Issue 22 Update!
An Overview of Issue 22
Issue 22: Death Incarnate Overview
A reenvisoned Dark Astoria beckons its bony claw! Issue 22: Death Incarnate, introduces new powers and costumes, exclusive VIP content, and expanded endgame features, and reintroduces Dark Astoria, a zone corrupted by evil magical forces.
Features
Dark Astoria Reincarnated
Mysterious forces have twisted parts of Dark Astoria into a bizarre, nightmarish land! The undead are now stronger here than ever and new menaces brood within the area.
Dark Astoria Environment Bane Spawn
Dark Astoria Environment Sentinel Elite
Zone Level Increase: Dark Astoria transforms into a Level 50 Incarnate co-op zone, with missions that can unlock Incarnate abilities for both Heroes and Villains. Dark Astoria is also now accessible from both Peregrine Island and Grandville.
Repeatable Missions: Dark Astoria repeatable missions feature rewards befitting an Incarnate, including Incarnate Experience and Thread Components.
Ephram Sha of the Midnight Squad has tasks befitting Incarnate-level Heroes in Dark Astoria. Help him push back the forces of Mot!
The Circle of Thorns has an interest in the dark magics swirling around Dark Astoria. It has sent Maharaj, a powerful Soul Mage, to help Incarnate Villains sow chaos in the ranks of their foes.
Content for All Levels
Dilemma Diabolique Incarnate Trial: Diabolique, the evil sorceress, plots to become an avatar of death by seizing the powers of the banished god, Mot. With them, she can bring the living world to its knees! She seeks nothing less than to dominate all life and hold the fate of the many dimensions in her grasping hands. Heroes and Villains must unite to protect our dimension from this terrible fate.
Diabolique Incarnate Trial Diabolique Incarnate Trial Diabolique Incarnate Trial
Diabolique Incarnate Trial Diabolique Incarnate Trial Sentinel
Drowning in Blood New Low-Level Trial: The Shivans that decimated Galaxy City are now attacking Bloody Bay! Using the Team Up Teleporter, groups of up to eight players can fight off this alien invasion. Heroes and Villains each have a separate trial. Drowning in Blood is a PvE encounter available for all characters of level 15 and higher.
Drowning in Blood Trial Drowning in Blood Trial
New Mission Arcs: Steel Canyon and Cap au Diable feature new mission arcs. Heroes can encounter the latest conflict between the 5th Column and the Council. Villains face off against the Longbow and the Luddites.
New Adamastor Zone Event: Adamastor has broken free of Dark Astoria! Prevent this Giant Monster from going on a rampage in Talos Island and Sharkhead Isle by finding the Ritual of Summoning and using it to summon and defeat the creature.
New Darkness Power Sets and Olympian Guard Costumes
Darkness Control (Free for VIPs): Command the shadows to terrorize your foes, devastating them with spectral minions. The Darkness Control power set is a primary power set for Controllers and Dominators. This new power set is free for VIPs. You will also be able to buy it in the Paragon Market™.
Darkness Control Darkness Control
Darkness Affinity and Dark Assault (Free for VIPs): Two more power sets are now available to Controllers and Dominators. Controllers can access Darkness Affinity as a secondary power set, and Dominators can access Dark Assault as a secondary power set. Darkness Affinity and Dark Assault are free for VIP's. You will also be able to buy them in the Paragon Market™.
Olympian Guard Costume Set (Free for VIPs): The technology-themed Olympian Guard costume set is free for VIPs. You will also be able to buy it in the Paragon Market™.
Olympian Guard Costume Set
Quality of Life Upgrades
Expansion of the Team Up Teleporter: In addition to granting access to the new Bloody Bay Trial, the Team Up Teleporter can now be used inside missions and to organize groups for existing task forces and strike forces. Characters on solo or group missions can queue up for trials from within those missions. You can also use the Team Up Teleporter to queue up for a task force or strike force.
New Teleporter Pad: The new Hacked Telepad and Magicked Telepads are available for bases. These new telepads cost more Prestige to build, but allow Super Group members to teleport to six zones per telepad instead of two.
Changes to Powers
Controllers
Gravity Control: Increased the damage of Singularity's Lift by 63%.
Controllers/Dominators
Gravity Control: Added a bonus mechanic to player character versions of Lift and Propel. These powers now deal a small amount of additional damage (called "Impact!") to targets that you have recently held with your Gravity Distortion power. In addition, Propel's cast time has been reduced and its projectile speed has been increased.
Stalkers
Stalker Buffed Max HP modifier has been increased from 1 to 1.3. This results in Stalker's potential Buffed Max HP increasing from 1,606 to 2,088 at level 50. This allows powers like Dull Pain and Frostworks, as well as +Max HP set bonuses, to have a greater potential effect.
