NEW ENTRIES: Dragon Spawn, Boulder Treasure Room

I've seen people complain in reviews & forums about how people spread out and search every nook and cranny of the level and it slows the gameplay down a lot. The thing is, once you know approximately where to look, you don't spend too much time stuck in a room. Give a quick glance in certain areas and move on! My goal is to share the spots that I've found, as I've spent a lot of time treasure hunting. I see many ghosts miss certain spots, so I'd like to help others find these really cool hiding spots too! And if there were ones I missed, I'd like to know them of course :D

This guide will list the rooms with the guaranteed chest locations, but there are many more to find from the procedurally-generated rooms.

NOTES:
1) Many rooms in Phantom Abyss can be generated 2 ways (eg: climbing up a hill or descending the hill). I listed them based on my run at the time. With enough runs, you'll be able to recognize it regardless.
2) I'll be honest, not all of areas I list are needed as they're pretty obvious, but I added them to kinda complete the guide.
3) The pics are screenshots from recordings of a number of my runs. If a screenshot is unclear, leave a comment and I'll grab a better one!

If you're an experienced player, you probably don't need to look at many. Some I recommend though:
All Levels: Stone Statues
Ruins: Rubble Secret, Ceiling Statue Secret, Water Jump, Relic Room
Cavern: Throne Treasure, Relic Room
Inferno: Single Dartthrower, Relic Room, Gauntlet Room

WIP
You see the dragon statues in front of you. You might've fallen off the sides by accident and lose a heart. But now there's actually a treasure to find on both the left & right side. Look for those hidden passages!


These little waterways FINALLY lead somewhere! Or this specific one did. A little cubby to slide into, led to a treasure


Go to the side of the stairs for a chest, avoid lava in Inferno


I guess technically a ceiling secret, but this is guaranteed 2 chests, so I'm adding it. There is a single square gap in 2 places in the area with the first set of traps. One at the end of the first set, and one at the exit of the room


This room has the 2 obvious ones. Jumping into the lava waterfall, there IS a cubby, but no chest on 1st & 2nd attempts. I'll keep an eye out on other runs


This was a floor secret, but a new variant that I hadn't seen before! Avoid the boulder to get across the room for 3 chests


Speaking of lava waterfalls, some of them scattered throughout Inferno have a cubby behind them, these chests can also show up in other areas as a normal waterfall, they look very similar


Could be considered a side room secret as mentioned later, but this is unique to the update. See the 3 streams into a pit, there's a potential chest cubby if you look down

This update brought a number of new ruins to Ruins, which is awesome! But I find that many of them have rng chest spawns. I'll try to note those rooms when I talk about them, but I just wanted it to be clear that it's been tough finding set spawns!

Arguably the most unique rooms added. If it's the room with 2 rotating pathways next to each other, there's a guaranteed one in the connector room. Other spawns though, first, check to see if there is solid ground UNDER the room (most have holes in the floor). It's rng whether there is a floor secret or not. Also can happen, but is more rare, there occasionally is a ceiling secret as well!


This has a few variations, but there's often one directly underneath the entry + 1 along the way. Sometimes, there is a chest tucked on top of a snake statue. Drop down, then turn back around and look to the right


A number of variations for these rooms, sometimes it's jumping on some pillars, others it's climbing on this pyramid structure


You're either climbing down or up the beams. 2 chests to find, going all the way up and all the way down


Similar style to Beam Climb, but only 1 at the very top


You have to squeeze through this path heading downward. Keep an eye out for stone rubble to slide underneath for a chest


A circular tower structure. There's a chest on the bottom platform and at the very top, and often at least one other in a side room, but it seems mainly rng. Need some more testing


Typically you need to find the exit on the bottom floor. 2 paths to take and with 2 corners in each to check. Has a chest a 3 of those corners and the exit at the 4th


Knew about this one for awhile, just never got a temple seed with it. A new chest added in Overturned. It's only in the room with this stone gate thing


Still 1 by each waterfall, and the secret between the stone gated section (which can be reached by climbing the right side giant statue), but they changed the others.

There is one back along the way to the relic. There is one you can near the old location (in the middle of the pillar on the right), you can find it by looking back from the relic and slide underneath a rock structure. One that's harder to spot is on the head of the other big statue!

Quick thing before we start, THERE ARE NO CHESTS IN THE STARTING ROOMS (except for a specific Ruins 1 start room, Cavern 1 & Inferno 1), BLESSINGS ROOMS, OR THE BRAZIER ROOMS! No point in searching around.

The first rule for finding treasure, LOOK UP, DOWN, AND TO THE SIDE!

What I mean by UP is: there are many secret passages in the ceiling. Generally they are located at the start and/or the end of the chambers. I look up every time I enter and exit a room and it's a good habit to get into. If you're having trouble reaching, climb on nearby objects, such as the lamps, rubble, statues, or entryways!



By DOWN: Take a glance down any hole in the ground. More often than not, it'll be more secret passages. Look before you leap though, because some will just lead to the abyss!


By SIDE: Check side paths and runoffs. Most of these, people find. I'd recommend though, if the path splits, once you're through, take a glance down the one you didn't take. It might house a treasure.


