Orcs Must Die! Unchained – FAQ/Walkthrough

5 Star Walkthrough Introduction

War Mage

What changes in War Mage?

There are a few different additions in War Mage, but here are some of the more important additions:

• Mercenaries - Mercenaries get added to specific waves on each map, and they basically act as different Boss minions. The difference is that they are randomly selected from a pool of 6. Couple of things to note:
  • You will usually see only 1 spawn at it's specific wave, but sometimes you'll get more. 2 spawns are a little more common on harder maps (although you'll see it on the first map of War Mage), but 3 only happens on a few maps. I do recall seeing 4 on certain Endless maps.
  • They do not count for Rift points and won't even enter the Rift. Their entire purpose is to cause problems for the player, and if a wave is cleared with the Mercenary still alive, it'll continue to harass the player in every subsequent wave.
  • You can have multiples of the same Mercenary - You won't ever see 2 of the same Mercenary spawn on the same wave, but it's entirely possible to have a Mercenary spawn on....say wave 3, then have the same one spawn on wave 6 or whatever. This means you can have multiples of the same Mercenary on the map if you never bother to kill them.
  • Mercenaries will ignore Guardians - Guardians will still attack them when they're in range, but Mercenaries will not pick fights with Guardians, unlike Bosses.
  • As of patch 2.6, some of them are buggy - I'm convinced Bouncer Bear is bugged, because he didn't charge around at full speed in previous patches. I do know Human Image is bugged, because sometimes his "clone" won't despawn correctly when the "real" Human Image is killed. Due to this, these two can really mess up your match.
• Minions that destroy Barricades - These are denoted by yellow dots (versus the usual red) on your mini-map. Here are a few of the different Barricade-destroying minions on War Mage:
  • Kamikaze Kobolds - Kobolds that will run straight for your Barricades in an attempt to destroy them. They are dangerous because of their speed, and it makes it difficult to prevent them destroying your Barricades unless you know where they come from.
  • Gnome Destroyers - They're not as fast as the Kamikaze Kobolds, but they get a shield that makes them take no damage for 2 seconds. The shield has a 20 second cooldown though.
  • Orfum - This is a boss minion. He's a really large troll that will generally prioritize your Barricades. He does have a tendency to want to kill you instead though, if you get close enough to him.
  • Bouncer Bear - As mentioned above, he is a Mercenary. He does damage Barricades if he's moving during his "charge" animation.
• Satyrs - They're a more sturdy version of Kobolds. Like the Gnome Destroyers, they get a shield that lasts 2 seconds as well, making them more difficult to kill than Kobolds.

That's about it for the important new additions. You'll notice immediately that you'll be visiting some of the same maps you saw on Apprentice, but the wave numbers have changed, as well as the minions that appear. You'll also see some new Bosses, but I'll mention any important ones on their specific map.

Preparing for War Mage

You should be at least level 8 if you have War Mage unlocked, but chances are you'll be higher.

If you haven't upgraded your traps at all, I would highly recommend getting everything you use to Tier 2 or higher.

I did manage to earn 5 Stars on half of the War Mage maps with Tier 1 traps, and with a lower account level, so it still is possible, but I don't recommend it. I think I got the first map done at Account Level 9 or 10, and the last map I managed before upgrading was Training Grounds, where I was Account Level 13.

I finally decided to give in at Thuricvod Village, because I knew it was getting to the point I needed to upgrade. I may have been able to do it at the Recommended Level (which is 17-20), but I knew Crogon Keep was coming up, which can be difficult. Since Thuricvold Village is the halfway point through War Mage, I figured I should finally just upgrade a few things.

