Underworld

Underworld Loot Island, in the Underworld beneath Eyeaduct.

Underworld (introduced in Eyeaduct of the Very Scary Halloween Special update) refers to the several alternate play spaces located beneath certain Haunted Halloween maps.

Underworlds differ from each other depending on their map, but common characteristics among them are the presence of Magic spells, a harmful atmosphere, and deadly waters or Infernal Lava.

• Underworld can also specifically refer to those haunted islands surrounded by lethal stygian waters, while Hell (introduced in Helltower) refers specifically to those underground settings located in flows of infernal Infernal Lava.

• Purgatory is the Underworld destination and associated mechanics resulting from players jumping into the purple MONOCULUS portals. Purgatory was introduced in Eyeaduct; and other versions of Purgatory are found on most maps that spawn the MONOCULUS Boss.

• Loot Island is the location in Eyeaduct that players can enter when they defeat MONOCULUS, but that name is also broadly applied to any Underworld location having Bombinomicon waiting at the exit.

• Skull Island is the name of the Underworld location for Ghost Fort, but the horned skull model has been used for Underworld exit portals in a number of later maps, such as Hell Island under Brimstone.

General features

Underworld locations draw from a number of features:

• Achievements with Achievement items that can only be earned in certain Underworld locations encourage players to try out the Location.
• Entry and exit Buffs (Overheal, Invulnerability, Crits) and rare, powerful Magic Spells encourage players to learn to use some Underworld locations for tactical advantages in the main map.
• Underworld locations generally have mechanisms for limiting the time players can remain there, either by automatically killing off or pushing out all players that stay there too long or by ending the round:
  • Several locations feature portals for returning to the main level, usually with the aforementioned exit Buffs.
  • The ​Underworld ​locations are surrounded by lethal, instant death environments
  • Some Underworld locations​ cause Health drain on all players​.
    • ​Some Underworld locations do not have Health drain; one location gives some players an overheal.

List of maps with Underworld locations

Maps with Underworld locations include​:​

• Brimstone (Hell Island)
• Carnival of Carnage (Bumper Cars)
• Cauldron (Swampy Purgatory)
• Cursed Cove (Dave Jones' Locker)
• Eyeaduct (Purgatory, Loot Island)
• Ghost Fort (Skull Island)
• Gravestone (Bumper Cars, Purgatory)
• Hellstone (Purgatory, Hell)
• Helltower (Hell)
• Monster Bash (Pit and Pendulums)
• Moonshine Event (Underworld)
• Pit of Death (Underworld)
• Slasher (Jumper Underworld)

Underworlds

Brimstone

Brimstone has two underworlds: Purgatory and Hell.

Purgatory can be accessed by going through the portals MONOCULUS opens when it teleports or by touching the Bombinomicon that appears if Merasmus is defeated. Players will be taken to a ledge over a sea of lava connected by three wooden bridges to an island with a giant horned skull, with a white portal on its mouth that leads back to the normal map. Three Rare Spells can be found here, one on each bridge.

Hell consists of a bigger island featuring an altar in the center. Like Purgatory, Hell is also surrounded by lava, connected to an island with a giant horned skull that takes players back to the normal map, and three Rare Spells. It can be accessed by jumping into the portal opened by defeating MONOCULUS, jumping into the portal that opens over the pit if BLU managed to push the cart into the pit, or by going through the white portals in the coffins.

When entering these locations, players will receive an overheal and a brief moment of invincibility to help them survive the health drain caused by their malicious atmospheres. When leaving through a portal, they will be sent back to the normal map with invulnerability, overheal, a speed boost, and guaranteed crits for a few seconds.

• 

  Purgatory.

• 

  Hell.

• 

  Blutarch Mann's Grave on Hell Island.

Carnival of Carnage

Once one of the teams has successfully delivered the tickets to the Strongmann in Carnival of Carnage, Merasmus will take all players to another realm, where they will be forced to play one of three deadly bumper cars mini-games. The winning team will receive an advantage over the other as a reward.

