Dungeoneering – The Occult Floors

As the depths of Daemonheim reach ever closer to the strange power at their end, its magic has begun to affect the inhabitants who stalk its halls. Those humans abandoned on the floors above are the lucky ones, as the ones driven further down by their master have...changed, and have been joined by the magically gifted and the undead.

Members who venture through the twelve occult floors will have to face these tainted foes, mostly in the form of six new boss monsters. One boss that requires some skill to defeat is the Grave Creeper, who hides in a series of tombs – if you don’t quickly bless the graves he taints, the room can become engulfed in flame...and you with it. Then, as mentioned in this month’s Behind the Scenes, there’s Yk’Lagor the Thunderous, so named because he’s a talkative guy (voice acting supplied by the developers). Heed his warnings or be the focus of a melee pummelling, but don’t stray too far away else his magic attack can quickly take out your whole group!

Before you get to face these new bosses, you’ll likely come across one of nine new challenge rooms. These are not all exclusive to the occult floors and will tax both members and free-players alike. Withstand the pain of deadly herbs (slaughtercress, papreaper and parslay came from player suggestions in the Aggressive Herbs – Name Ideas! forum thread), build bridges over bottomless pits, and perform last rites on a tormented spirit.

Traversing through the occult floors will allow you to increase your maximum prestige up to 47, with which you should be earning anywhere up to about 40% more XP than if your maximum prestige were 35 (depending upon your dungeon setup and how well you do). In turn, you’ll earn more Dungeoneering tokens – just the thing for buying some of the five new rewards. Free players can learn a technique to become more efficient at smithing and charge special boxes with spells to cast. Members can enjoy such delights as herbicide (an automatic herb burner) and Rigour, a new prayer for rangers, among other things.