Shadow Lair

Shadow Lair

Theme(s) Levels Rabid Snarbolax Ice Queen Red Roarmulus Twins Darkfire Vanaduke Unknown Passage The Sanctuary

A Shadow Lair is a special area of the Clockworks, that contains an alternate version of an ordinary Clockworks boss stratum. There are four Shadow Lairs:

• The Shadow Gloaming Wildwoods (SGWW) is the Gloaming Wildwoods, but infected with a poisonous miasma, which has transformed the Snarbolax into two Rabid Snarbolaxes.
• The Shadow Royal Jelly Palace (SRJP) is the Royal Jelly Palace, but frozen over and occupied by the true heir to the slimy throne, the frigid Ice Queen.
• The Shadow Ironclaw Munitions Factory (SIMF) is the Ironclaw Munitions Factory, but with additional fiery weapons, including its new ultimate weapon, the Red Roarmulus Twins.
• The Shadow Firestorm Citadel (SFSC) is Firestorm Citadel under a terrible curse, that has transformed its master into the mighty Darkfire Vanaduke.

Each Shadow Lair is significantly more difficult than its ordinary Clockworks counterpart, and requires a high cost of entry. It is recommended that only Tier-3 knights with gear specifically chosen for a Shadow Lair attempt that Shadow Lair. The Shadow Lairs were discovered (that is, added to the game) in the 2011 October 19 release.

Entering

To access a Shadow Lair, the party needs one, and only one, Shadow Key. Shadow Keys can be found in Iron Lockboxes, purchased from Kozma, or purchased from other players, for example through the Auction House. Once a Shadow Key is used to access a Shadow Lair, the key is destroyed. Any future visit to this or another Shadow Lair requires another Shadow Key. (For example, suppose that a group of four knights does multiple Shadow Lair trips together. Each time, they buy a Shadow Key for 1,800 energy and split the cost evenly. Then each Shadow Lair trip costs each knight 450 energy.)

To access a Shadow Lair, one person in the party needs clearance for that Shadow Lair:

• For Shadow Gloaming Wildwoods, any player with Tier 3 clearance has clearance.
• For Shadow Royal Jelly Palace, any player who has completed the SGWW has clearance.
• For Shadow Ironclaw Munitions Factory, any player who has completed the SGWW has clearance.
• For Shadow Firestorm Citadel, any player who has completed either SRJP or SIMF has clearance.

For example, a knight with SRJP clearance can bring three knights who do not have that clearance into SRJP. After the SRJP trip, all four knights will have SFSC clearance, but the three knights will still not have SRJP clearance.

If a party has a Shadow Key and clearance, it can enter its desired Shadow Lair at depth 23 of any gate. That is, the party members assemble in a single depth-23 Clockworks Terminal, proceed to the north end of the terminal, and unlock the appropriate gate with their Shadow Key. Once the party has entered the Shadow Lair, no new members may join the party.

Four Shadow Lairs

Gloaming Wildwoods

Like the ordinary Gloaming Wildwoods, the Shadow Gloaming Wildwoods is filled with beasts. However, the Shadow version is also packed with undead (zombies, kats and howlitzers), and all of the monsters have a poison theme. Armor that protects against normal, piercing, shadow, and poison is recommended. Piercing, elemental, and crowd-control weapons are recommended.

Monsters:

• Rabid Wolver
• Rabid Alpha Wolver
• Droul
• Hurkat
• Virulisk
• Silkwing
• Vilewood
• Vile Howlitzer

Boss:

• Two Rabid Snarbolaxes: Unlike the Roarmulus Twins, they have independent healths.
• One Silkwing: It heals 63 health per second to each Rabid Snarbolax near it.
• Swarm Source

Maps

Terrilous Trail

Roarsterous Ruins

Lair of the Snarbolax

Royal Jelly Palace

The Shadow Royal Jelly Palace is similar to the ordinary Royal Jelly Palace in its monsters — many slimes, some constructs, and scattered silkwings — except that the turrets are primarily polyps rather than gun puppies. Many of the monsters have a freeze theme. Armor that protects against normal, piercing, and freeze is recommended. Shadow and elemental weapons are recommended.

Monsters:

• Ice Cube
• Polar Polyp
• Ice Mini
• Silversap
• Blast Cube
• Lichen
• Lichen Colony
• Giant Lichen Colony
• Jelly Green Mini
• Silkwing

Boss:

• Ice Queen
• Ice Mini
• Royal Polar Polyp
• Ice Cube
• Swarm Source

Ironclaw Munitions Factory

Like the ordinary Ironclaw Munitions Factory, the Shadow Ironclaw Munitions Factory is filled with constructs, gremlins and slimes. However, the Shadow version contains both fire and shock themed monsters. Armor that protects against normal, elemental, fire, and shock is recommended. Shadow and elemental weapons are recommended.

Monsters:

• Cinderbot
• Surgebot
• Firo Knight
• Volt Knight
• Oiler
• Quicksilver
• Hotrode
• Voltrode
• Red Rover
• Sparky
• Rocket Puppy
• Darkfang Mender
• Darkfang Scorcher
• Darkfang Thwacker
• Darkfang Demo

Boss:

• Roarmulus Twins
• Surgebot
• Darkfang Mender (Phase 2 & Phase 3)
• Swarm Source

Firestorm Citadel

The Shadow Firestorm Citadel is similar to the ordinary Firestorm Citadel in its monsters — undead, trojans, and turrets — except that the turrets are primarily howlitzers rather than gun puppies. Many of the monsters have a curse theme; others have a fire theme, as in the ordinary Firestorm Citadel. Armor that protects against normal, shadow, fire, and curse is recommended. Elemental and piercing weapons are recommended.

The Shadow Lair Propaganda with the Swarm Core and three Carnavons.

Monsters:

• Carnavon
• Smoking Howlitzer
• Red Rover
• Rocket Puppy
• Blast Cube
• Oiler
• Silkwing
• Ash Tail
• Alpha Ash Tail
• Trojan
• Almirian Shadow Guard
• Wheel Launcher

Boss:

• Darkfire Vanaduke
• Carnavon (Phase 1, Phase 3 & Phase 5)
• Almirian Shadow Guard (Phase 3 & Phase 5)
• Slag Walker (Phase 5, immediately replaced by Carnavons as soon as spawned, this is a bug)
• Swarm Source

Exiting

A Shadow Lair expedition does not end with the defeat of the Shadow Lair boss. The party must fight its way through the Unknown Passage — a single, Swarm-infested level, where the only goal is to survive. The Unknown Passage is identical for all four Shadow Lairs, and has nothing to do with any of their particular themes. The party emerges into a safe haven known as the Sanctuary, where it finally receives its rewards, before returning to Haven.