Falling Platforms: players are put in a 3x3 grid of wooden platforms where they must drive around. After a few moments, Merasmus will choose one of the platforms, which will flash a green light, and destroy the other platforms. All but one of them will be rebuilt after a few seconds, making it so the ground to drive around grows smaller each time. If both teams only have one player remaining alive, Merasmus will summon the Horseless Headless Horsemann to try and knock players off. If only the central platform and the last safe one remain, all platforms will be restored, and the cycle repeats.

Bumper Car Soccer: players are put in an oval arena and are forced to play soccer using a giant beach ball. Every time a goal is scored, the players close to that goal are pushed away, and the ball reappears in the center. Two spells can be found on each side of the goal, and one can be found in the center. The Horseless Headless Horsemann can be summoned here as well. The first team to score three goals wins. Alternatively, if all players in a team are knocked off the arena and die, then the other team wins. In case neither team has scored in a while, Merasmus will declare it to be sudden death, and the next team to score will win.

Duck Collectors: players are taken to a figure-8 racetrack-like arena and have to collect ducks, either the ones that spawn in the track or the golden ones dropped by enemies when bumped into, these "bonus ducks" being worth 2 points each. The first team to either collect the goal number of ducks or to kill the entire enemy team wins. Spells can be found across the arena.

The spells that can be collected in these games are:

• Über Heal: heals 50% of damage taken.
• Boxing Glove: Fires a projectile boxing glove that launches enemy players and damages them.
• Parachute: Launches the player up into the air and gives them a parachute that makes them slowly fall back.
• Bomb Head: The Bombinomicon appears and gives the player a bomb head, which will explode and damage the player after a period of time (as it does on Ghost Fort). If the player rams into an enemy before it explodes, the explosion affects the person being hit instead, usually knocking them back a huge distance as well.

Falling off any of the arenas will turn the player into a team-colored ghost that can still be controlled by the player. Touching an ally that's still alive will resurrect the player; touching an enemy will cause the player to bounce up.

• 

  The Falling Platforms.

• 

  The Bumper Car Soccer field.

• 

  The Duck Collectors track.

Cauldron

Once a team takes control of Cauldron's point, a random event will occur. Among these is a series of portals to its underworld opening up.

Cauldron's underworld consists of a series of islands rising from a poisonous swamp, engulfed in poisonous air, in front of a mansion. Two floating cauldrons serve as moving platforms. In order to leave, players must make their way to the glowing cauldron and jump into it; doing so will return them to the normal map with temporary invincibility.

• 

  Cauldron's underworld.

Cursed Cove

Every minute or so in Cursed Cove, the Flying Dutchman's ghost ship will emerge from the shore and sail through the town. Touching it will cause the player to go to Davy Jones' Locker. It appears as the bottom of the sea, with algae and corals dotting the landscape. Players will spawn in front of one of the two giant skulls, and have to make their way to the ship in the center, where they can deliver any souls they've collected.

Although the Locker does not feature a harmful atmosphere, a player that stays there too long will start to quickly drown. To leave, either go through the white portal on the ship, or be kicked out by Davy Jones.

• 

  Davy Jones' Locker.

• 

  Davy Jones on his ship.

Eyeaduct

Eyeaduct was the first map to feature an underworld, which is divided into two parts.

The first part consists of a few small islands, some connected through plank bridges, with a white portal on the other side of the tiny archipelago. The atmosphere is hazardous, and will slowly drain the player's health. When a player goes through the portal, they are sent back to the normal world with temporary invincibility, a 200% overheal, a speed boost, and a crit boost, which can be used to stun MONOCULUS. This part can be accessed by entering one of the portals left by MONOCULUS when it teleports.

The second part, Loot Island, is a single island with a pier and stairs that lead to a giant skull with an eye-patch. There, the players will find the Bombinomicon in a cage, which will slowly go down. The Bombinomicon acts as a portal, taking players back to the regular map with the same bonuses as the white portal. This area can be accessed by touching the Bombinomicon left behind by MONOCULUS when it is killed.

