The next part of Act V was annoying and even confusing. I was given a bunch of side quests that I could not find after many attempts what was needed to finish them off. I’d even clear out entire side zones and not find the one or three things the objective wanted me to get.
The place I seemed stuck in was called Rumbling Depths. It should have been called the Pits of Hell instead. Lots of winding caverns and me running around lost trying to find where I can get anything done at all.
At one point I was supposed to find the Bone Den. I suspected it would be in the Bone Pit. I however cleared that place out and did not find it so I spent far too long exploring elsewhere down there.
I swear I ran around that zone a dozen times clearing out any single trash creature I somehow missed the first time around. I searched, and searched, and searched some more. I did not find another zone in there.
I would even leave the Bone Pit to go explore furthermore parts of Rumbling Depths. However, every time I passed by the Bone Pits stairway I just knew since the zones named were colored for the way forward in the main storyline that what I needed was down below.
I then closed out of the game for a break. After that, I came back to re-cleared the Bone Pit again and found a portal to the Bone Den. I ended up being correct in the fact it was down there. Needless to say, I was not amused that I somehow missed it in the first place.
I still however was not in the Bone Den. I still had further to clear, things to kill, and yes anger to clear out of my system for now finding this path forward sooner.
The next area was The Bone Pits Lower Depths. A bone-filled place surrounded by lava. I was hopeful I was at least getting close and I was. I however became distracted with a side quest.
It’s not every day you are wandering around The Bone Pits Lower lost and find an NPC with a quest next to the zone you need to enter. Even more so that quest requires you to take out 200 undead creatures! It sounded like an opportunity to try and rack up a nice kill streak.
It however was not the best zone to be trying to do so. Lots of narrow corridors and sharp turns. I ended up staying down here long after I got my 200 kills before I returned to Bone Pits Lower. I just love exploring.
One thing that gets me every time in a game like this is landing massive critical hits. Some ARPGs out there try and tone down the numbers. Chronicon on the other hand is holding nothing back. Even at level 72, I was already landing 25k critical hits on things. I have no idea how much health these creatures have but they were instantly gone off my screen that is for sure.
I then Finlay found it. The Bone Den is the zone I’ve been looking for that feels like an entirety. It ended up being a boss fight with a three-headed demon creature. It still however was not the final boss of this act.
I even ran over to the waypoint teleporter after I got to the next camp the NPCs had set up in The Molten Sea. That feels like a crazy amount of zones I’ve gone through for Act V. I still however was not done. All these waypoints don’t include all the zones I went through either.
The Molten Sea was another zone I decided to do a full clearout. It seemed like I’d be doing quite a few things in here. There was also some amazing creature density down here in certain spots.
When gamers talk about wanting a nice thick dense pack of creatures to mow down in seconds. This would be something I consider what I’m looking for. Some of my spells even pulled them in towards a certain point making them all stand in my area of damage.
The objective forward in what I was supposed to do was also not so clear. It just wanted me to push forward. That could mean all kinds of things. So I started to look around for perhaps another zone I had to go into for further progression.
It turns out things however were not going to go to plan. Not to spoil what felt like a big moment in the story unfolding I’ll skip over exactly what had transpired. It was something I was not expecting.
What I can say is I now had to work for what looked like the grim reaper himself a Hooded Figure. I was now tasked with finding three guardians in the Molten Sea and killing them. They would each be on their little islands that were surrounded by lava. I now had a gateway to take me onto the islands themselves to do battle.
The first guardian I encountered was Rockfist. All three of these guardian encounters ended up being total pushovers. I think I’ve dealt some harder three-crown elite creatures than these things. They did not do much to me but I sure lit them up.
The next guardian was some kind of Harvester. After that, it took me a while to find the final island surrounded by lava. They were all in a rather close area to each other. I just found it hard to look at the map and find my tiny icon on it to get a sense of where I was in this zone.
Even the final guardian Katla that shot area of effect damage and explosives of fire all around me was not much of a challenge. I did not even bother using my ultimate skill in this one. I wanted to save it for movement speed to get back to the Hooded Figure of Death and the final gate quicker.
It however was not the final zone. I had to march through the Fortress of Hatred. I ran into some nasty creatures inside there. I also managed to score myself some gear upgrades which I was starting to need since I was not level 76. It’s kind of crazy how many levels I gained in this final act.
I still however had a lot of levels to go. You can level up to level 100 in this game and I’d be needing to do that before trying to get some of the best gear in the game and get my setup and skills all in order. For now, however, I had something bigger to do.
It was finally time in what felt far too long to do battle with the final acts boss. It was simply called the Beast Below. She would light the entire screen up with lines of fire and other types of damage. I avoided getting hit the best I could.
I also unloaded everything I had on the creature. I quickly burned through all my mana and popped mana potions as quickly as they came up. It took some time and me dancing around the arena to avoid taking damage from piles of fire on the ground. I however got the win in the end.
Final Thoughts
Before taking a bit of a break I went off to check out the new area I now had access to. It was ruled over by King Tinka. While I have plans to go on my adventures from this area. For now, I’ll be heading back to the normal part of the game and working on grinding out further levels. I might for fun run an instance or two by the orders of the King.
Other Content
Screenshots were taken and content was written by @Enjar about Chronicon.
