The Underground Guide

The Underground Guide

Hello everyone! Chris "Baryonyx" Behrens here once more. Over the past few months, I've given you the background of the first three Incarnate Trials: the Behavioral Adjustment Facility, Lambda Sector, and Keyes Island. Today, I'll introduce you to the newest Incarnate Trial coming in Issue 21: Convergence--The Underground.

Throughout Praetoria, Emperor Cole has built a vast network of tunnels where the less savory acts of his government and Praetoria's security forces can be conducted, shrouded from the view of the public. Within the Underground, the various factions of Praetoria battle openly, and the fighting is constant and intense.

In these embattled depths beneath the city of Praetoria, one of the most powerful challengers to the might of Emperor Marcus Cole is being hunted. Vanessa DeVore, leader of the Carnival of Light and de facto leader of the Resistance, holds a dangerous secret concerning Cole's oppressive regime. Knowledge of this secret has set the IDF after Vanessa, as the Emperor will not allow any who learn of it to survive.

In an effort to escape the clutches of the Imperial Defense Force (IDF), Vanessa has fled to the Underground, hoping to throw her pursuers off the trail. Desperate for aid, Vanessa has also reached out to the apparent leader of Primal Earth's forces, Statesman. Not eager to involve himself directly and distrustful of the Praetorian counterpart to the leader of the Carnival of Shadows, Statesman agrees to send his new protégé, Desdemona, to find Vanessa and bring her safely out of the Underground. As Desdemona's magical wards are more than a match for anything Vanessa or the IDF can dish out, he reasons that she is the best suited for the mission to secure the Carnival leader's safety.

Prometheus, however, has learned of this. Through his network of contacts, he negotiates for you to join Desdemona in an effort to make sure that Cole's secret falls into the hands of those who will actually do something about it: Incarnates.

Together, a group of Incarnates and Desdemona must forge a path through the Underground and find Vanessa before she can be silenced for good.

The Underground Incarnate Trial
Personnel Needed: League of 12-24 characters
Character Level: 50
Alpha Slot: Can be unlocked here
Incarnate Slot Experience: Earn Judgment, Interface, Lore, and Destiny slot experience (if Alpha Slot already unlocked)

Act 1: IDF Territory
Upon entering the Underground, Desdemona greets you. She immediately chooses one of your teammates to follow and then summons her demon forces. Although a powerful ally, Desdemona is not invulnerable and needs to be assisted throughout the journey. In addition to her Demon Summoning powers, Desdemona has the following abilities throughout the Trial:

• Threatening Aura: Desdemona's magical power makes her a primary target of both the IDF and the Devouring Earth. Her presence continually draws the attention of enemy forces, so it is critical that the members of your League either have a way to draw enemy attention away from her, heal her, or assist her in quickly defeating all threats.
• Mark of Leadership: Desdemona believes it is critical that her allies always be aware of whom she considers her leader. A mark hovers above her selected leader's head at all times. This mark also appears over her captor if enemy forces detain her, allowing her allies to know who to target to free her.

After a brief initial skirmish with the IDF, which unlocks further access into the Underground, Desdemona informs you that she needs to perform two rituals to link her mind with Vanessa's. This allows her to pinpoint Vanessa's location and more easily track Vanessa's movement through the massive Underground.

• Desdemona performs two rituals. While she is focused on the rituals, she does not move and will not defend herself. Her demon pets, however, defend her.
• During each ritual, Desdemona draws the IDF's attention. Members of the IDF appear in waves and attack. Eliminate the IDF waves before they overwhelm Desdemona.
• After the first ritual is complete, Desdemona heals herself completely and automatically moves to start the second ritual.
• After the second ritual is complete, Desdemona heals herself completely, and the door leading in Vanessa's direction unlocks.

Fight your way through the Underground with Desdemona until you encounter a chamber secured by the IDF. Clearing these guards unlocks the doorway in this chamber, letting you move into an area secured by a powerful weapon: the Extinction War Walker.