Following these rules, you'll find most of the chests. There's a surprising amount in each level, though it does lessen the deeper you get.

Besides those, here are 2 secrets that show up in all levels:
I haven't seen anyone else find these (and honestly, it's the main reason I made this guide). Behind the 3rd statue in a row, there is sometimes a hidden chest!



A word of warning: It is awkward to squeeze yourself by the statue AND the room is tiny. Please don't grab this with Devouring Rage on your back. Don't be a fool like me

If you see this barred window, look around for a hole in the wall to jump through. It'll lead to a large chest. (pics from caverns coming)


If you want to see location-specific ones, keep reading!

This will be the biggest part of the guide, as they seem to have the most creative hiding spots! You want to get as many chests as possible here to get your upgrades. Let's get into them!

A first room for many runs. 3 treasures in total, generally on the way, just know where to look. #2 is behind the wall, 3 is turning to the left instead of heading to the exit.


Entering the room from the top, there's a chest on the left and the right, before you descend to the lower level. And 2 more chests in the far left and right as well!

A secret room to the right before you start climbing. A 2nd chest along the way in its own cubbie. 3rd is either where the water is draining from OR a ceiling secret

Climb up these sturdy platforms. 2 are on the way, but make sure you're checking the walls on the left and right, as they tend to have secrets to grab as well.

2 chests here, 1 on top and the 2nd underneath

If you see this room where you can run through the middle or go down either ramp to the side, take the ramp! There's a large chest waiting at the bottom. Also, there occasionally is one to grapple up to on the staircases up


(idk what to call this one)
There's a chest in the middle of the room, but if you climb on the rocks at the start and turn left, you'll find a chest on the platforms along the wall.

Sure, a dumb name, but the starting layout always reminds me of the red herring room (listed below), as they both have the stone walls to climb on. There's 2 chests each at the start and finish, one in the room before the exit, AND if you go down the stairs, another 2 chests are waiting for you (the one up high is often overlooked)


A long room with towers of varying sizes. The chests are quite random, but they're always along the wall. Check up AND down! There's a guaranteed chest by dropping off where you come in and jumping past the rubble


This is a tough one to explain. It has a lot of towers with spikes or rotating blades. There's one guaranteed at highest tower. But there are many hidden chests in cubbies scattered around the room. It's a bit dangerous looking for them, but you can get a lot of coins. It's also procedurally-generated which ones spawn, but they're always in the corners of the room.


Start on low ground, the key is above the entrance. Going through the underpass doesn't directly have chests, but there is often a hole secret somewhere along the way. Also grab the 2 chests on either side of the exit before you leave!


You've got to jump across a pit filling with water streams to get to the exit. There's a chest in the far left and close right corner of the room, though one of the other corners might have some breakable jars. There's also a sneaky one behind the waterfall, but double check which side its on before you jump

Chests are sometimes stored in a cubby above the entrance or exit. Give it a quick check. (pic 1 entering room, pic 2 was turning around). I'm pretty sure this is a specific room, but I'm having trouble categorizing the layout.


A long room of traps, there's the 2 cubbies to grab a treasure from. There's a similar room in Caverns

Ran outta space in the previous section

TREASURE ROOMS
Make sure you climb to the top of these 2 structures, you'll find some goodies

Some side passages seem like nothing, until you look up

If you see this statues standing guard, double-check around them. A hallway might be there that leads to a treasure.

One that's lesser known, if you find knocked over rubble near a wall, there might be a secret room behind it! There's only a treasure if a light illuminates the space behind it

A little more known, but still rare to see, in some of the ceiling secret rooms, there's a secret room you can find behind the statues. It seems to be always 'behind you and to the right' when looking at the chest.
EDIT: I....stand corrected, this secret only shows up when there is a platform halfway up. Grrrr, kinda annoys me bc I could've sworn I checked if that platform had any significance.....

Still in the ceiling secret, if the chest looks like this, grapple upward! There's another 2 chests to find. Again, 3 CHESTS TOTAL TO GET (someone told me they thought it stopped at 2).

Before you start rushing to those braziers, there are 2 chests in the far left and right corners of the room. Recently, I also found a chest hidden in one of the holes. Give it a double check, as it didn't show up in the 2nd run I did


You've opened the door, congrats! Time to grab your reward. There are 3 obvious chest here and 2 hidden ones! On the middle chest's platform, turn toward the door and look down. One's hiding in the cubbie. The other is actually BEHIND the relic platform. Take a peek and see for yourself!


RED HERRING
Them just trying to mess with you
This room seems complicated, with lots of little rooms to check. Waste of time because from what I've seen, only a small chest will sometimes spawn just before the exit.

If you use the DYI whip, you might see an outline of a chest randomly in the wall. I think something bugs up with the room generation, but maybe I've missed something?

Caverns is kinda weird because it has a number of rooms that are really spacious and set off my treasure hunting sensor. But there's nothing to find. I listed them at the end, so you don't waste your time.

Most people seem to know this, but there are 2 chests in the first room, on the left and right.

