Rise of the Triad - Bonuses Guide

This guide explains how to actually get every bonus in the game, including the elusive Bonus Bonus.

Version History

• v1.0 - February 22, 2023 - Initial version.

Introduction

Many of you who have played the original Rise of the Triad and were curious enough to read the ReadMe likely already know of the existence of most of these bonuses. The developers were nice enough to mention every single one, and even offer brief descriptions on how each one is awarded. Just seeing the Bonus Bonus likely enticed a lot of people to try and see if they can get it at least once. After all, with the knowledge provided on how to get all the other bonuses, it can't be that hard, right?

Well, years passed, and I was still struggling to find even a single level where I could obtain the Bonus Bonus. Some of the bonuses just "felt" broken/nonfunctional, especially Republican Bonus 1; no matter how many levels I finished after picking up every weapon, I could never seem to get the bonus. Then, a miracle happened. Just a week ago, on Episode 4, Crushing Defeat, I managed to save the perfect save file, where going straight to the exit awarded me with Republican Bonus 1! I thought this was a great opportunity to get most of the bonuses on at least one level. So, I picked up a Flame Wall and Asbestos Armor, and got the Ground Zero Bonus. I did a check at the exit, and it did give me Ground Zero, but, to my horror, Republican Bonus 1 was gone! I reloaded the save, and went straight to the exit to make sure I wasn't imagining things, and, sure enough, I got Republican Bonus 1 again! What?!?

As you can imagine, I was equally confused and curious as to what was going on. I decided to do some research for the rest of the game (a bit late into the game, I know), and the results were shocking. It turns out the developers were not always 100% accurate with how each of the bonuses worked. I had seen other guides cover the bonuses, but they would either copy the ReadMe wording verbatim, or say something along the same lines. That is why I am writing this guide. I hope you find this information helpful!

(Note: This information is based off the original Dark War version of the game; I do not know if any potential source ports may have fixed any of the issues I will mention.)

Level Bonuses (Part 1)

Here I will describe every level bonus in the order they are displayed on the end-of-level screen. Note that in the final level of a pack, regardless if it's The Hunt Begins, Dark War, Extreme RotT, or any custom level pack, level bonuses are not obtainable; end-of-game bonuses are earned instead. See the next section for more information on those.

Skin of your Teeth

Points: 0 (you get full health instead)
Difficulty: 2-4/5 (depends on available hazards in level)

You have to have 1 dot of health left, right? Well, sometimes that worked, and sometimes it didn't. It might be more helpful to have a percentage goal. Each dot represents 10% of your character's health, so 1 dot remaining is 10% or less. It seems to only trigger at around 5% health or less. It's easiest to accomplish this using flamethrowers or blade traps. The fire walls can work, too, but those can kill you very fast if you're not careful.

Since this bonus doesn't give any points, there's no point in going for this, unless you can also get the Bonus Bonus.

Bull in China Shop

Points: 10,000
Difficulty: 2/5

You must destroy every life point item in the level (the coin-shaped ankhs). The indestructible 1-ups and 3-ups don't count, so feel free to pick those up. I'm sure you'll understand it's much easier to accidentally shoot a life point item while trying to collect them than it is to accidentally pick one up while trying to destroy them all. This is probably the easiest of the 10,000-point bonuses to obtain.

Something to keep in mind, though, is that the end-of-game bonus for extra lives is worth the same amount, so if the Bonus Bonus can't be obtained, you'll want to collect the life point items instead if there are more than 100 points worth of them. You also can't get this bonus in levels without life point items, like Canyon Chase.

Supercharge Bonus

Points: 10,000
Difficulty: 2/5

I've seen guides claim you only need all the god and dog modes, but you also need to pick up every armor, including gas masks. Thankfully, unlike a later, similar bonus, the random powerup does not cause this bonus to bug-out, so feel free to abuse them as much as you want.

Bleeder Bonus

Points: 10,000
Difficulty: 2-4/5 (depends on available hazards in level)

You have to use up every Monk Meal, Priest Porridge, Monk Crystal, and healing basin present in the level. Since there's usually a ton of these per level, you will likely need the help of hazards, or, if there are no hazards, enemies that you leave alive in order to pick up everything.

I don't know if the 1-ups and 3-ups count towards this, but since you'll want to pick up all of them, anyway, it shouldn't be a big deal. In case you're curious, both ankhs can replace a 1-up with a full heal if you are at 75% health or less.

Adrenaline Bonus

Points: 10,000
Difficulty: 2/5

Finish a level with no enemies left alive. You don't have to be credited with the kill for every enemy. Despite what some guides claim, you can't get this bonus on levels that contain Ballistikraft, because they are indestructible. Thankfully, Ballistikraft are only seen in a few levels in Episode 3.

