Death and Taxes

Death and Taxes is a unique. Since the base map only has one variant (T16), the map only have one variant to drop, unlike some other unique maps that have varied tiers to drop.

Layout
Map type: Indoor

Boss

 * Avatar of Ash
 * Avatar of Winter
 * Avatar of Silence
 * Avatar of Apocalypse

Mechanics
Death and Taxes is reminiscent of a raid boss in classic MMORPGs. The map is initially empty. Players must run past three orange portals, which are surrounded by elemental effects similar to those of certain Shrines, to the end of the map where a final fourth orange portal can be found. Upon reaching the end, the boss is activated and blue portals throughout the map will spawn hostile animated weapons.

The map has no native monsters other than the boss, which has 4 forms, though portals will spawn animated weapons after the boss has been engaged. Once each form is killed, the boss will enter an "in-between stage", becoming immune to damage until it is lured to the next orange portal. Players need to kill every form to complete the map. Each form will drop loot.

Animated weapons
Once the first portal is activated, these are spawned continuously until the last boss's form is dead. Caveat: animated weapons can't be hit with. Spark is ground projectile, and animated weapons are flying.

Avatar of Ash
Once the first portal is activated, Avatar of Ash will spawn, which uses, and  supported by Lesser Multiple Projectiles. Flameblast is by far the most dangerous of these, especially since all of the action tends to make the expanding circle difficult to see until it is too late, especially in the presence of stun and desync. You need to pre-emptively move every few seconds in order not to get hit.

Avatar of Winter
Upon reaching the next portal, the boss will take form of Avatar of Winter, which uses a huge AoE, long range and spawns ice versions of.

Avatar of Silence
Upon reaching the next portal, the boss takes form of Avatar of Silence, which casts, , and. As with Avatar of Ash's Flameblasts, it is unwise to stand still; while one Storm Call hit probably won't kill you, an entire salvo may do so.

Avatar of Apocalypse
Upon entering the final portal, Avatar of Apocalypse spawns, which uses all previous spells combined. This is the boss' final form; Avatar of Apocalypse will not respawn once killed.

Legacy variants
Death and Taxes has legacy variants.


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Supporter attribution
Death and Taxes was created by an anonymous supporter.



Version history

 * Map tiers and locations have been shuffled (though the 'pin' locations for maps has not changed). Most maps are now initially found at a different tier. Unique maps have not moved or changed tiers. [sic]


 * Map tiers and locations have been shuffled (though the 'pin' locations for maps has not changed). Most maps are now initially found at a different tier. Unique maps have not moved or changed tiers.

The Death and Taxes boss visuals have been improved, and it now has more life, uses new skills, moves more quickly and will transition phases more rapidly. It will no longer target non-player characters (such as minions) during phase transitions. Fewer extra monsters spawn during the fight. The boss now always drops map-related currency on death. We have more extensive changes planned for this map.


 * The Atlas of Worlds has been reworked. You now start at the centre and will work your way outwards as you explore a new storyline.
 * Added a new mechanic - Watchstones: These can only be obtained by defeating one of the new Atlas bosses. They can be used to raise the tier of all maps in a particular region of the Atlas, causing all maps of those base types to drop at the new higher tier.
 * Unique maps can now drop with varied tiers based on the state of your Atlas. Maps that previously had monster level overrides (such as ) now instead rely on the variable tier.


 * (not in patch note) Starting from this patch, every leagues have new series of maps.


 * The change in how monster rarity affects damage increases (see above) has resulted in changes to the Savage and Overlord's map prefixes, as well as the Death and Taxes map mods. These changes can be obained [sic] on existing items by using a.
 * The boss in the Death and Taxes unique map deals less damage with its melee attack, and should be significantly less likely to one-shot you after transforming.


 * The entire Atlas has been reworked. Many map names have changed, as have their balance, tier and position on the Atlas. Many maps have also had their boss fights swapped or completely reworked.
 * The rules used to generate monsters in endgame maps have been significantly reworked and rebalanced around the rate at which we expect players to reliably clear out the map. In general, narrow, linear maps will contain fewer total monsters than maps with complex layouts. We will be closely monitoring and adjusting the balance of this change and expect to make further changes and improvements over time.


 * Reduced the damage of the boss of the Death and Taxes unique map.


 * The Death and Taxes unique map can no longer spawn Perandus Chests or Cadiro, as they were capable of spawning on areas the boss needed to go to in order for the map to be completed.


 * The Awakening series of maps were introduced


 * Introduced to the game.
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