Secret Levels and Alternate Paths

Barony hides a network of secret levels and alternate paths alongside the main 35-floor dungeon. Each one rewards unique loot, powerful artifacts, or access to alternate boss encounters. Finding them requires specific actions, items, or puzzle solutions.

This guide documents every known secret level, how to access it, what it rewards, and whether the detour is worth the time and resources.

Secret Level Overview

Secret Level	Accessible From	Key Requirement	Major Reward
Gnomish Mines	Floors 1-5 (Mines)	Lever puzzle	Sphinx's Casque
Jungle Temple	Floors 6-10 (Swamp)	Hidden entrance	Massive gold cache
Sokoban	Floors 11-15 (Sand Labyrinth)	Boulder puzzle entrance	Djinni's Braces
Minotaur Maze	Floors 11-15 (Sand Labyrinth)	Hidden entrance	Gungnir (divine spear)
Mystic Library	Floors 16-20 (Ruins)	Hidden entrance	High-tier spellbooks
Cockatrice Lair	Floors 26-30 (Crystal Caves)	Hidden entrance	Dragon's Mail
The Underworld + Hell	Floors 16-19 (Ruins)	Hidden portal + puzzle	Baphomet boss fight

info

Secret levels are optional. None of them are required to beat the game. They exist for players who want the best possible gear, rare achievements, and the Baphomet alternate boss encounter.

Gnomish Mines (Floors 1-5)

Location: Accessible from the Mines region via a lever puzzle on one of the first five floors.

How to access:

1. Find a room with a series of levers on the walls. Not every run generates this room.
2. Pull the levers in the correct sequence. The sequence varies by run, but audio and visual cues indicate correct pulls (a click sound, a lit torch, or a gate opening sound).
3. A hidden staircase opens when the sequence is complete.

Inside: The Gnomish Mines feature tighter corridors, gnome-type enemies, and mining-themed hazards. The floors are short but densely packed with loot.

Reward: The Sphinx's Casque, a powerful headpiece with strong defensive stats and a Perception bonus.

Worth it? Yes on runs where you find the lever room early (Floors 1-2). The Casque is strong enough to carry you through the Swamp. On late Mines floors (4-5), the detour costs time and resources you may need for the Swamp transition.

Jungle Temple (Floors 6-10)

Location: Accessible from the Swamp region through a hidden entrance.

How to access:

1. Search for a concealed doorway or breakable wall section in the Swamp floors.
2. A pickaxe or Detect Magic spell reveals the entrance.

Inside: Dense vegetation, poison traps, and jungle-themed enemies. Traps are more numerous than on standard floors.

Reward: A massive gold cache. Before v5.0, this level also contained the Green Mystic Orb. Post-v5.0, the orb moved to standard-floor Treasure Rooms, but the gold remains.

Worth it? Situationally. If you are playing Merchant or need gold for shop purchases on later floors, the temple pays for itself. Otherwise, the gold is less valuable than the time spent clearing poison traps.

Sokoban (Floors 11-15)

Location: Accessible from the Sand Labyrinth through a boulder puzzle entrance.

How to access:

1. Find a room with movable boulders and pressure plates.
2. Push the boulders onto the correct pressure plates to open the hidden staircase.
3. The puzzle layout changes between runs, but the concept remains the same: fill all plates.

Inside: A multi-room boulder-pushing puzzle with enemies interspersed between rooms. Dangerous because the tight corridors limit dodging.

Reward: The Djinni's Braces, a legendary wrist item with high defensive stats and magic resistance.

Worth it? Yes if you can solve boulder puzzles quickly. The Braces provide some of the best magic resistance in the game, which is critical for the Ruins and beyond. Not worth it if you are low on health or food, because the tight corridors make escape difficult if things go wrong.

warning

The Sokoban puzzle is unforgiving. Pushing a boulder into the wrong corner can softlock the puzzle for that run. There is no undo. Plan your moves before pushing.

Minotaur Maze (Floors 11-15)

Location: Accessible from the Sand Labyrinth through a hidden entrance.

How to access:

1. Find a concealed passage in the Sand Labyrinth floors. Look for visual cues on walls or use Detect Magic.
2. The entrance leads to a maze populated by Minotaurs and other high-threat enemies.

