Sker Ritual House of the Damned guide: Full Walkthrough, objectives, and all doll locations

House of the Damned is Sker’s first DLC map, and it’s fantastic! If you need a hand taking down the undead horrors, look no further than our full walkthrough guide for House of the Damned in Sker Ritual where I’ll cover everything from objectives to all doll locations.

How to play House of the Damned in Sker Ritual

I was surprised to learn that House of the Damned is a free content drop in Sker Ritual. As such, you can find it at the bottom of the map list when you start the game. There aren’t many nods to the older maps in House of the Damned, besides puzzle mechanics. With this in mind, I don’t feel it’s necessary to beat the other maps first.

If this is your first foray into Sker Ritual and you’re coming from CoD Zombies, yes, there is a Mystery Box!

Sker Ritual House of the Damned full walkthrough and objectives

The House of the Damned is full of claustrophobic corridors which make for some intense battles during later waves. I dig the “slasher house” aesthetics and the superb blend of combat and puzzle-solving. The latter is likely why you’re here, so let me explain how to beat the House of the Damned from start to finish.

Escape the House

You spawn in the basement of the House of the Damned and get comfortable with this place, as you’re going to travel back here a lot! The first mission is pretty simple. You’ll see a Nav Marker above you and must open a few doors on your way to it. Once you’ve reached the door and cleared the wave, you’ll complete your first objective.

My game stuttered a fair bit when I loaded the map for the first time. This issue cleared up after a few waves, so it should fix itself if you’re having problems. I also recommend purchasing the Hunting Rifle from the first room, as it can one-shot early enemies.

Powerless

Powerless is a two-part mission, and the first objective is to restore electricity to the house. Head to the Nav Marker downstairs and interact with the switch. You’ll see three numbers on the wall (pictured above). You must find and flip these switches in the matching order. My order is “361” but yours may differ.

Take this opportunity to open doors around the house. You’ll quickly realize the house is a modest size, so it won’t take long to find the numbered breakers.

I found one of mine in the lounge (pictured above) on the first floor, another by the downstairs hallway, and one upstairs in the master bedroom. Most puzzles in Sker are randomized, so expect the locations to be jumbled up. Once you’ve hit the breakers in sequence return to the basement.

A circle will appear on the floor, and you must stand inside until the bar fills up. Once you’ve guarded the area, head to the kitchen to start the Pipe Dream section of the mission.

From this point onwards, Demon Hag’s will infrequently appear among regular enemies. Defeat them in the kitchen to refuel the gas tank. I may have been unlucky, but this step took me five waves to complete because the Demon Hag’s simply wouldn’t show up.

Find the gas levers

You’ve probably noticed several white crosses on the walls of the house. You can shoot these to reveal gas levers inside the walls, and you must activate five of them.

Keep in mind that not every gas pipe has a lever, so you will have to search until you find five pipes that work. Once you’ve located all five, follow the Nav Marker back into the basement.

Quickly equalize the gas pressure

This puzzle took me far longer to figure out than I care to admit. The box on the wall displays a number (in my case, 115). There are three gas valves scattered across the house which also show numbers. You must activate the valves that have numbers that add up to the number on the box.

There’s one valve right next to the gas box, one in the kitchen (pictured above), and another in the bathroom upstairs. You must activate the valves quickly, as they shut off automatically if you leave them too long.

Restricted Access

Your first objective in the Restricted Access questline is to unlock the Furnace in the basement with a code. Enter the passageway in the basement and head downstairs into the creepy sub-basement filled with mannequins.

You’ll find a string of symbols on the wall at the back which will open the Furnace door. I’ve got the memory capacity of a goldfish, so I took a screenshot (the one above) to decipher mine. Once the Furnace is open, you can add fuel to the fire by defeating enemies and collecting the parts they drop.

You must put items into the furnace one at a time which is a pain by yourself. If you’re playing solo, I recommend defeating enemies until there’s only one left before dropping your items. This is a decent strategy to use whenever you need to complete a tedious objective.

Devotion to Love

Once you’ve added fuel to the Furnace, the locked door in the Kitchen will unlock, allowing you to step outside and access the grounds. As the outdoors section of House of the Damned is so open, it’s a great place to run to deal with enemies, as you won’t get trapped. You can also buy the Pavlov Avtomat Rifle outside to replace your pistol.

Once you reach the ritual site outside (pictured above), you’ll start the Vengeful Spirits quest with three objectives to complete. You can pick any order, but I’ll explain these quests as I tackle them.

Book of the Dead

I started the Book of the Dead first, which you can activate by opening the door in the Graveyard and collecting the ugly head on the table. You can’t drop the head once you have it and can scroll to it as if it were a weapon. The head acts like a torch which can reveal hidden symbols.

Search with the Mother’s Head for the chamber

This chamber took me multiple waves to discover, as the prompt is easy to miss. Head down into the basement and you’ll notice intricate blue symbols on the passageway walls (pictured above). Interact with the prompt, and the quest hint will change.

Only in death will you find the way

The hint is pretty “on the nose” but, yes, you must die to access the chamber. I’m unsure if it matters where you die, but I dragged an enemy down here, let it kill me, and the wall opened.

Head down the stairs and interact with the book to resurrect yourself and continue the quest.

Use Mother’s Head to search for and destroy the seals protecting the book

This quest step took me a very long time. I’m unsure how random the solutions are, but you’re looking for three symbols that can only be revealed with Mother’s Head. Here’s where I found mine:

• In the living room on the ground floor by the staircase.

• In the basement by the furnace.

• Upstairs by the stairs in the closet.

