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Reward rooms contain great loot that will help shape your character, but to get the key you have to face the key holder - a unique situation designed to test your character. It is always possible to get the key from a key holder, though sometimes it is more difficult than others.

Key Holder Description

MinDepth

MaxDepth

Frequency
Secret Room Key on an altar in a secret room. Sometime there will be a statue in the wall that gives you a view into that room. 1 26 1
Throwing Tutorial Toss an item onto the pressure plate to retract the cage and reveal the key. 1 4 10
Rat Trap Getting the key triggers paralysis vents nearby and also causes rats to burst out of the walls.

Tactics: unfortunately, no 100% tactics. If rats catch you on the edge of gas cloud, you are sure corpse. If you suspect a rat trap, you can search around the key holder to discover the location of the gas vent(s) and plan accordingly.

1 8 7
Flammible Barricade in the Doorway

Burn the wooden barricade to enter. Either Incendiary darts or a potion of incineration are always generated on the level.

1 5 8
Fun With Fire Trigger the fire trap and coax the fire over to the wooden barricade surrounding the altar and key. 3 10 10
Flood Room Key on an altar in a room with 2 or 3 pools of eel- or kraken-infested water; take key to flood room with shallow water.

Tactics: If you detect a flood room, kill eels before taking the key.

3 26 10
Collapsing Floor Area Key on an altar in an area; take key to cause the floor of the area to collapse. 1 26 13
Pit Traps Key on an altar, room full of pit traps or Fire traps.

Tactics: search until the path becomes obvious.

1 26 10
Levitation Challenge Key on an altar, room filled with chasm, potion of levitation elsewhere on level, bridge appears when you grab the key. 1 13 10
Web Climbing Key on an altar, room filled with chasm, spider at altar to shoot webs, bridge appears when you grab the key. 7 26 10
Lava Moat Room Key on an altar, room filled with lava, levitation/fire immunity elsewhere on level, lava retracts when you grab the key. 3 13 7
Lava Moat Area Key on an altar, surrounded with lava, levitation/fire immunity elsewhere on level, lava retracts when you grab the key. 3 13 3
Poison Gas Key on an altar; take key to cause a poison gas vent to appear and the door to be blocked by a portcullis. There is a hidden trapdoor somewhere, as well as a lever to open the portcullis.

Tactics: identify the machine and search.

4 26 7
Explosive Situation Key on an altar; take key to cause a methane gas vent to appear and a pilot light to ignite. 7 26 10
Thieving Monster An imp or monkey starts on the altar. When the player first comes in sight it runs off with the key and must be tracked down. You may just notice the empty candle-lit altar. ? ? ?
Burning Grass Key on an altar; take key to cause pilot light to ignite grass in room.

Possible tactics: destroy the torch, light the grass beforehand, make a fireproof spot with potion of descent, find a tile of ash and wait for the fire to go down.

1 7 10
Statuary Key on an altar, area full of statues ; take key to cause statues to burst and reveal monsters. 10 26 10
Guardian water puzzle A Stone Guardian is in the room with red glyphs; Find a Flood Trap trigger and, if necessary, lure the guardian within radius of the trap. Get the Guardian to step on the trigger or throw something there and it will lose the key in deep water. Or throw a Potion of Descent on it, collect the key on the next level and come back. 4 26 8
Worms in the Walls Step on trigger region to cause underworms to burst out of the walls. 12 26 7
Mud Pit Key on an altar, room full of mud, take key to cause bog monsters to spawn in the mud. 12 26 10
Zombie Crypt Flaming Zombie Apocalypse. Key on an altar; coffins scattered around; brazier in the room; take key to cause zombies to burst out of all of the coffins. The brazier will light the nausea gas clouds, so things get intense. 12 26 10
Haunted House Key on an altar; take key to cause the room to darken, ectoplasm to cover everything and phantoms to appear. 16 26 10
Gauntlet Key on an altar; take key to cause turrets to emerge. 5 24 10
Boss Key is held by a boss atop a pile of bones in a secret room. A few fungus trees light up the area. 5 26 25
Worm Tunnels Pull a lever to open a tunnel system filled with underworms. A key is somewhere within the maze. 8 26 10
Electric crystals A room has 3 or more darkened crystal orbs and has multiple levers along the walls. The Key(I've only seen it with crystal orbs, though) is on an altar somewhere in the room. Pulling a lever turns it into a Spark Turret that you can bait into shooting the darkened orbs to light them up. A staff of lightning will also light orbs if the spark turrets are all destroyed by you or your allies. 6 26 10
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