Dark Citadel

Spoilers

This page may contain spoilers regarding Heroes of Hammerwatch 2. Continue on if you have already seen these bosses or do not mind spoilers.

General Overview

The Dark Citadel is the campaign setting for Heroes of Hammerwatch 2. There are currently 6 acts to the campaign, each with its own boss. Throughout the different levels there are various NPCs to encounter which will unlock buildings for your town or more playable classes.

Act 1, the Forest and the Dark Caves

Levels:

• Forest – Level 1 (Area Level 2)
  • Dark Citadel – Entrance (Area Level 10)
• Forest – Level 2 (Area Level 3)
• Dark Caves – Level 1 (Area Level 4)
• Dark Caves – Level 2 (Area Level 5)
• Dark Caves – Totem Pole (Area Level 6)

The Forest and Dark Caves primarily have beast type enemies.

The Blacksmith is found in Forest – Level 1 and unlocks the Blacksmith building for your town.

The Dark Citadel Entrance is located in Forest – Level 1. It is only accessible if your current character has found the Architect or, if the Architect has already been found by a previous character, your current character has defeated the second boss, Shadow Face. Taking this path allows you to skip ahead to later levels.

Otherwise, you will proceed to Forest – Level 2. This level contains a shortcut to Forest – Level 3 guarded by a horde of Goblins that bypasses the Dark Caves entirely, but it is only accessible if your current character has defeated the first boss, the Totem Pole.

The Dark Caves introduces environmental hazards: falling rocks. The locations of these falling rocks can be spotted by large smooth stones on the ground.

The Rogue can be found in Dark Caves – Level 2 and unlocks Rogue as a playable class. (The Rogue might be able to be found on any of the Dark Caves levels – needs confirmation.)

Boss: Totem Pole

The first boss is the Totem Pole. The Totem Pole has four phases, one for each of the Totems: fire, ice, earth, and air. The order of the Totems is random, and each one has attacks based on its element. Goblins will continually spawn from the surrounding caves to join the fight.

Defeating the Totem Pole unlocks both the Combo skill and the shortcut to travel directly from Forest – Level 2 to Forest – Level 3 for your current character.

The Rogue can also be found in the treasure room on this level and unlocks Rogue as a playable class.

Dark Citadel – Entrance

This level is accessed by using the Dark Citadel Entrance located in Forest – Level 1.

The Sorcerer is found on this level and unlocks Sorcerer as a playable class.

The entrance hall to the Dark Citadel has several candles that can be lit located around a switch. The number of candles that are lit before activating the switch determines the difficulty of the ensuing fight with numerous Shades, and also increases the rewards for completion. The base reward is 9 trinkets, with an additional 3 trinkets and 1 skill upgrade for each candle that was lit.

A portal appears after the fight is finished that will take you directly to one of the later levels. If 0, 1, or 2 candles were lit, the portal will take you to Dungeon – Level 1. If your current character has defeated the Harbingers of Dread there will be 4 total candles available. If 3 or 4 candles were lit, the portal will take you to Barracks – Level 1.

Act 2, the Crypt

Levels:

• Forest – Level 3 (Area Level 7)
• Temple – Level 1 (Area Level 8)
• Crypt – Level 1 (Area Level 9)
• Crypt – Level 2 (Area Level 10)
• Crypt – Shadow Face (Area Level 11)

After leaving the Dark Caves you arrive back in the Forest to find another way into the Dark Citadel: through the Temple. On your way there you will start to come across many cultists in addition to the usual Goblins and beasts of the Forest.

The Temple has mainly cultists as enemies. The Warlock is found at the end of this level and unlocks Warlock as a playable class.

The Crypt primarily contains Undead.

The Architect is found in Crypt – Level 2 and unlocks the Architect building for your town. He will also open the entrance to the Dark Citadel in Forest – Level 1 for characters that have defeated the second boss, Shadow Face. (The character that rescues the Architect actually does not need to defeat Shadow Face, and can die or abandon the run on this level, then proceed through the Dark Citadel Entrance. This allows that character to never actually have to fight Shadow Face.)

Boss: Shadow Face

Shadow Face is the second boss, an entity summoned and sustained by the cultists. You do not actually attack Shadow Face himself, but instead must kill the cultists that are channeling power to him on magic circles throughout the room. During the fight Shadow Face will assail you with powerful attacks, and more and more cultists will constantly rush in, either to attack you or to replace previously slain cultists on the channeling circles. After defeating several rounds of the channeling cultists, Shadow Face will be destroyed.

