Its that first battle that will cause some serious headaches for players, as there aren’t a lot of clues as to how to complete this puzzle / fight hybrid section. You can’t fight the Shambler, but you also can’t escape the area and there are only so many places to hide.
We’ve got you covered with the quickest way to get through this section and move onto the next chapter!
How To Beat The Shambler In Call Of Cthulhu
As soon as you interact with the painting at the back of the art gallery (after questioning the dead collector’s wife), the Dimensional Shambler puzzle fight immediately begins.
The game switches into hide and seek mode, just like during the asylum section where you had to hide from the orderlies. In this section, the Shambler notices you very easily in the main room, even if you are crouched and sneaking behind objects, so stealth is less useful than you’d think.
There are two closets for hiding, but the Shambler can still kill you if he sees you enter one. It isn’t hard to outrun him by looping through the two side rooms and going around the display tables, however, and this is your best tactic to stay alive.
During the chase, you can’t open either set of doors, so the only option is to deal with the Shambler somehow. To beat the Shambler and escape the art gallery you need a dagger… but not for wielding in combat! This isn’t an FPS or adventure game, so don’t expect to kill this beast that way.
Instead, you need to find the right dagger keyed to the Shambler’s dimension and wield it to tear apart the painting he uses as an anchor point to stay in stable reality.
There’s just one problem… there are literally dozens of daggers in the display cases, and you’ve got an unholy beast chasing you around the room while you peruse the arcane arsenal.
Picking The Dagger Of The Ancients
While facing away from the painting (towards the entrance doors), enter the room on your right. If you are instead facing away from the entrance doors towards the painting, the room will be on your left.
Head into the back corner and look for a display case up against the wall. While looking at the case, activate your lamp (if you’ve run out of oil, there are two oil refill spots in the gallery).
Examine the dagger that looks like an entwined branch with an elder sign at the middle (shown in the two images above). Smash the glass, grab the dagger, and run back to the painting. As soon as you interact with it, the battle is over.
Note that turning on the lamp and breaking the glass both attract the Shambler, so its a better idea to just run full speed towards the painting rather than trying to hide in the closet.
Due to the huge number of daggers in the two side rooms, it seems likely the location of the Dagger Of The Ancients may vary between playthroughs. If it doesn’t show up in the corner of the right room for you, note that Pierce will actually say “this dagger seems different” when you’ve picked up the correct one.
Did you finally find the right dagger and send the Shambler back to its vile home dimension?
Sound off in the comments below, and be sure to leave a note if you want us to cover any other puzzles in this new digital rendition of the tabletop Call Of Cthulhu game. Be sure to also check out our Call Of Cthulhu guides here.