Curiosity Bonus

Points: 10,000
Difficulty: 3/5 (although can be more annoying than difficult)

This one is a bit more involved than it might initially sound. You have to trigger everything that can be triggered: all push walls, push pillars, touchplates, and wall switches, including those that trigger fire spitters, blade traps, and locked doors. In addition, if the level has at least 1 elevator in it, you may need to trigger the elevator song a certain number of times. It seems to depend on the level itself. For example, in Great Halls of Fire, it seems you have to trigger the song a specific number of times, while in Lair of El Oscuro, you have to trigger the song once per elevator. More research is needed.

As general advice when looking for push walls without a guide or map, you can start with the easy difficulty, which makes some push walls appear much darker than other walls (this is also true in other difficulties, even Crazy Man, but they're much harder to see). Other than that, it also helps to open up the in-game map and look for exposed corners in places without catwalks, which usually indicate secrets (I only know of two cases of exposed corners that are red herrings in Switched Around and In the Dark Nest). You cannot get this bonus in Four-Way Chamber and Eight Ways to Hell, due to a bug in the former and a level design issue in the latter.

Ground Zero Bonus

Points: 10,000
Difficulty: 4/5 (on average; depends on the character used)

You have to hit yourself with your own missile. Splash damage doesn't count (like from the wall of fire from the Flamewall); you have to get hit by the actual missile. It depends on which character you're using whether you'll be able to catch up with the missile or not, but you'll also want a big, open straight path to make this easier. I did all my testing with Taradino Cassatt, and the only missile he could catch up to was the Flamewall, and that will kill you if you're not wearing Asbestos armor. Regardless, Asbestos armor is highly recommended when going for this bonus. In addition, Lorelei Ni is the best character for getting this, as she's the fastest character.

Be careful if you choose to put this off 'til near the end of the level, because it may affect your ability to get the next bonus...

Level Bonuses (Part 2)

Republican Bonus 1

Points: 5,000
Difficulty: 5/5

"Get all rocket weapons in a level," they said. The programmer in charge either chose to take shortcuts, or didn't know what they were doing, because that's not how it works at all.

So, how does it work, then? The game seems to keep track of the number of times you picked up rocket weapons in a level. When that count is equal to the number of rocket weapons in a level, you will get the bonus. Let's say this count is 14: it doesn't matter whether you pick up each weapon once, or you swap two weapons 14 times; you will get the bonus, regardless (shooting these weapons doesn't matter; I did not test dropping weapons).

"Wait, did you say equal?" Yes, you can overshoot this bonus.

It gets even worse. You know the Bazookas that Lightning Guards can carry on higher difficulties? Those weapons don't count towards the level total (I haven't checked white-labeled barrels yet, but I'd imagine they don't count, either). Since those weapons come with very little ammo, I recommend either getting the guards to expend it all or just avoid the weapons entirely, and just use up every other weapon completely before picking up the next one. You'll definitely want to plan out the order you'll pick these up, especially for situations where certain weapons block paths, or when you want to end the level with a specific weapon.

Republican Bonus 2

Points: 5,000
Difficulty: 2/5

You have to destroy all plants in a level. Usually not a problem, although some plants can be hiding in secrets. You cannot get this bonus in levels that don't have plants. Switched Around is the last level in Dark War, where you can get this bonus.

Democratic Bonus 1

Points: 5,000
Difficulty: 1/5 (3/5 for The HUNT Begins; 5/5 for In the Thick of It)

You can't use the handgun weapons once. Using the MP40 is okay, meaning you should always get this bonus once you get the MP40.

In The HUNT Begins, the developers were nice enough to start you off with a Heat Seeker. Use it to take out the enemies in the first room, then open the nearby secret, and wait for the timed door to open. On the other end of the elevator, there is an MP40 to the right behind a guard. This makes it not too difficult to get Democratic Bonus 1 in this level.

The first level of Dark War, In the Thick of It, is a completely different story. You only have 2 handguns to start, there are several enemies in the first room, and the timed door only reveals more enemies. The only hope is the secret in front of the start with a Bazooka in it. You'd have to run past all the enemies, hit the touchplate, and duck in the secret before you die. Even if you can pull that off, you'd likely want to grind a High Guard for a random MP40 drop, as the first free MP40 doesn't show up for a while.

To ensure you don't lose this bonus by accident, I recommend using the built-in hotkey that always switches between bullet and rocket weapons (default binding is End).

Democratic Bonus 2

Points: 5,000
Difficulty: 2/5

You have to consume all healing basins and pick up all Shroom Mode powerups. I did not get this bonus in some levels, which leads me to believe the random powerup might negatively affect this bonus if it gives you Shroom Mode. More research is needed.


After pressing any key on this screen, another message may appear depending on how well you did.

"You've done well. This level is toast."

You will get this message for obtaining the Adrenaline and Curiosity Bonuses (no extra points awarded).

