Dilemma Diabolique Strategy Guide

Dilemma Diabolique Strategy Guide

By Chris "Baryonyx" Behrens

Hello, everyone! Chris "Baryonyx" Behrens here to introduce the newest Incarnate Trial, Dilemma Diabolique! This trial, coming in Issue 22: Death Incarnate, picks up after the conclusion of the main storyline in Dark Astoria. It pits you against Diabolique, a powerful Praetorian who fled to Primal Earth after the events of First Ward and who threatens to become a walking avatar of death.

Though Mot, one of the ancient gods of the Banished Pantheon, is successfully contained, a cleanup operation undertaken by the Freedom Phalanx and the Vindicators has gone awry, and both groups have been captured. Diabolique plans to use their great power to fuel a ritual that will allow her to absorb the power of Mot, becoming an unstoppable force of destruction and death.

Under the guidance of the Dream Doctor, the founder of the Midnight Squad, you are sent to put an end to this ritual by any means necessary, even if that means descending into the Maw of Mot and fighting Diabolique in the depths where she works her spell.

Dilemma Diabolique Incarnate Trial
Personnel Needed: League of 8-16 characters
Character Level: 50
Trial Level Shift: Bosses (+3), Enemies (+1 to +2)
Alpha Slot: Can be unlocked here
Incarnate Slot Experience: Earn Judgment, Interface, Lore, and Destiny slot experience (if Alpha Slot already unlocked)

Stage 1: Breaking Down the Barrier
When you arrive at the entrance of the remnants of Moth Cemetery, you notice an ominous red shell protecting the plateau where Mot's head has breached the surface. If you attempt to cross this barrier, you are teleported away from the plateau.

The only way through the barrier is to destroy the four Repulsive Spines serving as foci for the magic powering the shell. Diabolique's minions and members of the Banished Pantheon heavily guard the Spines. As long as these guards surround a Spine, it regenerates quickly. Once you destroy all four Spines, the barrier falls.

Stage 2: Rescue
You find seven of the captured members of the Freedom Phalanx and the Vindicators scattered around the plateau.

Each of these seven is held prisoner by a powerful magic channeled by Soulsiphon Spines. To free a prisoner, you must first rid a Soulsiphon Spine of its guards. Once all the guards are defeated, you can interact with the Soulsiphon Spine, casting a counterspell that frees the prisoner. Because of the mental damage imposed by the Spine, however, a prisoner is unable to control his or her actions. You must battle each of them to break each of Diabolique's control.

You may encounter the following prisoners on the plateau:

• Freedom Phalanx: Positron, Numina, Manticore, Sister Psyche, Citadel, Synapse, as well as the independent Back Alley Brawler
• Vindicators: Aurora Borealis, Ms. Liberty, Infernal, Luminary, Swan, Valkyrie, Mynx

Before you can recover all seven prisoners, three of them are absorbed into Mot because Diabolique's ritual has progressed for some time. At this point, Diabolique sends a new pet to confront you.

Stage 3: The Sentinel
After its defeat in Dark Astoria, the Sentinel, the emissary and guardian of Mot, was left a mindless husk. It was a perfect opportunity for its possession by Diabolique. Now, it is her guardian. She sends it from the depths within Mot to prevent you from going any further.

The Sentinel has a variety of powers that channel the frigid, dark energy of death. It also has gained abilities derived from the prisoners recently absorbed into Mot. These abilities buff it and grant it special powers that trigger randomly throughout the battle. One of these prisoners is even trapped within the flesh of the Sentinel itself, powering it directly. The abilities the Sentinel acquires include:

• Back Alley Brawler or Mynx will boost the Sentinel's Damage and Recharge Rate. The bonus power they grant is a Targeted AoE Fear.
• Manticore or Aurora Borealis will boost the Sentinel's Range and Chance to Hit. The bonus power they grant is a Targeted AoE Weaken, which lowers Healing, Recharge, Range and Chance to Hit.
• Positron or Valkyrie will boost the Sentinel's Defense and Regeneration. The bonus power they grant is a Targeted AoE Damage Debuff.
• Numina or Swan will boost the Sentinel's Chance to Hit and Range. The bonus power they grant is a PBAoE Damage Field that will heal the Sentinel as long as he remains inside it.
• Sister Psyche or Luminary will boost the Sentinel's Regeneration and Resistance. The bonus power they grant is a Targeted AoE Damage Pulse.
• Synapse or Ms. Liberty will boost the Sentinel's Recharge Rate and Damage. The bonus power they grant is a Targeted AoE Endurance Drain.
• Citadel or Infernal will boost the Sentinel's Resistance and Defense. The bonus power they grant is a Targeted AoE Hold.

When the Sentinel reaches half health, the trapped prisoner falls from its body, depriving it of the bonuses the prisoner provided. Should you survive the fight with the Sentinel and the creatures of Mot who fight alongside it, the way into the Maw of Mot is now open to you.

Stage 4: The Descent
Once you descend into Mot's stomach, Diabolique cannot be found. A surprised Dream Doctor tells you you need to hang tough and survive while he pinpoints Diabolique's location. This is complicated by three factors:

• You suffer continuous damage from the stomach of Mot's digestive acids
• A new wave of enemies assaults you every 30 seconds.
• You can only return from defeat by using Powers or Inspirations.

If you and your League manage to survive this for 5 minutes, Dream Doctor determines Diabolique's location. She is performing her ritual in a shadow world that mirrors this one. He hastily prepares a spell to safely shift you to the shadow world.

Stage 5: Diabolique
Just as Dream Doctor completes his spell, Mot unleashes a corrosive burst that kills you outright. This fate is not true death, though. Dream Doctor shields you from that by shifting you to the shadow world. Here you are restored to full fighting form and ready to confront Diabolique.

This is not the Diabolique you once knew. With a trapped Dominatrix, one of Tyrant's Praetors, at the center of her ritual, Diabolique has already grown greatly in power. Death and its power are inextricably linked to her. You contend with this throughout the battle. During the battle:

• She is accompanied by the two remaining prisoners absorbed earlier. These prisoners increase her power as they did for the Sentinel, but do not grant her additional powers.
• For each defeat that you, your Leaguemates, or the prisoners suffer in this realm, Diabolique's power increases. This increase includes bonuses to her Resistances, her Defense, her Regeneration, and her Chance to Hit.
• If you or your Leaguemates suffer a cumulative 20 defeats at any point during the final battle, Diabolique can complete the ritual outright. Your League is annihilated, and you fail in this Incarnate Trial.
• Throughout the battle, Diabolique creates Lifegiving Essences and then consumes them. Each consumed Essence heals her. While destroying them is a priority to avoid her healing, doing so also has a side benefit: Each Lifegiving Essence defeated raises any defeated allies and provides a heal over time effect to all living characters.

If you defeat Diabolique and put an end to her ritual, you successfully stop her from becoming Death Incarnate. Primal and Praetorian Earth are both freed from her threat, allowing you and others to focus again on the battle against Tyrant.