[Apr 24, 2019] 🔵 Trials of Shadows Teams – Share Yours & Discuss!

[zephyr1]

It’s time for Trials of Shadows!

This is the 9th of the Trials in the 3rd Cycle!

NOTE: The Trials officially start at 7:00:00 AM (07:00 GMT).

If you do not see the Class Trial in Quests as of 7:00:00 AM (07:00 GMT), force quitting and reopening the app or restarting your device will usually work.

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Overview

Classes	Bosses	Monsters
Rogues & Sorcerers	Scarlett, Quintus, Skittleskull, and Domitia	Red/Fire & Purple/Dark

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Final Boss HP

Version 20: Each Boss in Stage 3 has 3907 HP

History: Increased Difficulty of the Final Stage

Click for Archive of Version 19 vs. Version 20 Final Stage Difficulty

According to the Version 20 Release Notes, the Final Stage of Class Trials was made harder:

@EmpiresPuzzles

Final stages of Class Quests are now harder than before.

We’ve now been through a full cycle of the Trials since then, so we’ve seen those changes in action, particularly in Final Boss HP, where it’s most directly observable.

It’s also possible, however, that other adjustments were made to Defense or Attack, or to the monsters prior to the bosses.

Trials	v19 HP	v20 HP	Increase
Strength	3907	4080	173
Fortitude	4195	4195	0
Mysticism	4051	4396	345
Serenity	3907	3907	0
Survival	3619	3907	288
Piety	4195	4195	0
Decimation	4051	4339	288
Nature	3763	4051	288
Shadows	3763	3907	144
Justice	3763	4051	288

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Carpet Bombing/Item Nuking

For many players who can get through the monsters to the Final Bosses, but struggle to beat the Final Bosses, carpet bombing/item nuking the Bosses is a viable strategy.

Click for Guide to Carpet Bombing/Item Nuking for Trials of Shadows

If you plan on carpet bombing/item nuking, focus on surviving until the Bosses, and don’t worry too much about counteracting them, particularly if you’re going for a full nuke them from orbit approach.
Use your item slots for your attack items, and any remaining slots for health.

Battle Item Damage Reference

Battle Item	Forge Level	Direct Damage	Max DoT	Max Total
Dragon Attack	16	400	132 (requires playing 6 turns between each attack)	532
Bomb	12	300	0	300
Axe	8	200	0	200
Arrow	4	100	0	100

Carpet Bombing/Item Nuking Strategies

Strategy	Direct Damage	Additional Damage Required for Stage 3 Bosses
5x + 5x + 3x	4100	0
5x + 5x + 5x	4000	0
5x + 5x	3500	407
5x + 5x	3000	907
5x +	2500	1407
5x	2000	1407
5x + 5x + 5x	3000	907
5x + 5x	2500	1407
5x + 5x	2000	1907
5x	1500	2407
5x + 5x	1500	2407
5x	1000	2907
5x	500	3407

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Additional Recommended Items

Click for Additional Recommended Items

Stage(s)	Item	Explanation
All	Antidotes	Scarlett in Stages 1 and 3 and Skittleskull in Stages 2 and 3 both cause an attack debuff, which can make Antidotes useful, particularly if you don’t have Rogue Khiona to overwrite them.
All	Health Pots	Particularly if you lack Sabina for Trials of Shadows, healing pots are always smart to bring along.
All	Time Stops	Time Stops can be an effective, albeit resource-expensive, way of preventing Bosses from firing, and providing you more opportunities to manage the board to charge specials and do damage. Be mindful that Dragon Bone can be difficult to come by to make this a sustainable approach.
All	Banners	Banners are always a good option for increasing defense and/or attack.
All	Revive or Miracle Scrolls	Revive or Miracle Scrolls can be an effective option if your team is on the weaker side, and the little extra boost will get your through. Be mindful that Midnight Root, Orichalcum Nugget, and Meteor Fragments can be difficult to come by to make this a sustainable approach.

