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[spacedust]

Right, here we go. Doom RL's most feared level. What are your tips for clearing the Mortuary? Which challenges do you attempt it on?

I just finished my first ever Mortuary clear on HNTR, so I do feel pretty pumped. I had a gameplan, which was to save every single power cell and spend them all there. I had about 7 stacks of 70x cell and 2 bulk modded BFGs, and took 2 skulls from the City of Skulls, and was playing a intuition shottyhead build. Once I spawned, I hit the ground running and shot great balls of plasma at every pink asterisk, particularly if it sounded like a Vile. So I got lucky and managed to wipe out all 4 Viles at the beginning, and the rest was clearing up.

It's a shame that the BFG destroys pretty much all the rewards, though. I was left with 2 armor shards and 2 supercharges, and a nuclear BFG. The rest was all collateral damage.

So, anybody have any stories to share?

[Klear]

Try it with with a melee build. When I was clearing it for the first time on melee and used my last medkit, I knew that it was worth it even if I die there. It's a great feeling to go through the horde of enemies and killing them up close and personal. To my surprise I didn't die there and reaped the reward, which is so much better if you're meleeing, since angelic armour + longinus spear means 11 protection, which is very nice.

[spacedust]

Any particular melee build to recommend? I'm thinking probably Blademaster or Vampire for zerk, but maybe there's a better build?

[Klear]

I prefer Vampyre since the marine's longer zerk powerup duration is a nice bonus, though dodgemaster (a requisite of blademaster) probably comes handy in the mortuary and blademaster is very nice in city of skulls.

I don't have much experience with Malicious Blades, since it's a tough build to use on AoB.

[Deathwind]

You can clear it with most builds on almost every challenge with some luck, you just need a way to deal with the viles and corpses QUICKLY. Heck I've even walked out of there with the angelic armor, some extra med kits and the nuclear BFG on HNTR AoPc.

[Former Lurker]

Any particular melee build to recommend? I'm thinking probably Blademaster or Vampire for zerk, but maybe there's a better build?

Blademaster on AoLT :)

[2DeviationsOut]

Ammochain on N! AoMs. That was an epic battle. I homing-phased over to the nuke BFG, and then slowly walked my fire over to the left-hand side with a S1F3P1 Nuclear Plasma rifle. I managed to wipe out nearly all the enemies without much damage at all.

However, even this on N! AoMs doesn't compare to my most insane run, in which I did the Mortuary on N! AoHu with Ammochain. I used roughly the same tactics as I did in the previous run, but without a nuke plasma, and I only got hit once, which was from a lucky Arachnotron which rezzed itself. I had thought that it's corpse was a Vile corpse, so I didn't destroy it.

Another story was from a Blademaster N! AoRA run, in which I managed to melee-kill everything before the 3-minute mark. I had the Necroarmor and a set of Agility Grav Gothic boots, along with a Bulk Ripper. While zerked, my attack and movement speeds were .17, and my melee damage was (7d6+15)*2, averaging to 39.5 damage, or ~232.35 damage per second, without Blademaster added into the mix. I just ran for the Nuke BFG, shredding everything that was in my way. After that, I dropped down for the bulk mod, and then went to the upper left for the power mod. The moment I killed the final enemy, the Angelic Armor spawned in the space next to me. After I grabbed that, I immediately homing-phased to the stairs and went down before enemies could respawn more.

The Mortuary on N! AoOC is ridiculous, since you only get 3 levels of buildup time, without special levels. I did it that time with a Malicious Blades build, since that way I could have the resistances that Malicious Blades grants, along with zerk from a lucky Hatred Skull.

When I did it on N! AoD, that was really crazy since not only did the enemies respawn insanely quickly, but then I couldn't see where they were shooting from. That time I also did it with Ammochain, and I used a ridiculous amount of cells to nuke everything with a pair of B3 BFGs, after I grabbed the nuke BFG.

Seriously though, I have completed the Mortuary, in Nightmare mode, on every challenge except Ao100 (obviously). Even on AoPc, but there I just nuked it after grabbing the nuke BFG.

[AlterAsc]

Cleared Mortuary 4 times.
First was on HTNR and it was one of my first attempts to get Conquerer medal.I killed and killed by Arch-Viles(old ones) raised them back...Oh, that was a pain.I got frustrated and just used scythe 4 times to kill all arch-viles, after that cleared it normally.After that i decided: screw all late(all that were after UC back then) special levels , unless for Conqueror, it's so damn annoyng and painful.
A lot of time passed while i was peacefully not entering Mortuary and so on.
Second and third attempts were Elite Platinum runs, MAc + SoB5 + S-modded plasma = easy.
Fourth idea was to get Angelic Badge.So plan was playing AoMC on UV to get Cateye and get SoB5 to kill everything in one volley.It worked, i got my medal.
After that i haven't entered Mortuary and have no desire to do it at all.Not worth the troubles.