Assassin Strike (All Versions): This power now functions differently while you are not Hidden. When attacking a foe when Hidden, it behaves normally, dealing tremendous damage with a chance to demoralize nearby foes, but it can be interrupted. However, when you use the power while you are not Hidden, it deals Superior damage and is uninterruptible. While you are not Hidden, Assassin Strike has a base 0% chance to crit.
Assassin's Focus: All damaging powers found in the Stalker's primary power set, other than Assassin Strike, have a chance to grant you a stack of the Assassin's Focus buff. This buff increases Assassin's Strike's chance to critically hit (for +100% damage) while not Hidden by 33.3%. Assassin's Focus stacks up to three times. Using Assassin's Strike when you are not Hidden removes all stacks of Assassin's Focus.
Dilemma Diabolique Strategy Guide
By Chris "Baryonyx" Behrens
Hello, everyone! Chris "Baryonyx" Behrens here to introduce the newest Incarnate Trial, Dilemma Diabolique! This trial, coming in Issue 22: Death Incarnate, picks up after the conclusion of the main storyline in Dark Astoria. It pits you against Diabolique, a powerful Praetorian who fled to Primal Earth after the events of First Ward and who threatens to become a walking avatar of death.
Though Mot, one of the ancient gods of the Banished Pantheon, is successfully contained, a cleanup operation undertaken by the Freedom Phalanx and the Vindicators has gone awry, and both groups have been captured. Diabolique plans to use their great power to fuel a ritual that will allow her to absorb the power of Mot, becoming an unstoppable force of destruction and death.
Under the guidance of the Dream Doctor, the founder of the Midnight Squad, you are sent to put an end to this ritual by any means necessary, even if that means descending into the Maw of Mot and fighting Diabolique in the depths where she works her spell.
Diabolique Incarnate Trial Dark Astoria Environment Diabolique Incarnate Trial
Dilemma Diabolique Incarnate Trial
Personnel Needed: League of 8-16 characters
Character Level: 50
Trial Level Shift: Bosses (+3), Enemies (+1 to +2)
Alpha Slot: Can be unlocked here
Incarnate Slot Experience: Earn Judgment, Interface, Lore, and Destiny slot experience (if Alpha Slot already unlocked)
Stage 1: Breaking Down the Barrier
When you arrive at the entrance of the remnants of Moth Cemetery, you notice an ominous red shell protecting the plateau where Mot's head has breached the surface. If you attempt to cross this barrier, you are teleported away from the plateau.
The only way through the barrier is to destroy the four Repulsive Spines serving as foci for the magic powering the shell. Diabolique's minions and members of the Banished Pantheon heavily guard the Spines. As long as these guards surround a Spine, it regenerates quickly. Once you destroy all four Spines, the barrier falls.
Stage 2: Rescue
You find seven of the captured members of the Freedom Phalanx and the Vindicators scattered around the plateau.
Each of these seven is held prisoner by a powerful magic channeled by Soulsiphon Spines. To free a prisoner, you must first rid a Soulsiphon Spine of its guards. Once all the guards are defeated, you can interact with the Soulsiphon Spine, casting a counterspell that frees the prisoner. Because of the mental damage imposed by the Spine, however, a prisoner is unable to control his or her actions. You must battle each of them to break each of Diabolique's control.
You may encounter the following prisoners on the plateau:
Freedom Phalanx: Positron, Numina, Manticore, Sister Psyche, Citadel, Synapse, as well as the independent Back Alley Brawler
Vindicators: Aurora Borealis, Ms. Liberty, Infernal, Luminary, Swan, Valkyrie, Mynx
Before you can recover all seven prisoners, three of them are absorbed into Mot because Diabolique's ritual has progressed for some time. At this point, Diabolique sends a new pet to confront you.
Stage 3: The Sentinel
After its defeat in Dark Astoria, the Sentinel, the emissary and guardian of Mot, was left a mindless husk. It was a perfect opportunity for its possession by Diabolique. Now, it is her guardian. She sends it from the depths within Mot to prevent you from going any further.
Sentinel Diabolique Incarnate Trial Fight before Mot
The Sentinel has a variety of powers that channel the frigid, dark energy of death. It also has gained abilities derived from the prisoners recently absorbed into Mot. These abilities buff it and grant it special powers that trigger randomly throughout the battle. One of these prisoners is even trapped within the flesh of the Sentinel itself, powering it directly. The abilities the Sentinel acquires include:
Back Alley Brawler or Mynx will boost the Sentinel's Damage and Recharge Rate. The bonus power they grant is a Targeted AoE Fear.
