Difference between revisions of "Incursions"

Revision as of 20:01, 7 January 2019

Incursions are maps that can be played after a Chaos Trials map has been completed. Upon completing a Chaos tier for the first time (Chaos 1-7), one or two incursions are unlocked for that Chaos tier. Each map has unique playing conditions that are found only on that map, and in Incursion mode. All enemies found on the applicable Chaos level can spawn in lanes, and all DD2 minibosses can spawn in any lane on any wave. Minibosses will drop less gear upon defeat, but and will drop more than normal amounts of pet supplies. On all incursion maps, Replay from Wave is disabled.

Upon completing the incursion you permanently unlock a special weapon, which can be purchased from the Wayfarer for 500 defender medals. Special weapons have a chance to drop in the victory chest on the Incursion map that unlocked it, each time it is played. Each special weapon is a legendary drop, for the Chaos level it is earned on. Each one will have the first MOD slot locked with a special MOD that only comes on that weapon, and cannot be moved off of it or replaced. The special MOD can be rerolled though. They will also come with a second MOD that is normal and can be moved or replaced.

On some incursion maps, each lane will randomly be assigned mutators from the following pool of six possible choices: 1) Speedy, +15% movement speed; 2) Trollblood, +3% HP regen every 5 sec; 3) Tenacious, +35% crowd control resilience; 4) Healthy, +15% health; 5) Grounded, cannot be knocked up; 6) Mighty, +15% attack damage.

Chaos 1 Incursions

Chrome Enemies

Map - Forgotten Ruins (Ancient Ruins)

Playing Condition - this map will be them same enemy schedules for all lanes as found in a Chaos 1 version of this map. All map enemies will only have the 'Chrome' mutator, "cannot be stopped", which means that no slowdown effects will work (includes stun, freeze, and slow). All normal minibosses may spawn. All spawned enemies and minibosses will also have a chrome skin flair applied, but lose it on their death animation. Summoned enemies will not have chrome skin, but the mutator is applied. Slowdown animations are still applied (e.g. frozen enemies are encased in ice) but have no effect.

Special Weapon - Terra Blade (light sword for Squire/Dryad/Barbarian). Although two different versions of this sword drop with only the Squire or Dryad listed as usable, all three sword using heroes can use either one. Up to two special weapons can drop in one victory chest.

Special Weapon MOD - Terra Wisp, "fire a wisp that deals XX-XX% Hero Damage. It pierces up to X-X enemies and fires once per a second." Chaos 1 values [17.7-38%, 2-5 enemies], Chaos 7 values [59.7-80%, 8-11 enemies]. The wisp is a short projectile that fires out at chest level horizontally.

Griblok's Horde

Map - Gates of Dragonfall (Dragonfall Town)

Playing Condition - this map has three ground lanes, two of which will spawn normal Chaos 1 enemy schedules. There are no air lanes. All normal minibosses may spawn. This incursion assigns one mutator to each lane from the common pool of mutators. Each wave one of the three lanes will be designated as the Griblok Horde lane, and will blink red on the schedule. This is assigned at random, and may change lanes each wave. Lane bosses can also spawn each wave on any lane at random. The Horde lane will consist of large numbers of three enemy types - Kobolds (skate version), mini versions of Quibly (high health version of Bomb Goblins with bright purple skin flair), and mini versions of Griblok (high health version of Goblins with bright purple skin flair added). The Horde comes in groups of tight packs with Kobolds in front, mini-Gribloks next, and followed by mini-Quiblys. Enemy types in a group typically number from 3-12 of each class, with about 15-20 total in each group. Groups are separated by small packs of 3 or so mini-Quiblys. The Horde lane will last longer than the other two lanes with larger numbers and spread out groups. On wave 5, the Horde lane will change to 39 Kobolds and 140 mini-Quiblys. Griblok may also spawn as a large miniboss on any red schedule lane, on any wave, and can spawn on more than one lane on a single wave. Wave 5 can have zero miniboss spawns.

Special Weapon - Lunar Portal (staff for Apprentice/Adept). Staff has 4 spread, 3 speed, and "diamondshot" which is in the shape of a tight square pattern turned 45 degrees.