So here's the list of what I upgraded, and how my loadout has changed for War Mage:

• Barricade (Tier 2)
• Tar (Tier 3)
• Brimstone (Tier 3)
• Floor Spikes (Tier 2)
• Arrow Wall (Tier 3)
• Swinging Mace (Tier 1) - Due to this trap having the rarity of "rare", some players may not have seen enough of it yet to upgrade it, which is why I'm keeping it at Tier 1 for now. It's a bit of a toss up if you have enough; it still is expensive, so it's hard to afford it if you're not playing as Max. In addition, it's so large it's hard to place it. So either way, upgrade it or not, it's your choice.
• (New) Grinder (Tier 2) - The Grinder trap can only be found in War Mage and higher chests, so you're not going to have it at the beginning. For this reason, you won't see it until my video of Thuricvod Village. It is an "uncommon" rarity trap though, but you should be able to find it fairly quickly as you clear in War Mage. I would recommend upgrading it when you can though, as it is a great trap that will help you through the rest of the game.
• (New) Floor Scorcher (Tier 1) - I didn't earn this until after I finished Thuricvod Village, but I do start using it from Crogon Keep onward. It replaces Floor Spikes.

So I have 3 traps at tier 2, and 3 traps at tier 3, (which should cost you 5250 Skulls in total) at the point of starting Thuricvod Village, as well as the addition of the Grinder to the loadout. This should be reasonablefor all players, as you will more than likely be better off by the time you get to Thuricvod Village.

Remember: Don't try to finish 5 Stars with minimum gear like I do! Upgrade the traps you usually use, when you can.

Chances are, you also have some Traits by now. Due to the randomness of receiving them, I personally do not use any Traits during War Mage. This is good for you though, as you'll have a distinct advantage over my videos. You should certainly put them in your loadout as soon as you can, until you get more useful ones. Some of them are certainly better than others, but let's talk about some of them:

• Use what you have - Bit of a no-brainer, but obviously you should equip what you have, if only to have something equipped. Chances are you'll probably have a lot of "pentagon" traits, so make sure you slot it appropriately in your loadout (in the "pentagon" slot) so you can get its passive bonus.
• Pay attention to the slot bonus - You can check this by looking at the Trait in the Workshop. The "5% primary attack damage" is the one I personally prefer, but realize it also depends on your character. At a lower Account Level, Max gets very little from 5% primary attack (if he's hitting for 25, it means he'll be hitting for 26....yay.), but Blackpaw and Gabriella obviously get a bigger boost from it.
• You should pay attention to what types of minions are on the map - This is useful in general terms, but by doing so, you can get the most out of the "damage increased to x minion" Traits (such as Cat Eaten by Gnoll, Brother Mauled by Grizzlies, etc.). Since they only increase damage to certain types, it's clearly a bit useless (besides the slot bonus) if the minion isn't on the map. You can check the minion info on each map by pressing Square (the "Expand Info" button) before you start the match. Remember you can always edit what you bring in before you start the map, so you can look at what minions appear and adjust accordingly before the match starts.
  
  • Damage Traits I would stay away from - It's fine to use these if you don't have anything else, but "Cat Eaten by Gnoll" and "Dog Killed by Pride Hunters" are actually kind of useless. Since these are "hunter" minions, they don't count for any Rift points, and sometimes if you're not in aggro range, they will just walk straight to the Rift.
• If you manage to pick up the Feeling Fierce Trait in War Mage, slot it as soon as you can - It's probably the best damage Trait in the game, and you'll probably be using it the majority of the time. The slot bonus is cooldown reduction, which I normally don't care for, so I would still take the 5% primary attack over this one (you can slot Feeling Fierce in the only non-specific Trait slot in your loadout).
  • Enjoys Pain and Practices Witchcraft are also very useful - Again, these are both found in War Mage, so you may get one of them. They're "diamond" slots, so they don't have much competition with other good Traits. Enjoys Pain is a lifesteal on physical attacks, and Practices Witchcraft is a lifesteal on magical attacks, so you need to slot depending on what type of damage your character deals.

As a final note, if you need Skulls or want to gain more levels, you can always go back and continue to clear all of Apprentice and whatever you can in War Mage with your starter characters. If you have the Skulls (depending on how long you've been playing, and how much you've upgraded) you may want to consider buying a new character. This way you can continue to earn Skulls and experience, while at least getting some variety. You can always jump into Sabotage or do some co-op if you want to.

If you are interested in buying a new character, you can check out the Hero section of this guide for my personal review of each current Hero.

