Grimrock 2 Earth Wind & Fire route

Basics of running Grimrock 2:

- The best thing to do with -most- enemy encounters is to not have them at all. The ability to outmaneuver/confuse monsters with Invisibility and Darkbolt to avoid encounters is the most important thing for a successful speedrun.

- Being a speedrun, your characters will be VERY underleveled for most of the game. Certain areas are used to grind exp, most notably in the Ruins of Desarune as the ice guardians give 500xp each (!). The most important thing is to have your wizard level 4 so they can learn Invisibility (Air 3, Conc 2) by the time you fight the Ratling Boss in the sewers. Preferably you get invisibility earlier near the slime puzzle in the Ruins.

- Concentration spells are highly underrated. Darkbolt is very useful in avoiding enemies and the forcefield spell is nice for trapping enemies or cutting off routes.

Char Select:
Minotaur Barb | Aggressive, Muscular | Acc, Heavy Weapons
Minotaur Barb | Aggressive, Muscular | Acc, Heavy Weapons
Minotaur Barb | Aggressive, Muscular | Acc, Heavy Weapons
Human Wiz     | Skilled, Fast Learner| Conc, Fire, Air

Level Progression
Front Row Barbs: Lv2 Heavy Weapons, 3 Heavy, 4 Heavy, 5 Heavy, 6 Accuracy, 7 Acc 8 Acc
Back Row Barb: Lv2 Accuracy, 3 Heavy, 4 Heavy, 5 Heavy, 6 Heavy, 7 Accuracy
Wizard: Lv2 Air, 3 Air, 4 Concentration, 5 Air

Order of essences received:

1. Earth
2. Wind
3. Fire
4. Water

Earth essence: Beach gem (1), Twigroot Treant Gem (2),  Bog Tele Gem (3), Herder's Den Gem (4)

Wind Essence: Bog Switch Gem (5), River Gem (6), Ruins gem (7), Sewer Gem (8)

Fire Essence: Hamlet Gem (9), Mines Gem 1 (10), Mines Gem 2 (11), Twigroot Dungeon Gem 1 (12)

Water Essence: Twigroot Dungeon Gem 2 (13), Graveyard Gem (14) Catacombs Gems (15,16)



Beach: Straightforward. Save gold key from rapier puzzle, get viper root gem (1)

Twigroot: Go into southeastern dungeon, grabbing key, using it on overworld gate. Dig up tome of Leadership on way to treant gem (2). Exit to Sleet River.

River: Go right through light beam puzzle, drop down into the water and head into Bog.

Bog: Get Teleporter Gem (3), Then head to Herder's Den. Grab Hub Key bag while  killing stalks, then grab gem (4). Get Mine Key and Axe from chest (may be a mimic) and exit. Get Earth Essence, and head to Bog Switch puzzle and grab gem (5). Exit through the hub (opening Beach teleporter if desired) and head to the River.

River: Kill any wargs and the viper root on the way to the Warhammer, and grab River Gem (6). Head through Spike puzzle, kill viper root, and head to sleet island. (Can also skip spike puzzle and root through water if exp is high enough).

Sleet: Drop into water towards the meteor and dig it up. Go into graveyard. Gate puzzle with Runed stone - N,W,S,N,N. Go north to pit puzzle. Hit the switches this many times in order: 2,4,2,1,3,Lever,3,5,4. Grab Gem (7) Open Hub, then head back to Sleet Island. Grab Stormseed Orb (optional) and head into ruins.

Ruins: Kill Ice Guardians with Firebombs (from Bog Bag) and work down towards The Power Gem (8) getting the Axe with the golden key on the way and giving it to Barb #1. Try to get invisibility before getting the gem, as it makes exiting a lot easier. After grabbing Power Gem, exit to the sewers.

Sewers: Take left gate after hitting poison bolt lever, grabbing 2H sword (optional) diviner's cloak (optional) and shock bombs on the way to Ratling Boss. Grab keys w/invisibility and work to reservoir access. Make sure to grab Wind Essence before leaving. Get Power Gem (9) after Spike trap, and head up to Hamlet.

Hamlet: Grind turtles for food. Grab Tome of Knowledge from Secret near beach. Use on Barb #1. Dig Up Jeweled Scepter, Grab Gem (10) from Spike puzzle, Grab Hub Key, use it, Grab Wind Essence, then head towards Crystal Mines.

Mines:  Solve Simulacrum puzzle (skip if early mine key from Bog), then work down towards pressure plate puzzle. After grabbing key, fall down the pit (or ropedown if acquired) and solve the nearby puzzle. Grab the Key, place Meteor on forge, give it to Barb #1 (give Ax to Barb #3 if/when meteor hammer is usable) then go right (east) and grab the power gem (11) down the path, then work towards lever/teleporter (use healing crystal if injured or dead). Teleport back, then take right path to locked door. Work way through puzzles, using invisibility and killing enemies as needed. After grabbing power gem (12), go to Twigroot forest exit.

Twigroot: Use Crystal if needed, Grab Saber from wooden box and give to barb #2, then go through nearby dungeon. Grab both gems in dungeon (13, 14), Grab Fire Essence, then go through beach teleporter if activated.

Graveyard/Catacombs: Enter from hub entrance, then enter Catacombs. Solve Catacombs Bridge-door puzzle [U = under, O = over (U,U,O,U,U,O,O)], work towards Boss Fight. Use Crystal of Protection (from Jeweled scepter chest), Stormseed Orb (critical damage), air spells and physical attacks and grab key, and crystal shard in corner.

Lab puzzle solution: Stick, potion, helm, hat, turtle, wyvern

Give Battle Axe to Barb #1 in second slot (as a backup)
Floor puzzle: use middle square route. Refer to picture. http://i.imgur.com/oRfkavX.png



Castle: Library switch puzzle

1. middle switch down
2. left and right down
3. middle and right down
                                                           [x] [x] [ ]
Light Beam puzzle: make sure no enemies are on these plates[x] [x] [ ]  then press the switch and run backwards to the platform.
                                                           [x] [x] [x]

	If you did it right, you'll get to the gate right before the bridge disappears. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEVnQDEyUsI

Lindworm: Make sure to grab Shock Bombs from behind stairs and give Barbarian #1 Speed potion from the Mines.
Kill first wave of enemies until Lindworm becomes vulnerable. Use speed potion and circle-strafe him using physical attacks and throw any bombs you have left with your wizard.