Meet Underlord Shale - Chaos Incarnate!

Darkest greetings Underlord, Today we’re delving into the chaotic mind of Shale and her devious arsenal of deadly Aspects. As one of the playable Underlords in The Under Games, we thought it’d be best if she introduced herself. We asked for a comment, and here’s what she had to say: https://youtu.be/zdufPhlusXI

Underlord Shale – Chaos Incarnate

Shale has ventured to the four corners of the cosmos like the debris from a supernova. She is perpetually confused, and doesn’t really know who she is or where she’s going. She’s had many mishaps, like when she accidentally blew up her understudy, the mortal Lamash. But somehow along the way she’s acquired an element of wisdom, gaining insight into the explosive foundations of the universe. She believes she has the key to victory in The Under Games, because how can her opponents defeat what they cannot predict?

Master of Beasts and Alchemy

As you might have surmised, Shale does not care much for the structured approach to dungeon life; she’s much too chaotic and carefree for that, and as such Beasts are a natural fit for her. Through her trait The Swarm she’ll be ready to overwhelm her foes in the blink of an eye.

The Swarm is a serious game changer that plays well into Shale’s aggressive, Wrath-focussed Veins of Evil. With it she will quickly amass a game-ending force of Beasts, including powerful mutations of the Shadow, Bafu and Skarg, which can steamroll her adversaries. Steam post image Worse still, these Beasts can be supplemented by the powerful effects of potions, many of which now affect enemies caught in the area, as well as allies. More dangerous even is the mighty Thunderling, literal lightning trapped in a bottle, which once dropped releases a powerful elemental capable of decimating ranks of enemies – albeit for a hefty gold and mana cost:

Sowing Chaos

As if her Beasts weren’t dangerous enough, Shale is blessed with a veritable array of maddening spells, constructs and abilities to wreak havoc upon her adversaries and remain unpredictable. Through her use of Aspects such as the new Shackle spell, which temporarily disables enemy defences, and of course the well-known Ember Rift, she is able to quickly overwhelm even the most entrenched Underlord.

Few can anticipate the pandemonious nature of Shale, with her forces seeming to pop from one place to the next. This is in fact achieved by one of her new constructs: the Moongate. The Moongate acts as a teleportation point connected to all other Moongates that belong to her, including the new Moongate Shrines if she can claim them. This makes her forces hard to pin down, as they zip across the map in a flash of lunar energy.

Ultimately all this chaos comes at a price, coalescing in Shale’s negative trait Reckless. Not only does this prevent her from placing all but the most basic of defences ( Bombard, Blade Lotus, and Wooden Door), but it also means that any defences she does place are more gold and mana hungry. The rate at which Defence Parts are produced is also significantly reduced.

All in all you won’t be fortifying many choke points as Shale; but when your minions are moonbeaming around the map, Thunderlings are crashing down like bolts of lightning, and Beast stampedes are running down your opponents – who needs a fortress?

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