Manticore or Aurora Borealis will boost the Sentinel's Range and Chance to Hit. The bonus power they grant is a Targeted AoE Weaken, which lowers Healing, Recharge, Range and Chance to Hit.
Positron or Valkyrie will boost the Sentinel's Defense and Regeneration. The bonus power they grant is a Targeted AoE Damage Debuff.
Numina or Swan will boost the Sentinel's Chance to Hit and Range. The bonus power they grant is a PBAoE Damage Field that will heal the Sentinel as long as he remains inside it.
Sister Psyche or Luminary will boost the Sentinel's Regeneration and Resistance. The bonus power they grant is a Targeted AoE Damage Pulse.
Synapse or Ms. Liberty will boost the Sentinel's Recharge Rate and Damage. The bonus power they grant is a Targeted AoE Endurance Drain.
Citadel or Infernal will boost the Sentinel's Resistance and Defense. The bonus power they grant is a Targeted AoE Hold.
When the Sentinel reaches half health, the trapped prisoner falls from its body, depriving it of the bonuses the prisoner provided. Should you survive the fight with the Sentinel and the creatures of Mot who fight alongside it, the way into the Maw of Mot is now open to you.
Stage 4: The Descent
Once you descend into Mot's stomach, Diabolique cannot be found. A surprised Dream Doctor tells you you need to hang tough and survive while he pinpoints Diabolique's location. This is complicated by three factors:
You suffer continuous damage from the stomach of Mot's digestive acids
A new wave of enemies assaults you every 30 seconds.
You can only return from defeat by using Powers or Inspirations.
If you and your League manage to survive this for 5 minutes, Dream Doctor determines Diabolique's location. She is performing her ritual in a shadow world that mirrors this one. He hastily prepares a spell to safely shift you to the shadow world.
Stage 5: Diabolique
Just as Dream Doctor completes his spell, Mot unleashes a corrosive burst that kills you outright. This fate is not true death, though. Dream Doctor shields you from that by shifting you to the shadow world. Here you are restored to full fighting form and ready to confront Diabolique.
Dilemma Diabolique Diabolique Incarnate Trial Versus Diabolique
This is not the Diabolique you once knew. With a trapped Dominatrix, one of Tyrant's Praetors, at the center of her ritual, Diabolique has already grown greatly in power. Death and its power are inextricably linked to her. You contend with this throughout the battle. During the battle:
She is accompanied by the two remaining prisoners absorbed earlier. These prisoners increase her power as they did for the Sentinel, but do not grant her additional powers.
For each defeat that you, your Leaguemates, or the prisoners suffer in this realm, Diabolique's power increases. This increase includes bonuses to her Resistances, her Defense, her Regeneration, and her Chance to Hit.
If you or your Leaguemates suffer a cumulative 20 defeats at any point during the final battle, Diabolique can complete the ritual outright. Your League is annihilated, and you fail in this Incarnate Trial.
Throughout the battle, Diabolique creates Lifegiving Essences and then consumes them. Each consumed Essence heals her. While destroying them is a priority to avoid her healing, doing so also has a side benefit: Each Lifegiving Essence defeated raises any defeated allies and provides a heal over time effect to all living characters.
If you defeat Diabolique and put an end to her ritual, you successfully stop her from becoming Death Incarnate. Primal and Praetorian Earth are both freed from her threat, allowing you and others to focus again on the battle against Tyrant.
ed: Recommended music - Anything by Slayer
Drowning in Blood Strategy Guide
By Cord "Think Tank" Carney
In the Drowning in Blood Trial, the island of Bloody Bay is under assault by the same Shivans that destroyed Galaxy City, also known as Neo-Shivans. You pair up with either Arachnos (Villains) or Longbow (Heroes) in order to secure the island and repel the Neo-Shivan threat. Bloody Bay has a long history with the Shivans, starting twenty years ago when fragments of the Shivan comet crashed down. The species has been observed and studied there ever since. What opportunities to better understand them found in Bloody Bay will be lost if the Neo-Shivans eradicate everything, and that's where you come in.
Drowning in Blood Trial
Personnel: 4 to 8 characters
Character Level: 15+
Rewards: Temporary Buff to Damage, Recovery, Defense, or Accuracy
Badges: Sibling Rivalry (completion), Sidereal Researcher (optional objective), Brotherly Love (optional Arch-Villain objective)
You will work with either Longbow Commander Nostromo or Arachnos Commander Sulaco to take back the island, fighting through the streets of the Boardwalk, through the cemetery in Ground Zero, and finally through the Forgotten Forest to confront the Neo-Shivans and demolish the leader of their assault.