"Bonus Bonus - 1,000,000 points!" (not really)

If you managed to get every bonus, you will instead get the Bonus Bonus! Despite the game stating it gives you 1,000,000 points, it's actually worth 100,000 points. Still, that's enough points to be equivalent to 10 lives. There are very few, if any, levels where collecting the life point items are more profitable.

End-of-Game Bonuses

The following shows all the bonuses you can get when you finish the final level in the game. Only the Extra Lives Bonus is awarded in The HUNT Begins.

DIP Bonus

Points: 100,000
Difficulty:

• D-Ball: 4/5
  
• I-Ball: 3/5
  
• P-Ball: 5/5

You get this bonus by ending the game with all three developer balls in your possession. The developer balls themselves don't give any score, so they're useless without all three of them. You can find them in Episode 2: Four-Way Chamber, Episode 3: Dead in Five Seconds, and Episode 4: Circles of Fire.

The D-Ball is located behind the Oscuro door past the third corner of the titular Four-Way Chamber, but the key is obtained all the way at the beginning of the level. To the right of the start is a seemingly-inaccessible area behind windows with a 3-up. You need to get to that room. At the triangle room where the path forks, take the right path to a dead end with two fire spitters hitting the same wall. A short distance in front of one of them is a touchplate that moves a wall to block the other. This allows pushing the wall that was originally getting hit from both fire spitters. The next hallway consists of a large group of enemies and two groups of deactivated fire spitters. A touchplate before the first turn will activate the first group of fire spitters, so be careful not to get hit. A touchplate in the corner of the second turn moves the pillar blocking the door in the 3-up room. A final touchplate before the same door activates the second group of fire spitters and opens a side area with a bunch of High Guards. Once you've dealt with everything, look for a push wall in the 3-up room. The Oscuro key is inside. Be careful once you reach the Oscuro room, because a touchplate in front of the D-ball opens the four corners of the previous, and enemies will flood in.

The I-Ball is much easier to find. At the start of Dead in Five Seconds, take the right fork into the maze area filled with mostly bots and some Ballistikrafts. There are two groups of Ballistikrafts in the maze: two going around a loop, and a lone one circling a dead end. You want the dead end area, because there's a push wall back there, leading to a flamethrower-filled hallway followed by the I-ball guarded by three gun emplacements. There are two other secrets in the maze to help you survive that hallway: an asbestos armor to the north, or a dog mode to the south. I personally prefer the armor, so I can use rocket weapons to destroy the gun emplacements. All three secrets should be easy to find by using the in-game map, because they all have exposed corners.

The P-Ball is located near the start of Circles of Fire, but you have to hit a touchplate near the end of the level to open the way. In the room where all the combat takes place, there are two touchplates in the middle of the room: one below the brazier and one to the top-right of it. The top-right one opens up the alcove with the P-Ball, but it also closes the way out of the current room, so be ready to quickly bolt back to the door you came in. The next hallway will have expanded to reveal an asbestos armor and a 1-up. Collect the asbestos armor to make getting back past the moving fire walls earlier in the level much easier. Once you're past that wall, you'll find the north wall in the next room is gone. The P-ball is in the back of the new room.

Extra Lives Bonus

Points: 10,000 per life remaining
Difficulty: 1/5

This caps at 99 lives. If you were to collect all life point items, you will hit this cap somewhere in the middle of Episode 3 as long as you always load your game after any deaths, so there is plenty of leeway with this one. Since Bull in China Shop is worth the same amount, you'll have to decide whether it's worth more to collect or destroy the life point items.

Genocide Bonus

Points: ????? per enemy type annihilated
Difficulty: 5/5

Kill every single enemy of the same type throughout the game. Unfortunately, I have never gotten this bonus, which leads me to believe you have to be credited with the kill on every single one. As you can imagine, this is extremely difficult to pull off, due to the enemies loving to get themselves killed by fire spitters and moving blade traps (at least, they're smart enough to not walk into flamethrowers most of the time). The Lightning Guards could even cause problems with friendly fire.

Your best bet is to plan your route throughout the game, making sure you have full rocket weapons before entering the most difficult rooms to clear. Keep track of your score to make sure each kill is giving you points.

More to come?

Whenever I feel like going through the game again, I'm considering recording stats for each level (number of life points, number of rocket weapons, which levels have plants, etc.) in order to make it easier to plan a route through the game that gives the most points. Until then, I hope you've found this information helpful!

[CaRmAgE]

Thanks! Glad you liked the guide!

I also considered the random spawns messing with Genocide as a possibility. If that were the case, though, you'd think we could at least get the Genocide bonus for the bots, since the random spawners can't spawn bots.

[akapendragon]

Excellent guide!

I've been looking into ROTT bonuses recently as well, and a lot of my observations match your own (especially with Republican Bonus 1 and Democratic Bonus 2). The Genocide Bonus is proving frustrating- I completed the game twice (on easy and most difficult) getting the Adrenaline Bonus on all eligible levels, but still no Gen-Bonus. I wonder if the random enemy spawns mess up the counter?