[Klear]

Well, by the time you reach the mortuary, you probably have a homing phase, so as long and you're not going for YAAM you can just enter it, grab some good stuff and leave. That's what I do most of the time.

[RSO]

More than the respawns, the difficulty of the mortuary comes from its architecture. It is:
1. A vast open space with no cover.
2. Has a higher monster density than anywhere else in the game.

Destroying the corpses before the Viles can raise them helps a lot with the second problem. I'd recommend coming in with a BFG9k equipped and spend your first two actions firing it at max range to the left and right. On challenges that don't let you use the BFG, I'd recommend skipping the mortuary (it's still doable, but much more dangerous). ;)

Alternatively, if all you're after is Reaper Gold, AoMC-Cateye makes the Mortuary a cakewalk.

[spacedust]

That's a very perceptive view. I hadn't realised how much architecture plays a part in the difficulty.

[The DoomRLguy]

Back to the original post..... You destroyed the angelic armour?? That isn't even possible...!

[spacedust]

Ah, I forgot about the Angelic Armor. Yes I did pick that up after all the hard work.

[HenWen]

I had a MMB run where I used every consumable I had to survive the mortuary.  For some reason I did not use the BFG to blast corpses, I can be OCD about saving ammo sometimes.  I never fired the BFG 9k that game even though I was carrying like 5 stacks of cells.  If you are sufficiently patient though it seems like a sure-fire method is just to grab the supercharge and armor, fire a BFG blast to the left and right, run to the right and get the nuclear BFG, and then just slowly use the nuke BFG to blast all the corpses.  This is how I survived after using up all my health consumables.  My MMB character was nearly invulnerable to small numbers of enemies, but my nanofiber skin blue armor would lose its durability and protection and I would take a lot of damage from all the enemies when I tried to clear them in melee. 

I almost never get more items out of the mortuary than I put into it, I usually already have a tactical or assault shotgun, bulk and power mods are not too uncommon, and the multiple red armors on the map usually get equipped by enemies.  But I go YAAM for any non-challenge game so I cleared it always.

[spacedust]

That's a pretty good idea regarding the nuclear BFG. I'll try that in my next run. But are you able to get to the BFG without dying along the way? I guess I'll find out pretty soon

[Klear]

You can move in the direction of the nuke BFG and use a homind phase to get there instantly.

[spacedust]

Ah so the homing phase actually takes you to the nearest exit? That's pretty smart. Looks like the next run will be a good one...

[Klear]

As far as I know. It would be best if someone more experienced could confirm it, since I only vaguely remember reading about it somewhere and have so far failed to utilize the knowledge.

[AlterAsc]

At least in previous versions in took you a random exit, not nearest one.And i have no reason to think that was changed.

[Klear]

Ok, in that case I'm sorry for misinformation =)

[Deathwind]

I've always ended up with the nuclear BFG with a homing phase.

[Creaphis]

I beat the Mortuary on my first play-through that made it that far. That was just yesterday, on my 28th "New Game" (also my first victory). My previous best attempt got to the Unholy Cathedral but got stuck there so I thought I'd experiment with a melee character. I lost a few scouts that weren't able to survive long enough to get blademaster so I switched to marines for the longer berserks and the vampyre trait. I cheated a bit and read up on the basic assemblies so by the time I got back to the Cathedral I was equipping a piercing chainsaw (5d7) which turned out to be surprisingly effective in the hands of a berserking vampyre. Also, in the City of Skulls I decided to keep the Hatred Skull as I thought a portable source of berserk would be useful. So, when I entered the Mortuary, I felt a bit spooked by the "wail" of the archviles, but then I saw all the corpses, and I remembered my skull, with an evil grin...

I had to fire a BFG a few times, but it was mostly just nonstop melee carnage. Tons of fun.

[skarczew]

I've always ended up with the nuclear BFG with a homing phase.

I am just after failed Mortuary, and I have to say that homing phase does not always bring you to the Nuke BFG :( .

[Demetrious]

The Mortuary is my favorite level for sheer DOOM-style mad nonstop carnage. When I realized that changing targets during chainfire let you "hose around" with the bullet stream, the Mortuary became the most insane, psychotic fun you could imagine. With a bulk-modded Minigun it is joy incarnate. Full-out chainfire, hosing it around to wipe out six or seven formers/imps/etc a turn... striding knee-deep through the dead until you spot a Vile, and pumping him so full of lead in less then two seconds that his body goes CLANG when it falls?