Stage 1: Secure the Boardwalk
Defeat all the Freakshow and the Shivans
(Optional) Collect Meteor Teen
Both Heroes and Villains start on the Boardwalk beach, where you have been instructed to speak with your Commander. How well you get along with your Commander determines how many mission details the Commander gives you throughout the Trial. You also travel from one area to the next by interacting with the Commander and the Commander's assistants. (If you don't know where to go at any point, speak with your Commander, a Longbow Field Operative, or an Arachnos Psychopomp to move between areas.)
After being briefed by your Commander, talk with either the Longbow Scientist (Heroes) or the Night Widow Spy (Villains). These women oversee the research teams that study Shivans and Neo-Shivans. Either of these women offers you an optional task to collect ore samples by collecting meteorites .
Moving on through the Boardwalk streets, you notice that groups of Freakshow are fighting against packs of Neo-Shivans. While these two groups are locked in knockdown, drag-out fights to the death, both sides temporarily put aside their differences the moment your group arrives to focus on fighting you. The Neo-Shivans use radioactive powers, many of which disorient and reduce defenses, so be careful fighting them.
Once your group clears the Boardwalk, reinforcements arrive and secure the area for you. Your Commander is waiting just north of Meteor Teen. ("Teen" is three in Hindi.) Speak with your Commander to advance to the next area: Ground Zero.
Bloody Bay Shivans
Stage 2: Hallowed Ground
Rescue or capture 3 Stranded Civilians
Disrupt 3 Circle of Thorns ceremonies
(Optional) Collect Meteor Ek
In Ground Zero, you focus on the cemetery that occupies most of this central section of the Island. The Circle of Thorns is doing a good job repelling the Shivan assault here. Groups of Neo-Shivans and Circle of Thorns members fight amidst the graves and crypts. Circle of Thorns ceremonial circles dot the area, and in these, Thorn mages ritualistically experiment on captured Neo-Shivans.
The Circle of Thorns is quite deadly. Its members employ Darkness effects that impair your chance to hit, and their specters are particularly resistant to damage. In addition, their Ruin Mages employ powers that have Control effects. You must use your group's strengths to achieve you objective while also dealing with the Neo-Shivans and their radioactive attacks.
When you complete of all your objectives, reinforcements arrive. Your Commander waits by the eastern gates of the cemetery. Once again, speak with your Commander to advance to the next area: the Forgotten Forest.
Stage 3: Confrontation in the Woods
Defeat Neo-Shivans
Defeat the Shivan Obliterators
(Optional) Defeat both Shivan Obliterators within 30 seconds of each other
(Optional) Collect Meteor Panch and Meteor Jay
The Forgotten Forest, whose undergrowth can be difficult to navigate, is teeming with both Shivans and Neo-Shivans. The Neo-Shivans are trying to eradicate older Shivans that have gone native. The fallout from the Neo-Shivan against Shivan battle has left strange swells of green energy and large plumes of radioactive smoke that mark the path of the fighting through the scrub and north to the Dead Coast.
Your Commander contacts you, ordering you to kill all the hostile Neo-Shivans that you encounter. Most of the Shivans that have gone native, who can be identified by their gelatinous green-blue appearance, are passive to you and do not attack you.
Face Off Shivans Attacks
Upon reaching the shore of the Dead Coast, you face the final challenge of Drowning in Blood.
Arch-Villain: The Shivan Obliterator
The Shivan Obliterator has the damage, resilience, and regeneration expected from a Shivan Arch-Villain.
Its powerful Radioactive attacks can disorient you, knock you down, and ground flying opponents.
Many of its attacks either bypass defenses or reduce them.
It duplicates itself when it is reduced to 50% health. This duplicate also appears at 50% health. You fight both Shivan Obliterators simultaneously for the remainder of the fight.
Your group needs to prepare a strategy tailored for your group's composition before engaging the Shivan Obliterator, or the fact that you are suddenly fighting twice the attacks and can be pinned between two opponents with an optimal kill zone is likely to demolish your group. Either focus all your damage on one of the Shivan Obliterators once the second appears, or kill them both simultaneously. Groups with high damage may be able to divide their attacks into two groups and down both Obliterators simultaneously. Groups without a high damage capability may find it difficult to split their attention between the two Obliterators and overcome the regeneration on both, and instead decide to focus on one at a time. Groups with strong support may find it easy to mitigate the damage dealt by the extra Obliterator and can easily ignore the second one to down them one at a time.
Once the Shivan Obliterators are both dead, you get your reward: the Sibling Rivalry Badge. You can also exit the Trial at this point, but you may not want to leave yet. Your Commander arrives south of where you fought the Obliterators, bringing guards and the civilians found in Ground Zero. Talking to these NPCs lets you catch up on any storylines you may have missed. Finally, Villains that didn't see eye-to-eye with Commander Sulaco get one final chance to settle the score, and one of you might not be leaving the island!