Eventide Ramparts

Account Level: 8

Hero used: Max

Traps used (all at tier 1):

• Arrow Wall
• Floor Spikes
• Tar
• Swinging Mace
• Brimstone
• Barricade

Here, you'll see not only the new Kamikaze Kobolds, but Mercenaries as well. They make it even more difficult, since you will see 2 Mercenaries on wave 7.

The same Barricade strategy I used in Apprentice can be used here, but you do see me place an extra Barricade at the north to try to attract the Kamikaze Kobolds (so they blow it up instead). You'll also see me put down 3 more Barricades to the south of the NW ones, just in case they manage to get destroyed.

Due to how most things come from the north, I would protect it over the east gate more often than not. I would also recommend trying to save your Unchained for the Mercenaries, as well as Orfum (waves 3, 7, and 10).

Other than that it's basically the same placement of damage traps as I did in my Apprentice video. I do try to put down more where the two pathways merge, which is in that hallway between them.

Temple Graveyard

Account Level: 10

Hero used: Blackpaw

Traps used (all at tier 1):

• Arrow Wall
• Floor Spikes
• Tar
• Swinging Mace
• Brimstone
• Barricade

This can be quite difficult if you come in with low damage as I did.

The main problem is you get Mercenaries back-to-back, which can really cause some problems. Normally it's easy enough to deal with each Mercenary by activating Unchained to quickly take them out, but if you do this on this map, you'll find you won't have Unchained available for the next one in the next wave. Due to this reason, you may want to see who the first Mercenary is (appears at wave 3) before using Unchained - if he can be dealt with easily, save Unchained for the next Mercenary (appears at wave 4).

My Barricade strategy forces minions up to the north, into the west Guardian area, then they'll move east and back down, towards the second Guardian area. You can partially barricade the Guardian area off to snake them through it, which I think is optimal.

I also place an extra Barricade in the SW for the Kamikaze Kobolds - the video shows me blocking off the small SE corridor (the corridor just south of the Rift), so you don't want them blowing that up.

Once you have some coin, try to divide the NE area (where the gate is) in half by using Barricades, thus forcing them to take a longer route.

There are a few groups of Kobolds in here too (I believe they all come from the NW gate), so none of them slip by.

Banquet Hall

Account Level: 10

Hero used: Max

Traps used (all at tier 1):

• Barricade
• Tar
• Brimstone
• Floor Spikes
• Arrow Wall
• Swinging Mace

The video uses a different strategy for Barricades in comparison to the Apprentice version - the strategy I use is the same as the "alternative barricade strategy" I mentioned in the Apprentice version.

The Barricade strategy from the Apprentice video doesn't really work here, because the NW gate opens first, and not only that, but the NE gate immediately opens on wave 2 (there's no break before it opens, which happens on a few maps).

So instead you want to funnel them to the SE area, so they are forced to go south into the "Kitchen" area, where the Guardian is located. You'll see me extend the Barricades in the SE area (forcing them to go to the...SE corner of the SE area) and funnel them all into a single lane.

Starting on wave 3, you'll get Kamikaze Kobolds from the NW - make sure you at least put 1 Barricade down somewhere in the NW area so they'll run to that one instead of the ones blocking off your Rift. You'll see me block off 1/2 of the NW gate, but this isn't necessary; I just wanted to show it for those that may not know you can do that. I would also recommend replacing the Barricade they destroy, as you'll get Orfum, the boss minion that targets Barricades, on wave 6.

Kamikaze Kobolds also show up on wave 7, but from the NE gate, and they should go immediately south. If you blocked off one of the two "lanes" like I did, this shouldn't be a problem. They can destroy those if they want to, as it just hurts your damage output that much. I would recommend replacing them when you can though.

Other than that just trap appropriately.

Gates of Thuricvod

Account Level: 11

Hero used: Blackpaw

Traps used (all at tier 1):

• Barricade
• Tar
• Brimstone
• Floor Spikes
• Arrow Wall
• Swinging Mace
• Push Trap (new, used only for this map)

Make sure to bring Push Traps! They make a huge difference here. Even if it's just tier 1, that's fine, as that's what I used.

