Minds of Mayhem Guide

Minds of Mayhem Guide

Hello everyone! Chris "Baryonyx" Behrens here to bring you an overview of the latest Incarnate Trial, the Minds of Mayhem. This trial brings you face to face with perhaps the most dangerous of Emperor Cole's powerful lieutenants: Praetor Tilman, also known as Mother Mayhem, the master of the Seer program.

After you successfully broadcast Emperor Cole's secret to the world at TPN Campus, Shalice Tilman, the disembodied mind who controls Aurora Borealis to form Mother Mayhem, steps in to ensure that the citizenry remains under control. Having also taken over the mind of Penelope Yin, an extremely powerful young psychic, Tilman now has the power to extend her recently perfected mind control technique, known as Mindwashing, to the entirety of Praetoria, Loyalist and Resistance alike.

Only a few are able to resist this global mind control, and when they first attempt to assault the Mother of Mercy Hospital in First Ward, they find it protected by an impenetrable shell of psionic energy. After some failed attempts to break through the barrier, the forces resistant to the Mindwashing discover an abandoned node of the Seer Network deep beneath First Ward. This node offers a rare opportunity: Rather than physically assaulting Mother Mayhem, you must take the fight to Shalice Tilman within the mindscape of the Seer Network.

Minds of Mayhem Incarnate Trial

Personnel Needed: League of 8-16 characters
Character Level: 50
Alpha Slot: Can be unlocked here
Incarnate Slot Experience: Earn Alpha, Interface, and Destiny slot experience.

Stage 1: The Firewall

Upon arriving at the network node beneath First Ward, Desdemona, a protégé of Statesman greets you. She has recently become the leader of the Carnival of Light and is one of the few people who is resistant to Mindwashing. She opens a portal into the Seer Network, wherein Mother Mayhem's favored patient, Malaise, immediately confronts you.

You battle Malaise, a master of manipulating fear, in order to proceed deeper into the Seer Network. He has two major deadly tricks up his sleeve:

• Nightmares: Upon reaching 50% health, Malaise retreats from the battle and summons several Nightmare forms of familiar Giant Monsters to fight you on his behalf.
• World of Anguish: Starting with the summoning of Nightmares, Malaise also creates pools of pure psionic energy that inflict massive pain on those caught in them. The pools enlarge and grow in power over 20 seconds.

Desdemona resurrects fallen characters every 30 seconds. Her Blessing restores both full health and endurance and boosts both defense and resistance to psionic damage. However, each time Desdemona uses it reduces the amount of time she can keep the portal open by 15 seconds.

Should you defeat Malaise, Desdemona pulls you out of the Network.

Stage 2: The Storm

The disembodied mind of Dr. Russell Brandt, known as Metronome, arrives, clad in a new shell courtesy of the defeated Siege. Metronome, who considers Penelope Yin a friend, offers to assist in the battle to rescue her from the Network. He explains that Penelope continues to fight against the control of Shalice Tilman. This continual battle has created a Psionic Typhoon within the node. While Penelope Yin is within this storm, she is unassailable and those attacking her are harmed.

Metronome assists by exerting influence over the system to create Voids in the storm. Destroying these Voids creates an Eye of the Storm that links back to the real world. Within it, you are protected from the storm. Further, if Penelope is within the Eye, she is soothed by the sound of Metronome's voice, which causes her to drop her defenses. The energy left behind when Voids coalesce causes Tempest Gyres to appear. These entities assault your League with draining bolts of psionic lightning.

Desdemona is on hand to assist, resurrecting fallen members of your League. This time, however, her Blessing also confers temporary resistance to the Psionic Typhoon.

If you free Penelope Yin, Desdemona pulls you out of the Network.

Stage 3: Aurora Borealis

Calvin Scott, leader of the Crusaders faction within the Resistance, arrives in the Underground, eagerly anticipating the end of Mother Mayhem. Her defeat would mean the freedom of his wife, Aurora Borealis, from the domination of Shalice Tilman. Though he has little to offer in the way of assistance, he urges you toward a quick victory while Desdemona opens a portal to the next node.

