Beware, Flameborn, for the Elixir Wells are not the only places in the world where dark things sleep or danger abounds. There are other sites, some lost to memory, where mockeries of you and your kin inhabit forsaken halls. Ancient fanes where blasphemous sorceries and forbidden knowledge are buried. But we cannot always choose which allies present themselves, nor which weapons lay in the armory.
As Enshrouded is still in Early Access, new content and new challenges are being added. One of these is a new type of dungeon: Hollow Halls. You’ll receive a quest from Balthazar, The Alchemist pointing you towards the first of these new locales, far to the west in The Springlands – along with a warning that these are not for the faint of heart.
Finding The Site Of The Hollow Hall
Your first big challenge involves finding the Hollow Hall of the Springlands in the first place. You’ll have a rough area to search, located towards the southwest corner of the map. As far as prep work, you’ll want to have the usual stacks of food (Grilled Game is just dandy) and Bandages. It’s also advisable you bring a couple Shroud Survival Potions, along with full stacks of Health Potions and Mana Potions. Since you’ve gotten the Kettle for the Farmer, you may also want to bring along some Chamomile Tea, as it’s very useful to bump your health regeneration. Finally, you’ll also want to have a full stack of Campfires crafted and standing by. You’ll understand later on!
If you’ve been exploring, you’ve probably found a Flame Sanctum in the hills making up the southern edge of the map, almost due south of the Alchemist’s Vault. It’s to the southwest of the Peaceful Acres farmstead. From that Flame Sanctum, make your way west until you come to a path winding up and to the south. This will take you to the Hollow Hall. It’s an imposing structure, and pretty hard to miss.
Head in through the gates and make your way over to the teleporter. You’re going to be fighting a lot of Hollow enemies, from basic skeletal warriors to dogs to Hollow Wizards who will both cast target-seeking magic missiles and summon skulls to make your life miserable. Take the teleport pad and get ready for a slog.
Only The Dead May Pass
You’ll arrive deep inside the tomb. There’s a Renew Beacon close by, along with an Anvil to repair equipment. The enemies will be all around level 10 for the most part. Stairs lead down into a large gallery – and there are going to be a lot of enemies. This is standard for the entire dungeon. Expect to get swamped constantly. Once you’ve cleared the enemies, you’ll notice at the far end of the gallery is a barrier with two slash marks on it. Near the barrier is a glowing rune hanging in the air. Jump through that, and one of the slash marks will disappear. This is the key mechanic of the Hollow Hall: disabling barriers to progress deeper. A second rune is on a platform high above you with a Grappling Hook Pull point. Run into it, and the barrier will be dispelled.
A long narrow corridor leading west awaits you, with a set of double doors sitting at the far end of a four way junction. Open it up to reveal a chamber with some sarcophagi and some Hollow enemies. Clear these out, loot the sarcophagi for resources (including potions, new materials like Ectoplasm Fragments and Red Marble Fragments, or Bone Arrows), take a minute to read the tablet affixed near the “central” sarcophagus, then head north. A chamber filled with enemies awaits. Once they’re cleared out, a new wave will spawn as you move deeper into the chamber. Fight your way clear, turn left, then left again to face south. A set of stairs leading down will take you to the next Renew Beacon, while stairs up will lead to an Anvil to repair your gear.
Remember how we mentioned you’ll want to take some Campfires? You might have burned through your resting bonus at this point. You can lay down a Campfire near the Renew Beacon, sit down as if to cook, and get some of that bonus back. Make use of it, because it’s only going to get harder from here.
Sealed Away: The Next Barriers
Beyond the second Renew Beacon is a chamber with several enemies, including a few who have runes hanging over their heads. Killing them dispels the runes, which in turn dispel the barrier. Clear the chamber, then head west. You’ll come to a large hole in the floor. Drop through and glide down. You may have to fall back up a set of stairs, since the chamber is full of enemies, but keep calm and bust heads.
The large gallery you’re now in has a barrier at the end of it, and a lot of runes needed to unseal it. There’s going to be a lot of jumping involved. One of the runes is right on the ground, on a plate with chains leading to the ceiling. Incidentally, to the left of that plate is a large urn concealing a small drop down hole leading to a silver chest. You’ll also find another tablet to read.
Now it’s time to start the jumping. The easiest jump is towards the end of the gallery, near the barrier. Just jump over the gap in the causeway, hit the rune on the way over, and it’s gone. Jump back across and bear left. There’s a Grappling Hook Pull point leading up to a walkway below the ceiling with various Bats guarding the place. Clear the bats and grab the rune in the middle of the walkway. Things now get a little tricky. There are two platforms back towards the top of the stairs. You’ll have to jump off the upper walkway, glide over, and grab one, then loop back around to the upper walkway to get the other.
Only one rune remains to unseal the barrier, and it’s a little irksome. Go towards the north wall on the ground floor, then turn right and make your way down under the stairs. You’ll see the last rune. Like the rune over the causeway leading out, it’s kinda hanging in the air, so you have to be a little careful. Make your way up to the main floor, head through the now open doorway at the far end of the gallery, and you’ll find another Renew Beacon and Anvil.
