Shroud of the Apocrea is an event-exclusive prestige mission available during Shroud of the Apocrea.
Overview
Description:
Several capable knights have gone missing in a seemingly normal area of the Clockwork Tunnels. Spiral HQ suspects foul play and has assigned you to investigate the level.
Objective:
Investigate the area of the Clockworks where several knights have gone missing.
Notes
This mission was introduced with release 2013-10-23.
Apocrean Sigils obtained from activities in The Grasping Plateau can be exchanged with Lost Soul (Apocrean Item Trader).
This mission's maximum depth is 30, making it the deepest area to date.
Strategy
Strategy Disclaimer
These tactics are developed by players who have experimented extensively with various options regarding this endeavor. Strategies are therefore opinionated - what works best for a player or squad might not be best for another. There are many biasing factors such as
control preferences, experience with the attack style of items, and the individual's connection to the server - not to mention the player's personal goals. This section attempts to consider the most popular goals with the most reasonable strategies.
The general goal of this mission is to collect Apocrean Sigils. This is accomplished by breaking tombstones, randomly releasing purple souls, and breaking the chains off the souls. Breaking their chains by attacking them rewards sigils. Players can also earn sigils by solving puzzles. All this is done in The Grasping Plateau, with the other combat floors offering standard clockworks loot.
This event is enjoyed by the playerbase for a variety of reasons - it's something different and presents a decent challenge for many players. Not only does it provide tokens required to make Obsidian items at the Mysterious Alchemy Machine (or Obelisk of Creation), it also brings arenas that are deep enough to have a decent chance of dropping Radiant Fire Crystals from their treasure boxes. As such, there are several "goals" that players may have, so it's important to establish what everyone wants to do before starting this mission.
Successfully completing Shroud of the Apocrea solo can be difficult due to the nature of the plateau and its inhabitants.
Your party will lock after using the elevator in the Mission Lobby, so plan ahead and make sure everyone knows what to do. The Grasping Plateau does not have an arsenal station, so whatever gear you had the previous floor is the gear you will take to the plateau.
Goal:
Usually plans fall into one or a combination of the below:
- Arena Farm
- Sigil Farm
Recommended Equipment:
- moved to better name, doubt this is linked to externally.
Remember, the plateau does not have an arsenal station. Gear up in the previous floor if the party plans to farm here.
See the Apocrean Harvester page for details about its behavior and how to deal with it.
If in a team farming sigils:
- Plant a bomb next to a tombstone, one tombstone at a time. The detonation will break the tombstone, and any souls that come out will be trapped in the vortex or mist and take some damage. The shock of the vortex can help slow things down and works for anything that comes out of a tombstone - just don't let monsters inflicted with shock wander off and break other tombstones. Shivermist buster works well with souls, but not Freezing Bombies or Pale Scarabs. Take care of whatever spawns before breaking the next tombstone.
- Charge up and let loose when scarabs or souls come out of a tombstone (do not attack if Freezing Bombies spawn-just get close enough to trigger them and walk away). The freeze potential of the glacius charge helps keep souls from wandering off, while its damage helps with all things released from the tombstone. The Blitz Needle should be able to take care of spawns, just make sure stray bullets don't break nearby tombstones before the current spawns are dealt with. For the initial charge vs. souls, use whichever is most comfortable for you and your team. In general, the blitz is best, assuming the charge lands. The glacius could be used to "chase after" any loose targets if the blitz's charge fails.
- Use this sprite to cloak if things get too hairy. The damage boost of the Deadly Shadow Cloak can also help free souls every once in a while.
Each person on the team should have these tools to help farm sigils. Roles might have to change depending on how events unfold during the mission, so if everyone has these tools, everyone can be flexible. Establish who bombs, who damages, and who distracts the Harvester. Two people can break soul chains if there are 4 in the squad, but if there's only two people, then the player with the "farmer" role must both bomb and damage while the other kites the harvester. Whomever kites the harvester should be on the other side of the plateau from the players searching for souls. Go up and down the columns, or side to side along the rows (agree on what to do as a team), popping each tombstone on the way. The process is slow but steady and reliably yields a large number of sigils in a reasonable amount of time. It is important to not deviate from the plan, as the true enemy in this mission is the persistent nagging feeling of time lost.
