Praetorium

The Praetorium, also known as the Headquarters of the Order, is one of several Portal Worlds the player can discover.

Description

The explorable area of the Praetorium consists of a short series of wide, carefully engineered hallways of black and white marble, with sections of black and yellow stripe accent stone. There are many alcoves with sealed doors, and Order banners and iconography can be found everywhere.

The Praetorium is a vast underground facility with various rooms, ranging from a library to an operations center. Various security doors are locked at first, and can be opened to create shortcuts as the player progresses.

Hasta Tria can be found in an unsealed room, with some GATE equipment on his table. The room has very sparse living quarters, in contrast to the opulent architecture. Looking outside from the balcony reveals a vast open cavern, showing a multitude of identical balconies lining the walls. It is unknown where in the world the Praetorium exists, but it is quite likely deep underground.

Lorewise, the Praetorium only allows initiates of their Order to enter this place.

Access

Unusually, The Praetorium is first accessed through another portal world. The scientist must complete Shadowgate, which opens a massive purple portal leading to a small island in the Far Garden (far above the first island you visit in the early game). The Garden island contains a yellow portal that leads to Praetorium. After arriving in Praetorium, step backward through the portal you came through, which will create a permanent entry directly to Praetorium from Intrados in The Reactors, close to the original entry point to Shadowgate. This way, the player can choose which world to visit without being forced to travel the length of Shadowgate just to reach Praetorium in the future.

Strategy

Be prepared:
- Be well-rested, fed, and hydrated. Bring plenty of bandages. Bring supplies as well as establishing a teleport network in case of emergency.
- Bring explosives such as Frag Grenades, Mugnades and/or Rocket Launcher to make a later section much easier.
Beware:
- Players will find all variants of Order here in large numbers, now including Flame Rats and Assassins. Be ready to fight when necessary.
- The Praetorium is fiercely defended; there are several defensive positions the Order has established that you will need to fight through.

Canteen and Garage

The canteen has several pistol wielding Grunts, all idling and can be easily dispatched.
The garage area below the canteen has a few SMG and Shotgun wielding Order troops and multiple Garage Rats.
- Garage Rats can drop valuable Reinforced CPUs.
After exiting the garage on the roadway you will encounter Snipers and a Sapper.
- The path on the left into the second garage and storage area will allow you to bypass the snipers, but the area itself has multiple Order soldiers patrolling.
Crossing the footbridge on the 2nd floor of the storage area with a sniper and sapper will lead you to a large elevator that will lead up to the next area.

Outer Library and Control Room

Upon entering the outer library you will encounter Archivists; these Order scholars are non-aggressive and will attempt to flee from players.
- It's worth killing Archivists, as they drop valuable Purported Grimoires and Tactical Scrap.
After navigating the halls, you will come across a bridge patrolled by 2 SMG wielding Grunts and a Flame Rat.
- The Flame Rat is a deadly enemy, his "Holy" flamethrower can kill a player in seconds at close range, therefore it is best to dispatch him with strong long-ranged weapons like the Deatomizer or Rocket Launcher.
After dispatching the above patrol, you will find an elevator on the right that will lead back to the Praetorium entrance. To the left is the control room where you can open the door leading to the inner library.

Inner Library

The library within is relatively safe, mostly filled with Archivists and garage rats. Make your way down to the bottom with the help of yellow paint.
At the bottom there is ladder guarded by a single Order soldier. Go up the ladder and it will lead you to the other side of the library where you can unlock another shortcut back to the previous area.

Bridge to the Command Center

Here you will face what is arguably the toughest section of the Praetorium, a large bridge protected by many Order soldiers (of note, 3 Flame Rats and a Sapper) and a manned Order IFV (i.e., tank).
- The IFV will fire its heavy machine gun as soon as a player is in its line of sight. Note that it can only be blocked by a "heavy" shield (E.g. Riot Shield).
- The IFV can only be destroyed with explosive damage.
You can either try to snipe the IFV with a Rocket Launcher or try to sneak up to it and throw a grenade.
- To sneak up to the IFV, it is best to take the path under the bridge, where there is a single Flame Rat and two CQC guarding the lower path. Note that once you destroy the IFV with a grenade, the other Order soldiers will likely aggro, therefore it is best to retreat after destroying it.

Command Center and Armory

Once the bridge is dealt with you can continue further through a large door. Hidden nearby are two Assassins.
On the path to the right is the optional armory area, it is a dark area with multiple assassins but valuable loot, such as a full set of Triarii armor, Exulum armor, 9mm Ammo, 12g Buckshot and an Ornate Crate.
The left path leads to the control center; it is guarded by a sniper, some rooks and other Order soldiers.
Up the stairs past the sniper leads to the room containing IS-0101, which grants permanent cold resistance. There is also a Inquisitor Crate on the left of the room.
- Touch the Sun Disc to acquire the "Sun-Touched" trait and complete the Praetorium.