• 

  Loot Island.

Ghost Fort

Ghost Fort's Skull Island is an island with a giant Skull Island Topper-wearing human skull. While not an Underworld, it shares a few similarities with them:

• It is reached by touching the Bombinomicon left by Merasmus when defeated.
• Falling into the water is an instantaneous kill.
• Leaving through the exit will grant the player invulnerability, a speed boost, overheal, and crits for a few seconds.

Players are spawned on one of the opposite sides of its pier, depending on their team, and have to make their way to the cage inside the giant skull.

• 

  Skull Island.

Gravestone

During the Payload stage of the Gravestone, players can go to the underworld through white portals in coffins and doorways opened every Witching Hour to try and collect rare spells.

Once the Payload stage of the map ends, either by time running out or by the cart being tossed into the cauldron, all players will be taken to a Mansion in the underworld and forced to participate in a bumper cars race, the winning team receiving a head start. Shortly after the race start, Merasmus and skeletons will appear, chasing and attacking those in the rear. The first team to reach the top of the Mansion wins.

Hellstone

Like Brimstone, Hellstone has both Purgatory and Hell.

Purgatory is an incline ending in a white portal with a single rare spell in front of it. Players entering Purgatory are restored to full health, but quickly suffer from the evil environment's effect. Going through the portal takes the player back to the regular map with temporary invincibility, a 200% overheal, speed boost, and guaranteed crits. It can be accessed through the purple portals left by MONOCULUS after teleporting.

Hell is much larger than Purgatory, and has more rare spells. It can be accessed by touching the Bombinomicon that appears after defeating MONOCULUS and can be exited by reaching him at the other end. It has the same evil environment as Purgatory, and leaving through the portal grants the same bonuses.

• 

  Purgatory.

• 

  Hell.

Helltower

After sending either Redmond's or Blutarch's corpse to Hell, the players will be sent to an island in Hell with a tower similar to the one in Helltower. The teams will spawn dancing on opposite sides of the tower, receive a random spell, and, in the winning team's case, an overheal buff. Both common and rare spells can be found across the place, with the rare spells being on harder-to-reach areas.

Players who die here will not respawn; instead, they will turn into team-colored ghosts that can float around and say "boo". The team that manages to reach Skull Island and lower the gates around the book there wins.

• 

  The tower in Hell. Teams spawn on the islands on the opposite sides.

• 

  Skull Island in the distance. A rare spell can be seen on the tower.

• 

  The Bombinomicon awaits players in the giant horned skull.

• 

  The Unfilled Fancy Spellbook, after the gates around it have lowered.

Pit of Death

Pit of Death is named after the bottomless pit in the center of the map. Every Witching Hour, a portal will appear over the pit. The portal will take players to the gates of a mansion in the Underworld. If they have collected any souls, they can deliver them by heading to the mansion's yard.

The Underworld can be exited by going through the mansion's white portal, which will take the player back to the normal map with invulnerability, speed boost, overheal, and crits for a few seconds.

• 

  The portal leading to the Underworld.

Slasher

Slasher's Underworld contains many of the maps Health Kits due to its large size. It is a series of islands floating above a foggy abyss that houses many spells spread across it.

While it can be accessed at any time through a portal near the map's point, it can also be done by entering one of MONOCULUS' portals, which will spawn the player closer to the exit. Returning to the normal map through the exit will grant the player with guaranteed crits for a few seconds.

• 

  The permanent portal.

• 

  Slasher's underworld.

See also

• Halloween map
• Halloween
• Hell
• Probed (flying saucer environment)

Sources

Names of certain Underworld locations can be obtained form the following:

• Halloween achievements, which name some specific locations, e.g., Loot Island, Skull Island, Hell
• Update histories, which can incidentally reveal or confirm names of locations, e.g., Purgatory, Hell, Underworld
• Decompiled maps: VMF files.
• Comments by ICS.