How should I spot secret rooms?

[Jarlaxle]

I get the shimmer on the walls only after exploding a bomb in the room. How can I spot the secret room before the obvious shimmer appears?

[Afterburner Studios]

Originally posted by Jarlaxle:

I get the shimmer on the walls only after exploding a bomb in the room. How can I spot the secret room before the obvious shimmer appears?

There actually is a trick to it. If you are OK with having it spoiled for you: typically secret rooms will be surrounded by many other rooms ... Knowing that you can usually find the secret room in one try.

[Jarlaxle]

Originally posted by Afterburner Studios:

Originally posted by Jarlaxle:

I get the shimmer on the walls only after exploding a bomb in the room. How can I spot the secret room before the obvious shimmer appears?

There actually is a trick to it. If you are OK with having it spoiled for you: typically secret rooms will be surrounded by many other rooms ... Knowing that you can usually find the secret room in one try.

Yeah that narrows it down but once you are in the correct room how do you find the correct wall without bombing it first or explode a bomb in the room to get the shimmer on the wall? Maybe in the 1.0 there will be new rules and hints.

[thefollowingcharacters]

So do you bomb the wall to unlock secret rooms?

[ShTuRm]

I'm confused. I found a secret room completely by accident and didn't understand what I even did. So, my question is this - by 'many other rooms', you mean the room is a crossroads between 4 rooms? Or three? And even if I'm in a correct room, where should I place the bomb itself? I'm ok with it being completely spoiled, as I'm probably never gonna find any of them on my own :)

[ShTuRm]

Nevermind, actually managed to figured it out. For those interested - Look for a transparent shimmer-like effect with bright spots in cleared-out rooms. As usual with secret rooms, it is most likely located somewhere where a door otherwise would have been.Once you notice this specific shimmer, you won't mistake it for anything else.

[LT2483]

I figured out how to always find secret rooms before reading this thread, and decided to make a guide! Considering I've refined it to a point where I always find the room, I think it's worth a look
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2569068448

[Afterburner Studios]

Originally posted by LT2483:

I figured out how to always find secret rooms before reading this thread, and decided to make a guide! Considering I've refined it to a point where I always find the room, I think it's worth a look :winter2019happyyul:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2569068448

This is a fantastic guide. There are a couple of secret "rules" you've missed that make it even more fool-proof but I'm certain you'll discover those patterns as you continue playing. ;)

[LT2483]

Originally posted by Afterburner Studios:

This is a fantastic guide. There are a couple of secret "rules" you've missed that make it even more fool-proof but I'm certain you'll discover those patterns as you continue playing. ;)

Oh, more rules? Considering I'm finding the room first try most of the time, I'm not sure I need to know them, but I'll certainly try and spot more patterns!

[MrPeters]

Originally posted by Afterburner Studios:

Originally posted by LT2483:

I figured out how to always find secret rooms before reading this thread, and decided to make a guide! Considering I've refined it to a point where I always find the room, I think it's worth a look :winter2019happyyul:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2569068448

This is a fantastic guide. There are a couple of secret "rules" you've missed that make it even more fool-proof but I'm certain you'll discover those patterns as you continue playing. ;)

Would be nice if you maybe hade some hint when maps include many possible locations.
Example:
https://i.imgur.com/rtutAHK.png

Are the resource nodes supposed to be a hint of sorts or are we expected to just go ballistic on every possible spawn location? Or maybe the fact that the resulting secret location had the most access-points is meant to indicate it's location?

[Afterburner Studios]

Originally posted by MrPeters:

Originally posted by Afterburner Studios:

This is a fantastic guide. There are a couple of secret "rules" you've missed that make it even more fool-proof but I'm certain you'll discover those patterns as you continue playing. ;)

Would be nice if you maybe hade some hint when maps include many possible locations.
Example:
https://i.imgur.com/rtutAHK.png

Are the resource nodes supposed to be a hint of sorts or are we expected to just go ballistic on every possible spawn location? Or maybe the fact that the resulting secret location had the most access-points is meant to indicate it's location?

You just happened to find a configuration where yes you're going to have to guess in that specific scenario, although that's a pretty rare occurrence (I've actually never seen one with that many possible locations - just an unlucky seed). I can tell you that you can eliminate one of those possibilities, though.

[LT2483]

Originally posted by MrPeters:

Would be nice if you maybe hade some hint when maps include many possible locations.
Example:
https://i.imgur.com/rtutAHK.png

Are the resource nodes supposed to be a hint of sorts or are we expected to just go ballistic on every possible spawn location? Or maybe the fact that the resulting secret location had the most access-points is meant to indicate it's location?

I'll take that into account - some new patterns have possibly come to light, so once I verify them, I'll do some guide fixup, and probably add some pictures.

As for your example though, that's a very easy secret room - an adjacent room had a bomb-able clump, which you should always be bombing. That should of revealed, or even opened, the secret room.

[Jacobella]

Secret rooms are surrounded by three or four rooms. Certain rooms, such as the boss room, cannot connect to the secret room. This rule also applies to rooms with other physical impediments, such as a lake in the direction of the candidate secret room. This can be used to exclude possible candidate locations.