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Issue 22: Death Incarnate Overview
A reenvisoned Dark Astoria beckons its bony claw! Issue 22: Death Incarnate, introduces new powers and costumes, exclusive VIP content, and expanded endgame features, and reintroduces Dark Astoria, a zone corrupted by evil magical forces.
Features
Dark Astoria Reincarnated
Mysterious forces have twisted parts of Dark Astoria into a bizarre, nightmarish land! The undead are now stronger here than ever and new menaces brood within the area.
Dark Astoria Environment Bane Spawn
Dark Astoria Environment Sentinel Elite
Zone Level Increase: Dark Astoria transforms into a Level 50 Incarnate co-op zone, with missions that can unlock Incarnate abilities for both Heroes and Villains. Dark Astoria is also now accessible from both Peregrine Island and Grandville.
Repeatable Missions: Dark Astoria repeatable missions feature rewards befitting an Incarnate, including Incarnate Experience and Thread Components.
Ephram Sha of the Midnight Squad has tasks befitting Incarnate-level Heroes in Dark Astoria. Help him push back the forces of Mot!
The Circle of Thorns has an interest in the dark magics swirling around Dark Astoria. It has sent Maharaj, a powerful Soul Mage, to help Incarnate Villains sow chaos in the ranks of their foes.
Content for All Levels
Dilemma Diabolique Incarnate Trial: Diabolique, the evil sorceress, plots to become an avatar of death by seizing the powers of the banished god, Mot. With them, she can bring the living world to its knees! She seeks nothing less than to dominate all life and hold the fate of the many dimensions in her grasping hands. Heroes and Villains must unite to protect our dimension from this terrible fate.
Diabolique Incarnate Trial Diabolique Incarnate Trial Diabolique Incarnate Trial
Diabolique Incarnate Trial Diabolique Incarnate Trial Sentinel
Drowning in Blood New Low-Level Trial: The Shivans that decimated Galaxy City are now attacking Bloody Bay! Using the Team Up Teleporter, groups of up to eight players can fight off this alien invasion. Heroes and Villains each have a separate trial. Drowning in Blood is a PvE encounter available for all characters of level 15 and higher.
Drowning in Blood Trial Drowning in Blood Trial
New Mission Arcs: Steel Canyon and Cap au Diable feature new mission arcs. Heroes can encounter the latest conflict between the 5th Column and the Council. Villains face off against the Longbow and the Luddites.
New Adamastor Zone Event: Adamastor has broken free of Dark Astoria! Prevent this Giant Monster from going on a rampage in Talos Island and Sharkhead Isle by finding the Ritual of Summoning and using it to summon and defeat the creature.
New Darkness Power Sets and Olympian Guard Costumes
Darkness Control (Free for VIPs): Command the shadows to terrorize your foes, devastating them with spectral minions. The Darkness Control power set is a primary power set for Controllers and Dominators. This new power set is free for VIPs. You will also be able to buy it in the Paragon Market™.
Darkness Control Darkness Control
Darkness Affinity and Dark Assault (Free for VIPs): Two more power sets are now available to Controllers and Dominators. Controllers can access Darkness Affinity as a secondary power set, and Dominators can access Dark Assault as a secondary power set. Darkness Affinity and Dark Assault are free for VIP's. You will also be able to buy them in the Paragon Market™.
Olympian Guard Costume Set (Free for VIPs): The technology-themed Olympian Guard costume set is free for VIPs. You will also be able to buy it in the Paragon Market™.
Olympian Guard Costume Set
Quality of Life Upgrades
Expansion of the Team Up Teleporter: In addition to granting access to the new Bloody Bay Trial, the Team Up Teleporter can now be used inside missions and to organize groups for existing task forces and strike forces. Characters on solo or group missions can queue up for trials from within those missions. You can also use the Team Up Teleporter to queue up for a task force or strike force.
New Teleporter Pad: The new Hacked Telepad and Magicked Telepads are available for bases. These new telepads cost more Prestige to build, but allow Super Group members to teleport to six zones per telepad instead of two.
Changes to Powers
Controllers
Gravity Control: Increased the damage of Singularity's Lift by 63%.
Controllers/Dominators
Gravity Control: Added a bonus mechanic to player character versions of Lift and Propel. These powers now deal a small amount of additional damage (called "Impact!") to targets that you have recently held with your Gravity Distortion power. In addition, Propel's cast time has been reduced and its projectile speed has been increased.
Stalkers
Stalker Buffed Max HP modifier has been increased from 1 to 1.3. This results in Stalker's potential Buffed Max HP increasing from 1,606 to 2,088 at level 50. This allows powers like Dull Pain and Frostworks, as well as +Max HP set bonuses, to have a greater potential effect.