Special Weapon MOD - Lunar Caller, "secondary attacks summon Lunar Portals that deal XX% Ability Power as magical damage per second for XX seconds. Up to X portals." Chaos 1 values [56-155%, 9.65-17.5s, 1-6 portals], Chaos 7 values [116-215%, 18.65-33.5s, 4-9 portals]. The portal is a stationary star with wide range that you place, it then fires a continuous beam from it, attacking a singular enemy until it dies, and each portal can only attack one separate enemy at a time.

Chaos 2 Incursions

Wyvern Enthusiast

Map - Forrest Crossroads (The Liferoot)

Playing Condition - this incursion is very similar to a Chaos 2 expedition of Forrest Crossroads, where the four ground lanes are the same but the air lanes have greatly increased numbers and a 3rd air lane is added on the north end of the map. This incursion assigns one mutator to each lane from the common pool of mutators. Air lanes will have up to three different types of enemies (Wyverns, Flying Kobolds, and Lightning Bugs) and number from 30-50 each lane as waves progress. On wave 4, one air lane will drop to only 12, and on wave 5 all three drop to only 12. On wave 5, three different Ogres with various armor will spawn as minibosses, each with a separate mutator. If you look at the schedules, you can see where and in what order they spawn, as the first type Ogre spawns first, and second type second, and third spawns last. The Ogre spawns are delayed to be spread out. No Ogres will come from the west spawn point. The only additional miniboss that spawns is Thorc, the large Cyborc. He can spawn on multiple waves, and more than one lane at a time. His spawn rate is low.

Special Weapon - North Pole (light polearm for the Monk/Initiate). It has 1 spread and 2 speed.

Special Weapon MOD - Pole Launcher, "Secondary Attacks fire additional North Poles that deal XXX-XXX% Hero Damage as Frost Damage, pierce 2 enemies and slows them by 40% for X-XX seconds". Chaos 2 values [?-?, ?-?], Chaos 7 values [303-390%, 8.1-11s]. This attack fires in an upwards arc path and has a short range. You must aim high or jump to increase its range to hit enemies further away. Attacks hit with Frost, so they have a chance to Chill the enemy on contact.

Forrest Poachers

Map - Liferoot Forrest (The Liferoot)

Playing Condition - this incursion is very similar to a Chaos 2 expedition of Liferoot Forrest, where the four ground lanes are the same but the air lanes have increased numbers and only a single enemy type. On wave 4, there are no air lanes. This incursion assigns one mutator to each lane from the common pool of mutators. 4 Poachers inhabit this map and spawn as minibosses, once per a wave, starting on wave 2. They can spawn on any lane at random. All 4 are enlarged versions of normal enemies with large health amounts and unique skin flairs. The lane they spawn on will have a red blinking schedule. They do not get separate mutators from the lane they spawn in. When they first spawn, their icon will appear as a purple question mark, until they pass the spawn point. The only additional miniboss that spawns is Thorc, the large Cyborc. He can spawn on multiple waves, and more than one lane at a time. His spawn rate is low.

Poacher Minibosses: Sammie the Trapper spawns on wave 2 as a Bomb Goblin whose attacks inflict Oiled status, Sach the Stalker spawns on wave 3 as a Javelin Thrower whose attacks inflict Poisoned status, Steiner the Hunter spawns on wave 4 as an Orc, and Sturgis the Falconer spawns on wave 5 as a Lady Orc.

Special Weapon - Tsunamic Chlorophyte (bow for Huntress). Has 5 spread, 2 speed, and "Chlorophyte Arrows" which is in the shape of a vertical straight line.

Special Weapon MOD - Chlorophyte Chip, "fires a column of Chlorophyte Arrows that deal XX% bonus magical earth damage and may reflect off of one surface." Chaos 2 values [14.4-26%], Chaos 7 values [34.4-46%]. All 5 arrows can uniquely reflect off of surfaces, and that does not include enemies.