You start on the overpass, with the bottom floor holding the key (and a chest across the room from it) and 2nd floor have some traps with chests on each side. 3 chests in total + there is often a ceiling hidden room above the overpass

A large staircase at the start, 1 chest to grab amidst a cluster of dartthrowers


EDIT: This was found by user Rossers in his wonderful guide Explorer's Guide & Tips. Please check it out as it has tips for all aspects of the game!
There's a snake statue in this room that points to a secret treasure room. Inspect where he is looking at!


Start on low ground, head up to the top. Or don't...if you want some treasure. Looking back, you'll find a chest above the entrance. As you go along, check the sides of the room, as there is often some sort of treasure room. And instead of going straight to the exit, take the path down where ramps on either side lead to a chest each. ANDDDDD there's often a ceiling secret at the top


PS: Know the layout from both sides, this one has you enter from both openings and it can net you a lot of treasure

You either have to descend or ascend these cubbies with water flowing in front. A treasure every 2 cubbies

A spiral staircase to weave around. 2 chests along the way


You have to go down a bunch of stairs while avoided a horde of dartthrowers on each level. There's holes in the floor to drop down as a quick exit. The main chest is above one of the staircases in a little alcove. There's a secret chest before going up the stairs too. Idk if this is a bug in the level generation, but if you go into the alleyway to the side of the staircase, you can open the chest through the wall! The community doesn't think it's a glitch, as it's a guaranteed spawn and you can actually access it


You've got to climb a tall winding staircase, with dartthrowers in little cubbies taking pot shots at you. Plus there are holes to fall into as you go up. The 2 chests are pretty obvious as you go up


Up the stairs to the left, 1 in the cubbie to the right, and then in each of the dartthrower cubbies up the stairs for 3 more


Similar to the Ruins version, long room of traps with 2 chest cubbies


TREASURE ROOMS
Sure there's a long staircase up to a nice treasure, but did you know about the one BEHIND it? Drop down and look behind the staircase for another one

A lot of people have found this, but one of the dropdown areas has a very obvious treasure on the one side and one you need to slide/jump over a pile of rubble on the other

There's a treasure room that you climb a bunch of platforms. Again, 1 is very clear in the middle of the room, but just make sure you climb all the way up for 2nd chest

No explanation needed, right? The 3 you can see, though the opposite wall (what I'm turned away from) sometimes has a side area chest or hole in the wall.

A total of 5 (2 by entrance, 2 on the climb up, 1 secret) on the way to the relic, but the caverns relic room also contains 1 chest in what I call a mega secret! After making your way to the top, climb on the lantern and to the far left corner. You should be able to see a glow. It's a tough jump! I did find it's easier to aim for the left-side rock face to climb up. I believe I did it with wings+long whip. Ty to user jp-stereo for showing this to me!


EDIT: There's been an update and the room looks a bit different. Now the chests on the climb up are on floating platform and there's a NEW chest BEHIND the wall you climb up. Jump to the platforms on lower ground and look back toward the entrance of the relic chamber to find it


RED HERRINGS
I swear there should be chests here, but have never found one in a run.
You think there's a chest down here, but it's a blessings statue at the end of a bunch of pillar platforms. You can check all around those pillars, but nothing's there.


Whether its going up or down, this room is massive, but nothing to see here


Long horizontal room, which is lovely with wings. Nothing on the way

There's always 2 chests, one to the left and right of the key in the middle. You've got to avoid some type of trap to get the chest at the end.

If there's a room with these stone structures, they may lead to a hidden room with a chest. Usually 2 per room

There's a room with these platforms along the wall. It's got 2 chests to find, along with the key. Lucky me had a side chamber to grab an extra chest!

There's an army of dartthrowers on the ground. 4 chests scattered around the pillars. There is also a large chest by climbing up the wall by the little stone figures around the top of the room.


This sole figure tries to stop you from leaving the room. But he also hides a chest behind some lava

You can't exactly jump over the boulders but the slopes remind me of DK. There's 2 chests on platforms on the way up. Btw you can press yourself against the wall along the slope and it avoids the boulders.

These ones are pretty obvious. A chest on each of the archer's platforms.


Where there are boulders you have run past, look back where the boulders are falling. Sometimes there is a chest room. This shows up sometimes in the boulder key room too


An intimidating room on your first encounter, it's not that hard to get through if you take it slow. However, there are a few hidden treasures past where some of the boulders fall of the pathway. It's an rng thing on how many and what type. Be careful though, it may be the treasure guarded by falling boulders, where I faced a quick death the first time finding this


TREASURE ROOMS

Finding a path upward may lead to the top of a pyramid-like structure. Drop down and look for the opening into the centre. You'll find a chest in the middle!

Climb up a ceiling hidden area and find a narrow room. There are 2 torches in little alcoves and 1 opening to a large pyramid. There's 2 chests at the bottom and 1 large at the top!

I call this the jackpot room because there are between 4-7 chests to grab. Another ceiling hidden area. Check the wall cubbies and the ground


EDIT: This was found by user Rossers. One of the lines of statues houses a secret. A little dropdown cubbie

Hope this helps! Let me know if there's ones I missed or ones you want me to add :)