E2M8: The Degustation

**The Degustation** is the eighth mission and final in HROT Episode 2 The Degustation. Here the Player comes face-to-face with the floating head of Gustáv Husák in a throw-down arena match where the number of enemies you face depends on your skill.

# Walkthrough

The Player enters on an elevator to the second floor of **Ratibořice Castle**, sharing the ride with a handy lunch pail of Soup, Main Course, Cake, just in case you were feeling a little famished after the final arena fight in E2M7: The Granny's Valley.

Proceed down the hall until you come to a doorway on the right. In the room you will find a Backpack and a Medal, along with a switch that will open the **Dining Hall** further down the passage. It is very curious, because as you proceed you encounter corpses of your enemies strewn everywhere.

Proceed down the corridor to the **Dining Hall**, where you will see more bodies lying dead on the ground, along with a lot of ammunition for you to pick up, along with a bottle of wine.

As you pass by the table, it will be laid with all of the plates that you managed to find in E2M7: The Granny's Valley. Now the Player is truly ready for a feast. At the end of the table there are two columns, each with a button.

Press each button, and a section of the wall at the back **Dining Hall** will open revealing a ledge with a switch. Steel your self. Take several fortifying slugs from the bottle of Wine. Now is your time to fight and defend the Homeland! Step up and throw the switch...

Instantly, the Player will be whisked away by a wind tunnel, just like at E2M6: Dobrosov Fortress. It will whip you along a short distance until it blows you through a ventilator duct and onto a sealed plaza, where you meet the final boss of the episode, Gusta.

Gusta is a fever vision of Soviet science gone seriously wrong. A bald, bespectacled head, approximately three meters tall, he floats atop a VTOL fan around the arena with the sole purpose of spawning in as many enemies as possible to kill you from the ray that arcs between two anodes at the base of his cranium. He is, by a clear margin, the toughest boss in the game thus far.

His mode of operation is to fly in from above, spawning enemies when he is close to the ground. How many enemies he spawns is up to you. Gusta will continue spawning enemies until he is killed, so the Player is strongly advised to get busy.

Gusta mainly spawns Humanoid enemies, omitting only the Headsman types. The two exceptions are the S.U.P.s and the Boulder he spawns when approaching the bottom of his health bar.

Once he is dead, all of the remaining enemies are killed, and the recess to the AZ-5 button opens so you can exit the map. Unless, of course, the Player is interested in hanging around a minute or two to gain an Achievement.

**Previous:** E2M7: The Granny's Valley

**Next:** The Gastroscopy

# Secrets

There are no secrets in **The Degustation**, but do not worry, the Player will have plenty of other things to occupy his attention.

# Speedrunning

Main article: Speedrunning
* Focus your fire on killing Gusta. The sooner he is dead the sooner you can get to the AZ-5 button.
* Stay under Gusta and keep shooting the fan. This will interrupt the spawning of additional enemies via his electrical arc, and will also prevent him from vanishing and reappearing.