Overall this DLC goes out on a pretty good note. This map was decently challenging throughout the entire process. It took a fair amount of work to figure out just the right build for sure, but even once that was nailed down executing on it still requires pretty good play as well. The Malik fight was fun as well as shocking the first time you encounter it. Never before in a Kingdom Rush game have we had a mechanic that actually permanently destroys not just towers, but entire build points. The first time it happens you instantly start panicking and calculating in your head if you think you have enough DPS to take him down before he destroys everything.
That's actually what drove the adjustments I made in figuring out the build. Initially I went all-in with Spectral Mausoleums on all the build points in the middle of the arena. However, adding a Melting Furnace to increase the DPS of the nearby towers, plus adding a Shadow Archer so that Malik would get hit with a Shadow Mark as soon as the fight started, were critical changes that greatly upped my chance of success.
But you want to know what the hardest part of this map is? The freaking eagles. Something is bugged with this map for certain, because I had several restarts due to an eagle slipping through because my Bone Flingers or Tesla Coils simply refused to target it. No other enemies had this problem, just the eagles. It was an intermittent problem for sure, but still, nothing is worse than getting 10 minutes into a recording only to have it fail because your Bone Flingers simply watch an eagle fly past them without attacking.
Impressions
Grades here are largely a reflection of how quickly heroes could call the next wave, with pretty much only the 'A' tier heroes able to insta-call every wave. Overall the grades aren't that bad. As I said above you do have to play well, but getting the build right is the larger part of mastering this map.
Margosa deserves a special callout for this map. While her overall performance was definitely 'B' tier, she absolutely slaughtered Malik in record time. Her self-heal in Beast Form can actually out-heal his damage, and while he's in melee he can't use his other abilities - like destroying towers. If it weren't for the fact that they finally fixed her so that Beast Form can expire while she's engaging an enemy she could have soloed him. It was a nice redemption for her considering this DLC has been brutal on her grades.
Several other melee heroes had good boss performances as well, like Jigou and Grosh. Oddly enough it's the dragons who had some of the worst times versus Malik simply because he priority-targets heroes, so they kept dying over and over. Dianyun was the one exception, since he can't be targeted while he's moving but can still attack, so I just flew him overhead constantly.
I do want to note that while I was able to insta-call every wave with Jun'pai, I still gave him a 'B'. Insta-calling is impressive, but overall his performance lacked the kind of buttery smoothness we look for in 'A'-tier performances.
Final Grades
- Veruk - B
- Asra - B
- Oloch - C
- Margosa - B
- Mortemis - B
- Tramin - B
- Jigou - B
- Beresad - A
- Doom Tank SG-11 - A
- Jun'pai - B
- Eiskalt - A
- Murglun - A
- Dianyun - A
- Jack O'Lantern - A
- Grosh - B
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