Illusion Castle brings two new dungeons for avid players to explore and enjoy: Illusion Castle Underworld and Crazy Steamer. For those who are curious about these two new challenges, please, read on. If you prefer discovering the new dungeons for yourself then please close this blog before scrolling any further. I will of course try my best to make sure that there is some mystery left, but there will be screenshots, hints, random information, and the like in the next part. You have been warned.
Of course, if you haven't yet seen the official gameplay trailer for the update yet head over to YouTube right now to go and watch it.
Crazy Steamer
The new DX dungeon and the first real successor to the Panic Cave that we received with a previous update. Just like the Panic Cave, Steamer Crazy is also a solo, timed dungeon run with three possible difficulty levels, and dying means the dungeon ends. You cannot use an odd circle to resurrect yourself which does seem to be the direction that the developers want to take with the DX-style dungeons: Quick, hard dungeons that will force you to stay awake, and you cannot afford to make mistakes.
The entrance to the dungeon is set halfway through the wastelands of Fort Ruina, in the area with the old trains and railways. Once inside you are transported to the back of a moving train, and it looks really cool to see the railway flashing past while you fight on the narrow train itself. I say this with every new dungeon, but the developers and designers get better with every update, and they keep on trying new things, such as a dungeon set on a moving train in this case.
My own, albeit minor, complaint is that there are not that many new mobs around. The developers borrowed and improved some of the existing ‘metallic’ mobs from Fort Ruina and Pontus Ferrum, but given the location and nature of the dungeon they do not feel out of place. Progress through the train is not quite as linear as it first appears to be, which I also enjoyed, and what is great about Crazy Steamer is that it has two chests with treasure, not just one. I am sure many of you will agree with me on that point. The drops also improve with the harder dungeons, even though the easy version can drop some rather rare pieces of equipment. Before anyone asks, yes, you will still receive character binding, and bind-on-equip, weapons and armour.
Overall the dungeon feels slower than the Panic Cave, and excludes the wild rush that characterises the older DX. It also appears to be a bit easier, although that is always hard to judge on the test server, and overall I enjoy this one more than the Panic Cave. I am curious to see how it will be received on Monday, but I am prepared to say I think most people will enjoy it quite a lot. The only thing I wish they would add is a title for the DX dungeons as well, but perhaps we will see that with a future update.
That circle animation means trouble
A rather fiery encounter
Illusion Castle Underworld
This is the big one. The first and most obvious part of this dungeon is the freeview camera, which has only been used for the Forbidden Island dungeon before. Unlike the Forbidden Island however, Illusion Castle is located underground, in a vast maze of caverns and walkways. It is also rather longer than most of the current dungeons, with a dungeon time of two hours. Once again you can see the developers trying new things, and I think it really works in this dungeon.
The dungeon is meant to feel like a cavern, and in my opinion this feeling comes across really well. Stalactites and stalagmites appear everywhere, and occasionally you come across places where the ceiling of the cave has collapsed, allowing light to intrude from the outside. Other areas have you moving across narrow walkways, or past deep chasms with strange lights shining in the depths. I think I can back up my claims better with some pictures.
The Illusion part of Illusion Castle is there for some very good reasons, and everything in there is not what it appears to be at first glance. There are one or two sections in particular that will prove an interesting challenge to get past. I think that in some way the dungeon reminds me of a mix between the Tower of the Dead b2f, and the Forgotten Temple B1f, with of course the wonderful free camera from the Forbidden Island used as well.
There are also some hidden quests to discover, and extra bosses hiding in the deepest part of the cavern, if you can find them of course. You will also see a very interesting use of the new looting rules in action, and I am not referring to the possible Lycanus Weapons now.
The last screenshot with the feel of the dungeon
The dungeon ends with a very interesting promise, which makes for a fairly clear indication of what is to come in the future. With that in mind I leave you with this screenshot, showing something from the very last part of Illusion Castle.
Promises of things to come?
There is a title for completing this dungeon - you become a ‘Distorted Soul Saviour’ when finishing Illusion Castle. The second rank of the title gives 1% resistance to all skill amp, and the third gives 2% - small bonuses as with almost every dungeon title.
Credits: Cabal EU
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