Here are my
Amber specific tips for getting through the trickier rooms and challenges.
Before starting I went into Features > Game Options and set camera to Reverse. This made it feel MUCH more natural to me. You will see another option: Butler's Brew, this does not apply to Challenge 21.
Overall this took me 3hr 20min and aside from some really frustrating rooms it wasn't as bad as I thought. You can always come back to it, your progress saves after each room, but you probably want to do this in one go and keep up the momentum.
General Tips:*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***- Do not ever pause and hit LB, this will restart the entire challenge and you will have to play through the whole thing again. When I use the term "reset", I mean die and reset the room.
- The first 15 mins is a cakewalk, you can run through everything or easily kill everything. Enjoy it!
- All corridor sections, you can just run through to the door. I don't recall any time I had to kill enemies in the corridor rooms.
- Hunchback: Hit them six times max, do NOT kick them when they are stunned, instead wait until they stop being stunned. Then repeat. Now you can stunlock them.
Chapters 1 & 2:*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***- The first mummy challenge in the archives: I made sure to keep my distance and took it slow, and if my candle was running low I backed away until it recharged. Just take it easy and don't destroy the sarcophagus with the cursed mummy.
- The Ballroom: Go left and kill the skeleton that blocks the exit by throwing bottles. There are two sets of bottles. Then go into the dancefloor. If you aggro anyone, reset.
- Cloak Room: This gave me real trouble, you need good RNG here. Aggro the first coat right ahead and if it drops the wrong enemy, reset. If you get a mummy, reset. Otherwise it's just not worth the stress.
- Garbage Yard: Easy enough to kill all the spiders with weapons. Avoid the trashcans and only use those as a last resort. On wave 2, group them up next to the skip bin and then use it to kill 8+ spiders in one go.
- Woodshed: You can run through this entire room, just take the long way around each part to give space between you and the flying fucks.
- Chicken Coop: This was tougher in my first playthrough - just kill everything before you get to the egg. Then kill each chicken as it spawns. Be careful not to spam otherwise your gun will be empty and you will get overwhelmed.
- Courtyard (with stinky plant): Just grab the stinky plant then just run to the door. The skeleton might hit you right out of the cutscene but they are good padding for the Reaper.
- Music Room 2: This was a pain in the ass. Firstly, for the challenge just clear off the yellow curtain window ninjas by firing two shots. Then just spawn kill the ninja fucks at the orange curtain window. When you finish the challenge, make sure everything is dead BEFORE you speak with the housekeeping lady. Then go kick the cursed mummy into the fireplace, otherwise he will one shot you in the next challenge. Then finally start the last challenge to kill the hunchback. Use the hunchback stunlock trick and pray he doesn't do a spin attack as his first move. Randomly, three skeletons will burst in while you are punching him, so back away and cautiously take these out, then resume pummeling the hunchback.
- Cloak Room 2: Same as Woodshed, just run past everything and take the long way around to avoid the Medusa. Gasp in annoyance as your character gets scared at every enemy.
- Grand Staircase Hallway: I used the Reaper to kill the door for me, by failing the challenge on purpose.
- Kitchen: You have plenty of time, so don't overuse the extinguisher. Short controlled bursts ;)
- Amber Boss Fight: This was tough until I learned the timing of weapon melee swings. I did two full weapon hits, plus one extra weapon hit (7 melee hits total) using two ladders and a broom, followed up by 2 cardboard box throws. The best advice for the timing is swing while she is about to come around the corner, and swing a TINY bit earlier than you THINK you need to. Just practice it for a couple of deaths until you have it kinda consistent.
Chapter 3:*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***- Housekeeping Storage Room: If the key is not in the first two golden wardrobes, reset. Otherwise try your luck hitting all of them and running past the enemies.
- Bathroom: Try to kill all the coats first before the challenge starts. Once the challenge starts, just use your fists to kill any remaining coats. Once the ninja fucks spawn in, try to kill them as quickly as possible so you don't get overwhelmed by the skeletons. Once the ninjas are dead, the skeletons are easy and they can also hit each other. Once the Medusa appears, just take the long way around it.
- Schoolroom: A more difficult Woodshed but again just run to the end, I got bad luck with ghosts in this one and had to repeat it a couple of times.
- Infirmary: Destroy the metal locker to your left as you begin the room to spawn the Jessie-Clyde monster. When the first Medusa is dead, start the challenge and just run around avoiding attacks. Eventually the monster will defeat all the Medusa. It's up to RNG here. Don't stress out if you die a couple of times.
- Potting Room: The first challenge is easy enough since the enemy variety is good. For the second challenge, just wait for the timer then let the Reaper kill the hunchback. Remember you can stunlock the hunchback.
- Dunfiddlin Cottage Grounds: The worm with the key is in the doggy kennel, next to the pond. Hit it once, then wait until 2 seconds to kick it away. Then go to the door.