Extinction War Walker: In addition to the standard suite of abilities normal to War Walkers, the Extinction War Walker periodically marks opponents within a 30-foot sphere around it with a Targeting Reticle. After a few seconds, everyone in your League with a Targeting Reticle and everyone within 10 feet of each of those beings is hit by one of the three single attacks listed below. Desdemona is immune to each of these attacks, but her demon pets are not. Members of the IDF continually reinforce the Extinction War Walker.
The three Extinction War Walker attacks are:

• Crowd Dispersal: When hit, you are Terrorized for 10 seconds.
• Arrest Mode: When hit, you are Held for 10 seconds.
• Lethal Force: When hit, you suffer a rapidly ticking, high damage over time (DoT) effect. This DoT deals 30% of your maximum HP each tick. Death is assured if no healing occurs

Act 2: Conflict
After defeating the Extinction War Walker, you trek deeper into the Underground in pursuit of Vanessa DeVore. You now find yourselves caught in an open war between the IDF and the Devouring Earth, which have been moving aggressively against Emperor Cole's forces in the Underground.

Although the IDF dominated previous levels, the creatures of the Devouring Earth more heavily infest the next sections of the Underground. In addition to the more monstrous creatures of the Devouring Earth, you confront Infested IDF forces. Seers, Soldiers, and even War Works have fallen prey to the Tellurian Plague and now serve as foot soldiers in the Hamidon's army in the depths.

Throughout this conflict zone, you encounter glowing fungal growths that can be harvested for special lichen. Though this has no immediate use as you move through the tunnels, it proves valuable later on, so be sure to gather all you find!

Crystal Trap: About halfway through the conflict area, Desdemona and your League fall victim to a trap sprung by the Devouring Earth. Having homed in on the powerful link between Vanessa and Desdemona, the Devouring Earth has placed a set of four crystals around a room. Once Desdemona enters this room, the trap is sprung, and she is trapped by the power emanating from the crystals.

• Once she is trapped, Desdemona's demon pets are defeated instantly. She cannot move, be healed, regenerate, recover, or assist you in any way while locked in the trap.
• Every three seconds while the trap remains active, Desdemona and those in your League lose 1% maximum health. The trap also slows your regeneration, and heals are 50% less effective.
• You can deactivate the trap by destroying the four crystals around the room.
• However, Devouring Earth creatures protect the crystals. As long as any Devouring Earth creatures are nearby, a crystal instantly regenerates its health.

Access to Lower Level: Once the last crystal is destroyed, Desdemona is freed and fully heals. Continue through the conflict zone until you reach a subway chamber with lower level access. As in Act 1, a group of enemies in front of the entrance blocks access to the lower level. In this case, however, your enemies in this chamber are creatures of the Devouring Earth.

The War Walker: Clearing this room allows access to a large subway chamber, wherein you discover the reason why the Devouring Earth abominations were massed there: A specialized Extinction War Walker that can regenerate extremely rapidly guards the large subway chamber. This Self-Repairing Extinction War Walker has the powers of a standard Extinction War Walker and a new ability, Nano-Regeneration.

• Nano-Regeneration: This advanced technology grants the Self-Repairing Extinction War Walker a level of regenerative repair that can exceed any amount of damage inflicted upon the War Walker. This regeneration buff is so powerful that a Self-Repairing War Walker near defeat can be restored to full working condition within seconds.

The only way to counteract this powerful regeneration rate is by using the Glowing Lichen you collected throughout the previous conflict zone on the Self-Repairing War Walker. Applying the Glowing Lichen to the War Walker disables the Nano-Regeneration briefly. If you steadily and continuously apply the Glowing Lichen, it effectively eliminates the War Walker's regeneration, allowing you to defeat it.

But no sooner do you achieve victory than it is snatched from you. Using the Glowing Lichen on the Self-Repairing War Walker has done the work of the Devouring Earth. The Glowing Lichen takes full control of the behemoth machine and reactivates it! The now Lichen-Infested Extinction War Walker stands up as powerful as before with new Devouring Earth allies and a new Lichen Regeneration ability.

• Lichen Regeneration: fungal masses sprout throughout the room, linking the War Walker to the Devouring Earth biomass. This continuously heals the War Walker as long as it is within range of a Glowing Lichen.

Destroying these fungi lets you eventually clear a dead zone in which the War Walker cannot regenerate. This dead zone, however, is only temporary. In order to claim victory, you must keep an eye out for the continual regrowth of the Glowing Lichen, clearing it away rapidly to keep regeneration at a minimum.

Once you have defeated the Lichen-Infested Extinction War Walker, you and Desdemona move to the final area.