Yeah. Oh, hell yeah. Felt like the Terminator.

The Mortuary is very hard, yes, but it's like any other Arch-Vile fight, only more so: to wit, clear out anything that's not a Vile by any means necessary, then feed the Vile a steady diet of Rockets. The trick is clearing a path to the Vile, which means you can't play whack-a-mole with their minions, which means you must deliver massive carnage to a wide area, immediately. BFG-9000 seems like the obvious choice there, but as observed, rapidfire builds with a decent 10mm weapon can saw through them wonderfully; if you know the "walking fire" trick. Double Shotgun or even Focused Double Shotgun can deliver similar rape, especially with Army of Darkness.

In short, you need a time-efficient snowplow. By the time enough monsters have been rezzed to worry you much, you've already sallied forth, found the Vile, and blew it to hell. Rinse and repeat as necessary. If you're a bad enough dude to use the vanilla rocket launcher, the blast radius of 4 makes it decent for that job, in addition to corpse gibbing - and you've already got it in hand when you spot the Vile.

[spacedust]

Just saw this and had to ask - what is the "walking fire trick"?

[Demetrious]

Just saw this and had to ask - what is the "walking fire trick"?

It happens when you're using chain-fire. Whether you're still warming up, or in full-out chainfire, each round you get an option to switch targets. If you switch between an imp on your right and a former human below you, your fire will actually sweep across all the tiles in-between as you realign your gun. Try switching from one former human to another on the other side of the next pack you find in early-game and you'll see what I mean.

It also works if you've killed the last enemy you were targeting - when you pick a new target the fire will "sweep" in a similar fashion. I don't know exactly how it works; if it's a set number of shots spent per tile of re-aim (which would mean the next enemy would take far less damage if you adjusted a chain-fire from one side of the map over to him,) or if its a set number of projectiles that are then distributed evenly across the "swept" space (which would mean a limited adjustment would put a much higher density of lead on the few targets in that area, and a bigger adjustment would be perfect for wiping out mobs of imps or formers.)

My current Ao100 game has a Minigun, so I'll experiment. For SCIENCE!

[spacedust]

Wow, I learn something new every day on the forums! Thanks, that was a really good explanation. Now I know what to try on my next Ao100...

[Creaphis]

So, my second attempt at the Mortuary failed horribly, and my third attempt was an easy victory again. The deciding factor for whether I survive or not seems to be whether the agony elemental is nice enough to drop hatred skulls. My first time through the City of Skulls, I thought one of each skull type was guaranteed, which would be more balanced, in my opinion.

[N o i r]

I never attempt the mortuary unless I have:

-BFG 9000 (modded with Bulk is better);
-at least one Skull;
-at least one Homing phase device;
-enough cells stack to fire enough times.

When I enter, as others suggested I start by firing two BFG shots left and right, AND using a skull - starting with the action that cost me less time (skull if I'm technician, BFG if I have Finesse, ecc.).
I then proceed to teleport to a stair, and start cleaning the level from there, using the BFG on any Arch Vile I see until everything stops moving.

It's good to have another Homing phase device as a backup, should everything start going pear-shaped.

Question: is there a way to gib a corpse on the ground without any monsters nearby, other than using skulls?

[Uranium]

If you're lucky enough to find a Revenant's Launcher, that will gib corpses easily. If you've only got a standard rocket launcher, you can rocket jump to destroy corpses (not sure if the missile launcher has rocket jump), and finally there's the Longinus Spear's altfire, but that is somewhat costly for its stamina drain.

[Demetrious]

Question: is there a way to gib a corpse on the ground without any monsters nearby, other than using skulls?

Rocket Jumps. You take little damage and go a-flying like that DARING young man on the FLYING trapeze~ but everybody around you is not so fortunate.

On that note, Rocket Jumping is absolutely amazing in the Mortuary. For starters, you can gib corpses left and right with rocket jumps - it's the only way to make a rocket explode "on the floor." Second, that frequent situation where you've got a pack of nasties close together, that really beg for a rocket... but they're too close? Rocket Jump. You hit them with a rocket AND remove yourself from harms way quite quickly.

And then there's the mobility bonus. In one turn (or less) you can relocate a distance equal to your sight radius or more (if you've got the phase-boots, it's a great way to exploit their knockback increase.) This lets you flee or attack; since you can use Rocket Jumps to get close to those thrice-cursed Arch-Viles and feed them a double shotty blast, or use it to get out of dodge after killing one, if his back of friends are too large to handle up-close. By rocket-jumping around, you can gib corpses, hurt enemies, flee or attack as needed, all while taking less damage then you would by standing still and getting shot by two Arachnotrons, a Former Commando and a Baron of Hell or two.

