strafe / dodge furiously to avoid getting hit by returned fire. When the last Gladiator goes down, look out for more Icarus high over the palace gate (two in hard difficulty). There is a Gladiator in the left-hand cave. He may come out after you; otherwise, go in for him or leave him alone (but see Secrets, below).

Approach the bridge to the palace gate. The portcullis will lower (or this may already have happened). Our next job is to get it to go back up to let us through. The bridge will also fold down. This will always happen, so we'll have to just get used to always waiting for it and walking carefully along the edge. Remember, when you're retreating and looking for cover, that you can't just run across this bridge. Go back to the door where you started and climb along the mountain ledges leading to the stonework above the palace gate. Stand on the floor button you will find there to raise the portcullis. There is a steeply sloping cliff wall that you can slide down to reach the ground again without damage (but see Secrets, below). Now approach the bridge again, wait for it to fold down and walk along the left-hand edge. One or more Guards will come from around the corner, so either take them out with a powerful weapon or retreat and pick them off cheaply. Now you can get all the way across and you will find a tall elaborately decorated door. The bridge will come back up behind you, but don't forget that if you approach it again it will fold back down so always cross at the edge.

Go carefully through the door and look around the corner to your left. There will be one or more Tanks to dispose of, but also look up for Icarus. Use the corner for cover, but try to keep the door closed because as you're killing Strogg here, more are appearing behind you. Also, don't go down the wide ramp across the lava to the palace entrance yet. When you have cleared the area, you should take care of the newly-appeared Strogg if, in the next encounter, you want to retreat to the outdoor area without having these enemies to worry about. Go back through the door carefully and across the bridge (walking on the edge!). Get rid of the Medics and Icarus (also, see Secrets, below). Finally, back at the palace entrance, you can go down the wide ramp, but walk backwards. A panel in the wall at the top of the ramp will explode and Guards will drop down into the room exposed. Run, sending grenades or rockets into the group or charge them with the Chain Gun, but get on the move. Some more Icarus have shown up and you don't want to be caught flat-footed. Dodging their fire is difficult on the walkways over the lava, so run back to the door and use the same corner for cover to clear the area again. Only retreat further if you have cleared the new Strogg from the outdoor area.

Now we can enter the palace. Look around corners before you commit yourself and dispose of the Tanks that you will find there as you see fit. Around the pillar and straight ahead from the entrance is one way to the Lower Palace. A red carpet suggests this direction, but it's not the way we're going to go. If you want to, you can go through and clear away some Strogg, but then come back because this walkthrough assumes that you'll take a left after the palace entrance. If you don't want to go that way, you can ignore the Tanks on the steps that are blocking it. So, from the palace entrance, it's to the left we go. As well as the Tank on the stairs, you may have to deal with a Guard that comes through the door at the top. Go up to that door, carefully through (the Guard will be here if he didn't come through the door) and turn to your right. There are even more Icarus here (a total of seven at hard difficulty), but also a Gladiator around the corner to the right. Some of the Icarus don't show up until you've downed the Gladiator. When you have cleared the area, you'll see that you're on a platform above some water. On the left is an elevator which will return you to the platform if you fall in the water. Underneath the platform is an elevator that will take you to the entrance to the Lower Palace that we are going to use (but not yet). We are going to the right.

So, jump into the water and swim to the right (see also Secrets, below). You won't need a re-breather as you can surface for air. There's only one way to go. When you meet a barrier, just shoot the grate to destroy it and get through, but be aware that there is an Icarus lurking high above the water here. It may or may not attack if you surface. Swim up a vertical pipe, then wade along a horizontal section, around a corner and you will see a flooded room ahead. There are Guards and a Gladiator on the walkways above the room. Use the mouth of the pipe as cover to eliminate as many as you can and then run across the water and up the steps taking out the rest as you make your way around and up. At the top of the room, you will find a bridge that retracted when you entered and an opening into a small side room. In the side room, there is a doorway to the small room that contains your goal ... the Data Spinner. There are Guards hiding in that room, so take them out, shoot the glass over the Data Spinner and take it. (See also Secrets, below.)

You can make your way back by retracing your steps. No new enemies will attack you except, possibly, the Icarus mentioned above, if you surface to breathe. To swim down the vertical section of pipe, you may need to crouch. Alternatively, even with the bridge retracted, you can jump across the gap and take a slightly quicker path to the sewer pipes. This way, you will meet the Icarus, but there is health and ammo to collect. There is also ammo in the flooded room which you could collect now if you don't want to be bothered coming back for it. Either way, you'll end up in the water below the platform. To your right is the elevator back up to the platform. To your left and under the platform is another elevator. Take that but at the top equip a good close-range weapon before you step off. You will meet Guards and a Gladiator coming from the left. After dealing with those, turn the corner to the left and walk backwards with the Rail Gun or some other powerful weapon equipped. When you reach the steps, the panel that you passed on your right, now at the far end of the corridor, will explode and another Gladiator will come through.

After dealing with the Gladiator, the path is clear to the Lower Palace. At the top of the steps there is a door on the left and beyond that another door with the level load trigger in between. Before you leave this level, you can go back to any part of it, being careful of any Strogg you may not have killed, and collect anything you did not already take. As always, since things get tougher the further you go, it's good policy not to take stuff you don't need as soon as you see it but to come back so as to get the full benefit. For example, if you take Body Armor when you already have 150 armor points, you will only add 50 points, but if you come back when combat has reduced you to fewer than 100 points, you will get the full 100. You can also come back to this level from the Lower Palace at any time before you leave for the Inner Chamber. In fact, if you want to acquire all the Secrets, you will have to come back later as you can only access four out of the five without operating a switch in another level.

Secrets
This level has five (5) secrets:
 * 1) You enter this level in a small room with fallen debris at the back and a door out to a large open area between mountains and the gate to the palace grounds.  Climb the ledges that lead around this area and keep going all the way until you are above the entry room.  Press the button that you will find there.  Return to the entry room and you will discover that a side-room has appeared containing health, armor and ammo.
 * 2) To the right of the gate to the palace grounds, in the large open area, there are two dark caves in the mountain wall.  The left-hand cave contains a small lava pool and is lit in red.  There is a crack in the wall behind the pool.  Shoot it to open a secret area.
 * 3) In the room where you find the Data Spinner, shoot the wall ahead and to the right as seen from where you came in.  This will reveal a floor button.  Stand on it and then turn around 180 degrees to find the secret.  Press the button that you will find in the secret alcove to extend the walkway that retracted when you came up out of the sewer pipes (however, you can actually jump over the gap).  Returning that way is easier than swimming back through the pipes and you can collect some ammo lying around on the way.
 * 4) While exploring the palace building, you will come out of a side door onto a platform with water down below.  From the water, there is an elevator back up to the platform, a second elevator that takes you to one of the entrances to the Lower Palace level and, at the other end, a sewer pipe.  As you swim towards this pipe, before you turn the corner, come up and look back in the direction from which you came.  There is a hidden alcove with lots of ammo, some health and the Red Key Card.  You can't get in to collect the secret until you've turned off the red force field barrier in the Lower Palace.  The Red Key Card will be needed to complete a secret / easter egg in the Upper Palace.
 * 5) When you enter the palace grounds and clear away the Strogg that you find there, a cave opens in the mountainside high up over the entry room.  There isn't much in it, but to collect the secret you'll need to return to the start of the level, go around the ledges again and clamber up there using the stonework above the entry room.