Strategy:Phobos Lab

Beware of opening doors, because you will get flooded by a group of demons.

0.9.9.7

Ultra-Violence

Don't even THINK about coming in here on UV unless you can get your movement speed below 0.6s/move through some means that doesn't involve using Berserker, and ideally it should be well below that. Not likely, since this is early game, but still! Builds that aren't using at least Hellrunner 2 might as well not bother, because you need at least Hellrunner 2 and some speed-increasing items to reach speeds like that, even if you're a Scout. Nightmare demons are FAST, they move and attack every 0.6 seconds, which means you'll get bitten many times a second once they close the gap, and thanks to their higher innate armor, knocking them back is no easy feat! There's about half a dozen of them holed up in the first tunnel that you MUST clear out to progress, because the doors will not open without the switch being pressed. Further unfortunately, thanks to a glitch in Demon AI, they will usually get stuck deeper in the cave and will not move out unless they're damaged or they see you, so there's no point in waiting for them to come out until you've let them out yourself. But that's also a bad idea, because you need some space between them, so you actually want to be able to close the doors leading into the cave to the north.

You're going to need at least two shell boxes and a double shotgun to fight them, and even that will take quite a while and be risky if there's no space between you. If you have a rocket launcher, you can try splashing them from around the corners, but get ready to run and rocket jump, because they'll practically teleport to you once they're hit. Nightmare Demons are tough enough to survive in acid for a long time even though it damages them, and your only realistic hope of getting away from them if you can't close the doors leading into the cave is running all the way around to the start location and closing those doors, so if the doors are blocked and unable to be closed (i.e. because a shotgun guy destroyed one while trying to shoot you), or you have to rely on Running to reach speeds that fast, you're probably going to die.

This is extremely dangerous even for very good players with a plan, so it's usually better not to bother with Phobos Lab on UV/N! unless you're REALLY over-prepared.

If you do manage to clear out the cave to the north and press the switch to unlock the doors, shoot the doors open and get ready to run, because there are more nightmare demons that love to stand right next to those doors, and they will charge through the instant the doors pop open. Your only hope of getting any space between you is once again to run back to the start location and close the doors in their faces. If you can't do that, your run might be over unless you have an envirosuit and wait in the acid, or you can hide in the northern caves and shut those doors.

The other enemies are normal demons and low-tier enemies like imps, and zombiemen, and shotgun guys, which if you're ready for this level, should be trivial to kill. But be careful when walking through the long hallways, and be sure to radar-shoot and corner-shoot to keep them from heaving balls of fire down your throat.

Once you reach the back, grab both of the envirosuits. Don't leave any there because you will need to be carrying at least one while you're out pressing the switch. You'll see why in a second. There are enemies on the two little islands that you should kill from out of vision with your shotgun. Once the way is clear, load up and get ready to run once again, because once you press the switch, it will lower the bridge and unlock the doors to the exit, but unless you have a Homing Phase Device, there's one last fight for you to clear, and it's nasty and unfair.

You see, no matter how much time you have left on your current envirosuit, the INSTANT you touch the shore in the back again, your envirosuit will wear off and the walls holding back an ambush will lower, flooding you with four nightmare demons, four shotgun guys, and four more regular demons. This is why you need to be carrying both envirosuits, as you will NOT have time to use the other one from the ground. You will get surrounded by demons and nightmare demons and will be eaten in seconds if you try. You probably wouldn't even reach the suit.

Now, unless you have a homing phase device, the safest place to run is back out onto the acid on top of one of the Large Health Globes in the corners. The acid should soften the nightmare demons up, but it's going to be a rough fight and you'll probably lose your armor if you don't have a shell box.

If you're still alive by the end of that, congratulations! The worst is over. But now you have to get back over the acid and leave without dying, and there are still imps and formers blocking your way. Radar-shoot to find the shotgunners, but beware not to get surrounded, because they will be coming from both above and below. Best to hug one side for cover rather than approach from the middle. Once you clear out the back, grab any ammo you need and get ready for one more ambush. At least this one isn't so bad, though, it's just four imps and a couple of former humans, but once again they won't be attackable until you're close, and both top and bottom will open at once. Best to kill the group near you with a shotgun, or you can use a rocket launcher if they aren't too close. If you're running a pistol build, two shots each should bring them down by now. Now deal with the other group by radar-shooting until you see the level give you the all-clear. Now go collect your rewards.

Phew! Was that worth it? Hell no! But good job anyway! That was hard!