- Dunfiddlin Cottage: Mixed bag here, you could get really lucky or really unlucky. Personally I killed the wizard with weapons when he teleported nearby to me. Then I killed all the flying fucks in the second challenge so the Reaper spawned and I let it kill the zombies. The Reaper here has a tendency to ignore the zombies so just be extra careful.
- Workshop: Before you begin the challenge, throw BOTH cursed mummy urns into the furnace. Then for the challenge, just run around the furnace in circles until the time is up.
- Courtyard: Grab the barrel to your left and throw it at the first Jessie-Clyde. Then run, hugging the left fence, and pray. The last Jessie-Clyde tends to ignore you if you are fast enough.
- Stables: Destroy all the objects and defeat all the flaming shits here before you pick up the riddle piece. Then just make an easy way to the door.
- Foundry 2: This room alone took me 10 minutes due to really bad luck. I just seemed to die from every possible thing - however, you can definitely do this first try. I killed two mummies to spawn two skeletons, then picked up a weapon and ran to the door to activate the challenge. Once active, kill the two skeletons and let the Reaper kill the rest of the enemies you need.
- Servants' Dormitory: Grab the trashcan to the right and approach the first Jessie-Clyde monster. Throw it and run past. This will spawn the Reaper. Keep running to the exit door avoiding the enemies as best as you can. Might take a couple tries but it's not too bad. Once you are at the exit, make sure the Reaper is not too far away, then activate the haunted door. Punch it to keep it stunlocked as you get behind it, so that the Reaper kills it, then just run 1 metre to the door.
- Servant's Bathroom: Do NOT activate any enemies in this room. Instead, just bust down the door to the exit, and bust the half open toilet door. In this toilet stall are 3 lots of toilet paper that you can throw. Simply wait for the Reaper to show up then start pacing your throws so they don't overlap too much. Once you chew through all 3 stacks, run him around the centre island until you have less than 10 seconds, then go to the exit. Far less stressful.
- Experiment Chamber 1: Two shot the wizard, then activate the ninja allies by smashing the right-hand side of the computery-machine next to the exit door. Then activate the next challenge. Always use a weapon and try to kill the enemies as fast as possible to avoid being overwhelmed. You can also kill your ninjas and they count towards the total.
- Krackpot's Meth Lab: Ignore the Jessie-Clyde monsters and turn around straight away. Start hitting the yellow tubes and hope to get lucky with the key. If you get too many worms, just reset. You do NOT want to aggro the Jessie-Clyde monsters. Once you have the yellow tube key, spawn the skeleton, then spawn the vampire. Kill the skeleton, then knock out the vampire toward the Reaper. Then just run to the exit door.
- Experiment Chamber 2: Spawn your ninja allies again right away. Grab the nearby stool and try to survive getting out of here. Look for small openings and run through. I took the long way around as there was more space, but it may be different for you.
- Grand Staircase Hallway: Hope you like QTEs coz you might be doing this one a lot. Finish the QTE, then smash the vase closest to the two foot-stools. Pick up the ladder and spawn the door. You need to whack the door six times with melee weapons. The trick is to hit it right away after the cutscene, then move to its side and as soon as it stands up straight, THEN do another melee. Might take a couple tries to find the timing, but this way you can hit it 3x in one combo. Then grab one foot-stool and combo it again, attacking its left side (away from its extending polished knob). Once it's dead, quickly grab the last foot-stool and pray your attacks do good crowd control on the purple gimps. Try to mop them up before they escape. If the reaper spawns you can JUST BARELY squeeze past if you go from one wall to the other. It's very tight and I spent 10 mins here.
Chapters 4 & 5, Final Boss:*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***- Baron von Incel: Learn his attack patterns. Then move to your right, (his left) and circle him away from his sword arm. You need to knock him down, pick up his sword and hit him 3x with the sword. Then repeat once more.
After this he moves to his plane. I used the desk as cover until I got the gun, then moved into the middle of the room. As soon as he stops moving, he is about to do his tally ho charge, so start strafing.
The enemy waves seem difficult at first but just shoot each enemy once, then rotate your aim around in a circle. Skeletons die in 1 hit. Zombies take 2 hits and you may need to move around. Worms can be killed in 1 hit, or if they have been triggered already, you can shoot them away. Pirates are not that tough, just do the shoot in a circle thing and make sure you prioritise pirates that are about to throw a chest. You will need to move around.
After this, the Baron will go into his last phase 'frenzy mode' where he will charge every 5 seconds. I used the bed as cover on whichever side was furthest away from him, then shot backwards at him immediately after he flew past me. Then run to the other side of the bed and repeat another 2 times. You can peek out from the side of the bed to allow him to lock on (he stops moving), then move back behind the bed.
Once you defeat the Baron, you can wait out the 13 min timer without moving, and in the meantime you can say fuck you to this game :)
WELL DONE!