Hexen/Seven Portals

When you enter the level, an apparition of Korax will appear inside a fiery portal ahead and give you some trash talk. Afterward, the wall with the portal will disappear, allowing access to the level. Every subsequent episode begins this way. You could think of the previous level, Winnowing Hall, as the prologue to the game. Now the episode begins in earnest. (Winnowing Hall won't be accessible again.)

Courtyard
Outside is a very large, deep, long courtyard. Explore the courtyard thoroughly and clear out the enemies.
 * On each side, to the left (east) and right (west) you'll find three gold doors set back in a covered area, the center door set back a bit more than the ones on either side. You'll be successively opening these doors as you progress. Inside each is a side area and a portal leading to one of the other levels of the episode.
 * At the far (south) end of the courtyard, behind the big wall, is another big door. Your ultimate goal in this episode will be to open this door and access the area beyond. You'll also get your first mana here if you're playing skill levels 1, 2, or 3: Blue Mana. Green Mana, which you'll come upon in the next episode, looks the same except it's cube-shaped and has green symbols. Each is worth 22 units in skill levels 1, 2, 4 and 5, and 15 units in skill level 3.
 * In the middle of the courtyard is a tall structure that looks like several towers or pinnacles, plus pairs of tall pillars some distance away. Note the metal plates in the ground leading from the structure to the pillars. This whole construct is part of the episode's main puzzle.

Near the end of the puzzle structure with the standards on the poles there's a tall, roughly triangular pillar. You may be able to see an item on top. Go over to the east side of the courtyard, look for and pull the switch on the column. The center door behind the switch opens, plus the tall pillar lowers. First, go to the lowered pillar where, if you're playing skill levels 1, 2 or 3, you'll find your #2 weapon.
 * The Fighter will find Timon's Axe. When supercharged with mana, it deals substantial damage and has a longer reach than you'd expect, even though it's a "melee" and not a "ranged" weapon, i.e. it doesn't launch a projectile. It consumes two units of Blue Mana if it hits anything that can take damage. It has a second mode of attack, in a sense, in that it'll still do limited damage with a reduced reach if your Blue Mana is depleted. (In this case, it will no longer shimmer blue.) If you're playing skill levels 4 or 5, you'll get it shortly.
 * The Cleric will find the Serpent Staff. This weapon also has two modes of attack. It fires two side-by-side projectiles that waver a bit, but eventually diverge and become inaccurate at long distances. Up close it does less damage per shot but draws health from enemies and adds it to your health. (It makes more of a sucking sound in this mode.) It uses one unit of Blue Mana per shot. If you're playing skill levels 4 or 5, you'll have to hang on a while longer: it'll be elsewhere in the episode.
 * The Mage will find the Frost Shards. It uses three units of Blue Mana per shot. This weapon has two modes of attack: it casts out a shower of ice crystals, impacting enemies, or when used up close, can impart freezing cold on an enemy. In both cases, killed enemies will be frozen in place and take on a frozen appearance, and after several seconds or until impacted with another weapon, will shatter and disintegrate. This weapon tends to be one of the less useful in the game due to its somewhat slow firing rate and delayed action, lack of accuracy or long range, and from the resulting frozen enemies becoming an impediment. If you're playing skill levels 4 or 5, it'll be elsewhere in the episode.

East side center door
Go to and enter the east side center door you just opened, and clear out the enemies inside. If you've played Heretic, the game Hexen is the sequel to, you'll recognize the Chaos Serpents: this is the mount the end-boss D'Sparil was riding. Here, they have far fewer hit-points and are a common "grunt" enemy. Go to the far end of the room and jump up to the wooden construct and to the grating, where the Quartz Flask is (this appeared when you killed the enemies in here). Much of the room will darken. Then look to to the left and right of the wooden structure, where two doors have opened. What look like ledges will turn into stairways leading down to the tall icy room beyond the grating. Ride the lift up to and enter the portal. This goes to the Guardian of Ice.

Guardian of Ice - Part 1

East side left/right doors
When you return from the Guardian of Ice, the left and right doors on the east side will be open. Go to one, clear out the enemies, and then pull the switch at the far end. The wooden wall near the door has opened, with a Chaos Serpent inside, plus another narrow door will have opened. Inside here is another portal.

Go back outside and to the other east-side door, where you'll find an identical mirror-image room and a portal. The portal in the northernmost (left) east-side door, with the gray chiseled-pattern stone, goes to the Guardian of Fire. The portal in the southernmost (right) east-side door, with the rusted metal, goes to the Guardian of Steel. Go to both levels and complete the necessary tasks you have access to. You can do either one first. You'll return here to Seven Portals in each case. (For skill levels 4 and 5, go to the Guardian of Fire first if you're playing the Mage, and the Guardian of Steel for the Cleric. You'll get your #2 weapon sooner.)

Guardian of Fire - Part 1

Guardian of Steel - Part 1

West side center door
When you return to Seven Portals after completing both Fire and Steel, the center door on the west side will now be open. The area inside that door is the same as inside the east-side center door. Inside the doors leading down to the icy room, you'll encounter more of the Wendigos you saw earlier in the Guardian of Steel. Note the small, bright irregular patches on the ice throughout this area: they're traps that will crush you if you stand on them. Either avoid them, or quickly run over them to set off and neutralize them.

Go up the high steps to the next, darkish room (mind the traps) and take the lift up to the brightly-lit room. A portal will materialize when you step forward. Before entering, look on either side for ice walls. Activate either and both will open. Inside one are Wendigos; the other has a bunch of mana. The portal goes to a new part of the Guardian of Ice.

Guardian of Ice - Part 2

West side left/right doors
After you've completed your tasks on your second visit to the Guardian of Ice, you'll be back at Seven Portals. Watch the puzzle structure: after a few seconds a long stairway will form, leading up to the tallest part of the structure. As you probably figured, these are what the metal plates in the ground were for.

In addition to the raised stairs, the remaining two doors on the west side will be open, the portals inside going to the Guardian of Fire and Guardian of Steel. Go to and complete your remaining tasks in both levels. When you finish one level and return, another stairway up to the puzzle structure will form. When you complete the remaining level, the last stairway will form.

Guardian of Fire - Part 2

Guardian of Steel - Part 2

Final puzzle
Go up all three stairways to the puzzle structure, look for and pull the switches at the top. These open the big door at the south of the courtyard, where your final objective is. Also, pull the levers you find up two of the stairways: these concern the episode's secret level. By the highest switch you'll find Dragonskin Bracers, which gives you an armor boost.

Go to the big door to the south. In here, find and pull the switch at the other end of the area, and a three-part door the switch is next to will open, leading outside. Watch out for the huge, deep chasm spanning the area. The portal beyond it, the seventh of the "seven portals" of the level, is the exit to the next episode. Kill the Centaurs, and a magic bridge will form, leading to the portal. In front of the portal is the first of three segments to your #4 weapon. These also give you a great deal of mana. Behind the portal you'll find Combined Mana: the big red gems with the blue and green symbols. These are worth 30 units of Blue and Green if you're playing skill levels 1, 2, 4 or 5, and 20 units for skill level 3.

Wings of Wrath
Don't leave yet: there's a great deal of bonus content remaining, in addition to the secret level. First, look over the edge of the chasm at the side that was to your left when you first came here. You'll find a narrow crevice in the wall. Jump down to it and follow this route up (watch out for Brown Serpents and their more-damaging green gasballs), and you'll come to a ledge where you'll find Wings of Wrath. If you've played Heretic you'll remember these. Here, they have no time limit whatsoever and you'll have them until you exit the episode. The secret level will be a great deal easier with them.