It's a simple layout, and there's not many Barricades to place here. You do want to focus primarily on trapping the center lane, but you will have to put Push Traps all the way down the east and west lanes (as I show). Push Traps should take care of everything from the NW/NE gates by themselves, although you might see the minions get pushed into the center lane, at that point you'll need to kill them.

The gates open pretty quick though, so don't place too many traps in the center lane until you have the Push Traps put down. You'll also want to be careful getting to the east/west lanes, because if you botch the jump, you might end up falling in the lava.

For the southern part, I usually place Barricades at the SE, as the SE gate will initially have a ton of Kobolds (I put Brimstones down at the SE gate for this reason). I then trap the SW corridor as best I can, with the Guardian at the SW spot.

Gaeadin, the Earth Elemental boss, shows up on wave 7. When killed, he splits into 2 medium sized Elementals, which, when killed, will split into 2 more small runner Elementals. I didn't have a problem with him here, as the Elementals should keep in combat with the Guardian; so make sure you a Guardian at that north spot.

On the last wave you get all 5 gates - I would prioritize the southern part until there's only a few larger minions left, then move up to cover the center lane.

The Wall

Account Level: 11

Hero used: Blackpaw

Traps used (all at tier 1):

• Barricade
• Tar
• Brimstone
• Floor Spikes
• Arrow Wall
• Swinging Mace

A fairly large map, and you will see a lot of minions here. Happily they all come from the same general direction though. If you're new to this map, I would recommend exploring it some so you can get a feel for where the teleports are (the shiny mirror things) so you can easily get between the three gates.

My Barricade strategy starts off by blocking one of the two lanes that are north of the Rift, as you don't want the minions to split. Afterwards I don't use Barricades in the middle lane at all, since you'll get a large group of Kamikaze Kobolds on wave 5.

For the NW/NE gates, I force them down that long staircase towards the middle area. Some (not all) of the minions might wander in the wrong direction (towards the Guardians) so you can place Guardians down on both of their NE/NW spots to deal extra damage.

You'll see me place Barricades at the end of the long staircases....and mess it up completely. So there's kind of a "speed bump" looking thing in the area that I put down Barricades, which I don't remember being there. Due to this, you can't place Barricades at a diagonal (like I did) because the minions will just move around it. So what you should do is instead make a "L" shape with your Barricades, to ensure they're all connected and things can't get by.

The reason why I do this is to funnel all of them into a single lane, and thus I only have to place one set of floor traps.

The Par Time was pretty close (made it by 15 seconds) but it probably would have helped if I didn't mess up those Barricades. Regardless though, I was surprised I was able to pull it off at Account Level 11 with tier 1 traps.

Midnight Market

Account Level: 12

Hero used: Blackpaw

Traps used (all at tier 1):

• Barricade
• Tar
• Brimstone
• Floor Spikes
• Arrow Wall
• Swinging Mace

This map can be pretty tough if you're going in with lower damage like I did. A big problem of it is your initial starting coin; for whatever reason, you only start with 6,000.

For my Barricade strategy, I completely block off the Rift so they only have 1 entrance - the SE corner (although you probably won't have the coin for this at first). You can also try blocking off everything but the SW instead, as it shouldn't really make a difference. The only difference is the fact that the east gate minions probably won't bother with that eastern Guardian, but that may not matter to you.

You don't need to Barricade anything at first, but you'll need a lot of coin within the first few waves to appropriately block off the Rift by the time the north gate opens. Earth Elementals will show up at the north gate, so you don't want them splitting into two different directions, so make sure it's blocked off before then.

Another thing to point out, since I don't do it in the video, is place a few traps at the east gate. You can place Tar right at the gate, then put a couple of wall traps down as well (Grinder is great if you have it). For the first wave, this may work better than trying to trap the east lane, like I did in the video. Once the east gate closes, you can sell whatever traps just to ensure that you have enough to block off the Rift (I did this, but it wasn't necessary as it turns out).

