Tales of Rebellion

> *You've started a rebellion, haven't you? Well, I've got a plan.*
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> *You help me break in... you reap some Draconite... and I'll forge a little something for you!*
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> *Come, warrior! Let's get rid of these bloody tyrants!*
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While the Warmongers have claimed Heathmoor, there are still warriors who wish to fight back. Taking the lead in this rebellion, Goemon the Aramusha teams up with a mysterious blacksmith to reclaim territory that the Horkos have taken over, all in order to deliver a message to the Warmongers.

Tales of Rebellion is a set of PvE events that will have the player partake in the overthrow of the Horkos by raiding Horkos territory and defeating their Leaders. Each part of the event will last for three weeks, featuring three distinct PvE gamemodes: escorting Ilma the blacksmith, to pillaging Draconite, to confronting the corrupted Horkos Leader. Time to take back these fortresses from the Horkos's control!

## Index

Below is an index of each part of the Tales of Rebellion, starting with the subjugation of Overwatch that is overseen by Yato.

### Tales of Rebellion: Samurai Horkos

Face Yato and the Samurai Horkos at the Overwatch stronghold. Check out the details of this part here.

### Tales of Rebellion: Viking Horkos

Face Gretar and the Viking Horkos at the Gauntlet fort. Check out the details of this part here.

### Tales of Rebellion: Knight and Wu Lin Horkos

Face Erzebet, Fu Huo and the joint Knight-Wu Lin Horkos at the Forge Armory. Check out the details of this part here.

## Gamemodes

Below is an explanation of the three gamemodes that will each be featured as a chapter for each part. The first two are revised version of previous PvE gamemodes, while the third one is almost an entirely new mode.

On each designated page of the Tale's parts, under each gamemode, there is a list of the map's specific layout, enemies faced and any modifications the gamemode has.

### Chapter 1: Rescue

A gamemode that can also be called "Escort," the first thing that the rebels will do is help Ilma enter Horkos territory safely, escorting her as she provides healing. Fend against an onslaught of corrupted warriors.

**Rescue** is a modified version of the Emperor's Escape game mode from the Zhanhu's Gambit event. You will have to escort Ilma, who will act as a companion with an AI of a Guardian, from the Attacking end of the map to the defending side where the Horkos Phaedon is stationed. However, you cannot progress too quickly as all Horkos fortifications are encapsulated in poisonous fumes from all the corrupted Draconite, which needs to be purified one zone at a time. On top of this, you will have to face special Horkos warriors in each zone until you eventually face the Phaedon at the last zone.

The players start at Zone 0, and need to conquer five Zones before reaching the final Zone where the Horkos Phaedon awaits. However, Ilma will always stay in one zone behind the one that needs to be captured. In response, the Horkos will send two separate forces: one group to defend the next zone and another that will try to kill Ilma. In the final Zone, Ilma will join your team in battle instead of being one zone behind. Along side the normal Horkos warriors, there are corrupted Horkos warriors who will feature increased damage and inflict Bleed with every strike.

Once the next zone is captured, Ilma will give off a mighty war cry. This war cry will kill off any remaining Horkos warrior in the vicinity, heal herself and living allies, revive any dead allies and make the next Zone available. Unlike in the Emperor's Escape game mode, Ilma will also constantly heal nearby allies every few seconds, not just when she performs her war cry.

While the enemy forces can spawn infinitely (even if executed), you and your allies do not have the ability to respawn and need to be revived by an ally. The only time one will be automatically revived is when Ilma performs her war cry as mentioned above.

### Chapter 2: Pillage

After helping Ilma get into the fortifications of the Horkos, collect Draconite for her by taking them from the Horkos Miners. Be wary as there will be Horkos warriors trying to secure their own stock of Draconite while attempting to kill you, as resources only count towards team points if deposited.

**Pillage** is a modified version of the Soul Rush game mode from the Shadows of the Hitokiri event. You will partake in a specialized 4v4 gamemode where each team has to collect Draconite by killing Horkos miners spawned on the field and deposit their gains to one of two deposits. These miners are no different than your typical Soldier as it only takes one hit to kill, while granting 5 Draconite to whoever kills them. However, until provoked into combat, the miners will remain passive as they concentrate on mining; they will respawn after some time, but only if the entire camp of Miners is killed.

Instead of facing against another team of players as was the case in Soul Rush, Pillage is another PvAI mode where you will fight against a host of Horkos Archons, all lead by the Warmonger Omodamos. These Horkos warriors will be corrupted just like the corrupted Horkos warriors in the Rescue gamemode, dealing bleed damage on every hit. Your team will have to compete with the Horkos in collecting the Draconite, where each Hero will have what Draconite they've collected tracked. The Draconite a Hero holds is temporal, and will be lost upon being killed. When a Hero is slain by an enemy Hero, half of the slain Hero's Draconite will be transferred to the killer.

When a Hero holds more than 50 Draconite, they receive a 4x multiplier (compared to Soul Rush's 10x multiplier) to their Draconite pillaging, allowing kills on miners to award them 20 Draconite instead of only 5. On the other hand though, the Hero will be visible to all Heroes, including enemy Heroes, with a silhouette. This bonus multiplier is lost when the amount of Draconite a Hero holds drops under 50.