Assassin Strike (All Versions): This power now functions differently while you are not Hidden. When attacking a foe when Hidden, it behaves normally, dealing tremendous damage with a chance to demoralize nearby foes, but it can be interrupted. However, when you use the power while you are not Hidden, it deals Superior damage and is uninterruptible. While you are not Hidden, Assassin Strike has a base 0% chance to crit.
Assassin's Focus: All damaging powers found in the Stalker's primary power set, other than Assassin Strike, have a chance to grant you a stack of the Assassin's Focus buff. This buff increases Assassin's Strike's chance to critically hit (for +100% damage) while not Hidden by 33.3%. Assassin's Focus stacks up to three times. Using Assassin's Strike when you are not Hidden removes all stacks of Assassin's Focus.
Dilemma Diabolique Strategy Guide
By Chris "Baryonyx" Behrens
Hello, everyone! Chris "Baryonyx" Behrens here to introduce the newest Incarnate Trial, Dilemma Diabolique! This trial, coming in Issue 22: Death Incarnate, picks up after the conclusion of the main storyline in Dark Astoria. It pits you against Diabolique, a powerful Praetorian who fled to Primal Earth after the events of First Ward and who threatens to become a walking avatar of death.
Though Mot, one of the ancient gods of the Banished Pantheon, is successfully contained, a cleanup operation undertaken by the Freedom Phalanx and the Vindicators has gone awry, and both groups have been captured. Diabolique plans to use their great power to fuel a ritual that will allow her to absorb the power of Mot, becoming an unstoppable force of destruction and death.
Under the guidance of the Dream Doctor, the founder of the Midnight Squad, you are sent to put an end to this ritual by any means necessary, even if that means descending into the Maw of Mot and fighting Diabolique in the depths where she works her spell.
Diabolique Incarnate Trial Dark Astoria Environment Diabolique Incarnate Trial
Dilemma Diabolique Incarnate Trial
Personnel Needed: League of 8-16 characters
Character Level: 50
Trial Level Shift: Bosses (+3), Enemies (+1 to +2)
Alpha Slot: Can be unlocked here
Incarnate Slot Experience: Earn Judgment, Interface, Lore, and Destiny slot experience (if Alpha Slot already unlocked)
Stage 1: Breaking Down the Barrier
When you arrive at the entrance of the remnants of Moth Cemetery, you notice an ominous red shell protecting the plateau where Mot's head has breached the surface. If you attempt to cross this barrier, you are teleported away from the plateau.
The only way through the barrier is to destroy the four Repulsive Spines serving as foci for the magic powering the shell. Diabolique's minions and members of the Banished Pantheon heavily guard the Spines. As long as these guards surround a Spine, it regenerates quickly. Once you destroy all four Spines, the barrier falls.
Stage 2: Rescue
You find seven of the captured members of the Freedom Phalanx and the Vindicators scattered around the plateau.
Each of these seven is held prisoner by a powerful magic channeled by Soulsiphon Spines. To free a prisoner, you must first rid a Soulsiphon Spine of its guards. Once all the guards are defeated, you can interact with the Soulsiphon Spine, casting a counterspell that frees the prisoner. Because of the mental damage imposed by the Spine, however, a prisoner is unable to control his or her actions. You must battle each of them to break each of Diabolique's control.
You may encounter the following prisoners on the plateau:
Freedom Phalanx: Positron, Numina, Manticore, Sister Psyche, Citadel, Synapse, as well as the independent Back Alley Brawler
Vindicators: Aurora Borealis, Ms. Liberty, Infernal, Luminary, Swan, Valkyrie, Mynx
Before you can recover all seven prisoners, three of them are absorbed into Mot because Diabolique's ritual has progressed for some time. At this point, Diabolique sends a new pet to confront you.
Stage 3: The Sentinel
After its defeat in Dark Astoria, the Sentinel, the emissary and guardian of Mot, was left a mindless husk. It was a perfect opportunity for its possession by Diabolique. Now, it is her guardian. She sends it from the depths within Mot to prevent you from going any further.
Sentinel Diabolique Incarnate Trial Fight before Mot
The Sentinel has a variety of powers that channel the frigid, dark energy of death. It also has gained abilities derived from the prisoners recently absorbed into Mot. These abilities buff it and grant it special powers that trigger randomly throughout the battle. One of these prisoners is even trapped within the flesh of the Sentinel itself, powering it directly. The abilities the Sentinel acquires include:
Back Alley Brawler or Mynx will boost the Sentinel's Damage and Recharge Rate. The bonus power they grant is a Targeted AoE Fear.