It's the best argument to be made for the standard rocket launcher and its associated assemblies; now that the bugged jumping of Ver. 9.9.3. is behind us. Revenant's Launcher is fine, Missile Launcher is fun, but neither can rocket-jump. I ended up in the Lava Pits with a single EnviroSuit once, and after cursing myself for overconfidence, realized I could rocket-jump over the lava in a jiffy. I cleared the level with no problems. Setting off a 4-radius explosion in your enemies faces while simultaneously surfing the fireball out of the room in a split-second is the best NOPE option ever conceived.

Also, it's plain fun. I suspect rocket jumping has been sorely overlooked.

[spacedust]

Ohhh, that sounds like good fun. Have to give that a try too. Finally a use for the vanilla RL.

[Ander Hammer]

I've actually had weird problems with the Revenant Launcher not gibbing corpses, even when they're in the center of the blast radius.

Rocket jumping is great. You just need to realize it's not part of corner-shooting or hosing down things at LOS.

I've actually had a few thoughts about the Rocket Launcher. Maybe it's time to Suggest something.

[Deathwind]

hmm, a rocket jumping melee build sounds fun

[Sambojin]

I actually set up a Mortuary Training post a few versions ago. It sort of does teach you a bit about the game, different weapon types, relative armour values, etc. From memory the post got locked. Probably due to the save-scummy-ness and potential player file cheating from players. Or lack of downloads. Or something.

I've got a bunch of saves from around the end of the game, in quite a few different challenge modes and difficulties. All around the Mortuary in fact. Would it be cool with the moderators if I chuck a few save files up into this thread for people to try out?

It's hard to comment on AoS or AoMr on various difficulties in the Mortuary if you haven't tried it. This will let people have a quick go and perhaps hone their playing skills a little.

[skarczew]

I actually set up a Mortuary Training post a few versions ago. It sort of does teach you a bit about the game, different weapon types, relative armour values, etc. From memory the post got locked. Probably due to the save-scummy-ness and potential player file cheating from players. Or lack of downloads. Or something.

http://forum.chaosforge.org/index.php/topic,3383.msg29550.html#msg29550

Savescumming? File cheating? Common, we do not need files from the other players to do it =) .
Besides, it is everyone's own choice.

And booooooooooo for strange decisions made by admins :P .

Personally, any files (preferably UV/N! for the current version) would be very nice to have.

[thelaptop]

I actually set up a Mortuary Training post a few versions ago. It sort of does teach you a bit about the game, different weapon types, relative armour values, etc. From memory the post got locked. Probably due to the save-scummy-ness and potential player file cheating from players. Or lack of downloads. Or something.

The locking is due to the age of the thread in terms of the last reply.  That's an automated process.

[Zero Gravitas]

Any advice on getting the Angelic Badge? I can't figure out how to avoid taking damage when there is practically no cover. There are just so many damned enemies, and the Arch-Viles hang so far back...

Angel of Max Carnage or a double-sniper nuclear plasma rifle/ammochain plasma rifle and just fire blindly at every row on the map until the viles are dead? Or maybe use a napalm launcher to make only a single route accessible? Last time, I tried to homing phase to the nuclear BFG and use it for corpse clearing. Unfortunately, there were commandos and arachnatrons surrounding it and I died the turn I phased.

[AlterAsc]

I achieved Angelic Badge this way: AoMC, Cateye build, UV for max exp, lots and lots of cells.11 damage per shot(maximum without causing knockback)x 8 = guaranteed kill in one burst.Fin3 rocks, HR helps too.Swap between general plasma rifle and nuclear one.Juggler is useful.Skulls are good too.

[ulyssessword]

What about using a plasma/plasmatic shotgun to destroy corpses?  Seems like it would be quite effective to me.

[Klear]

I got my angelic badge on AoMc UV as well - inventory almost full of cells, I cleansed the whole place with BFG blasts. Just one stack remained when I was done, but it was OK, since I had the nuclear plasma rifle by that time.

[Sanctus]

My fisrt (and best) Mortuary clearing was on marine AoB, with Longinus and Berserk+Vampyre. I destroyed all armors, but killed em all and quit with 200% HP. No tactic, no thinking, nothing to be proud for.
Since that time I only once completed Mort on HMP AoSh with 3 skulls from City. That was also quite easy because I'd almost cleared floor after 3rd skull. The problem was that my shotgun always send Viles out of vision :(

[Napsterbater]

What about using a plasma/plasmatic shotgun to destroy corpses?  Seems like it would be quite effective to me.

Only works when you kill enemies. You can't just chew through a bunch of already dead corpses with one.