Act 3, the Dungeon

Levels:

• Dungeon – Level 1 (Area Level 12)
• Dungeon – Level 2 (Area Level 13)
• Dungeon – Arista (Area Level 14)

The Dungeon has primarily Undead enemies, but it is also covered with environmental hazards: patches of plant growth. These patches can attack you with thorn spikes coming up from the ground, and they can also spawn sickle-like roots that will attack and slow you if you get close. These roots can be destroyed with one hit of any attack or spell, but might require multiple hits on higher difficulty levels. For example, the roots require 200 damage before disappearing on NG+1.

Boss: Arista

The third boss is Arista, a large plant monster. Arista attacks with large circles of thorn spikes, and constantly summons Mandrakes. In later phases, many of the sickle-like roots will spawn, and spores will float around the room poisoning everything in a large area.

Act 4, the Barracks

Levels:

• Barracks – Level 1 (Area Level 15)
• Barracks – Level 2 (Area Level 16)
• Barracks – Harbingers of Dread (Area Level 17)

Boss: Harbingers of Dread

The fourth boss fight, The Harbingers of Dread, consists of two skeletal opponents that resemble playable classes. The Heavy Harbinger has high armor and resembles a Warrior with several of his attacks. The Caster Harbinger has high resistances and resembles a Sorcerer with several of his attacks.

Defeating the Harbingers of Dread unlocks the 3rd and 4th candles in the Dark Citadel Entrance for your current character, allowing you to teleport directly to Barracks – Level 1 in future runs.

Act 5, the Courts

Levels:

• Courts – Level 1 (Area Level 18)
• Courts – Level 2 (Area Level 19)
• Courts – Serpents of Demise (Area Level 20)

Boss: Serpents of Demise

The fifth boss fight is the Serpents of Demise, three skeletal serpents located in a room full of bones. In NG+1 and higher, there are four skeletal serpents. The Serpents slither around the room, occasionally blocking you with their bodies. Some of their attacks include a spirit breath that forms into ghost enemies, a laser beam breath, and trails of flames.

Act 6, the Dark Halls

Levels:

• Dark Halls – Level 1 (Area Level 21)
• Dark Halls – Avatar (Area Level 22)

The Dark Halls has only a single non-boss level which consists of one long and winding primary hallway, with smaller hallways branching off from it. There are walls of shadowy clouds located along the primary hall that your character can move through, but that block vision and all projectiles. The main enemy type encountered in this zone are glowing balls of light that fire an enormous number of projectiles around them, and split into smaller enemies when they die.

Be alert for magical traps that can spawn throughout the halls. These traps are invisible circles that activate when they are stepped on. After a short delay they explode, dealing damage and applying stacks of Shadow Curse on NG+. Additionally, each time a trap is triggered, it spawns another one on top of itself that will be armed after a few seconds. Use the Safe Corridors buff from the Architect to remove these traps.

Boss: Avatar

The sixth and final boss of the Dark Citadel is the Avatar. The Avatar has three phases. In the first phase, his attacks include

• A large sweeping slash with a lightning sword that inflicts disarmed
• A dash attack
• A spear throw attack
• A point blank area of effect attack that he channels around himself
• An attack that summons a large magical hand to grasp an area, dealing damage and leaving a damaging zone behind

In the second phase, the Avatar shifts into Shadow Face, attacking you with magical projectiles and constantly summoning Shades.

In the third phase, the Avatar returns to his original form with new and upgraded attacks

• The dash attack is now a triple-dash that leaves behind trails of flames
• The spear throw attack now leaves behind a trail of flames
• He gains a new attack that launches several fiery spheres that spiral outward from his position, leaving behind trails of flames

Defeating the Avatar unlocks NG+ for your current character.

NG+ Area Level Scaling

Starting in NG+1, the area level increases by one level every 2 floors, starting at area level 18 on NG+1. Each subsequent NG raises each area level by 5.

Area Level Chart

Floor	NG+0	NG+1	NG+2	NG+3
Forest - Level 1	2	18	23	28
Dark Citadel - Entrance	10	22	27	32
Forest - Level 2	3	18	23	28
Dark Caves - Level 1	4	19	24	29
Dark Caves - Level 2	5	19	24	29
Dark Caves - Totem Pole	6	20	25	30
Forest - Level 3	7	20	25	30
Temple - Level 1	8	21	26	31
Crypt - Level 1	9	21	26	31
Crypt - Level 2	10	22	27	32
Crypt - Shadow Face	11	22	27	32
Dungeon - Level 1	12	23	28	33
Dungeon - Level 2	13	23	28	33
Dungeon - Arista	14	24	29	34
Barracks - Level 1	15	24	29	34
Barracks - Level 2	16	25	30	35
Barracks - Harbingers of Dread	17	25	30	35
Courts - Level 1	18	26	31	36
Courts - Level 2	19	26	31	36
Courts - Serpents of Demise	20	27	32	37
Dark Halls - Level 1	21	27	32	37
Dark Halls - Avatar	22	28	33	38