In this node, you come face to face with Mother Mayhem, but all is not as it seems. A portal to Aurora's prison opens. She has opened this portal with the last of her energy to allow your League to come through and defend her because Shalice Tilman intends to finally kill off her mind. For her part, Mother Mayhem brings some deadly powers to bear:

• Reflections: Mother Mayhem creates Reflections of her enemies. These doppelgangers overwhelm your League if ignored.
• Shared Suffering/Suffer in Silence: Mother Mayhem casts either Shared Suffering or Suffer in Silence at a random target character. A large red ring (for Suffer in Silence) or a small blue ring (for Shared Suffering) surrounds this character. If the red ring surrounds the target, that character needs to flee to minimize the number of allies within the ring. If the blue ring surrounds the target, that character needs to gather as many allies as possible within the ring.
• Portal Decay: Mother Mayhem continuously erodes the health of Aurora's portals. If a portal is left unhealed, it eventually closes. After 30 seconds, a new portal opens, but this new portal also is gradually eroded. If 4 portals are destroyed, no more open.

Desdemona is on hand to assist, resurrecting fallen members of your League. Should you save Aurora Borealis and defeat Mother Mayhem, Desdemona pulls you out of the Network.

Stage 4: Mother Malaise

Mother Mayhem is no more, but the mind of Shalice Tilman still infects the Seer Network. Together, Desdemona, Penelope, and Aurora force open a portal to the core of the Seer Network, which has taken on the appearance of Shalice Tilman's stark vision of the Well of the Furies. Waiting for them there is Malaise, who has been possessed by Shalice Tilman, becoming "Mother Malaise."

This controlled version of Malaise attacks with a combination of his and Shalice Tilman's attacks. The major threat in this fight is a weakened form of World of Anguish, as well as one other power:

• Debilitation: Shalice Tilman randomly deactivates the epic powers (including Incarnate powers) of a member of your League for 10 seconds. This occurs every 30 seconds throughout the fight.

When Mother Malaise's health reaches 50%, Shalice Tilman is forced from Malaise's body. Shalice Tilman appears at the base of one of the three statues around the chamber and moves toward the Well. If she reaches it, she repossesses Malaise and maintains the connection represented by that statue to the Network. The battle proceeds until all three connections (represented by statues) are severed and Mother Malaise is defeated.

During the battle against Shalice Tilman, the strain of his possession triggers the creation of Nightmares from Malaise. These Nightmares attack your League, but can also be used against Shalice Tilman. If a Nightmare is defeated in Shalice's path, it creates a field that wipes out her defenses against most forms of control for a short time. This brief period presents a valuable opportunity for you to stop Tilman's advance to the Well. Should she be defeated, the connection to the Network represented by the statue is severed.

Desdemona is on hand to assist, resurrecting fallen members of your League. Should you successfully disconnect Shalice Tilman and defeat Mother Malaise, Tilman will reveal that she has one final power at her disposal: the trap of her own dying mind.

Stage 5: The Dying Mind

In this final stage, Shalice Tilman drags your League out of the Network with her, imprisoning you all within her dying mind. Trapped in her mind, you suffer a significant loss of Morale, as none of your allies can save you. Desdemona is out of contact and cannot pull you safely out of Shalice Tilman's mind or raise you if you fall. In this place, it is Shalice Tilman against you, and time is running out.

• Morale: At the start of the battle, you suffer a depressed morale that reduces your combat effectiveness. As the battle against Shalice Tilman shifts in your favor, Morale returns. The current state of your League's Morale is displayed in the Incarnate Trial UI.

The only means of escape is to defeat Shalice Tilman within her own mind, allowing you to break free and return to the real world. Your success means that the threat of Mother Mayhem is eliminated for the last time, leaving little to stand in the way of preparing an assault on Emperor Cole.