Trial of Spheres - going Solo!

Hey everyone,
 
After my recent lack of solo success with Hexfin, I felt I needed to redeem myself somewhat. So when the Trial of the Spheres appeared on my timeline, I subconsciously decided that this battle I would do alone.

I have to say of all the dungeons, this one is pretty good. There are a few 'tests' along the way, and you do have to put a little thought into them, and concentrate on the messages - as they tell you what you need to know! Once you have worked out how to align the moons to open the paths to each of the mini battles, you can literally blast your way to collecting the Lunar chests and the Shields within. Completing four of these will take you to the first of the bigger battles.

At the start I had no idea what I was letting myself in for, and a couple of times I gave up on the Astraeus battle. I'm sure quite a few of you have been there, when the 3 minions appear just one time too many and the battle has been going for an hour, and you really just don't seem to be getting where. I changed my deck around a few times before I found I had something that worked.
 The minions are life, as you can see, so you really don't want them to hang around too long and giving life back to Astraeus. Beware, this is another battle where you can fall foul of the Tower Shield too

.

You'll find it is easy to get rid of the minions, with that 500 health, but you need to be smart with what you have left in your deck when they are gone. You'll get a few rounds when the dastardly Tower shield is missing and that's when you need to get in your best strikes. I found the best thing was to load up on power pips, have a Bone Dragon and Blades ready, and then strike. Timed well the first strike will hit with no shield and the extra damage for those 3 rounds makes the whole battle a lot easier.

Also, because I loaded up on Power Pips, it meant I could continue to play the big spells while the Bone Dragon worked it's magic. By the time the Tower Shield appeared and the minions were back, Astraeus had gone from 7,230 to 2,450 health. And then I did a similar thing again. I did encounter a 'slight annoyance' in that the last strike - 'my kill' strike - didn't quite work. When the deck was back for me to choose again I found he had 1 health. ONE!!! Seriously ? 

One more spell and I was off to the Lunar Sanctum. Another series of tests to complete before the portal to the battle opens. These are a bit different, but once again the words tell you what you need to know.

Onto the next battle, and this time it is against Ptolemos. Only one minion with him, so you may be excused for believing this one to be easier. Word of warning.... it is not. For me it was a long battle. The first time I tried I literally ran out of cards and had to flee. I had right-clicked my 'Reshuffle' card right at the start, you see I never dreamt the battle would last as long as it did. Another prolific use of Tower Shields, but not the normal ones... no that would be far too easy! Ptolemos uses the 90% shields, rendering any spell useless when it is in play.

So this is another one where you need to be careful of timing, and the real trick is to use Blades. If you use a Blade he finds you 'Charming' and all the shields disappear. My tactic for this battle, was not to rush. Pass or Shield up when there was nothing useful in my deck. Power up any spells with Gargantuan or Monstrous, get Vengeance going, then Blade, then hit. It worked a dream! But it still took a while. 

And I ran through my whole deck before I was eventually able to defeat him. As you can see, the Reshuffle is sitting there just in case. As it was the last few cards I had were awesome, so it was over, and onto the next one!

The Solar Sanctum.

I liked the look and feel of this place. You know Morgrim once said to me that Celestia was one of the most visually stunning parts of the whole Spiral.

And when I first saw the blue areas I thought WOW! But there were so many of then, the blue started to wear a bit thin, lost it's shine so to speak. The Solar Sanctum takes it right back up there. It does help that my favourite colour is yellow, so I am a little biased here :)
Again, there is a puzzle to solve before the portal opens to allow you to face Mithraya. It is not too difficult, take care when reading the words - they tell you what to do, in a round a bout way. You collect the sun chests in this one.

Mithraya is a bit different to the other bosses. I have heard others say the she is a favourite of theirs, and I can see why. Ablaze with flames, she does have a certain reverence about her.

I started this battle in completely the wrong way. I had been leaving one mana bottle in case I needed to fill up, and it just so happens that I did. Phew!, right? With just over 1700 health left, it was a far cry from my usual 3100. Unfortunately I was more concerned with checking my deck that I completely forgot. As soon as I entered the battle I realised my mistake - I sincerely hoped that it would not be my downfall!

And just like the other battles, this one is all about timing. When you see the phrase "The Cards Align! Now's Your Chance!" - you need to be ready. It may take you a couple of rounds to figure that out, but once you have that strategy this battle if fairly quick. It is by far the easiest of the 3 battles.
Try and take time to admire the graphics here. They are pretty awesome!


And it wasn't long until it was all over. Victory was mine, and with it a shiny new badge!

So I believe I have redeemed myself. Third time was a charm for me, although it took around 2 hours to complete end-to-end.  And with it came another bonus.... I am now level 70!

Cyrus Drake wants to have a chat, some sort of challenge. Looking forward to that, but for now I will take a certain amount of pride in the completion of this battle solo!

Until Next Time,
Tabitha.