A helpful reminder from @Gryphonknight:

@Gryphonknight

People, use your forge now, so you are not rushing this Sunday ( Gryphonknight scurries off to follow his own advice ).

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Guides

@Mariamne’s excellent overview of the Trials of Shadows

Click for Mariamne's Guide

@Mariamne

If you need it, @Mariamne’s full guide to the Trials and Hero Classes is here.

@madmarv’s Video Tutorial Using Classic 4* Heroes If Possible

Click for madmarv's Video Tutorial

@madmarv has been doing a video tutorial series for each Trial, attempting to use only classic 4* heroes if possible.

NOTE: This particular tutorial is from Version 19, before the difficulty of the Final Bosses was increased a bit.

@madmarv may be making or have made but not posted a new one:

@madmarv

Oops, I forgot that I’m still on v19 so there’s no increase in difficulty when I started the last level of the quest. I don’t know when I’ll get v20 so I decided to finish it rather than flee and waste 20 WE flags.

I’ll record the Saturday quest and see if the difficulty is that much higher.

@madmarv

Trials of Shadows

The embedded video jumps straight to the boss wave of the last level. The bosses are Skittleskull, Domitia & Scarlett. This quest is also fairly easy if you’ve got at least one Sabina to heal your team. The qualified 4-star classic hero bench is Scarlett, Kelile, Skittleskull and Sabina. The strategy to take down the bosses of the last level is to color stack red to take down Skittleskull first. Then ghost tiles down the left side of the screen and charge up your rogues and work your way across Domitia and then onto Scarlett.

Video Link: https://youtu.be/Rat1_rizGW8?t=701

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Polls

How did you do last time on Trials of Shadows?

• Last time I beat all 3 stages
• Last time I beat just the first 2 stages
• Last time I beat just the first stage
• Last time I wasn’t playing yet, or was unable to beat any stages
• Last time…I’m not sure, they’re all a blur

How did you do this time on Trials of Shadows?

• This time I beat all 3 stages
• This time I beat just the first 2 stages
• This time I beat just the first stage
• This time I couldn’t beat any of the stages

Did you need to use a lot of items this time on Trials of Shadows?

(hat tip to @JAWS_3D for this question)

• Yeah, I nuked the bosses from space. Ripley would approve.
• I used some items to finish off the bosses, but it wasn’t the full arsenal
• I used support items like mana, banners, healing, and maybe a battle item or two, but nothing too crazy
• I just used some minor items, like healing, mana, or antidotes
• I didn’t use any items

Overall, how do you feel about Trials of Shadows?

(hat tip to @Rapisu for inspiring this question)

• I love all the Trials equally
• It’s definitely my FAVORITE of the Trials
• I like it more than many of the Trials
• It’s about average for me
• I dislike it more than many of the Trials
• It’s definitely my LEAST FAVORITE of the Trials
• I hate all of the Trials, give me my Emblems and let me get back to farming

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Share Your Team & Results!

Post your team in a comment down below, and how you did!

• Did your team change notably since last time?

• Did changes to your team make the Trials any easier or harder?

• What items did you use, if any?

• Sabina is the only true healer available for this Trial, since Rumpelstiltskin only heals by chance. Do you have Sabina? Did you bring her along?

• What are you doing with your shiny new Emblems?

• If you beat Stage 3, who’s eating the 3* Trainer Hero?

• Anything else interesting to share?

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You may also be interested in these older threads from previous times Trials of Shadows occurred:

• [Mar 20, 2019] 🔵 Trials of Shadows Teams – Share Yours & Discuss!
• [Feb 13, 2019] Trials of Shadows Teams – Share Yours & Discuss!

[Rapisu]

I forget trials way to often, despite @zephyr1’s nice reminder. Always spend my energy before they start.
Gonna do the last two stages later, but I’m not really worried. Scarlett and Kelie are maxed now and this time I remembered antidotes, in case the banners run out.

