Corrupted Heart

Corrupted Heart is perhaps the hardest Legion quest to get a coveted Golden Goblet – while the standard battle is tough on its own, the Exhaustion challenge is particularly challenging even for the game’s top players! Below is a summary of the battles with some tips and a couple example parties that might help get through it. It is *possible* to clear all three battles with the same party, **it is highly recommended that players have a custom party for each battle** – especially when completing the challenges.

**The first battle** pits your party against a single mage and an army of bog hulks. This is a straight combat battle (no gimmicks), but the mage is extremely powerful, and it is best to make sure you can neutralize (or kill) it quickly.

* Crowd control (blizzard, cripple, excise etc.) is a very effective approach to this level
* The pathways on the bottom right are not wide enough to let multiple bog hulks through. If you can pin one down (e.g. cripple, excise), you can slow the approach of the enemy and buy a turn or two to pile on damage
* River can outrun the bog hulks, especially if she has a buff from Vendetta. Don’t be discouraged if she is your last hero and needs to clean up the last 3-4 hulks. If you find yourself in this spot, best to proactively pop a stone decoction just in case!

**The second battle** is the game’s premiere crowd control challenge. You are tasked with escorting the mage Porcion to examine a relic and then back across the level to safety. The battle starts with two bog hulks, but every turn a new bog hulk will spawn from either the top left, top center, or bottom right of the map.

* In the easier battles, it is a viable strategy to control the map by killing all the hulks. However, in the challenges, you are better off using movement buffs and crowd control to *avoid* most of the hulks and complete the level quickly
* Most players center their approach around enhancing movement (don’t forget the Violeta clan support!) and slowing down the hulks. Cards like Delirium and Meteor Strike can single-handedly give you the time you need to get Porcion through the level, while Assault, Pathfinder, and Scouting are key assets to support movement
* If you have upgraded Stasis, it is pretty much the only card you need to complete this level (with some Gordian Seals to prolong the effect). Just keep Porcion adjacent to your Stasis-buffed mage and stroll through the level untouched.
* If you're not running Stasis, have your mage apply Gordian Seal on a Fighter when they’ve cast Assault or an Archer when they’ve cast Scout. Both result in TWO turns where all your heroes (including Porcion) get +2 move.
* Note that Porcion *can attack* – he doesn’t do a ton of damage, but every little bit helps!

**The third battle** is among the hardest pure combat matchups in the game, pitting your three heroes against three witches with extremely powerful enemy-exclusive abilities. Unless you can gain the upper hand quickly, you will likely find yourself unable to recover.

* Two approaches seem to work best here: excise paired with heavy DPS (archers) to gain the advantage from turn 1, or heavy stealth (Veiss/Violeta + Corso) paired with discard (e.g. Oblivion, Blackjack, Corrupt Fate) to deprive the mages of AoE and deadly debuffs and render them unable to hit you. A blend of both (stealth + priest) also works.
* As is generally the case, the enemy will target summoned units first. If you bring a mage, an upgraded Fire Elemental can usually survive one hit (except on the ice challenge) – you may even want to cast it turn-one as a decoy so you can maintain the upper hand!
* Do not be hesitant to use potions in this battle. Unlike most battles where you can hold off on potions until have the upper hand, this is one battle where you may need potions to *gain* the upper hand, and then hope you can maintain it
* As seen in the videos below, this battle can get away from you very very quickly, so stay on your toes and keep at it!

**See below for some example parties and videos to help you visualize the play-through if you’re stuck:**

**For Mid-Level players:**

These parties are for players first exploring the Legion Quests - they are built assuming only core characters, no mythics, only craftable & versatile epic gear (so you're not wasting steel just for this level), and no epic abilities other than Blizzard (which are recommended to be the first 4 epics you craft).

**Battle 1 & 2** – FPM party built with heavy crowd control from the mage and fighter, plus excise from the priest. In battle 1, this helps slow the advance of bog hulks (and stall the one witch) so that you can take them out before you get overwhelmed. Though this probably isn't the best build for battle 2, the crowd control still works to give Porcion a pathway through the level.

Battle 1: https://youtu.be/9hvkm-It2eg

Battle 2: https://youtu.be/7YHwyj1\_VWY

**Battle 3** – This battle can be *very difficult*, and required a different party to meet the mid-level requirements above. A RPM approach with discard to eliminate threats and excise (of course) to keep the battle manageable should work well if you're struggling. Of note - this is one instance where building a mage as support (not damage) is very advantageous. Gordian Seal will help you keep stealth on the rogue and the cracked blade ensures you always have important utility in your hand (and the mana to cast it). The rogue is really your primary source of damage in this approach - crystal stiletto is used in combination with wintry oil (obtained via crafting only) to pile on some weakness damage, ideally on turns where you can get multiple attacks.

Battle 3: https://youtu.be/Q0Vcp8KngaA

**For more advanced players:**

**Battle 1** – AAM party built with heavy crowd control (Mage) and a DPS/Support archer pair. Note the War Bracers on Laarn for that source of mana. Black Wind can easily be substituted for Aurai Circlet if you don’t have one. Watch a successful run here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c54p13\_YdRc

**Battle 2** – AFM party built for maximum mobility. Gordian Seal keeps buffs alive while the fighter and mage specialize in crowd control – provoke and stasis are key players in this particular run…which gets a little messy due to the fortunate appearance of a rare gold chest! See it in action here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XngBm-TcQcs

**Battle 3** –

A PPM Rose deck can be extremely successful in this battle for all three challenges. The key is to ensure you have Delirium (or two) in your starting hand, and enough mana to cast it. Even on Exhaustion, this build can be successful with a good draw (you may want to consider swapping out the 4x BTS, but it's not necessary). For the ice challenge, I *do not* recommend switching to ice-resist armor. The mana and cards are more important, and with the right draw, only Laz should get hit (he's best to sacrifice because of Morv's essential debuff removal - you need him around).

A FRM discard/stealth approach could also work, but has been weakened now that card draw happens at turn start. Despite a great start, this battle gets *very messy* towards the end as the key combination of warlord + oblivion on the fighter - that deprives the enemy of cards - was never realized. The enemy capitalized by sneaking in a couple of spells and putting the party on its heels. This is a good example of how an early advantage can lead to victory via use of decoys, discard, stealth, and potions. Also a good change of pace from other help videos that sometimes make it look too easy! Check it ou t (note - **this was from *before* the start-of-turn card draw update**): https://youtu.be/HhA2pqp8FCw

*Note: the three above videos show parties built for the Exhaustion challenge, but they can/should be modified for the other battles (e.g. add "focus").*

Insanitys had the incredible wherewithal to create a single party, with video, to beat all three levels on challenge 3. He also used default heroes, mostly epic gear (except Triumph), and consumed potions only on the brutal last battle. See below for his approach, but know that this is probably not the best way to go about it, especially now that it is easy to switch parties between battles:

    Stage 1: https://youtu.be/vkJjdm2\_HtI

Stage 2: https://youtu.be/vnAEHUXl-tg

Stage 3: https://youtu.be/S78ingoVcmA