The Agony of Choice
Once you’ve rested and repaired, you’re faced with a choice. One corridor leads north, the other south. Let’s take them one at a time.
The north corridor leads down a set of stairs, then turns west. You’ll come across two sets of double doors, one north, one south, each leading to a burial chamber. Each chamber leads to another one, with each having sarcophagi and enemies to clear. Going further west, you’ll come to a section with a spiked floor trap that “rolls” towards the west. Make your way past that, turn right, and you’ll come to a switch which unlocks a double door leading to another chamber.
The south corridor starts with a similar rolling spike trap section, then turns west with another rolling spike trap and some electrical bolt launchers. Past these traps is another set of gates, with enemies behind them. Fun fact: you can hit enemies through the gate with melee attacks! You’ll still take damage from their attacks, but you can control the fight more easily. Past these gates, a short corridor running south leads to a silver sarcophagus. The corridor north leads to a switch lock and another set of double doors opening on the same chamber as where the north corridor path terminated. To the west is another gate and another Renew Beacon and Anvil.
The Straightforward Path: Releasing The Collector
Rest and repair, if need be, then get ready for a long ugly fight. Past the Beacon is a set of gates. Beyond that is two sets of stairs leading down to a giant causeway. If you look back east, you’ll see stairs leading down to a set of double doors that you can’t open. Don’t worry! Go across the causeway and you’ll see a Grappling Hook Pull point leading up to a walkway overlooking a large chamber.
There are two sets of double doors on each side of the chamber and a barrier at the end. This will be the biggest fight you have undertaken, and it’s going to be nothing but wave after wave of foes. Defeating the first enemies in the chamber unseals the doors at the back end of the causeway. Defeating those enemies opens a set of doors in the main chamber, and so on. It’s going to be ugly, so fall back to the Renew Beacon between rounds and repair your weapons. Be extra careful of the Hollow Centurions, skeletal warriors with big ugly scythes that can rip off health even if you have your shield up to block.
Once the enemies are all defeated, check out each chamber. There will be a silver chest and at least one lootable sarcophagus in each one. You’ll probably pick up a good number of Hollow Halls Blocks, building materials to give your base that smooth, black, slightly sinister look. Go through the entryway which was closed off by the barrier and you’ll find a glowing golden sarcophagus standing up. Open it, and you’ll release Alden Crowley, The Collector to be summoned to your base. Beyond that is a chamber with several sarcophagi (including a glowing red one) and the exit teleport pad. Loot everything, then leave.
Epitaph
Build a space for the Collector in your base, then use the Summoning Staff to install him. He’s a little morbid, and he definitely looks more like a Hollow than the Flameborn he claims to be. But he does have some useful information, as well as some crafting recipes. You’ll be able to produce the Bone Channel homing projectile spell for mage staves, Bone Arrows for bows, and a Skull Summoning Vessel, a consumable item that summons a temporary floating skull (much like the Hollow Wizards you’ve so recently fought). You can also add a somewhat baroque flavor to your base with Crypt Tables and Crypt Chairs.
Most importantly, you’ll notice there’s a recipe for a Revelwood Bone Key. Alden is keen to have you explore the Hollow Hall in the Revelwood and defeat the guardian within. The Bone Key is apparently going to be necessary for the next Hollow Hall, and, if it’s anything like the Key To The Pike, it’s not consumed when used.
Collector Recipes
-
Revelwood Bone Key – 50 Ectoplasm Fragments, 20 Bones
-
Bone Channel I (x100) – 20 Ectoplasm Fragments, 50 Bones
-
Skull Summoning Vessel – 5 Bonemeal, 2 Metal Scraps, 6 Ectoplasm Fragments
-
Bone Arrow (x50) – 10 Ectoplasm Fragments, 25 Bones
-
Ectoplasm Gem – 5 Flintstone, 2 Ectoplasm Fragments
-
Small Crypt Table – 8 Metal Sheets, 4 Bones, 4 Nails, 1 Red Marble Fragment
-
Medium Crypt Table – 12 Metal Sheets 8 Bones, 6 Nails, 2 Red Marble Fragments, 8 Ectoplasm Gems
-
Large Crypt Table – 16 Shroud Wood, 10 Bones, 8 Nails, 3 Red Marble Fragments, 8 Ectoplasm Gems
-
Crypt Chair – 4 Shroud Wood, 2 Bones, 4 Nails, 1 Ectoplasm Gem
Your other artisans will definitely have some opinions about the newest member of your retinue, and none of them will be flattering. Admittedly, Alden’s disturbing compared to your other artisans, but he’s got no love for the Shroud or those afflicted by it. And if you’re going to make use of him, he’s got a little job for you to help improve his capabilities, just like the rest of them – so keep an eye out for more Enshrouded guides to keep helping you along your journey.