If your role is to bomb and/or free souls, consider wearing (chaos for the bomber):
Glass Cannon Loadout
Defenses:
Shields:
- This shield will not save your skin as often as other shields, but it will significantly increase your attack speed. If you can dodge and avoid getting hit in general, this shield will certainly help you defeat monsters quickly.
- Increases sword power. This may help if you're using swords with the Chaos Set (to max out the sword damage bonus) and rely less on attack speed, plus it has more defense than Swiftstrike Buckler.
Armor and Helmets:
Black Kat Cowl
Black Kat Raiment
Chaos Cowl
Chaos Cloak
- Using one of these sets, or combining one item from each of these "glass cannon" sets will let you deal a lot of damage. Chaos will help with Charge Time Reduction, so wearing it as a bomber is ideal. Black Kat will increase your movement speed, allowing you to get out of the way quickly, even without dashing. Both increase damage output significantly. Since the Black Kat items can be difficult to obtain, chaos is generally preferred for economic reasons.
Otherwise, stick with items providing
Shadow and
Freeze resistance as well as movement speed buffs for the plateau. It is important to consider other areas in this mission when loading out. There is a large variety of hazards. See the
gate map of this mission for more details.
Runthrough
First Floor
Level: Mission Lobby Depth: 0
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There is no combat here.
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Basil is located top left. Wares include certain tier-appropriate pickups and a vitapod. Basil has recipes for sale in most mission lobbies.
{{:{{{mission}}}/Basil}}
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Notes
A place to gear up.
[[{{{mission}}}]]'s lobby is exactly the same as other standard lobbies, with the exception of Basil's inventory.
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Gallery
Map of the standard lobby.
The standard lobby is a zoomed-out Ready Room.
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Second Floor
Level: Haunted Passage Depth: Depends on rank
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- - moved to better umbrella name (so "area" vs. "level" isn't as confusing) with a special party button.
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Notes
In this level, you enter a "normal" Haunted Passage. Standing on the party button will bring up the gate behind you (normal), but the gate in front of you will not open (abnormal). The minimap will become static. Tentacles will come up out of the floor and grab you, bringing you down (loading) into The Obsidian Nexus.
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Third Floor
Level: The Obsidian Nexus Depth: Depends on rank
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Notes
Easter Egg - Footsteps
Footseps can be heard in this area. If graphics are set to high, they can be seen "walking" the path near the first Lost Soul.
Lost Soul (first)
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What's this? Another soul ripe for harvest by the Apocrea?
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- What is this place and what are you talking about?
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You, curious traveler, stand in the Obsidian Nexus, realm of the Apocrea. You will likely never see the sun again.
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- What do you mean? Who are the Apocrea?
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The Apocrea are stuff of nightmares: a terrible legion of otherworldly phantasms whose only ambition seems to be trapping and devouring the souls of all life.
Though you may venture beyond this nexus, you will undoubtedly fall into one of their traps along the way.
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- Tell me about these traps.
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The Apocrea bend reality, twisting the environment they invade into a trap. In these traps they stalk any life, harvesting their souls for some unimaginable purpose.
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- I won't let them take me so easily.
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You don't understand, do you? You simply don't have a choice.
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Lost Soul (second)
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What's this? You still have your body. Perhaps you can help us.
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I'm just another soul hiding from the gaze of the Apocrea. But I refuse to give up. Until they find me, I will do anything I can to save another soul from my fate.
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Soon you will find yourself in one of the traps set by the Apocrea. If you are powerful enough to escape then you may be able to save some of the other lost souls along the way.
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- I will try. Tell me what to do.
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Lost souls trapped by the Apocrea are bound to the realities they have created. Find the lost souls and free them from the bonds of the Apocrea.
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Once freed you will collect an Apocrean Sigil as proof of your deed. Bring these to me and my friend here will reward you with special treasures I have collected during my time in this world. You can use these items to craft rare and powerful items using that obelisk of creation over there.
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Good luck to you. Travel swiftly and avoid their grasp.
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Gallery
Map of "The Obsidian Nexus."
