Swamp of Bile (Evil) – Champions: Return to Arms

This guide will walk you through the Swamp of Bile in the Plane of Disease as an evil-aligned player in Champions: Return to Arms.

Summary

Description

Natasla has sent you to the Plane of Disease to support the troops, but really you are only going to support one guy, Bertoxxulous, and kill everyone else. Again it is the Shard of Disease that you are looking for. At the start of this area you will be surrounded by bridges. It is hard to see, but the way up can be found at the save point. As you might expect, there are a lot of monsters that will attack using disease in this area, so if you have been saving disease resistant items now is the time to wear them… if at all. Buy lots of ammo as in this area ranged attacks will be very useful. Often you will be on a different elevation than your enemies, and you will be able to use ranged attacks against them while they are unable to counterattack. Chests appear as purple containers similar to a large venus flytrap.

Plagued ones appear as rat men and come in three types: melee, ranged, and the glowing ones are shaman. If any are damaged they have a chance to be stunned and knocked over, so continuous damage attacks (like fire and poison) work particularly well against them. All plagued ones are disease immune and also leave behind a diseased corpse for a while after they die, but this disease does little damage so don’t worry about it.

The melee plagued ones are quite weak because they are stunned so easily and often you will be able to kill them from a position where they can’t get to you. The only enemy to be concerned about are the ranged plagued ones. They have a strong thrown ranged disease attack and tend to be found in groups with a shaman as support to heal and resurrect them. Like in the previous plane, these ranged attackers run away when in melee, but unlike them their attacks have less range. To fight them, get outside of their range and hit them with your own ranged attacks. Use the strategies that worked against the shaman you encountered earlier in the game against any shaman you encounter on this level.

Spawners are slow moving and don’t have any attacks themselves but they do have lots of hitpoints and create unlimited numbers of flying slugs. Each spawner will create up to six slugs at one time and the slugs don’t drop anything or give experience when killed. Slugs have very few hitpoints (one hit should kill them) and they have a low damage attack that often misses due to your armor. However, each slug is as fast as you and attacks quickly and often six will surround and kill you. So don’t try and melee the spawner when it has a mini army of slugs to defend it.

The best way to deal with the slugs is to kill the spawner. If you can kill a spawner quickly and before it can create a mini army that is the best way to deal with it. Often that isn’t possible because it was busy creating slugs just off screen and you have to deal with it and six slugs. Use an area of attack spell (even a weak one) to kill slugs while using your better attacks to kill the spawner itself. If you don’t have a spell that damages everything in an area, get six slugs to chase you and then make ranged attack runs on the spawner.

Most Efficient Route

Go to the save point to find the way up and onto the bridges. Go counterclockwise over one bridge, and then turn around and go clockwise. When you reach the 4-way intersection, go straight and follow the right wall until returning to the 4-way and go down the lower level. Turn left and continue following the right wall for a chest around to the 2nd save point. Return to the entrance to bridges to claim another chest and finish the exploration of this area. Return to the 2nd save point and follow the right wall around to a chest, and then the exit, but go onto any raised areas that you see as you come to them.

Fastest Route

Go to the save point to find the way up and onto the bridges. Go clockwise around the bridges following the left wall to get down to the lower level. On the lower level, turn right and follow the left wall past the 2nd save point to the exit.