Chaos 3 Incursions

Dawn of the Blood Moon

Map - Forrest Biome (The Liferoot)

Playing Condition - this is a Terraria crossover map, with a big red moon added in the night sky, making the color of the level mostly dark pink/purple, and torches can be found all around. All ground lanes are the same as Chaos 3 expedition. In addition, there are spawn points that are added that are not marked on the map that generate 3 types of Skeleton enemies. There are 7 in total, and there is no way to know how many enemies it produces or if any minibosses will spawn from one. There are no air lanes on wave 1. On wave 2 one of the two air lanes will randomly activate, and from wave 3 and on both will be active. All air enemies are Demon Eyes (mini eyeballs) that track and attack only the hero. They do not attack any type of tower or the crystal. Waves 1, 3, and 5 have infinite building timers, however waves 2 and 4 start automatically after 30 seconds unless you ready-up before then. Wave 5 is a Boss round and enemies will infinitely spawn until the Boss is defeated, which will then end the stage immediately. The Boss is Eye of Cthulhu (giant eyeball) that tracks and attacks the hero while spawning Demon Eyes as well. It spawns randomly from either air spawn point, and it can be seen on the schedule before the wave starts. No mutators are found on any lanes for this incursion.

Skeleton Spawn Points (7 total) - a map can be found below (pic coming soon). 3 spawn points are on the north end of map, in the front of each of the cottage doorways on the path that goes off to the east. One spawn point is just inside the lower southwest cave entrance (single enemy path), next to the crystal. One is found inside the cave on the second floor between the previous point and the triple spawn lane, next to the some treasure chests and a skeleton. The final two are midway down the triple spawn lane, next to a group of sunflowers on either side of the lane.

Minibosses/Special Weapon Drops - on waves 2-4, the only normal minibosses that spawn are Skeletons, and then on wave 5 one Geode Prime will also randomly spawn. Keep track of all the Skeletons, as they will regenerate on the beginning of the next wave where they died, and by wave 5 they can stack up. There is also a Orc miniboss named Treet (i.e. Halloween theme, as in Trick or "Treet") that may spawn randomly and has a unique zombie skin flair. In addition to these minibosses there is also 4 special hero skeleton minibosses, one for each of the 4 starting heroes (Monk/Huntress/Apprentice/Squire) at normal size, and each will have a unique purple skeleton flair. They spawn with only a purple question mark as their icon and are named "Skeleton X", where X is the name of the class (e.g. Skeleton Monk). They mostly only spawn from the north spawn point, and the 3 skeleton points by the cottages, although they sometimes spawn from the south as well. Multiples ones often spawn on each wave, from waves 2-4. These 4 skeleton minibosses are special because they each have a low probability of dropping a unique weapon. Each class only drops one weapon for their class, so only the Skeleton Squire drops the sword weapon. There are 4 special weapons, each with a unique skin, but no special MODs. MOD slot one will be empty and has no effect, even though it shows a MOD level, and slot two will have a random normal MOD. MOD slot 1 can be tinkered, and the level currently shown on it plays no part in that process. All shot styles are "spooky" flair.

Skeleton Miniboss Weapon Drops: Wailing Glaive polearm, Bow O'Lantern bow, Raven's Claw staff, and Iron Reaper sword.

Special Weapon - Celebration!!! (canister for EV2). It has 2 spread, 2 speed, and fires "Celebration!!!" shots.

Special Weapon MOD - Celebration!!!, "fires two homing projectiles that detonate in a festive explosion dealing 72% Hero Damage as magical damage over a small area." The values are fixed, so it does not matter what level the weapon is or what level the MOD is. The explosion flair is fireworks, and hits for a very limited AOE attack. The projectiles are two homing rockets that fire in separate horizontal arcs, making a oval pattern, with the size of the arc is based on how far away the target you are aiming at when you fire. If it misses, the rocket will spin around the target and attempt to hit it again, and eventually explode. Since the projectiles arc, there is a void spot directly in front of EV2 that it cannot hit at very close range, so this weapon is best used at any distance.

Kobold Bling King

Map - Little-Horn Valley (Dragonfall Town).

