Earth Rift 1[edit]
The same place, the different character and no weapons and armor again. There are two wooden objects to break to proceed, so pick up Elder Gauntlets and receive Beast Claws. Careful! Try not to fall down into a bottomless pit.
You might notice a Key you need to get but right now it’s unreachable. You will have to get a Scourge to grab it. Before you head down you must know one important thing: Most of the torches are interactive. When you use them, some items will spawn. Be careful, though, since sometimes enemies will appear instead of goodies.
Sine you have a weapon now, it’s time to get down. There are three ways to do so:
- Destroy crates and go to the plank with an Angel Charm. Pick it up and jump down. Don’t be afraid to die from falling since this artifact provides you with invulnerability.
- Destroy the crates and go down through a crack on the floor down a winding staircase and to the bar where a Ballbuster works as a bartender. Don’t forget to use the jukebox which will play Unholy and provide you with an Earth Tablet (unless it’s destroyed before the music stops). When you go to the street, some Stumps and a new Ballbuster will spawn behind your back.
- Destroy the wooden planks and go down the slope to a room with dirt floor. When you get to the room with two hooks, a Ballbuster will assault you from behind. He’s too tough for you now, so jump down to the room with a Blood Rose, explosive barrels and Gasbags.
Now matter which ways you choose, it’s highly recommended to pick up the Angel Charm since the enemies are really tough for a character with only 100 health. You will be provided with a Magma Cannon but you won’t find much ammo for it.
Anyway, you’re outside. The roadhouse looks oddly familiar but the surroundings are different. Your mission here is to obtain the Scourge and backtrack to the Key you saw earlier. There are a few points of interest outside the building but there are also too many enemies and you don’t have much ammo for your Magma Cannon. You can scout the place but always stay on your toes.
When you’re done, find a rift on the road and go down there. You will find yourself in a hall with pillars and marble floor. There you will be attacked by some Stumps and Fire Strutters, so make sure you have some fire ammo. If not, jump down and turn around once you get into the hall and pick up some ammo near the gates.
Now up the wooden slope and pull the lever at the end of the scaffolds. A whole lot of Headless will fall down from the roof. They can be dealt with your claws but there will be also a few Fire Strutters among them, so stay sharp and don't waste your ammo.
Go through the gates and you will see the way up. There are some Gasbags waiting for you on the way, so prepare your Magma Cannon. Ballbuster will be waiting for you on the top floor. Go to a narrow passage on the left – a Fire Strutter will be waiting for you there. Follow the path until you pick up so much needed Scourge.
Follow marble tiles up to the rift you jumped in to get there. Be careful since a few Blademasters will ambush you. When you reach the spot, look up. See the iron ring below the roof top? Use it to get out of the rift and back to the area around the roadhouse.
It’s time to slay some monsters including two Spawners if you haven’t done this before.
Secret: Find a few blocks with pipes outside the building. You will see a rind on the edge of the roof. Use it to reach the top of the blocks.
You can pick up some nice items. Follow the road which leads down to some sort of a cave. You will see a Ballbuster behind the wooden planks who will destroy them and attack you as soon as you get too close. There are four Health Bottles and some Black Diamond. It’s not mandatory but usually worth it.
Time to get the Key. Go to the front doors with “the Coventry” sign. Enter the room and look up to see a Spawner producing Gasbags. Get rid of it and use your Scourge on the hook to get back where you started.
When you’re in the beginning of the level, use the hook to get up on the wooden scaffolds. From there jump to where the Key is and prepare to be attacked by more Gasbags and some Blademasters.
Go down again and to the gates. The end is near but now the hardest part of the level begins. Open the gates. As you will follow the only way out from this garage (or at least it looks like a garage), the ground will shake. The stone wall behind you will break revealing a Spawner which produces Fire Strutters.
See the scull inside the structure? Using it will spawn Black Diamonds and some Fire Strutters, so think twice before using it.
Now look up to see the upper floor. Once you walk forward down the wide path, Fire Strutters will jump down from above. They spawn as long as you stay in a specific spot and their amount is unlimited. On top of that, Fire Strutters there are spawned by the trigger and not by a Spawner which makes it impossible to stop their production by force. You can only run forward dodging their attacks and killing them with your Scourge.
As the road makes a turn left, you will be attacked by two Blademasters and a swarm of Headless. A Spawner will be there as well but it’s quite easy to reach it since there’s plenty of room to maneuver.
If you won’t be too careful and will run forward, you will hear a laughter and an Arachniclown will spawn. There’s no way to avoid this but it’s much easier to get rid of enemies one by one than to fight a single huge mob.
Secret: Walk to a point where the parapet on your left meets the rock. Jump over the parapet from there to collect three Jacks In The Box and five Black Diamonds.
