Dreams and Nightmares
From SpiralKnights
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Dreams and Nightmares is a 10-2 rank mission.
Overview
Description:
Respond to the distress signal from the Core Terminal. We have no intel on what to expect. This is a dangerous mission. Prepare for anything.
Objective:
Prepare for the worst and journey to the Core.
Gate Map
Depth: 0
Level Link: This mission's lobby is standard.
Depth: 24
Level Link: The Path is Revealed is unique to this mission.
Depth: 25
Level Link: This floor is composed of random A Step Beyond segments.
Depth: 26
Level Link: This floor is composed of random A Step Beyond segments.
Depth: 27
Level Link: Descent into Darkness is unique to this mission.
Depth: 28
Level Link: Refuge is unique to this mission.
Notes
This mission was introduced with release 2015-05-13.
It is the first rank mission to allow access to the Core.
Treasure Boxes in combat floors seem to only drop heat and crowns.
Recommendations
Strategy
Strategy DisclaimerOnce the behavior of enemies and obstacles in this mission is understood, playing on elite difficulty is ideal to get the best loot in Refuge. Refuge is a kind of Treasure Floor in Depth 28. The potential loot there, particularly Radiant Fire Crystals, is desired by many players. The mission is often repeated by players seeking crystals to forge their Tier 3 items. It is a very quick way to obtain radiants, but this mission does not have a high crown payout compared to other "end game" areas such as Firestorm Citadel or deep arcade arenas, which have both crowns and radiants, but typically take more time to complete than Dreams and Nightmares.
Run through both A Step Beyond levels as quickly as possible. Void monsters don't drop anything other than hearts, so only defeat them when necessary. There are arsenal stations at the start of each combat floor, so change up as needed for speedrunning or fighting. You might run into some nasty mini-fights along the way, or you might not. The final fight in D27 takes place in a simple arena. Void Souls constantly spawn. The area is a large square-shaped platform with several removable obstacles and a few permanents - 4 Swarm Turrets in the corners and orbital chains attached to these turrets are hazards the player must avoid in addition to defeating the six waves of monsters. Victory for the entire mission boils down to success in this fight.
Void monsters retain certain characteristics of the creature type they seem to be, with a few differences. Check the monster lists on this page and read up on their offenses and defenses. Most void monsters in this fight are limited to close-range attacks. The only projectiles in this fight are from Swarm Turrets, certain Void Thwacker swings, and the poisonous spikes of spinning Void Gels.
Establish an attack formation. If you are alone or in a squad, maintaining this pattern is important. Make sure Void Gels do not focus on Vaelyn (who is stuck to the north of the arena and unable to deal damage during the fight), because you do not want random spikes shooting around unexpectedly.
- Kiting Strategy: Avoid dashing, as this resets aggro. Dash only to save your life. Once you have the attention of the void monsters, walk counter-clockwise around the edge of the arena, firing bullets behind you and setting off bombs as you move. It is important to keep the monsters following you, but not too close. For this strategy, do not use weapons that inflict freeze or knockback, as this breaks the enemy patterns and increases the time it takes to get things done. This strategy is ideal for a quick victory but can be problematic for players who lag. If there are two or more players in the party, try to stay on opposite sides of the arena so you don't walk into enemy attacks triggered by another player. For example, if a player is in the north area of the arena, stay in the south, or if they are in the west, stay in the east. Maintain this as all players circle around the arena.
Loadout
Loadout DisclaimerA forum discussion about loadouts for this mission can be found here.
In general, a ranged loadout is recommended. Handguns and Bombs will keep you out of range of most things while dealing significant damage. Bombs will passively keep Void Souls at bay. High normal and some piercing defense is preferable. Poison resistance is a good idea.
Slow weapons or weapons that rely on charges that are not radial are comparatively poor choices, as these tend to leave you vulnerable and have lower overall dps in general.
The following gear has enabled a lot of success in many runs with different players. Work with your squad and gear and come up with combinations that best suit the situation and consider what each of you is best at. Someone could be the bomber, the gunner, the defender, etc.
- Using the Seraphynx's #2 ability, Heart Attack, is an excellent way to maintain squad integrity. Use it when enemies have depleted health, not right when they spawn. The Heart Attack effect will likely wear off by the time you chip away all that void monster HP. Be careful when casting, as you will be vulnerable for a moment. Pick up the hearts as you pass by, do not go after them and break formation.
Healthy Boost perk:
- This lets your knight get hit a little more, forgiving an otherwise devastating lag spike or two. Players with little to no lag issues should augment their loadouts with weapon-boosting perks or Swift Steps instead of healthy boost.
- Equip trinkets that augment your offensive gear or HP in general, as needed or preferred.
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 set:
Black Kat Cowl
Black Kat Raiment
- Chaos set:
- 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.
Shields:
- This shield provides high normal, piercing, and stun defense. It will take most hits like a champ.
- Other shields that provide poison resistance, (or this shield with a poison resist UV) would also be useful, as long as that health and normal defense is high.
Armor and Helmets:
- Sacred Snakebite Pathfinder set:
Sacred Snakebite Pathfinder Helm
Sacred Snakebite Pathfinder Armor
- Are Void Gel spikes the only issue you've got with this mission? This set will take care of that problem while boosting your guns with ASI, CTR, and DMG. Your knight will also be able to take a few hits from other enemies.
- Many of the void monsters are weak to elemental, including Void Gels. The added fire dps is a nice touch, especially to cover lacking damage due to missed shots, but the magma driver specifically is not necessary. Bullets from the alchemer family are nice in this fight, because of their splitting behavior. Shoot into the monster groups - if you miss, the split bullet likely won't. The alchemer bullets are also an okay way to compensate for Void Souls absorbing your attacks.
- While this bomb doesn't do much against Void Lumbers and Void Gels, it deals very significant damage to other enemies, even those that are neutral to its piercing blasts. Importantly, the DBB will interrupt Void Thwackers and quickly deplete most enemy hp.
- This shadow bomb will take care of most things without significantly altering enemy attack patterns. It doesn't hurt Void Zombies much or significantly stutter enemies, but it will decimate the hp of most. Void Zombies are slow and generally not a problem - take care of them easily with other weapons.