Manticore or Aurora Borealis will boost the Sentinel's Range and Chance to Hit. The bonus power they grant is a Targeted AoE Weaken, which lowers Healing, Recharge, Range and Chance to Hit.
Positron or Valkyrie will boost the Sentinel's Defense and Regeneration. The bonus power they grant is a Targeted AoE Damage Debuff.
Numina or Swan will boost the Sentinel's Chance to Hit and Range. The bonus power they grant is a PBAoE Damage Field that will heal the Sentinel as long as he remains inside it.
Sister Psyche or Luminary will boost the Sentinel's Regeneration and Resistance. The bonus power they grant is a Targeted AoE Damage Pulse.
Synapse or Ms. Liberty will boost the Sentinel's Recharge Rate and Damage. The bonus power they grant is a Targeted AoE Endurance Drain.
Citadel or Infernal will boost the Sentinel's Resistance and Defense. The bonus power they grant is a Targeted AoE Hold.
When the Sentinel reaches half health, the trapped prisoner falls from its body, depriving it of the bonuses the prisoner provided. Should you survive the fight with the Sentinel and the creatures of Mot who fight alongside it, the way into the Maw of Mot is now open to you.
Stage 4: The Descent
Once you descend into Mot's stomach, Diabolique cannot be found. A surprised Dream Doctor tells you you need to hang tough and survive while he pinpoints Diabolique's location. This is complicated by three factors:
You suffer continuous damage from the stomach of Mot's digestive acids
A new wave of enemies assaults you every 30 seconds.
You can only return from defeat by using Powers or Inspirations.
If you and your League manage to survive this for 5 minutes, Dream Doctor determines Diabolique's location. She is performing her ritual in a shadow world that mirrors this one. He hastily prepares a spell to safely shift you to the shadow world.
Stage 5: Diabolique
Just as Dream Doctor completes his spell, Mot unleashes a corrosive burst that kills you outright. This fate is not true death, though. Dream Doctor shields you from that by shifting you to the shadow world. Here you are restored to full fighting form and ready to confront Diabolique.
Dilemma Diabolique Diabolique Incarnate Trial Versus Diabolique
This is not the Diabolique you once knew. With a trapped Dominatrix, one of Tyrant's Praetors, at the center of her ritual, Diabolique has already grown greatly in power. Death and its power are inextricably linked to her. You contend with this throughout the battle. During the battle:
She is accompanied by the two remaining prisoners absorbed earlier. These prisoners increase her power as they did for the Sentinel, but do not grant her additional powers.
For each defeat that you, your Leaguemates, or the prisoners suffer in this realm, Diabolique's power increases. This increase includes bonuses to her Resistances, her Defense, her Regeneration, and her Chance to Hit.
If you or your Leaguemates suffer a cumulative 20 defeats at any point during the final battle, Diabolique can complete the ritual outright. Your League is annihilated, and you fail in this Incarnate Trial.
Throughout the battle, Diabolique creates Lifegiving Essences and then consumes them. Each consumed Essence heals her. While destroying them is a priority to avoid her healing, doing so also has a side benefit: Each Lifegiving Essence defeated raises any defeated allies and provides a heal over time effect to all living characters.
If you defeat Diabolique and put an end to her ritual, you successfully stop her from becoming Death Incarnate. Primal and Praetorian Earth are both freed from her threat, allowing you and others to focus again on the battle against Tyrant.
ed: Recommended music - Anything by Slayer
Drowning in Blood Strategy Guide
By Cord "Think Tank" Carney
In the Drowning in Blood Trial, the island of Bloody Bay is under assault by the same Shivans that destroyed Galaxy City, also known as Neo-Shivans. You pair up with either Arachnos (Villains) or Longbow (Heroes) in order to secure the island and repel the Neo-Shivan threat. Bloody Bay has a long history with the Shivans, starting twenty years ago when fragments of the Shivan comet crashed down. The species has been observed and studied there ever since. What opportunities to better understand them found in Bloody Bay will be lost if the Neo-Shivans eradicate everything, and that's where you come in.
Drowning in Blood Trial
Personnel: 4 to 8 characters
Character Level: 15+
Rewards: Temporary Buff to Damage, Recovery, Defense, or Accuracy
Badges: Sibling Rivalry (completion), Sidereal Researcher (optional objective), Brotherly Love (optional Arch-Villain objective)
You will work with either Longbow Commander Nostromo or Arachnos Commander Sulaco to take back the island, fighting through the streets of the Boardwalk, through the cemetery in Ground Zero, and finally through the Forgotten Forest to confront the Neo-Shivans and demolish the leader of their assault.