Act 3: Like an Alien World
The presence of the Devouring Earth here is so overwhelming that the vast tunnels of the Underground are unrecognizable. The sharp metallic edges are gone, replaced by a living biomass. Fighting your way through the Devouring Earth in this alien environment is the only way to catch up with Vanessa, however, so you must press onward.

The Gauntlet: In addition to the issues that come from the heavy Devouring Earth presence, two other challenges confront you.
IDF Explosive Devices: Throughout this section of the Underground, the last remaining IDF forces have been dropping powerful explosives as they make their retreat.

• When you approach one of these devices, it gives a ten-second warning before unleashing a large-radius explosion. You are continually warned while in the explosive radius of a device by a countdown.
• Failure to avoid the blast results in death.
• Desdemona is immune to the effects of a bomb.
• To avoid a device, move out of its blast radius.
• Desdemona provides an additional means of survival, as she creates an Ember Shroud around herself. This powerful magical shield allows Desdemona to protect everyone within a 30-foot radius around her from the explosions. To be protected by her shield, you must remain close to her.

Spore Infestation: While you move through a series of circular tunnels, you directly encounter no IDF members or Devouring Earth creatures. Instead, you must navigate a continuous run of IDF explosive devices planted to collapse the tunnels. This gauntlet is made worse by the presence of deadly Devouring Earth spores. Throughout this area, you take continuous Toxic and Negative energy damage, sustain a 50% reduction in the effectiveness of healing, and suffer a randomly applied -20% debuff to one of seven attributes, which is reapplied every 12 seconds.
Showdown with the IDF and the Devouring Earth: Running this gauntlet ultimately leads to a series of chambers where you catch up with the final remnants of the IDF, surrounded on all sides by creatures of the Devouring Earth. You are close to Vanessa, but you must clear a way through both sets of forces to reach the final collection of rooms that lead to a fateful encounter against your final adversary: the Avatar of Hamidon.

Conclusion: The Avatar of Hamidon
The Avatar of Hamidon, a powerful creature that resides deep in the Underground, stands between you and Vanessa. Your League and Desdemona have no choice but to confront this creature in its lair. The Avatar uses a variety of powers, including:

• Crush: A powerful, direct damage attack deals very heavy Smashing and Toxic damage. The attack sometimes targets a random target, rather than the Avatar's main target.
• Devour: The Avatar calls forth monstrous, writhing vines from the ground that cause a large area of effect (AoE) attack. The Avatar has two modes for this attack: a point-blank area of effect (PBAoE) for those who fight him in melee or close range and a targeted AoE for those who hang back. The targeted version selects targets randomly.
• Infection: This large PBAoE debuff infects those within its area with the Tellurian Plague. The strength of the debuff increases the more times Infection is applied. At the worst level, you have no defense or resistance to the Avatar and its Devour attack will gain a DoT component in addition to its normal damage.
• Cripple: When using this location-directed cone attack, the Avatar pauses and charges up the attack. You have five seconds to get to the Avatar's sides or rear before it ejects a jet of toxic ectoplasm at its target's original location. Anyone in your League who is caught in the ectoplasm suffers a significant Recharge and Recovery debuff and also has all Endurance drained rapidly.
• Corruption: The Avatar feeds on Desdemona's magical energy, draining her life. This effect is made worse when her allies surround Desdemona, so you need to give her some space (but not too much, as detailed below) or heal her effectively.
• Confounding Spores: While in the Avatar's chamber, everyone in your League is susceptible to a Confusion effect. This effect can be protected against and can be broken if you are prepared.


As if this was not already enough, the IDF's wanton use of explosive devices has induced a rapid evolutionary development among the Devouring Earth biomass, leading to the creation of the Detonating Seedlings. These new creatures are shell-less, unstable ectoplasmic orbs that spawn from the biomass lining the Avatar's chamber and that explode like the IDF devices did. However, the blast area of each explosion covers the entirety of the Avatar's chamber, and the detonation occurs automatically, regardless of proximity. The only way to survive the onslaught of these "bomblings" is to collapse around Desdemona and gain the benefits of the Ember Shroud.

Keep Desdemona and your League alive and defeat the Avatar of Hamidon, and you will finally learn the truth behind the lie on which Praetoria was founded!

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