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RuneScoop.com  >  The RuneScoop Ultimate Skill Guide for RuneScape       >  The RuneScoop Ultimate Skill Guide - Dungeoneering            >  The RuneScoop Ultimate Skill Guide - Dungeoneering - Challenge (Puzzle) Rooms

Statue-Chessboard Pattern Duplication Timed Toxin Maze

You enter a room to find the way to the next door blocked three rows of four squares, each containing a set of grooves or slots in the ground. In each row, only one of the four sets of grooves is safe to step on; the others cause spikes to shoot up, damaging the one who stands on them. You have to figure out where the safe spots are—which, unfortunately, doesn’t require as much cleverness as it should.

This is, in my opinion, the most disappointing of all of the puzzles in Dungeoneering, because it really isn’t a puzzle at all. Most puzzle rooms are set up so that you must apply some skill, timing or smarts to finish them, and you only get damaged if you mess up. Here, the only solution to the puzzle is trial-and-error, which is quite unsatisfying. It would have been better if there were some sort of actual puzzle here to solve in order to figure out the safe path.

Instead, this puzzle is akin to figuring out where the safe path is through a minefield by running through it and hoping you don’t get blown up too badly. :) You have to try one of the sets of grooves in the first row, and if you get hit for damage try the next, continuing until you find the safe one; then repeat two times. The only place any intelligence is required at all is when teams are involved.

• Skill Requirements: None.
  
  
• Tool Requirements: None.
  
  
• Overall Difficulty: Low.
  
  
• Added Difficulty for High Latency Connections: None.
  
  
• Danger Level: Moderate to High.
  
  
• Time Required: Low.
  
  
• Monsters in Room? Yes.
  
  
• Resources in Room? Yes.
  
  
• Impact of Team on Puzzle: Low.

There’s not much actual thought involved here, so there’s not much in the way of strategy. Just try each spot in a row until you find the one that doesn’t whack you, then move on to the next one. Make sure to watch your health.

I recommend setting a standard so you always do this puzzle from left to right or right to left; this will ensure that if you return to the room later, you know where the safe path is (the one just to the right or just to the left of the spikes you’ve revealed).

The puzzle is the same for teams. It’s possible for multiple players to participate, thus speeding things up and spreading out the potential damage. However, it may be simpler to just let one person “tank it”.

The same idea about doing each line from left to right or right to left applies here. Another trick is to drop an unneeded item (such as a low-tiered resource or bones) on the safe spots, to mark the way for other players.

Statue-Chessboard Pattern Duplication Timed Toxin Maze