Inside: A large, winding maze with Minotaur spawns. The Minotaurs here are not the rare-spawn variety from standard floors. They are guaranteed, numerous, and aggressive.

Reward: Gungnir, the divine spear. Extremely high damage, long reach, and a unique property that makes it effective against nearly all enemy types.

Worth it? Yes for melee builds that use polearms. Gungnir is one of the strongest weapons in the game. Not recommended for ranged or magic builds that would not use a spear, or for builds with low HP and armor that cannot survive Minotaur hits.

Mystic Library (Floors 16-20)

Location: Accessible from the Ruins through a hidden entrance.

How to access:

1. Find a concealed passage in the Ruins floors.
2. The entrance is typically behind a breakable wall or hidden door.

Inside: A library filled with bookshelves, magical enemies, and scholar-type NPCs. Less combat-focused than other secret levels. The primary danger is cursed spellbooks mixed into the loot.

Reward: A large cache of high-tier spellbooks across all three magic schools (Sorcery, Thaumaturgy, Mysticism). The density of rare spellbooks here is unmatched anywhere else in the dungeon.

Worth it? Yes for any caster build. The spellbooks found here can fill gaps in your spell repertoire and provide significant school XP from learning. For pure martial builds with no magic investment, skip it.

danger

Identify every spellbook before reading it. The Library has a higher-than-normal rate of cursed spellbooks. A cursed book erases a known spell from your memory. Losing your only Heal spell to a cursed book in the Ruins can end a run.

Cockatrice Lair (Floors 26-30)

Location: Accessible from the Crystal Caves region.

How to access:

1. Find a hidden entrance in the Crystal Caves floors.
2. The entrance leads to a lair filled with Cockatrices and crystal-based hazards.

Inside: Multiple Cockatrices that can petrify you. The petrification mechanic is the primary threat. Prepare with Cure Ailment spells or scrolls, and avoid direct line of sight with multiple Cockatrices at once.

Reward: Dragon's Mail, one of the most durable armor pieces in the game. High AC with excellent resistance properties.

Worth it? Yes if you can handle the petrification threat. The Dragon's Mail is endgame-viable armor that carries you through the Citadel and the Floor 35 boss fight. Bring multiple Cure Ailment scrolls or spells as insurance.

The Path to Baphomet: Underworld and Hell

This is the most complex alternate path in the game, requiring specific preparation and a step-by-step sequence to reach the alternate final boss.

Step 1: Enter the Underworld (Floors 16-19)

1. Find the hidden portal to the Underworld in the Ruins region. Its location varies between runs. Look for a distinct portal visual on Floors 16 through 19.
2. Enter the portal. You are now in the Underworld.

Step 2: Cross the Underworld

1. Ignore the first portal you see. It leads back to Baron Herx on Floor 20. Taking this portal sends you to the standard boss fight, NOT to Baphomet.
2. Push deeper into the Underworld. You will reach a dangerous room filled with lava and/or spike traps.
3. Use Levitate or Teleportation to safely cross this hazard room. Walking through is almost guaranteed death.
4. Find and pull two levers in this room. They open access to the secondary portal.
5. Enter the secondary portal. This takes you to Hell.

Step 3: Navigate Hell

1. You arrive in Hell. Locate the church structure.
2. Inside the church, find and pull four specific levers. Each lever is in a different section of the church.
3. After all four levers are pulled, a final portal spawns. This portal leads to the Baphomet boss arena.

Step 4: Fight Baphomet

Baphomet is tougher than Baron Herx. Higher HP, faster attacks, more aggressive minion summoning. You do NOT get Mystic Orb pedestal buffs for this fight.

danger

The most common failure point is taking the wrong portal in the Underworld. The first portal you see leads to Herx, not to Baphomet. Ignore it. If you accidentally enter it, you are locked into the standard boss path and cannot return to the Underworld on that run.

Preparation Checklist for Baphomet

Item	Why You Need It
Levitate spell or potion	Required to cross the Underworld hazard room safely.
Cure Ailment (multiple)	Hell has burning and poison environmental hazards.
Healing potions (5+)	No orb buffs means you take more damage per hit from Baphomet.
Magic resistance gear	Baphomet uses magic attacks. Reflection gear is ideal.
Full repair on all equipment	No blacksmiths or shops in the Underworld or Hell.