[Starlynk]

I don’t have Sabina… Brought Chochin, Scarlett, Skittleskull and Gill-Ra… Don’t really have anyone worthwhile maxed for the 5th spot, so brought Shaarkot (2*)… Just got a 2nd Skittles from my TC13 but not sure I want to level him/her

Anyway, first stage was easy, even though I got dealt a bad board. Might give 2nd stage a shot when I have the WE, but I’m going to need a bit of luck with the board and/or use a bunch of items probably.

[HarryDeB]

Have to use this bunch.
Changes from last time: Domita (2/35 exit) and in comes our sweet kitty cat.
As I do not have received 1 copy of Sabina in over a year of playing up till now, I will need some healing pots for sure.

I don’t think I will ever up Skittle or Kelile further if I have any other hero’s I can level up.

First two levels where easy, now wait a bit for energy for the last level and see how badly I can fail this one

Edit: made it!
Used 2 dragon attacks but I think I could have managed with 1, maybe.
Also used 8 healing pots and 3 antidote pots.

I can’t compare if it was harder as I changed my team of hero’s.
And Alice had a good trainerssnack

[wineybrit]

You should be able to make it through the 2nd stage with that team. My first time I had;

Team Power 2193
Scarlett 3/60
Kelile 2/37
Dawa 3/11
Shaarkot 3/40
Layla 3/40

Small healing, Small mana, Axes, Arrows

Made it through easily

[Starlynk]

That’s good to know! Thanks for sharing your experience

[wineybrit]

I just reached lvl 30 a couple of hours ago. This will be my 1st time trying the 3rd level of any of the trails. My team now is,

Team Power 2814
Scarlett 4/70+6
Kelile 3/60
Dawa 3/50
Jahangir 3/50+13
Graymane 3/50

Planning to take small healing, axes, bombs and dragons. Just focus on making it to the boss level and nuke em to death. Fingers crossed.

[zephyr1]

That’s a good strategy, and as long as you can make it to the Bosses, nuking them is very workable.

[Starlynk]

Good luck on the 3rd level! And thanks again for your advice. I cleared stage 2 without using any items, so easy enough Only level 28 though, so stage 3 will have to wait for next time

[Radar1]

Only Ameonna survive to boss fight(I making terrible plays) but she was ghost almost all time and she have 816 atk now.

My alt beat first:

[Olmor]

Inari did it this time and I love my talented Danza as long as he doesn’t freeze.

Tried to use as little items as possible and my team did well with Sabinas healing.

Watch this epic battle time-lapsed to the half while listening to cool psytrance.

Empires and Puzzles The Olmor Experience Ep. 54 - Trials of Shadow 2019 04 24 dctd to Inari & Danza

Frida was hot for the blue trainer.

[yelnats_24]

@zephyr1

Did you notice any change in difficulty from last time?

I have not upgraded my app in the last trials of shadow. At that time I only use 2398 TP team and I need to chip away 3600 HP with carpet bombing. This time I have 2890 TP team (almost 500 more) but I still need carpet bombing to chip away 3600 HP, so I think it is harder.

@zephyr1

Did your team change notably since last time?

Old team:

@yelnats_24

New team (I change the Axe Attacks with Arrow Attacks in the last stage):

@zephyr1

What items did you use, if any?

Used items: 10 Healing Potions, 5 Arrow Attacks, 5 Bomb Attacks, 4 Dragon Attacks.

@zephyr1

Sabina is the only true healer available for this Trial, since Rumpelstiltskin only heals by chance. Do you have Sabina? Did you bring her along?

Yes.

@zephyr1

What are you doing with your shiny new Emblems?

Sorcerer emblems for Sabina when she is maxed, I will save Rogue emblems for Scarlett or Jackal if I can get them.

@zephyr1

If you beat Stage 3, who’s eating the 3* Trainer Hero?

Jack O’Hare when his special skill reach 8/8.

