So we've got a new scenario, where we're defending Stonehenge against all kinds of nasties!
This info is all from closed beta, so they may have made more changes before it goes live.
How to find it?
No surprise really, it's the activity finder. It's got it's own subcategory of Scenarios, so you don't have to worry about trying to RNG it!
The activity finder will initially give you unlocked wave options based on your IP. However, you can unlock more waves by completing odd numbered waves which you trigger yourself - so if you make it to Wave 11, you'll be able to go straight back in , even if your IP isn't technically high enough.
So we're defending rocks?
There are no survivors in this scen, instead we have a Hagstone in the middle of the henge. You can see the hp bar of the Hagstone up at the top of your screen. Rather than directly attacking the hagstone, mobs decrease the hp purely via proximity. If they're inside the inner ring of the henge, your hagstone's losing hp. There is a red light effect which covers the inner ring if there is an enemy present - it's a handy thing to watch for if you're dealing with spawns far away from each other.
Each wave will have you fight a load of mobs who will start off by running for your hagstone. You will need to pick them up and drag them away. At the end of the wave, you will get a boss mob to fight. There is no final timer on the boss fight, it's kill or be killed!
If you do get killed, you should res with 100% hp (thanks to TS-13 😆), and you'll need to haul ass back to the hagstone to pick up all the mobs again.
What about loot?
When you complete a wave and kill the boss, you will then have the choice to start the next wave, or to take the loot from the wave you have completed. As long as you complete your first wave, you will get loot. Failing an additional wave later (with your hagstone dying) will give you the loot chest from the last wave you completed. Completing multiple waves gives better loot - so clearing waves 1-5 and failing on 6 will give better loot than just clearing wave 5.
In testing, the OD loot chests contained weapon/tali distillates, 2 glyph dists and 1 signet dist, plus agents rarely, as per usual.
Where do mobs come from?
Portals appear around the outside of the henge - they are purple swirly things, which can be spotted at a distance. Depending on which wave you are on, there will be different numbers of portals (higher waves = more portals). The mobs will spawn from one or more open portals, so it's good to know where they are, because they aren't always together or nearby. Portals close and new ones open, so you'll never be 100% sure where the next spawn is coming from!
OD has a LOT more types of mobs than Seek and Preserve (S&P) scens. You will meet mob types you've met in zones before but never in scens. There is even the potential to get a full wave of filth mobs (yay).
Amongst the spawns, there are a couple of new mutators (the skull mobs with buffs on them).
Mutators:
Acidic - Leaves pools of acid on the ground
Avenger - Becomes stronger when ally dies
Behemoth - Health dramatically increased. Movement speed dramatically reduced. Immune to crowd control effects
Charged - Lightning bounces between linked allies
Hellish - Eruptions occur nearby every couple of seconds
Immortal Spirit - Movement speed increased. On death, spirit jumps to a nearby ally
Inspiring - Applies Inspired to nearby allies. Inspired: Reduces damage taken and heals over time
Strange Attractor - Chaotic forces may snare or attract enemies. Prefers to target players
Random annoyances
Just like in S&P scens, there are random events (like snipers, possession etc). There are 5 types to deal with in OD - Mortars, Commanders, Volatile Husks, Hunters and Swarms.
All types will spawn from open portals, and there is an audio cue to let you know something nasty just turned up. They will show up on your minimap with a skull icon, but for extra difficulty, the higher the wave number, that longer the delay between the spawn and the icon showing. You will still get the audio cue, but you'll have to be quick on your feet to work out where they are standing (in the dark).
Mortars are mobs who stand outside the stone circles and throw ground target AoE at you. Once you engage them in combat, they will switch to ranged attacks and start following you. You can ignore them till after the boss fight, but will still need to kill them to complete the wave. The AoE dodging can get tricky though when you're running around trying to pick up mobs, so if you have the opportunity to take them out, do so!
Commanders are often a pain. When spawned, they move parallel to the portals, instead of towards the hagstone. They will then start summoning packs of 4 mobs. If you aren't quick, these packs will really quickly mount up and take down your hagstone with numbers. Once engaged in combat they will stop spawning mobs, but you'll probably want to drag them back to the henge to kill, just to avoid missing other spawns.
Volatile Husks are sometimes easy and sometimes hard. Two will spawn (normally), and will move towards the hagstone. They have zombie models with a green circle effect around their feet. They don't attack as normal mobs do, instead they will explode leaving a big puddle of nastiness on the ground that will cause damage and apply exposed. The size of the puddle they leave is linked to how long they've been on the field - longer = bigger aoe. If you catch them early enough, they're little trouble, but if they get to the hagstone, they can leave a big aoe that will make life tricky.
Hunters are Revenants who won't go for the hagstone, they want you. They've got normal revenant abilities, and will flicker away at about 50% hp and then take ages to come back. Basically they try to gank you, lovely little blighters!
Swarms, shockingly, have a LOT of mobs coming through. They don't have much hp in comparison, but you'll have a big volume of mobs to contend with. Unless you have some serious defensive skills (or are good at kiting/running away), they will eat you pretty fast!
So don't go near the middle then, right?
Just for kicks, instead of mobs dropping power ups when they die, instead their little powers are sucked through the ether to the hagstone. These spawn the old buffs that we're used to from S&P, as well as a few new ones!
Buffs
Powerup: Speed: Increases movement speed by 50%
Powerup: Damage: Increases damage done by 100%.
Powerup: Defence: Reduces damage taken by 75%.
Powerup: Behemoth: Immune to crowd control effects. Maximum Health increased by 50%.
Powerup: Enthuse: Increases your jump height 4 meters. Grants a 100% resistance to movement impairing effects, and 15% critical strike.
Powerup: Leech: Heal for 50% of all damage dealt.
Powerup Recovery: Heals for 5% maximum health every second.
Win conditions
Kill everything in a wave without your hagstone dying. As soon as the hagstone goes down, the mobs all despawn and the loot chest for the last completed wave will spawn.
Every couple of waves, you'll get a useable item which will restore 10% of your hagstone's hp. It's unique, just like turrets, med kits and bear arms, so sadly we can't build up a stash, but as it's very easy for mobs to make it to the middle before you pick them up, you may find them really useful if you're trying to do lots of waves for extra rewards.
If you complete the wave, you can choose to continue. Now the fun part here is that we've been told there isn't actually a cap on how high waves can go. Ever wanted to find out what kind of stuff your legendary lvl 70s are made for? This is your chance!
