Walkthrough

The Golden Krone Hotel contains 27 levels (10 main floors plus many side branches). Many of these levels are optional.

You enter the hotel on Floor 1 and your goal is to reach Floor 10 and defeat Fane, the Exiled Vampire Prince. But before reaching him, you'll need at least 4 magical rings. These rings can be acquired from branch bosses.

Sample floor layout

The in-game hotel map accessible with 'I'. The placement and existence of branches is random!

Lower floors

Floors 1 & 2

The first two floors are small and fairly safe. Your biggest danger might be the occasional Devourer or Field Viper.

Eventually, you'll zip through these early levels. There are no branches to be found here.

Early game

Floors 3-5

Monsters start to get more dangerous here. Lapis Golems, Wolf Spiders, and Brawlers can be tough to deal with if you wander into a fight with them unprepared. By now you'll have gained a few levels and hopefully grabbed a spell or two. You've probably turned vamp at least once by now and it won't hurt to scout out parts of the floor in that form (watch out for sunlight though).

At this stage, the earliest branches appear, but you might not be ready yet! Don't feel obligated to enter them now or if you do enter, don't hesitate to leave when things turn south.

Branch entrances (order is random):

• Greenhouse OR Baths: You might be able to quickly grab your first ring here, but the fight will be fairly hard if you do it immediately.

• Grotto OR Sewers: Good for some extra experience. Starting with the River this is definitely optional, late game content.

• Hedge Maze OR Menagerie: Only worth popping into if you plan to clear part or all of the subsequent level (Hive or Ice House respectively), which you would do primarily for food and experience.

Mid game

Floors 6-9

The top half of the hotel can be hellish. You'll be dealing with Moroi, Solomonari, Nobles, Balaurs, and all sorts of nasty Golems.

You should evaluate your character at this point to see where you're struggling. Specific branches will help you shore up weaknesses: Mausoleum for gear, Pharmacopoeia for potions, Library for books, and Hive for food. Treat each level with care, even the high numbered regular floors. It may be safe to peek into any given floor or branch, but fully exploring can prove dangerous.

You better have identified some potions by now and be ready to use them.

Branch entrances listed in relative order of difficulty:

• Graveyard leading to the Mausoleum: Relatively safe to explore, especially as a vampire.
• Library OR Gallery: whichever comes first will have a staircase leading to the other.
• Pharmacopoeia: the first floor is fairly safe, but the boss on the second level can be super dangerous.
• Laboratory OR Rafters leading to Workshop OR Watchtower: you'll get 2 randomly selected branches out of 4 in every game.

Late game

Now might be a good time to backtrack to earlier branches if combat seems too dangerous up top. Check the hotel map to see if it's a good time to revisit any chests or Hawkers.

Eventually though, you'll start running low on resources and you will have no choice but to go after the rings. You'll need to form a strategy of when to tackle the highest floors and which branches you want to visit.

Getting your first couple rings will be especially difficult, but once you have them you'll be even more powerful. Pay careful attention to the types of rings you acquire. Specific ring resistances will benefit you more in certain locations.

Floor 10

Once you have 4 rings, you're free to go to Floor 10.

After talking to Fane, you'll have to make an important decision. Regardless of your choice, remember this is the last part of the game. There's no run back through the hotel and there are no more fights, so don't be scared to utilize all of your saved equipment and abilities.

Extended late game

If you want an extra challenge before visiting Fane, you can try to grab all 9 ring types. Clear all the main floors and then the harder branches.

Your journey will eventually take you to the Underworld. To get there you have to go through the Grotto, River, and Maelstrom. Once you reach your destination, you'll be confronted with 7 Day Demons and Ice Father and Fire Mother. If you survive that fight, you can keep descending infinitely. You will encounter one or more procedurally generated bosses on each Underworld floor. Keep in mind that the Underworld gets harder and harder the deeper you go!