[KnifeWonder]

Only one word for this Trials of Shadows: ‘‘UGLY’’
From the boards to the fact that this game doesnt want to give me Sabina. With her I would have flown through this trial without looking back.

Wasnt even a bad team apart from the 2nd Domitia at 2/60. But the board was really bad, I know, I have 3 dark heroes, but c’mon, my board was always ‘‘casually’’ full of yellow and blue tiles, I wonder why
I dislike using too many items to finish a trial, not because I’m cheap, its because I want to do it on my own and not bombing my way through, especially with a pretty good team. Used 2 dragons, 3 bombs, 4 axes and all the possible potions [but most of the potions were used in the mob levels]. Its incredible tho how Ameonna survived the best, with her hide and seek special, which was pretty useless here since i had very limited availability of dark tiles [i gave her the best troops tho].

[JAWS_3D]

I appreciate that this challenge didn’t feel as ridiculously hard as some of the other challenges, so it’s officially one of my favorites now lol. I ended up using some healing pots and 3 dragon attacks but I think I could’ve used less dragons in hindsight and just risked losing a couple heroes. I used the same team as last time (below), I have Skittles at 3-60 now though and hope to have him at 4-70 for the next challenge (to replace Kelile):

[DaveCozy]

I’ve beaten stages 1 and 2 so far. Waiting on world energy to recharge before doing the last stage.

Now that Sabina is somewhat trained, I feel much more comfortable in this trail.

Last time I barely beat it, Scarlett got very lucky with evade activating several times leaving her as the only one alive. I promptly used a miracle scroll last time… hoping I don’t need it this time.

[MD-DC]

This is not my favorite since my Rogues and Sorcerors are weak. Hopefully I’ll get blades to ascend Kelile (or pull a Scarlett… cough), and more trap tools for Quintus (yes I’m that hard on Sorcerors).

Last time, Sabina’s emblem level unknown:

This time I swapped out Ameonna for the cat since he’s somewhat more durable. Still brought the bombs since I have zero hope of clearing the board with the meager team I have:

Didn’t go quite as bad as I thought, mostly because neither Scarlett nor Domitia procced their dodges, and cat moved Skittle to the center which made Kestrel slightly more effective. Still used 4 axes (cleared a bat the stage before to save a board gem which didn’t cascade like I’d hoped), 4 bombs, and one Dragon.

Trainer went to Frida.

[Noble_Weasel]

My team this time:

• Sabina+7
• Danzaburo+6
• Kelile 3^60
• Kelile 3^54
• Skittleskull 4^70

This differs little from last time. Sabina and Danzaburo probably have a couple more talents. Skittleskull may not have been fully maxed last time, and my second Kelile replaced a Jahangir 3^50.

All I can say about this run through is y’all quit hatin’ on my boy, Danza! He was like, “This thread says the bosses are Skittleskull, Scarlett, and Domitia, but I’m the only ‘boss’ in this fight!” He started the boss wave by throwing swords on his first four specials! Then followed that up with bottle on his next four. It was a thing of beauty. Two fast mana Keliles kept the bosses burning, and Sabina generally kept folks from dying (assisted by some horrible AI decisions about who to hit with specials, some misses from blindness, and all 20 of my small healing potions). Skittleskull was… well, Skittleskull. She was the only one of my heroes to die. I only used a single bomb, and that was because a special was about to fire, I was out of healing potions, and if the AI made a smart targeting decision (spoiler alert: it didn’t) I needed to soften the blow a bit. Feeling really good about this run.

Unfortunately, both Sabina and Danza are at talent nodes that require lots of emblems, so I just had to put those in storage for now. Sonya continued her climb toward 4^70 courtesy of the blue trainer hero.

[KLinMayhem]

Khiona surrounded by 2 jackals, sabina and scarlett.

Needed items in final boss tho.

[Leonidas1]

I beat it with this team and no items. I did have to continue once. It’s my least favorite because that Evade is annoying! Scarlett dodged 9 attacks before I finished her off!