And now another hard part of this level. Proceed forward and you will feel an earthquake or a rock slide or whatever. After that a horde of enemies will appear in front of you and another horde behind you. To make this part a lot easier you can just go to where the previous secret is and take cover.
Once you’re done, head through a crack in the wall and jump down. You will get meet a tall big brute who looks even nastier than a Ballbuster. Unlike Ballbuster, Strongman doesn’t have any body parts which you must avoid shooting. If you keep your distance and time your jumps, you won’t find any problems with him.
The next path is clear: go to the mine, use your Scourge and aim for the next piece of armor.
Earth Rift 2[edit]
Pick up the Elder Boots. The ground will shake for a few seconds making it harder to aim. Luckily, there are no enemies to shoot now but keep in mind that such earthquakes will take place from time to time.
Jump on the high ground. You will see a Spawner in a distance. Make a few steps to it to activate it. Luckily, it produces just Headless, so dealing with it will be a piece of cake. Just beware of Gasbags which will appear after some time.
You will find a few more Gasbags after a short bridge. When you deal with them and take a look around, you might see a Ballbuster in a distance. When you come closer, a few more weak enemies will appear.
After a narrow hallway you will encounter a solitary Spawner with Headless inside. Don’t you find this level a lot easier that the previous one?
When you come to a chasm, crouch unless you want to be hit by a cannonball. Deal with the Ballbuster using the Scourge and Hawk Eyes if you need to. You will see a Blood Rose ahead but don’t pick it up yet. If you decide to take it, another Ballbuster will shoot at you from behind and most likely make you fall into the abyss. Deal with both foes before taking the Blood Rose.
Pull yourself to the glowing branch where the first Ballbuster was. As soon as you land, a Spawner will activate. If there is no room for you to maneuver, jump on a stem or two to become unreachable for Headless.
The next part is not so easy. When you proceed, an Arachniclown will attack you, a Spawner on the left will drop foes from above and some Headless and Stumps will be constantly interfering you. If you’re skilled and lucky enough, you can just pull yourself to the glowing branch and run forward leaving those monsters behind.
There is a bridge ahead. That’s where the first Ballbuster was. Now there are some Stumps and Headless. While it’s wise to get rid of all the Stumps, you can’t deal with Headless since there is a Spawner which constantly produces them. It’s across the bridge and to the tunnel on the right. When you’re done with the Spawner, you can go back through the tunnel and to the right to pick up a Jack In The Box and a Health Potion.
Anyway, you need to go across a narrow bridge ahead. You can pick up some Black Diamonds to the right but beware of a Ballbuster who will start shooting as soon as you come close enough for Black Diamonds.
Deal with him and with a single Stump on your way. There are no special hints how to do that. If you managed to kill Ballbusters and a few swarms of Stumps before, you know how to deal with monsters.
The next part is quite challenging. As you step into the room, the doors behind will close leaving you with three new enemies – Ticklers. Killing the first one spawns a bunch of Headless. Killing the second one spawns some Stumps. Killing the third one lowers the huge rock in the middle of the cave and thus reveals the level exit.
Earth Rift 3[edit]
There’s only one way forward through a narrow tunnel. A few Headless will drop from above through a crack. Once you’re ready, destroy exploding barrels at the end of the tunnel. Once you do it, some Headless, Stumps and a Blademaster will jump out of a Rock City Truck stuck above. Was that car transporting monsters?
Anyway, you will find yourself in a place with four corridors leading in four different directions. The right and the middle passages are blocked for now, so head left. Step on a plate and prepare to face a bunch of small enemies and a Tickler.
Now go to the right tunnel. Once you enter the hall, two Spawners to the left will start producing Fire Strutters. Keep your distance and don’t forget to pick up a Zero Cannon. Your next destination is a dead end with a plate to step on. And once you do it, the arch back will close and another Tickler will attack you. Kill it and backtrack towards the previous hall.
Once you’re in a hall with four tunnels, you’ll be attacked by Stumps and Fire Strutters. Nothing to worry about. In any case, the central path is clear and that’s where you need to go now.
You will find yourself near a tall mansion wall. There is a Spawner which will constantly drop Headless from above. To deal with it you need to make a few steps near the wall, turn back and look up. Don’t go too far or you will be surrounded by Headless from the Spawner and Gasbags which will be waiting for you around the corner.
You will see a ring to pull yourself to and an Arachniclown above waiting for you to move up and become an easy target.
Secret: Go to the stairs and turn left. You will find a Blood Rose below the stairs.
Now up the stairs and brace yourself. There will be two Spawners producing Fire Strutters and a few Headless. Pull yourself to the next ring using the Scourge and stop. There is a Spawner which is waiting for you across the fence. Once you come too close, it will wake up, starting producing Fire Strutters. There is and easy way to deal with it. Come close to the wall and once the Spawner awakens, step back so it won’t spawn foes. If you’re quick enough, it won’t make a single Strutter.
A Ballbuster guards the end of the level.