Playing Condition - this map is a gather and collect mission where you collect gold nuggets from around the stage and bring it to the Kobold King found in the center of the map. The map is dark, so the gold nuggets can be hard to see, but they do sparkle some. Once a nugget is given to the king at a lit up circle near his feet, a small brown gold bag will appear to represent that completed nugget. Each wave has a gold amount that must be collected to end the stage, and enemies will infinitely spawn. Each wave has a time limit that the gold must be collected and returned by or you will fail the incursion. Gold can be found in 12 or so hidden locations on the map, see the below map (pic coming soon), of which about 2-4 are generated at the beginning of the wave and a couple more nuggets will generate as the stage progresses. On wave 5, up to 7 hidden nuggets can spawn as the stage progresses. Gold is also dropped by special minibosses that constantly spawns called Golden Crystal Beasts (a large gold flair Witherbeast). Each of these minibosses will drop one gold nugget. You can only hold 1 gold nugget at a time, and must return it to the Kobold King within 20 seconds, or you will lose that nugget. If you switch heroes or die while you have a nugget, you will lose it. Once the required amount of nuggets has been given to the Kobold King, that wave will end. All dropped, held, and hidden gold nuggets will vanish at the end of each wave. Complete all 5 waves to win the incursion. All of the ground and air lanes will spawn normal Chaos 3 expedition enemies. This incursion assigns one mutator to each lane from the common pool of mutators. All normal minibosses can spawn, and will have a separate mutator, but will not drop any gold. Be careful not to place or aim defenses too close to a spawn point so that when the Golden Crystal Beasts drops the nugget, it falls outside of the spawn point and you can reach it.

Wave Requirements: Wave 1) 7 nuggets, 245 seconds; Waves 2-4) 9 nuggets, 270 seconds; Wave 5) 10 nuggets, 300 seconds.

Special Weapon - Bling King Bow, which shows up in inventory as "Bling-O-Midas" (bow for Huntress). Has 1 spread, 2.5 speed, and Single II type. Primary attacks are lava ball flair that burst on impact, but have no AOE effect and do not Ignite.

Special Weapon MOD - Bling Blast, "charged shots fire a stream burning enemies for XX% Hero Damage twice per second for X.XX seconds. The stream is XX degrees wide and XXXX units long." Chaos 3 values [45.5-60%, 6.61-8.22s, 40-50 degrees, 1465-1900 units], Chaos 7 values [65.5-80%, 8.83-10.44s, 53-63 degrees, 2065-2500 units]. Hold the charge button down until this fires, and keep the button pressed for it to continue firing the stream for the full time length. Let the button go and hold it again to fire another time. It fires out in a wide, continuous, horizontal fan pattern. This hits with Fire damage, so it will Ignite any Oiled enemies.

Chaos 4 Incursions

Spectral Assault

Map - Unholy Catacombs (Lost Dungeons).

Playing Condition - this stage is very similar to a Chaos 4 expedition of the same map, however a new enemy and stage mechanic involving Spectral Knights have been added. All air and ground lanes are the same as normal play. This incursion assigns two mutators to each lane from the common pool of mutators. All normal minibosses can spawn, and with separate mutators. Once each wave begins, at some point during the wave a Spectral Knight will spawn from any of the ground lanes. Spectral Knights are large, floating Squire-like ghosts that cannot be damaged by any weapons or stopped by any defense or barricade. They slowly move on the enemy path they spawn from directly towards the crystal, and do not stop until they get there. Once there, they attack the crystal doing 500 points of damage a second, which is relatively a small amount. They do not harm any defenses or heroes. Each Knight is colored Red, Green or Purple and when they spawn the game message will tell you what color they are, and the message text will also be in that color as well. The Knights are not shown on the mini-map, but are represented on the actual map by a skull and crossbones icon of the same color that they are. Keep this in mind as you cannot tell by looking at the map how close they are to the crystal.

