Difference between revisions of "Shroud of the Apocrea (Mission)"

Revision as of 03:23, 31 January 2015

	The topic of this article or section is part of the Shroud of the Apocrea.
	As such, the content described below is only available during the event.

Shroud of the Apocrea is an event-exclusive Prestige Mission.

Overview

Shroud of the Apocrea on the Mission Interface.

Prerequisites: The player must be at least Rank 4-1 to start this mission.

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.

Rewards:

• None
  • Apocrean Sigils obtained from activities in The Grasping Plateau floors can be exchanged with Lost Soul (Merchant).

Runthrough

Haunted Passage

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.

Monsters:

• Spookat
• Dust Zombie
• Howlitzer
• Lumber
• Gun Puppy
• Devilite
• Silkwing

The Obsidian Nexus

After getting grabbed, your party will be in a "strange dimension" where knights can prepare (gear up) for the obstacles to come. Don't be afraid to talk with the Lost Souls of the zone, they can give you information about the place and the Lost Soul Merchant will exchange materials for your Apocrean Sigils. A special crafting station is marked on the minimap - this is one of the places players can craft the Obsidian gear.

? ? Depths are chosen randomly between Haunted or Infernal passages, various Arenas, or the Plateau. The first combat depth is never the Plateau. The last combat depth is always the Plateau:

The Grasping Plateau

General Information:

• Knights start in different parts of this very large Graveyard-like floor.
  • You might spawn together, or very far away from each other.
• The Apocrean Harvester stalks a random player fairly constantly right when the level begins.
  • Someone can get its aggro and "distract" it indefinitely while the rest of the party works through the floor.
• The minimap is static (similar to Unknown Passage), but players can see icons for Elevators, Keys, and Key Gates once at least one player gets close enough to the entity.
  • Tip: Use these to tell allies where things are - "I found a water Northeast of the elevator" and so on.
  • Rarely, the minimap functions normally. This is confirmed to be a bug - please file via F2 if this occurs.
• Breaking the gravestones may spawn nothing, Pale Scarabs, Freezing Bombies or Freed Souls.
• There might be Trojan statues around the level, breaking them currently only spawns either a bit of loot or a Trojan.
  • If there are 4 statues close to each other, that is a "puzzle."
  • There might be many other doodads around the level, such as Obelisks and lone greenish candles - these are just aesthetics that are not part of a puzzle.
• See the screenshots below for puzzle visuals and solutions.

General Player Goal of The Grasping Plateau: Obtain Apocrean Sigils by:

• Breaking tombstones, randomly releasing purple souls, and breaking the chains off the souls. Breaking their chains by attacking them rewards sigils.
• Solving puzzles will reward sigils in bulk, and perhaps a material (if the material drops, it is always randomly one of the ones available from the Lost Soul Merchant).
  • The material, if it drops, appears on the ground next to a solved puzzle and must be picked up. You do not have to be nearby for it to have a chance to drop (someone else can solve the puzzle while you are far away).
  • It might not appear for everyone in the party.
  • It may or may not be the same material for everyone in the party.

Monsters:

• Grave Scarab
• Bombie
• Pale Scarab
• Frozen Deadnaught
• Freezing Bombie
• Blech Bunny
• Toxigel
• Caustic Polyp
• Trojan
• Devilite
• Freed Soul
• Apocrean Harvester

Departure

In this last floor, you can see Souls being released. Players can trade their Apocrean Sigils or craft before taking the elevator to finish the mission.

Notes

"Puzzles" in the Grasping Plateau reward Apocrean Sigils in bulk. A puzzle is "solved" or "finished" when everyone receives these sigils.

Sometimes a material will be rewarded (in addition to sigils in bulk) when a puzzle is solved. It appears on the ground and must be picked up. 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 the Lost Soul Merchant.

Puzzles come in pairs! If you find one, you can predict and mentally prepare for the other. For a list of known puzzles, see the gallery below.

The grasping plateau is a large area. It seems to consistently be 34-36 tombstones high and 50-52 tombstones wide. An official map would be difficult to obtain, since the minimap is static for the area, and any bugs revealing this map could be inaccurate.

Strategy

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Overview:

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, 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. it is advised you attempt this mission with a full party if the goal is to farm sigils.

Your party will lock after using the elevator in the Mission Lobby, so plan ahead and make sure everyone knows the plan. 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

First Time

Gallery

• The Prize: Sometimes, a material will be rewarded (in addition to sigils in bulk) when a puzzle is solved. It appears on the ground and must be picked up. It might not appear for everyone in the party, and it may or may not be the same material for everyone in the party. This material is always randomly one of the ones available from the Lost Soul Merchant.
• Puzzles come in pairs! If you find one part of the pair, you can predict and mentally prepare for the other part.

Puzzles: Water Carrying

• 

  This "water ball" is picked up and used to put out a fire somewhere. It might be very far away, or very close!

• 

  SOLVE: This wall of fire is put out by a "water ball", found somewhere else in the level. It might be very far away, or very close! A red button is hidden under some books, bust the books and step on the button to get "the prize."

Puzzles: Ember Carrying

• 

  This ball of fire 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.

Puzzles: Statue Carrying

• 

  This statue should be carried somewhere and placed on a square button. Find it elsewhere in the Plateau.

• 

  This square button could use a statue. Find it elsewhere in the plateau.

• 

  Find a key elsewhere in the Plateau. Then put the statue on the button to get "The Prize."

• 

  This 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.

Puzzles: Key Spawning

• 

  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. A key and Devilites (or more rarely, Bombies) will appear at the same time after the path is walked correctly.

• 

  This is where a 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 investigates this pile of skulls. SOLVE: A key will appear when the last enemy (spawned in relation to the skull pile) is vanquished.

• 

  Two Trojan statues watch over this gate. Find the key elsewhere in the Plateau.

• 

  Breaking these will spawn either a Trojan or a key. A Caustic Polyp spawns when the player approaches. Two Toxigels spawn along with the key after breaking statues. A version without slime can be encountered.

Puzzles: Miscellaneous

• 

  This tower simply reveals the order of activation for its partner puzzle.

• 

  Approach the lights to either light them up or trigger an explosion. Lighting them up in the correct order will grant "The Prize." Messing up the order only resets the puzzle - reset as many times as needed. (Resetting will not cause it to "lock up" and refuse to reward "The Prize" or anything like that).