As I mentioned earlier, Sker puzzles are randomized, so your symbols may be in different locations. The Mother’s Head seems to emit a sound when a symbol is nearby, but I’m unsure of the range or how reliable it is. Once you’ve found every symbol, you can return to the chamber in the basement to collect the book.

With the book in hand, go outside, and place it on the Nav Marker.

Heart of the Sons

The next quest I tackled was Heart of the Sons, which you can start by interacting with the well with the cross in the garden. Fortunately, Heart of the Sons is far simpler than The Book of the Dead.

Drop the Cross on the Grave Nav Marker, and you’ll be prompted to shoot four urns. These urns periodically glow red (pictured above) indicating they are vulnerable to gunfire. I found all of mine in the garden, so it shouldn’t take long to destroy them. Grab the marked explosives, and you can use them to blow up the well from earlier.

Jump into the well to reach the storage room, and grab the map-exclusive Corpse Grinder weapon.

The Corpse Grinder is a pretty decent mob clearer and is fantastic for dog rounds. You need this weapon to complete the next part of the quest.

There are three corpses scattered across the House of the Damned, and you must shoot them all to obtain the necessary parts. One is the headless body in the corner of the living room, and another is the hanging man in the burning lounge. The last is the man in the bathtub upstairs. Once you’ve collected all the parts return to the ritual site.

Defeat the Trio

Head to the living room, and interact with the torn picture on the mantelpiece (pictured above). The quest hint will change to “Defeat the trio” where three bosses will attack you. I strongly recommend running into the garden for this battle, as it’s a nightmare if you’re cornered.

Each boss drops a piece of the torn painting, which you can bring inside to restore the picture. The final boss spawned in the kitchen for me, so you may need to carefully enter the house to find him.

Once the picture is restored, you must defeat enemies while standing in the circle next to it. Take the complete painting to the ritual site, and you’re ready to tackle the final part of the quest.

Walk with Ghosts

This section is a massive drag if you’re a solo player, especially on later waves. You must escort the Father’s ghost to several locations and defeat enemies to fill a quota. The issue is you must have the Mother’s Head equipped to see the ghost, and it’s easy to lose him if enemies are around.

You should know the map pretty well by now, so I’ll explain where the father’s ghost wants to go in order:

• Ritual site to the mausoleum in the graveyard.
• Graveyard to the burning lounge.
• Lounge upstairs to the meat room.
• Meat room to the sub-basement mannequin room.  

You must play carefully for this task, especially in the mannequin room where the corridors are so narrow. The Corpse Grinder is pretty decent in close quarters, so it’s worth using in the sub-basement. Remember, you don’t need to hit your quota in one go, so I recommend retreating to the garden if things get too hectic.

Once you’ve escorted Father’s ghost back to the ritual site, the door behind it will open. Ensure you’re prepared, as when you head inside, you’ll trigger the final boss battle.

Defeat Canwyll Corph

The Canwyll Corph battle may not be as grand as the final encounter of Deadly Lovers Fortress, but it’s a difficult fight nonetheless. Canwyll relentlessly follows you and deals a ton of damage if he gets close.

It’s tempting to walk around backward, but you’ll run into the flaming pools on the ground, making this a poor option.

I found the best way to beat Canwyll was to wait until I had some distance before stopping and shooting from afar. Canwyll can also summon circular sawblades which bounce off the arena edges. The projectiles do a ton of damage, but they aren’t too difficult to avoid if you stay away from the center.

I had a fully upgraded Avtomat for the battle, which made short work of the boss, but watch your health bar, as Canwyll can deplete it in seconds. Once you’ve defeated the boss, you can end the mission or stick around to see how long you can last.

All Doll locations in Sker Ritual: House of the Damned

Dolls are always fun to search for in Sker Ritual, and some are relentlessly difficult to discover. Here’s how to find every doll in the House of the Damned, and I’ve split the list into indoor and outdoor locations.

Doll locations inside

#1 Basement

You can find a doll in the spawn room, at the top of the shelving unit.

#2 Living Room

On the mantelpiece in the living room by the enemy spawn door.

#3 Storage Room

The Doll is easy to miss as the lighting is so poor.

#4 Coven

Doll #4 is tucked away by the wooden box in the Coven room.

#5 Sub Basement

There is a doll in the Sub Basement tucked away by the enemy spawn door on the right.

#6 Burning Lounge

The doll in the lounge is hard to see as the flames obscure your vision.

#7 Master Bedroom

You can find a doll in the bedroom in the back-left corner.

#8 Bathroom

There’s a doll hidden in plain sight on the floor by the bloody bathtub on the second floor.

#9 Music Room

The doll on the piano upstairs is out in the open.

#10 Meat Room

Finding the doll in the Meat Room took me a long time as it’s so well hidden. Look into the corner by the door (pictured above), shoot a few times, and you should hit the doll.

Doll locations outside

The remaining 5 dolls are outside, hidden across the grounds.

#11 Graveyard

There’s a doll outside on top of the mausoleum entrance where you collect the Mother’s Head.

#12 House Landing

Walk to the well with the Cross on top and look toward the left of the house. You’ll see one on the landing (pictured above).

#13 House Grounds

There’s another Doll directly beneath the one on the landing, standing on a table.

#14 Dining room window

#15 Boss Arena

You’ll find the final doll in the boss arena. It’s easy to see and is tucked next to a tree to the left when you enter the fields.

The House of the Damned is easily one of my favorite Sker maps, but Ashes of Sker Hotel still beats it in my opinion. What can I say? you can’t beat cloning lambs as a quest objective!

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