Unlike in Soul Rush where Souls held counted as soft points, Draconite held by Heroes will not count towards the team's score, and needs to be deposited for hard points to one of two "Wells" on the map, one located near the Horkos' spawn and another in the middle of the map. Draconite cannot be deposited unless the Well has been captured by the team, with it being possible to contest for the Well. Fully Capturing a Well takes ten seconds, and once complete, any allied Hero can step on the point to deposit their Draconite, granting points to the team. Heroes who deposit Draconite will be fully healed and receive Revenge (note: capturing the Well does not heal or grant Revenge, as you need to submit any amount of Draconite to trigger the effect). The first team to 1,000 points will push the opposing team into breaking.

Also, unlike other gamemodes, your feats are based on how much Draconite you have, not your total renown gained in the match (which is also based on how much Draconite you accumulate over the course of the game). As a result, submitting Draconite to the Well will remove all feats that you can perform until you collect more Draconite. In trade, the bar for Feats is lower than usual, with the first Feat coming at 25, the second at 50, the third at 150 and the fourth at 250. Effectively, a player should be able to reach their fourth feat by clearing 4 full camps of Miners.

### Chapter 3: Overthrow

With the supply of Draconite necessary, it is your turn to go on the offensive. Defend Ilma against Horkos warriors as she crafts a Draconite weapon for your team. Once made, use it to crack the Horkos Leader's Draconite defenses and take them down.

**Overthrow** is an entirely new event gamemode, although some old features have been borrowed, such as the use of a special weapon which was first featured during the Wrath of the Jormungandr event. The gamemode plays in two parts: in the first part, you will need to protect Ilma as she is forging the Draconite weapon from waves of corrupted Horkos warriors; in the second part, you will use the Draconite weapon to attack the Horkos Leader and their fellow Warmonger allies until the Draconite weapon breaks, whereafter you will go back to Ilma who will reforge the weapon. You will perform these tasks three times, where on the third time you will finally kill the Leader.

Part 1 is a Defend objective, where you will have to protect Ilma, her forge and the zone around them from Horkos warriors who are trying to stop her. Ilma's forge will be located at the center of the map. There, as long as no enemies are on the point, the zone will heal your team as Ilma crafts the Draconite weapon, its progress shown through the "capture" progression that one would see in Dominion and Breach. Horkos warriors will spawn from around the map, attacking from all sides to impede Ilma's progress. As long as one Horkos warrior contests the point, Ilma will hide behind her anvil, stopping the crafting progress. During this time, the Horkos Leader will be located on the Defender's side of the map, locked inside a cocoon of Corrupted Draconite.

Once Ilma completes the Draconite weapon, Part 2 will begin as she spawns in the Draconite weapon in front of her forge as a weapon that can be picked-up while giving out a mighty Warcry, just like in Escape, killing any Horkos warrior nearby. At the same time, the Horkos Leader will break from their cocoon as their Warmonger allies group up on them. Now your team is able to approach the Horkos Leader to kill them. The Horkos Leader will be large in size and possess a large health pool, similar to a Commander, and has persistent Uninterruptible stance that lets them attack aggressively; they will use their Hero-specific abilities (for example, the Senbonzakura feat when the Leader is Yato the Hitokiri) at least once every time they are confronted. The Leader will also be protected by a layer of Corrupted Armor, which prevents them from being damaged. This is where the Draconite weapon comes into play, as it is able to temporarily remove the Armor for 10 seconds. There are no healing zones during this part of the gamemode, so players should try to be careful when or where they die.

Every time the Horkos Leader loses a third of their health, they will re-enter their cocoon. The Draconite weapon will break apart and your team has to return to Ilma, defending her from another wave of Horkos warriors.

Whoever wields the Draconite weapon will have their moveset modified, the same as it was with the Hammer of Ragnarok during the Wrath of Jormungandr event. However, during Overthrow, the wielder's moveset is even more limited. Aside from not being able to enter guard mode (thus being unable to perform defensive moves), they won't have access to heavy attacks. Instead, the wielder only has access to an infinite Light chain, a wide sweeping Light Sprint attack and a dodge roll that goes far with a generous amount of invincibility frames. They will posses limited health (starting at 100 health) and Uninterruptible through all of their attacks, but otherwise has no means of innately healing themselves. As mentioned above, the Draconite weapon is the key to victory as it is the only weapon able to remove the Corrupted Armor off of the Horkos Leader to let allies deal damage to them. If the wielder is killed, the weapon will be dropped at where the wielder had died.

The game mode is won when the Leader is fully killed. However, if your team is fully wiped at any point of the game, it will be your loss. With respawns being available in the gamemode (15 second cooldown), players should aim for attrition to prevent a full wipe.

## Trivia

* Horkos Miner visuals were created by QiYu Dai, as seen by the artwork they have post on their artstation.
* The names of the bosses are from the Messengers of Doom quest, showing Astrea revived them offscreen after they were killed by the player in said arcade quest.