Changes

<u>Playing Condition</u> - this stage is very 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 All normal air lane enemies have been eliminated and have been replaced by Altar Assassins, who are initially invulnerable.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|Goblin Siege Roller]] and Skarnash the Terrible (large version of a Dark Assassin) being the most common ones. In the center West 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. Minibosses will also spawn in lanes with You must summon a Dark Realm Statue miniboss by collecting books dropped by Dark Prophets. After a Dark Realm Statue miniboss has been summoned and defeated, the [[Goblin_Siege_Roller|Goblin Siege Roller]] and Skarnash the Terrible (large version Altar Assassins can then be damaged. You must defeat all of a Dark Assassin) being the most common onesAltar Assassins on the stage to end that wave. The stage has 4 waves, and each wave goes on infinitely until all Altar Assassins have been defeated.

As play commences on the first wave, the ground spawns will all commence with their schedules. The and the air lanes will produce a set number of Altar Assassins each wave. Altar Assassins are a version of the Dark Assassin that is invulnerable to any attacks. They do not latch onto the hero, and instead have a unique flair. After they spawn, they follow their air lane to the crystal, and then slowly hunt the hero down. If you come near one, it will aggro the hero, and begin following you and not go to the crystal. They do not attack the crystal, so their there is no need to try and stop them on their path. They do not intentionally attack any defenses, however they will sometimes aggro and possibly attack a barricade on their path, so all you need to do is come near one and it will then aggro chase you the rest of that wave. When attacking you, they 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 only attack when near very close to you though, and sometimes you can put an object or defense between you and them and they will get stay stuck behind it, until you move. They are covered in a dark skin flair while they are invulnerable, and can be seen on the minimap as a air enemy icon. While you cannot damage then, you can still attack then, and all elemental and crowd control effects can be applied. While you can Ignite and Poison them, it will do not damage. However, Slow, Stun, and Freeze will can be applied and will have an effect. Defenses do not target these enemies, but they 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. Altar Assassins want to hunt down and attack the hero, and will follow you the entire wave. They move slow, and their attacks also push your hero slightly and will move them. You cannot pass by , under or jump through them and since they are a low hovering flying unit, that which can make getting around them a tad tricky at times, especially in large numbers that all hone in on your position 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 by themin a corner. To lead them away, just go stand anywhere else and wait for them to follow you. The stage has 4 waves, and each wave is over when all Altar Assassins have been defeated. To stop and ultimately kill a Altar Assassins, you must first Defeat one of the Dark Realm Statue miniboss at the Altar.

There are also stage mechanics that have been added to this incursion to assist you. On the west 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 heroesor fall down a hole on the map, you will lose the debuff. Also found in the hallway on the north North and south 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 separate bell once every 20 seconds each.

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 [[Warboars|Warboar]], with light grey skin flair) on random lanes, but usually a different one each time cycling through the 4 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 ground enemy dot 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, go to the altar by simply 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 next step - the Ritual. There is no time limit for getting all 4 books, and they will remain there until all 4 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 can take place, which will be immediately after the 4th book is placed. Once the 4th book is placed, all other books currently on the ground or in the possession of a hero will disappear, although more may spawn after this event as more Dark Prophets 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. Once 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 can then finally be damaged and killed. Each wave is over once all Altar Assassins have been defeated. Defeated Dark Realm Statue pillars will be shown as broken in half afterwards. Once wave 1 is over, on Wave two you will face repeat the next Dark Realm Statue miniboss from the next pillarwhole process over again, and so on until all 4 have been defeated waves. The stage is won when all Altar Assassins on all wave 4 wavesare defeated.