It starts out with the east gate opening first, but be aware that minions may path to the west since you more than likely won't have the Rift fully blocked off. I use Blackpaw for this reason - he can keep the minions grouped up a little better, ensuring that things don't get by him.

Once you have the Rift blocked off though, the match should be fairly easy. You just need to make sure you kill those Earth Elementals that show up. Although you may struggle at the end there if you come in as low as me; I nearly messed this up at that last wave, as the boss minion almost killed me. I wish I had Unchained for it, but I guess it's what I get for trying to do this at such a low level.

Training Grounds

Account Level: 13

Hero used: Max

Traps used (all at tier 1):

• Barricade
• Tar
• Brimstone
• Floor Spikes
• Arrow Wall
• Swinging Mace

This uses the same Barricade strategy as the Apprentice version, and it mostly plays out the same way.

The only difference here is that you'll see me extend the Barricades around the "Barracks" area, where the Guardian is. The reason why I do this is because of the runners - you'll get Earth Elementals and Satyrs on this map. Extra Barricades forces them to take a longer path, which allows you to kill them in time.

I would highly recommend not relying on your traps to kill Satyrs and Earth Elementals. Unless you've put down a lot (or have high damage output), you will generally get a handful of them that will survive.

On the last wave, you'll have the east and north gates open. Try to have Unchained available for this wave, to use at the east gate. If you clear the east gate quick enough, you'll have time to get back over to the southwest - this is what you want, because Satyrs will be the first thing out of the north gate when the minions show up there.

Thuricvod Village

Account Level: 18

Hero used: Max

Traps used:

• Barricade (tier 2)
• Tar (tier 3)
• Brimstone (tier 3)
• Floor Spikes (tier 2)
• Arrow Wall (tier 3)
• Swinging Mace
• Grinder (new addition, tier 2)

Despite how small the map is, I think the problem is twofold - coin generation isn't really good, and they send a lot of large minions at you. Since you don't earn that much coin before the gates open, it's difficult to trap each side appropriately. I go in with Max for this reason, but he unfortunately doesn't do as well against large minions. Although I did try with Blackpaw, I had the opposite problem, and I didn't have enough coin to trap each lane.

What you'll see me do is mostly force minions against walls on the east side, and make an attempt to snake them on the west side. On wave 3, the east side spawns nothing but Kobolds, but on the west side you get a lot of medium sized minions. Staying at the west side is more important, as you won't have enough damage output from your traps to deal with all of them.

The traps on the east side can take care of the Kobolds by themselves (with the help of the Guardian) but you do have to make sure you trap it correctly; combining Tar and Grinder really helps with this, along with Brimstones.

Even though I upgraded my traps and earned a few levels, I still struggled with this map. You'll see in the video that I had a couple of Trolls nearly make it to the Rift, so be aware that this map is not as easy as it looks.

Throne Room

Account Level: 18

Hero used: Max

Traps used:

• Barricade (tier 2)
• Tar (tier 3)
• Brimstone (tier 3)
• Floor Spikes (tier 2)
• Arrow Wall (tier 3)
• Swinging Mace
• Grinder (tier 2)

The exact same strategy I used in Apprentice Throne Room can be used. There's really not much difference here at all than what you see in the Apprentice version - I just use more traps here. Just like Apprentice though, you can try to use the Swinging Mace trap by hitting the activation button, as it really does help. I did have a minion that went through the wall though (which I thought they fixed).

The only thing you may not have seen yet if you're new to this map is the addition of the Gnome Destroyers. These have shields like the Satyrs do (which also appear on this map), so it's recommended you just kill them yourself. The ones that spawn at the SW gate are obviously more of a threat.

For this reason, if you want to, you can put 2 more Barricades down to protect the 2 southern Barricades. You can place 2 more just to the west of the southern barricades (which is shown late, at wave 9), which will draw the Gnome Destroyers to them instead, in case you can't kill them in time.

This is also the first video I used the Guardian changes that came with patch 2.6 - I replaced my northern Guardian when he died. This was actually an accident, and it shouldn't be necessary if you don't want to. Still though, you should have plenty of coin to spend on this map.