To fight the Knights, you must use an environmental mechanism found on only this stage. Under the center of the map, there is a lower level in the shape of a horseshoe, that exits out at each of the 3 major spawn sections. On either side of each exit inside the horseshoe, you will find an altar with a sword, with 4 total altars. You can interact with the altar, which cause it to change color from red, to green, and then purple - always in that sequence. To vanquish a knight, you must set all four altars the same color as the knight you want to vanquish. Once all 4 are the same color, approach any of the 4 altars to receive a color debuff, as shown on the screen as an attack symbol in the color of the altar, and it will last 45 seconds. You should get it automatically when you set the 4th altar, but you can reset the 45 sec timer at any time by just approaching any of the 4 altars. Each knight floats in the air, but has an aura underneath it as a large colored circle. To vanquish the Knight, simply place your hero inside of that circle, or jump into the Knight, while you have a debuff that matches the same color. If successful, the Knight will vanish and a message will say "The Spectral Knight has been cleansed". You will lose the debuff once a Knight is vanquished, so if you have another Knight of the same color you also want to vanquish, you will need to approach one of the 4 altars again, and then approach that Knight. You can only carry one color debuff at a time, so if another Knight of a different color is also on the map, you must set all 4 altars to that color, get the debuff, and go inside its aura to vanquish it. The debuffs do not stack, and you will lose your current debuff if you switch heroes or die after acquiring it.

The amount of Knights that spawn, when they spawn, and what color they spawn as are all random, but spawn rates do increase in frequency as you advance to each next wave. At the end of each wave, all 4 altars reset back to no color. You can interact with altars on the building phase, so it can be helpful to set one color before the wave starts. Each wave ends when the total amount of enemies are destroyed, and there is no requirement to cleanse any knights. All Knights on the map will vanish when the wave ends. Slow spawning enemies, slow moving minibosses, or stuck units can make the match continue on, so ensure to clean-up all units quickly to bring the wave to an end. It can be faster to clean up units, rather than adjusting 4 altars and debuffing a knight, so plan a strategy to finish each wave accordingly. The Knights do not damage the crystal very much, but several Knights can multiply the effect, so keep an eye on them. A Knight may spawn after the map is over, but it is of no consequence if it does.

Special Weapon - Molten Tome (tome for the Abyss Lord).

Special Weapon MOD - Volcanic Command, "Secondary Attack summons meteors that deal XXX% Ability Power as fire damage. Charge to summon a lava fissure dealing XXX% Ability Power as fire damage in a path and burning for XX% Ability Power per second for 5 seconds." Chaos 4 values [965-1400%, 323-410%, 91-120%], Chaos 7 values [1415-1850%, 413-500%, 121-150%]. This does not have any effect on Primary attacks. Meteors fire out at chest level, one at a time, as a small projectile, and they do not cause Ignite. You can rapid fire the meteors by quickly pressing the secondary attack button. The fissure fires out in a straight vertical line along the ground. The fissure will Ignite enemies, even if no Oiled status is present.

The Demon's Lair

Map - Molten Citadel (Lost Dungeons).

Playing Condition - this stage is very similar to a Chaos 4 expedition of the same map, however a new Boss, enemy, and stage mechanic have been added. All air and ground lanes are the same as normal play. This incursion assigns two mutators to each lane from the common pool of mutators. All normal minibosses can spawn, and with separate mutators. Gnash the Flame Lance (large Berserker miniboss) will often spawn at the beginning of any wave. This is a Boss stage fight against the Demon Lord. Each wave will spawn infinite enemies until a third of his health has been taken away. There are 3 waves, and the stage is won when the Demon Lord is defeated. At the start of the round, you cannot attack the Demon Lord, but he will attack you. He will Ignite you causing fire damage over time, and this attack hits all heroes and is unavoidable. Having a way to heal your hero is highly recommended on this stage. The Demon Lord will also repeatedly throw lava balls at or near each hero, that have a slight homing quality to them, and do splash damage when they land. This attack will hurt your towers and the crystal, so be mindful of where you are standing, and be prepared to dodge. The lava balls he throws at you can also snap you out of a jump animation, and can cause you to fall to your death if you are over a lava pool when you are hit by one.