Talk to lost souls here. These friendly NPCs have important information and items for sale.
This strange area is only accessible during Shroud of the Apocrea.
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Fourth Floor
Fifth Floor
Sixth Floor
Seventh Floor
Rotates between: , , , , Level: ??? (The Grasping Plateau) Depth: Depends on rank
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From Tombstones:
From Puzzles:
Plateau:
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- The Grasping Plateau is a large Graveyard-like area that spawns many tombstones in a grid. It features one or more two-part puzzles and difficult enemies. Its dimensions seem to consistently be 50-52 (West/East) x 34-36 (North/South) tombstones. An official map would be difficult to obtain, since the minimap is static for the area, and any glitches revealing this map could be inaccurate.
- Puzzles in The Grasping Plateau reward Apocrean Sigils in bulk. Everyone in the party receives the puzzle's sigils as soon as it's solved. Puzzles come in two parts - if you find one part, you can predict and mentally prepare for the other.
- Sometimes a material will be rewarded (in addition to sigils in bulk) when a puzzle is solved. It appears on the ground in the puzzle and must be picked up. Each player must investigate the area - one player will not pick a material up for the entire party. It might not appear for everyone in the party, and it may or may not be the same material for everyone in the party. If one appears, this material is always randomly one of the ones available from Lost Soul (Apocrean Item Trader). They player does not have to be nearby for it to have a chance to drop - someone else can solve the puzzle far away.
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Notes
Goal: Get to the elevator or collect Apocrean Sigils.
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Gallery
The gallery below displays puzzle pairs and their solutions.
Use the Control+F keyboard function to find terms such as "key."
This "water pot" is picked up and used to put out a fire somewhere.
SOLVE: This wall of fire is put out by a "water ball." A red button is hidden under some books, break the books and step on the button to solve this puzzle.
This ember is picked up and used to light an unlit candle somewhere. It might be very far away, or very close!
SOLVE: One of these candles is unlit (usually the right-hand side candle). Light it with an ember (a.k.a magmaball, fireball) found elsewhere in the plateau.
This "ember loader" is almost always paired with the "Frozen Deadnaught Candle" elsewhere in the Plateau.
A Frozen Deadnaught appears when this candle is lit. Sigils are obtained, even if the deadnaught goes undefeated.
This heavy statue should be carried somewhere and placed on a pressure plate. Find it elsewhere in the Plateau.
This pressure plate could use a heavy statue. Find it elsewhere in the plateau.
Find a gold key elsewhere in the Plateau. Then put the heavy statue on the button to solve.
This gold key seems to be here on its own from the start of the level. It should be used to unlock a gate somewhere elsewhere in the Plateau.
This is where a key might go. This one is almost always paired with a purple ritual tower elsewhere in the Plateau.
SOLVE: Walk along the path of purple light. Fiendish noises can be heard. A gold key and Devilites (or more rarely, Bombies) will appear at the same time after the path is walked correctly.
This is where a gold key might go. This one is almost always paired with a skull pile elsewhere in the Plateau.
Some Grave Scarabs (or more rarely, Blech Bunnies) appear when the player hits the hidden switch in this pile of skulls. SOLVE: A gold key will appear when the last enemy (spawned in relation to the skull pile) is vanquished. It is suggested that the player use a Shivermist Buster before activating the pile.
Two Trojan statues watch over this gate. Find the key elsewhere in the Plateau.
Break these statues to spawn a gold key. A Caustic Polyp spawns when the player approaches. Two Toxigels spawn along with a key after breaking statues. A version without slime can be encountered. Beware - breaking a trojan statue might turn it to dust, or spawn a Trojan.
This tower simply reveals the order of activation for its partner puzzle.
Approach the lights to either light them up or trigger a small explosion and reset the puzzle. (Resetting will not cause it to "lock up" or anything like that).
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Eighth Floor
Level: Departure Depth: Depends on rank
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Notes
Players can trade their Apocrean Sigils and craft before taking the elevator to finish the mission. Unlike other areas in the game, the shrouded ground of this place extends well beyond the map's range, with only a few large structures and strange glowing lights present in its otherwise empty expanse.
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Gallery
Souls can move on if players help free them.
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See Also