His replacement may have helped my Par Time, but I still manage 30 seconds under it despite dying 2 times, so I certainly didn't do this perfectly.

Crogon Keep

Account Level: 19

Hero used: Max

Traps used:

• Barricade (tier 2)
• Tar (tier 3)
• Brimstone (tier 3)
• Floor Spikes (tier 2)
• Arrow Wall (tier 3)
• Swinging Mace
• Grinder (tier 2)

This map can be difficult to get used to, as I think it has the worst layout. It's not really easy to traverse the various lanes; there's no quick connection between the SE and NW gates. Do notice where the NW and SE gates connect though - they come to a crossing right to the east of the Rift. This functions as a decent guarding point (or at least, guard that general area), since you may have problems with both of those gates.

I do add in the Floor Scorcher trap at this point, but I keep it at tier 1. The Floor Scorcher is a very useful trap, which I will end up using for pretty much the rest of the game. It can be found in War Mage (and higher) chests, but if you don't have one, you may want to either clear the previous maps with other characters, or just wait to come back to this one.

For the Barricade strategy, there isn't much of one. I block off the west entry to the Rift, but I only use two more to block off the stairway directly north of the Rift area. The reason why I do this is to direct the minions from the north gate to go west, thereby merging the two lanes in the hallway that is just north of the Guardian spot. This way it's possible to trap that area to deal with both lanes, and it allows them to group better for the Guardian.

You really have to keep an eye on the minions from the NE gate. Realize that blocking off the west entry of the Rift forces the north and NW to path a very long way, so you don't really have to worry about them quite as much. The minions from the NE not only include waves of Kobolds, but they can be deceptively strong as well - I've felt fully confident in my traps many times, and yet I always manage to see one or two regular minions just walk through all of them for some reason.

For this reason, I would prioritize the NE gate minions over everything else, until the SE gate opens. Since the minions from the NE have to go through that long winding pathway first, I would recommend dealing with the north gate until they start to reach the end of that winding path - use the teleport to quickly jump over to that area and start clearing it.

Once the SE gate opens though, you need to prioritize that because of how short their pathway is to the Rift. Once it's cleared (or mostly cleared, depending on how confident you are), start clearing the NE minions.

Shark Island

Account Level: 21

Hero used: Max

Traps used:

• Barricade (tier 2)
• Tar (tier 3)
• Brimstone (tier 3)
• Floor Spikes (tier 2)
• Arrow Wall (tier 3)
• Swinging Mace
• Grinder (tier 2)

This map isn't too bad to defend, but there a lot of minions to deal with. You'll also notice this map has a similar traversal issue as Crogon Keep, as you may need some practice to get used to it. Although there are more ways to get to the multiple ways compared to Crogon Keep, they do get some getting used to.

The Barricade strategy is fairly simple, as only a handful are used to block off the Rift. The NW gate is blocked off on the eastern lane - for some reason the minions try to go down there first, which means they'll walk eastward first, towards the Barricades, then walk back. This allows you to take advantage of their pathing, because they'll take a lot longer to get to the Rift.

The only lanes you can merge are the ones from the east gate and the SW gate, which you see me do by placing Barricades at the eastern entry to the Rift. This forces the east gate to go into the "Forge" area, where you can place a Guardian if you wish. The SW gate can be merged into the Forge area as well, if you block off the SW entry to Rift, at the stairs (you don't have to do that until it opens though).

As for the north gate, the Barricades are placed in between the posts/columns or whatever they are, which are around the Guardian area. The Barricade placements look kind of weird, but just as long as you get 2 between those two posts, and then place 1 more to the south, you should be okay (you can reference the "ghosts" during the break to make sure they can't get through). This forces them to go eastward (although they'll go south towards the Barricades first), and through that "Kitchen" area, where you can place another Guardian if you wish.