In order to damage the Demon Lord, you must stun him. Once each wave begins, at some point during the wave a Lava Guardian will spawn from any of the ground lanes at random. A white exclamation mark will be shown above the area he will spawn from, but will vanish once he actually spawns, and no icon showing their location will exist after that. These units will spawn repeatedly over time, but are spaced out in frequency. Upon defeating a Lava Guardian, it will drop a lava ball on the ground. This is a Hero debuff that you can acquire by having your hero touch it. Once you touch a lava ball, it will vanish and you will see a lava ball debuff icon on your screen, and the hero will have a red glow to them. There is no timer on this debuff, and you can only carry one lava ball debuff at a time. More than one lava ball can be on the ground at one time. If you swap heroes once you have the debuff or die, you will lose it and need to get another lava ball. The lava balls the Demon Lord throws do not end up as debuffs on the ground in any way. Once you have the debuff, return to the area where your hero spawned when the map started, also where you spawn when your hero dies. In that room, there is a hallway on the side that leads up some stairs to a long rampart that oversees most of the map. On that rampart you will notice a catapult. If you approach the catapult while you have the lava ball debuff, the debuff will be removed from you and a lava ball will then become loaded into the catapult for use. When the debuff is removed, all existing lava balls on the map are also removed at that time. Before you use the loaded catapult, jump onto it. You cannot stand on the actual lava ball, but you can stand on the catapult where the ball is, and the graphics will just overlap. You can then activate the catapult, which will then also launch you with it. The lava ball will stun the Demon Lord. When you activate the catapult, a lightning debuff symbol will appear on the screen for 20 seconds, representing the total time the Demon Lord is stunned for, however, he must first fall down in range to be hit, and you cannot do any damage to him until his health bar shows up on the top of the screen. The actual time you have to damage him once he is in range is about 13 seconds. This is why you want to stand on the catapult, as it will launch you at the Demon Lord, and put you quickly within range. When you get launched, you can move your hero in mid-air. Try aiming to land to the left of the Demon lord, near the Western double spawn point, so that you do not land on any lava patches and die. The Demon Lord will always fall over in the same location, and he can be damaged by any defenses you build that are within range. Once the debuff timer is up, the Demon Lord will rise up again, and you will need to get another lava ball and stun him again. This process will continue until you lower his health to by one third. Once you lower his health by that much, that wave will end. When the wave ends, all lava balls and debuffs will be removed. On wave 2, repeat the exact same process until you lower his health by another third, to end that wave. On wave 3, you must then get his health to zero to win the wave and the stage.

Special Weapon - Bone Glove (fist for the Lavamancer).

Special Weapon MOD - Fist of Bones, "Attacks fire piercing bones that deal XX.X% Hero Damage as Magical Damage. Bones can hit for XX times and reflect off of surfaces." Chaos 4 values [?-?%, ?-? times], Chaos 7 values [42.45-55.5%, 10-13 times]. Lavamancer's primary melee attack pattern still plays out, along with the fire attack, but while doing his combo, these cross shaped bones will shoot out, one at a time, in a linear horizontal path. The bones will pierce quite a lot of enemies and reflect off of most surfaces. Some surfaces are dead zones though, and will stop the bones from reflecting. This attack pierces, but that does not include Chaos enemy's defenses such as Geode or Vanguard shields.

Chaos 5 Incursions

Altar of the Athame

Map - Crumbled Bulwark (Lost Dungeons).

Playing Condition - this stage is similar to a Chaos 5 expedition of the same map, however a new miniboss, enemies, and stage mechanic have been added. This incursion uses no mutators. All ground lanes are the same as normal play, but with higher Dark Assassin spawn rates, along with periodic Dark Prophet spawns. All normal air lane enemies have been eliminated and have been replaced by Altar Assassins, who are initially invulnerable. Normal minibosses will also spawn in lanes with the Goblin Siege Roller and Skarnash the Terrible (large version of a Dark Assassin) being the most common ones. In the West center of the map there is a raised rectangular area with a coffin surrounded by 4 pillars. This is the Altar and the pillars are each hiding a Dark Realm Statue miniboss. The Altar will be motionless and does not do anything at first. You must summon a Dark Realm Statue miniboss by collecting 4 books dropped by defeating Dark Prophets. After a Dark Realm Statue miniboss has been summoned and defeated, the the Altar Assassins can then be damaged. You must defeat all of the Altar Assassins on the map to end that wave. The stage has 4 waves, and each wave goes on infinitely until all Altar Assassins on that wave have been defeated.