Stage 1: Secure the Boardwalk
Defeat all the Freakshow and the Shivans
(Optional) Collect Meteor Teen
Both Heroes and Villains start on the Boardwalk beach, where you have been instructed to speak with your Commander. How well you get along with your Commander determines how many mission details the Commander gives you throughout the Trial. You also travel from one area to the next by interacting with the Commander and the Commander's assistants. (If you don't know where to go at any point, speak with your Commander, a Longbow Field Operative, or an Arachnos Psychopomp to move between areas.)
After being briefed by your Commander, talk with either the Longbow Scientist (Heroes) or the Night Widow Spy (Villains). These women oversee the research teams that study Shivans and Neo-Shivans. Either of these women offers you an optional task to collect ore samples by collecting meteorites .
Moving on through the Boardwalk streets, you notice that groups of Freakshow are fighting against packs of Neo-Shivans. While these two groups are locked in knockdown, drag-out fights to the death, both sides temporarily put aside their differences the moment your group arrives to focus on fighting you. The Neo-Shivans use radioactive powers, many of which disorient and reduce defenses, so be careful fighting them.
Once your group clears the Boardwalk, reinforcements arrive and secure the area for you. Your Commander is waiting just north of Meteor Teen. ("Teen" is three in Hindi.) Speak with your Commander to advance to the next area: Ground Zero.
Bloody Bay Shivans
Stage 2: Hallowed Ground
Rescue or capture 3 Stranded Civilians
Disrupt 3 Circle of Thorns ceremonies
(Optional) Collect Meteor Ek
In Ground Zero, you focus on the cemetery that occupies most of this central section of the Island. The Circle of Thorns is doing a good job repelling the Shivan assault here. Groups of Neo-Shivans and Circle of Thorns members fight amidst the graves and crypts. Circle of Thorns ceremonial circles dot the area, and in these, Thorn mages ritualistically experiment on captured Neo-Shivans.
The Circle of Thorns is quite deadly. Its members employ Darkness effects that impair your chance to hit, and their specters are particularly resistant to damage. In addition, their Ruin Mages employ powers that have Control effects. You must use your group's strengths to achieve you objective while also dealing with the Neo-Shivans and their radioactive attacks.
When you complete of all your objectives, reinforcements arrive. Your Commander waits by the eastern gates of the cemetery. Once again, speak with your Commander to advance to the next area: the Forgotten Forest.
Stage 3: Confrontation in the Woods
Defeat Neo-Shivans
Defeat the Shivan Obliterators
(Optional) Defeat both Shivan Obliterators within 30 seconds of each other
(Optional) Collect Meteor Panch and Meteor Jay
The Forgotten Forest, whose undergrowth can be difficult to navigate, is teeming with both Shivans and Neo-Shivans. The Neo-Shivans are trying to eradicate older Shivans that have gone native. The fallout from the Neo-Shivan against Shivan battle has left strange swells of green energy and large plumes of radioactive smoke that mark the path of the fighting through the scrub and north to the Dead Coast.
Your Commander contacts you, ordering you to kill all the hostile Neo-Shivans that you encounter. Most of the Shivans that have gone native, who can be identified by their gelatinous green-blue appearance, are passive to you and do not attack you.
Face Off Shivans Attacks
Upon reaching the shore of the Dead Coast, you face the final challenge of Drowning in Blood.
Arch-Villain: The Shivan Obliterator
The Shivan Obliterator has the damage, resilience, and regeneration expected from a Shivan Arch-Villain.
Its powerful Radioactive attacks can disorient you, knock you down, and ground flying opponents.
Many of its attacks either bypass defenses or reduce them.
It duplicates itself when it is reduced to 50% health. This duplicate also appears at 50% health. You fight both Shivan Obliterators simultaneously for the remainder of the fight.
Your group needs to prepare a strategy tailored for your group's composition before engaging the Shivan Obliterator, or the fact that you are suddenly fighting twice the attacks and can be pinned between two opponents with an optimal kill zone is likely to demolish your group. Either focus all your damage on one of the Shivan Obliterators once the second appears, or kill them both simultaneously. Groups with high damage may be able to divide their attacks into two groups and down both Obliterators simultaneously. Groups without a high damage capability may find it difficult to split their attention between the two Obliterators and overcome the regeneration on both, and instead decide to focus on one at a time. Groups with strong support may find it easy to mitigate the damage dealt by the extra Obliterator and can easily ignore the second one to down them one at a time.
Once the Shivan Obliterators are both dead, you get your reward: the Sibling Rivalry Badge. You can also exit the Trial at this point, but you may not want to leave yet. Your Commander arrives south of where you fought the Obliterators, bringing guards and the civilians found in Ground Zero. Talking to these NPCs lets you catch up on any storylines you may have missed. Finally, Villains that didn't see eye-to-eye with Commander Sulaco get one final chance to settle the score, and one of you might not be leaving the island!
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