Stables of Eventide

Account Level: 21

Hero used: Max

Traps used:

• Barricade (tier 2)
• Tar (tier 3)
• Brimstone (tier 3)
• Floor Spikes (tier 2)
• Arrow Wall (tier 3)
• Swinging Mace
• Grinder (tier 2)

This is another map that may give you some problems. The biggest issue is the last wave - you will get nothing but Earth Elementals, which means you can't slow them with Tar or use any other crowd-control on them.

The Barricade strategy is mostly simple - I do an alternating diagonal of 3 at the SW gate (I call it the "Mickey Mouse"), which forces them around the outer edge of that area they start out in. Once the north gate opens, you want to Barricade in a way that blocks off the "Temple" area (the opening just west of the Guardian spot), while also blocking off the area just south of it. I place them kind of poorly, but what you want to do is force them into the NW corner, then have them move westward along the outer wall, instead of just straight south.

By doing this, you force them to move along the wall, which sets them up great for Grinders. After that's done, I go back to the SW area, place a couple of Barricades in the lane on one side, then place two more on the other side. This is to force the Earth Elementals to zigzag down the lane on the last wave.

I will admit I do make some mistakes here - you'll see me place 2 Barricades just south of the southern Guardian. I was going to attempt to show how you can Barricade the southern path off, forcing them into only one of the western entrances to the Rift area. I didn't realize I didn't have the coin to do it, and just continued normally. This actually made it somewhat problematic for me, as you see a couple of Earth Elementals enter the Rift area from the south.

I also put a ton of Tar traps with Grinders up in the northern area, which in retrospect I probably shouldn't have done (I should have used more Brimstone/Floor Scorchers).

Ultimately, just prepare yourself for that last wave. On that last wave, you may want to try killing minions at the SW gate first, rather than the north like I did. It is a tough map though, solely because of those Earth Elementals.

Highlands

Account Level: 21

Hero used: Max

Traps used:

• Barricade (tier 2)
• Tar (tier 3)
• Brimstone (tier 3)
• Floor Spikes (tier 2)
• Arrow Wall (tier 3)
• Swinging Mace
• Grinder (tier 2)

This map kind of plays out in a similar manner as the Apprentice version, but with stronger minions. Fortunately, you don't really see any large groups of Kobolds here though.

Unlike Apprentice though, you can only snake the minions from the north, as the NE/NW gates will spawn Kamikaze Kobolds, so personally I don't think it's worth potentially replacing Barricades. Other than the Barricades I place to snake the north minions, I don't use Barricades at all here.

Not much to say about the strategy here - just place your traps appropriately. The NW minions start off in that fairly large room, so you may want to place some traps further down the lane (closer to the Rift), since the corridors there are more narrow.

Although I only place 2 Guardians, placing more should help significantly here.

Restricted Section

Account Level: 22

Hero used: Max

Traps used:

• Barricade (tier 2)
• Tar (tier 3)
• Brimstone (tier 3)
• Floor Spikes (tier 2)
• Arrow Wall (tier 3)
• Swinging Mace
• Grinder (tier 2)

Max is really good here, because he can afford placing all of these Barricades before the first wave. If you go in with another character, you'll have to make do with what you can place, assuming you don't come in with extra coin from other sources (like Parts/Traits).

I initially hated this map until I found out how to use Barricades correctly. This isn't the only Barricade strategy I've seen - I've seen a number of different ways people have set it up in matchmaking. It's a little hard to describe how I place them in text, but the idea is to force them all down a single lane, into the SE corner, then have them loop back up.

Make sure you block off the southernmost entry to the Rift! Once you do, the minions will path back upwards, to the single entry that's directly east of the Rift. Other than that, make sure you have 2 Barricades near the north gate somewhere by wave 6, to distract the Kamikaze Kobolds on that wave (you really don't want them reaching any of the other Barricades). I replace the decoys once they get destroyed, but I'm pretty sure you don't see any more after wave 6.

Two things you'll notice about this strategy - it's highly dependent on Grinders, and the southern gate has the shortest route to the Rift. Despite that, if you look at it, I feel this is the optimal way to do it, because all you have to do is be at the south gate; all the other minions from the other gates are forced to merge into the same lane where the south gate is.