On Wave 1, 3 Altar Assassins will spawn. On Wave 2, 4 Altar Assassins will spawn. On Wave 3, 6 Altar Assassins will spawn. On Wave 4, 8 Altar Assassins will spawn.

As play commences on the first wave, the ground spawns will all commence with their schedules and the air lanes will produce a set number of Altar Assassins each wave. Altar Assassins are a version of the Dark Assassin with a unique flair that are invulnerable to any attacks. Altar Assassins want to hunt down and attack the hero, and will follow them the entire wave. They do not latch onto the hero, like Dark Assassins do. After they spawn, they follow their air lane to the crystal, and then seek out the hero the rest of the wave. If you come near one that just spawned, it will begin following you right away. They do not attack the crystal, so there is no need to try and stop them. They do not intentionally attack any defenses, however they will sometimes possibly attack a barricade on their path, so all you need to do is come near one and it will then chase you the rest of that wave. When attacking you, Altar Assassins can damage you along with what you are next to, so be mindful about standing on the crystal or next to a defense. They are covered in a dark skin flair while they are invulnerable, and can be seen on the minimap as an air enemy icon. While you cannot damage then, you can still attack them and all crowd control effects will work. Slow, Stun, and Freeze can be applied and will have an effect. Defenses do not target these enemies, but Altar Assassins will be affected by any attack they are in the path of. This means that Tower based defenses are hard to hit them with, but Aura and AOE based ones are much easier to do so with. They move slow, and their attacks also push your hero slightly and will move them. You cannot pass under or jump through them. That can make getting around them a tad tricky at times, especially in large numbers that all follow you constantly throughout the wave. Be careful not to stand in a corner or next to a ledge when they find and attack you, as they can push you over the side or you can get trapped in a corner. To lead them away, just go stand anywhere else and wait for them to follow you.

There are also stage mechanics that have been added to this incursion to assist you. On the East end of the map in the long horseshoe shaped hallway that the heroes first spawn in, there is a table with a blue flask on it. You can interact with this flask to receive a blue potion debuff and gain invulnerability for 20 seconds. Dark Assassins can still attach to you, and you can still not jump through Altar Assassins, but you will take no damage from any enemy attacks. If you switch heroes or fall down a hole on the map, you will lose the debuff. Also found in the hallway on the North and South ends are a single bell in both locations. Interact with the bell or attack it to ring it. Ringing the bell will stun all Altar Assassins on the stage for a few seconds. You can ring each bell once every 20 seconds.

