Gaming Guide

Valor Mortis: Sewers Key and Sewers Master Key Locations in the City of Orphans

Both keys are hidden in the sewers beneath the City of Orphans, one in a guarded chest and one on a hidden platform.

Both keys are hidden in the sewers beneath the City of Orphans, one in a guarded chest and one on a hidden platform.

In Valor Mortis, the route to the University runs through two locked doors in the lower sewers beneath the City of Orphans. You’ll need the Sewers Key and the Sewers Master Key: the corroded Sewers Key opens the first gate, while the Master Key unlocks the remaining passage and a couple of shortcuts back to the city.

Quick answer: Both keys sit inside the sewers. Grab the Sewers Key from a chest guarded by two Risen Grenadiers, use it to open the gate by the first grapple point, then follow the left-hand route to a platform you pull out of the wall to reach the Sewers Master Key.

Image credit: Lyrical Games, One More Level

Getting into the sewers

Keep pushing the main story in the City of Orphans until the Mice open the sewer entrance for you. Head down into the tunnels and light the Sewers Lantern right away so you have a checkpoint before anything else. Every route below starts from that lantern.

Sewers
Sewers. Image: One More Level

Where to find the Sewers Key

Leave the Sewers Lantern and continue ahead, passing the first enemy to enter a chamber centered on a circular pool. Defeat the enemies there, then look overhead for the glowing blue grapple point and swing to the opposite side. You’ll land beside a locked gate, which the Sewers Key opens later.
A few Carrions and a Spewer attack as you cross the bridge, so deal with them before you tackle the narrow walkways. Further along, a Risen Sapeur is waiting. Wait for it to turn away and backstab it, or shoot the red smoke powder barrel strapped to its back for heavy damage.

Carrions shrug off melee and ranged hits but take extra damage from fire, so lead with ignite attacks to break them down quickly.

Watch the next turn for a Volunteer that shoots William from a distance and uses fire up close. Once it and the remaining soldiers are down, find the ladder and climb to the lower level.
Two Risen Grenadiers patrol the cramped room below. Take them out, then open the chest near the body on the ground to collect the Sewers Key. If you can bait one Grenadier into catching the other in a grenade blast, the fight gets much easier.
Sewers Key
Sewers Key. Image: One More Level

Where to find the Sewers Master Key

Head back to the locked gate beside the first grapple point and open it with the Sewers Key. This opens a fresh stretch of tunnels with more enemies and thin walkways, so move carefully and keep following the paths that lead left.
At the end of the route, step into the corridor on the left. You will see a blue grapple point that opens a shortcut straight back to the Sewers Lantern, which is worth pulling to save yourself a walk. Near it is a small section half-flooded with sewer water, and that is where the key is.
At the flooded gap’s edge, swing across. During your swing, use your environmental pull ability to draw the platform out from the opposite wall, giving you a place to land. Jump onto the platform you extended and take the Sewers Master Key.

Once the Master Key is in your inventory, the gates that were sealed around the sewers and the City of Orphans will now open, which confirms the pickup worked.

Key binding settings list with actions such as Heal, Reload, Parry and Crouch, each showing a primary key and a None secondary slot.
The controls settings list shows key bindings for Heal, Aim / Cast, Reload, Swap Weapon / (Hold) Weapon Wheel, Parry / (Hold) Block, Slots 1 to 3, Target Lock, Inventory and Crouch.

What the Sewers Master Key unlocks

Go back to the long corridor and follow it to the right this time. The locked gate there opens with the Master Key and leads to a small slice of the City of Orphans holding a chest of upgrade materials, so it is worth the detour if you are stocking up on resources for your gear.

A second locked door sits close to a lantern and works as a shortcut between the sewers and the city. Depending on which side you reach it from, you can open it from the outside or the inside, which makes moving between the two areas far quicker. With both keys in hand, the full sewer network is open and the path toward the University is clear.