Illusory Castle
| Illusory Castle | |
|---|---|
| Boss | The Glass Golem |
| Floors | 13 |
| Level Range | 20 to 40 |
| Item Level Range | 2 to 4 |
| Size | 70x70 |
| Zone Effect | Lost in a weird place
Effect per stack: |
Zone Information
The Illusory Castle can be accessed by reading the Forbidden Tome: "The Illusory Castle". Upon entering this zone, the player is granted the quest The Impossible Castle.
There are a total of 13 areas in this zone, each with a randomly assigned name. These areas are connected together to form three "paths" of varying length that originate from the starting area: two side paths and a main path with the boss at the end. The last area on the main path will be blocked, until the player has explored the two side paths and touched a book of binding at the end of each path. In each area with a book of binding, there will also be a shortcut leading back to one area in the main path. The Rod of Recall cannot be used to exit this zone, but there are exits to reality in both the starting and final areas.
When the player first enters the zone, they will start with 1 stack of the zone debuff. Traveling to a new area will increment the debuff by one stack. Backtracking to an old area will not change this debuff stack. The player may leave the zone entirely in order to reset the debuff counter. It can be helpful to do so in between trips exploring different paths to limit the maximum number of debuffs received. There is no penalty for leaving this zone: the player is free to leave and return at any time and their exploration progress will be preserved.
When the players finally reaches the end of the main path, they will have to defeat the Glass Golem in battle. When the golem is below 35% of its max life, it will repeatedly try to rush back to the glass throne in the center of the boss room to receive a full heal. If the golem is lured outside the boss room and loses line of sight to the throne, it will just teleport directly back to the throne instead. In order to prevent the golem from healing, one must lure it behind the glass walls in the boss room, so that the golem will bump into these walls as it tries to rush toward the throne. If the golem bumps into a glass wall, it will be Stunned for 3 turns. Alternatively, the player can place a Wormhole on top of the throne, which will send the golem away when it tries to rush there. If the player defeats the Glass Golem without ever letting it use the throne to heal, they will earn the Dethroned achievement.
Defeating the Glass Golem will complete the quest The Impossible Castle, and unlock the 3 locked chests in the boss room. These each contain an artifact (either a random artifact or fixed artifact, 50% chance of either). Unlike golden chests found in other zones, these chests cannot contain enemies.
Defeating the Glass Golem as an Alchemist will unlock the birth option for future Alchemists to start with their own glass golem. Player glass golems will have access to the Glass Splinters talent.
Zone Specific Artifacts
- Helm of Knowledge: can be used to sense the presence of unique objects
Trivia
- There is an unused zone with the same name included in the base game.
- The names that can be randomly chosen for levels in this zone are references to the names of spacecraft from the Culture series by Iain M. Banks.