To stop and ultimately kill a Altar Assassin, you must first Defeat one of the Dark Realm Statue miniboss at the Altar to remove their invulnerability. As play commences on the first wave, the ground spawns will also intermittently produce Dark Prophets (an enlarged version of a Warboar, with light grey skin flair) on random lanes, but usually a different one each time cycling through the 4 ground lanes. A white exclamation mark will be shown above the area each will spawn from, but will vanish once it actually spawns, and no icon showing their location will exist after that apart from a regular enemy on the minimap. Once defeated, the Dark Prophets will drop a purple book on the ground. Be careful not to place or aim defenses too close to a spawn point so that when the Dark Prophets drops the book, it falls outside of the spawn point and you can reach it. When you collect the book by touching it, it will disappear and then show as a light grey debuff icon on your screen, and your hero will glow purple. Once you have a book debuff, give it to the altar by touching the coffin anywhere with your hero. The book debuff has no timer, but if you switch heroes or die, it will be lost. You can only hold one book debuff at a time. You must collect and bring 4 books to the altar to activate the summoning Ritual. There is no time limit for getting all 4 books, and they will remain there until all are collected. The altar will display a message after each book is given successfully, and you can also see them placed on each corner of the coffin as you progress. The system will announce when the Ritual can be used to summon the Dark Realm Statue, which will be immediately after the 4th book is placed. Once the 4th book is placed, all other books currently on the map or in the possession of a hero will disappear, although more may spawn after this event as Dark Prophets continue to spawn. To activate the Ritual, you must interact with the coffin. When you do this, you will call forward a single Dark Realm Statue miniboss that is located in place of one of the 4 pillars, with the NE, NW, SW, SE pillars always activating in that order, with only one being summoned on each of the 4 waves. The Dark Realm Statue does not move from its location, but will attack you. The ritual only lasts 10 seconds. When the ritual is activated, the entire altar area is covered in a purple glow. If the Dark Realm Statue is not defeated during the ritual, it will vanish and any heroes inside the altar area will be killed instantly, no matter your defense or health level. You will then need to collect 4 more books to summon it once again. If you summon it again, the Dark Realm Statue will have the same remaining health as when it disappeared. When the Dark Realm Statue has been defeated, all of the Altar Assassins on the stage will lose their dark skin flair and they can then finally be damaged and killed. Each wave is over once all Altar Assassins on the map have been defeated. Defeated Dark Realm Statue pillars will be shown as broken in half afterwards. Once wave 1 is over, repeat the whole process over again on each remaining wave. The incursion is won when all Altar Assassins on wave 4 have been defeated.

Special Weapon - Shadowflame (dagger for the Mystic). Has 1 spread and 2 speed, and can be Medium or Light type.

Special Weapon MOD - Shadowflame Knife, "Secondary Attucks fire a Shadowflame Knife dealing XX% Hero Damage as Magical Damage. Daggers bounce up to X times." Chaos 5 values [25-61%, 3-? times], Chaos 7 values [31-67%, 3-8 times]. Primary attacks are unaffected. The dagger is a slow projectile that shoots one at a time, straight forward. It is slow, and with a quick Hero Speed you can outrun it. When it hits an enemy, it will then hit the next random enemy automatically that is within close proximity. The daggers do not reflect off of surfaces or pierce.

Power Surge

Map - Dragonfall Bazaar (Dragonfall Town)

Playing Condition - the schedules on this map will produce enemies similar to a Chaos 5 expedition of the same map. No mutators are applied to any lanes. All normal minibosses may spawn from any lane. On this map all defenses are built with zero build time, with increased attack and speed stats, but disappear from the map after 35 seconds. The timer starts from when the defense is placed, no matter what phase it is, so it is recommend to ready-up the stage as quickly as you can on each build phase. Dryad Trees do not ever disappear, so that all Dryad defenses can be used. This is the only defense that does not disappear. Abyss Lord defenses still have a 4 second lag from placement until activation. EV2 Reflect Beams fire constantly at a fixed rate, no matter what size the beam is, and the node only travels along the bottom of the beam. If you sell a defense before it disappears, you get the mana back. If the defense disappears due to the timer, you will not get any mana from it. You can still upgrade defenses if you choose to.

Special Weapon - Glaive of the Storms (polearm for the Monk/Initiate). Has 1-5 spread and 2-4 speed, and can be Heavy or Medium type.

Special Weapon MOD - Storm Rider, "Ride a cloud that changes your attacks to lightning dealing XXX% Ability Power as Storm Damage for XX seconds. Enemies under get drenched and are hit for XXX% of Ability Power as Storm Damage every 2 seconds." Chaos 5 values [132-190%, 15-15s, 264-?%], Chaos 7 values [172-230%, 15-15s, 344-460%]. This MOD deals both drench and Storm Attack, so it has the ability to stun enemies. It has no Secondary attack, but instead gives the hero the ability of flight. On the ground, the primary attack is unaffected by the MOD. When the cloud is activated, the hero will raise up a small amount vertically, even after a double jump, which allows the hero to reach some hard to get to locations on maps. Your Primary attack while on the cloud changes to a stream of lightning that fires constantly to where you aim it. Your secondary attack button while on the cloud ends your flight right away.