Overview
A helpful guide for people who want to enter the hidden chamber / Ancient Gate in the Abandoned Aqueduct. Looting the hidden chamber gives the achievement “Death Do Us Part”.
What is the Ancient Gate
The Mysterious Ancient Gate is a structure on the Abandoned Aqueduct map that -for the time being- always spawns. It is a large circular stone gate imbedded into a sand dune.
How is the Ancient Gate opened?
The gate can only be opened by simultaneously pressing down two ‘plates’ that spawn in the Abandoned Aqueduct. The plates, pictured below, spawn in various spots in the Aqueduct, though their placement is not totally random. You can memorize potential spawn locations and check them while running through the map. I do not know if the plates always spawn, though it seems likely. This is also subject to change as the game is updated.
Above: A plate
Do note that the plates must both be stood on or otherwise depressed at the same time for the gate to open. When the gate does open, a message in a purple font will appear in the chat box.
Strategies for Opening the Ancient Gate
There are three main strategies for opening the Ancient Gate. This list is organized based on how easy I believe they are to use.
A: Play Engineer
Engineer can open the Ancient Gate with ease because of their ability to place turrets. The turrets act as any other physics object within the game, giving the Engineer’s special pals the ability to depress the plates when placed on top of them. If you are trying to unlock the ‘Death Do Us Part’ achievement in single player, this is the class I would recommend playing.
Above: An Engineer turret on top of a plate, pressing it down.
B: Play Multiplayer
Playing with other people is the easiest way of getting into the hidden chamber when not playing Engineer. Players can split up to find the plates, then stand on them when both are found. (Spoilers) Also, it is easier to deal with the challenge inside the chamber with multiple people
The most likely problem when using this strategy is failing to convincing other players to find and depress the plates in the level. Many Risk of Rain players are trying to get through levels as fast as possible, and finding the plates can be time consuming. As such, opening the Gate is most easily done when playing with friends or other players who need the ‘Death Do Us Part’ achievement.
C: Use Enemies or Objects to Depress One of the Plates
The third and most difficult method is using non-player entities to hold down one of the plates while you depress the second. This is difficult for a number of reasons:
- 1: Enemies are unruly and often do not move in ways you expect or would like them to.
- 2: Enemies will usually path towards you as best they can, making it unlikely they will stand on the plates for long.
- 3: Plates may spawn very far apart, making it difficult for the player to reach the second plate before the enemies move away from the plate.
All of this said, it is possible to achieve. I myself accessed the hidden chamber for the first time using this method. This is more of a ‘last resort’ option, but, if you fancy your luck, it is a viable strategy for opening the Ancient Gate.
As well as enemies, a few different objects can hold down the plates. The oil pots scattered throughout the Aqueduct are able to hold down the plates, but as of yet I have not been able to push a pot so that it rests on top of a plate. The Effigy of Grief can hold down a plate if it is dropped on top as well, and is much easier to position than a pot. (Thanks to TIarsn for this tip!)
What Lies Inside the Hidden Chamber? (Spoilers)
Inside the hidden chamber aretwo elite Elder Lemurians: a fire-aspect elite and an ice-aspect elite. The enemies are fairly difficult to defeat. One slows players with its ice-fire balls, and the other quickly melts players with its damage over time fire-fire balls and fire-fire breath. Keeping your distance and dodging attacks is especially paramount to completing this challenge.
Completing the challenge inside gives the achievement ‘Death Do Us Part’. As a bonus,each enemy drops one half of the set of items that ‘Death Do Us Part’ unlocks: a ring with ice or fire on-hit effects. The items are of Green Rarity and both are rather good.