Lose Yourself to the Abyss!

Summoner!

Since The Contest began, an extreme danger has lurked around every corner, ready to prey on those seeking a true challenge…

First, The Realm of Legends was created by the Collector, with the intention that no Summoner would pass through it. The days grew into months before the first Legend of The Contest was able to claim victory over the Realm. Now, this relic of the early days of The Contest plays its role as a test of strength against the one-armed Assassin.

Then, seeking to trivialize his brother’s accomplishment, The Grandmaster created the Labyrinth of Legends to test the skill of the Summoners of The Battlerealm. His determination to break the Summoner’s spirit was met by our Summoners determination to best the Grandmaster’s game.

Now, a dark presence, formerly unknown to all, has opened up their corner of the Battlerealm. Dare to delve into this pocket of despair and dread, where hope goes to die.

Welcome to The Abyss of Legends!

The Abyss of Legends is the hardest content ever seen in The Contest.

This is the new Everest of content in the game. With each addition such as Realm, Labyrinth, and now the Abyss, the intention is to create content that Summoners will grow into in the coming months and years, and not content that can be fully explored in an afternoon.

When Realm of Legends was introduced, it was several months before all of the secrets and tools were uncovered to beat it. This is our goal for The Abyss.

Doesn’t sound so bad? I like your optimism. Shame it won’t do any good here.

Firstly, to enter the Abyss, you must have earned the Cavalier designation. If you have not yet been able to complete Act 6, Chapter 1, The Abyss is being locked away for your own safety.

Like the Labyrinth, The Abyss has an extensive, twisting map, with multiple paths and a locked camera, preventing you from scouting ahead. Unlike Labyrinth’s 2 Global Buffs, Abyss has 7.

Bear in mind, Summoner, the “Mark of the Labyrinth” buff contained multiple smaller effects encapsulated in one single buff. The Abyss breaks all of these effects into different buffs to allow the space to better describe them.

Additionally, many of your encounters will introduce new abilities to Champions that you are not familiar with. Be sure to read up on these every time you come across an encounter.
Rewards

Besides the standard Completion and Mastery rewards, the Abyss has 5 Abyssal Chests scattered throughout. Once claimed the chest will not respawn. Though these are rare, each one contains great treasures.

Legends of the Abyss

The first 20 to 100% explore the Abyss will receive a duped 6* Thanos (2x 6-Star Thanos).
The first 300 to 100% explore the Abyss will earn a Legends title.
The first 300 to 100% explore the Abyss will also receive a 5* Kang & a 6-Star Awakening Gem Crystal.
The first 300 will also get Legends points, as detailed in the Legends Leaderboard section below.

Yes, you read that correctly - first to Explore. Unlike our event quest Legends Runs, where the best times in a given window receive Legends titles and rewards, Abyss Legends are first-come, first-served.

We will be periodically (after the first few weeks, about once a month) checking to see who completed Abyss, review their play, and award Legends.

Abyss of Legends - Legends Points
#1 -300 Points
Top 20 - 250 Points
Top 100 - 100 Points
Top 200 - 75 Points
Top 300 - 50 Points

Our Vow

Let it be known, Summoner, that using any nefarious exploits, cheats, or other manners of manipulation will not be tolerated in The Abyss, and will be dealt with swiftly.

All those that make their way through the Abyss will be reviewed to ensure their legitimacy before any Legends prizes are awarded.

The Abyss does not deal in second chances, and will banish forever those who would attempt to break its rules.
The wait is almost over…
The long awaited, and fabled follow up, to the Labyrinth of Legends will be here on January 22nd at 10AM PST.

Heed these words, Summoner! The Abyss is not a challenge to be trifled with. We do not expect anyone to conquer the challenge any time soon. You will fail multiple times, but you can use those first attempts to acquaint yourself with the challenge ahead before you commit to taking on the darkness of The Abyss of Legends!

Comments

Kabam Miike

I expected nothing less ... when LOL was released I didn’t even touch for a long time ... that’s how this is gonna go

Only thing is that they want to annoy their players with camera lock because that is all that it achieves

The goal is never to Annoy our players. This is an ongoing theme, and whether somebody likes it or not, it adds to the atmosphere of the Labyrinth and Abyss. It's a Maze, and it's supposed to be hard to find your way around.

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KerayZ

What's the stance on Abyss of Legends and mercs?

Are hundreds of legit grinders going to lose out on Legends rewards to the same Mercs that run half the endgame Whale accounts or are Kabam actually going to put their foot down on this one?

Cheers
The short answer is that we're aware that some might try and use Mercs, and we will not hestitate to Ban those players permanently.

can you also trace the IP to the mercs account and ban them too? that'd be swell. banning people who dont play the game, who buy accounts like candy, pay people to play for them, doesn't really mean much since they dont care enough to play their own game, or build their own account. ban the merc though. well then. we got a whole new ball game of salt.

ECOMA

What's the stance on Abyss of Legends and mercs?

Are hundreds of legit grinders going to lose out on Legends rewards to the same Mercs that run half the endgame Whale accounts or are Kabam actually going to put their foot down on this one?

Cheers
The short answer is that we're aware that some might try and use Mercs, and we will not hestitate to Ban those players permanently.
can you also trace the IP to the mercs account and ban them too? that'd be swell. banning people who dont play the game, who buy accounts like candy, pay people to play for them, doesn't really mean much since they dont care enough to play their own game, or build their own account. ban the merc though. well then. we got a whole new ball game of salt.

Device id tracking would be cooler so any acct that merc logs into is auto banned.

Karatemike415

Hullo, question, are all 7 “brands of the abyss” present on each path of this quest?

So essentially, 85,000 damage cap throughout the abyss?

Also - please don’t “lock the map.”
This is genuinely the worst possible feature that has ever been present in this game.
Sorry for the slow response, I had to track down the Answer. Yes, All 7 Brands of the Abyss will be on every fight.

Thank you for the response @Kabam Miike

I'm sorry to see everybody attacking you as if you designed this quest.
I feel like sometimes people forget that Miike is a PR employee for Kabam, and doesn't make the decisions in regards to whether the map is locked, combo/damage cap, etc.

"Don't shoot the messenger" folks. There's a way to relay dissatisfaction without being rude.

That being said, I do really hope you relay to the designers how LITERALLY every single player in the entire community finds the locked map & "combo cap" to be nothing but an obvious cash grab.

My suggestions -

1) Don't lock the map. Seriously, I can't stress enough how unproductive this is. All this does is force people (yes, force) to use third party sites with maps of the content. Instead of "locking" the map, make all of the fights hidden - just like they are in Labyrinth. This way, players can see where they are going without having to use a map. This, of course, isn't as nice as just having an open quest with nodes available, but if they want to keep this quest a mystery, at least there's some sort of consolation to allow players to see where they are going.

2) Please - PLEASE - come up with a way to "pause" the fall of the Skirmish/Warfare charges. For example, "The drop of charges is paused for 8 seconds each time the defender is knocked down," or something of the like.
This will not only reward skill, but also make the fights POSSIBLE to be done with current (advanced) rosters.
The damage cap also makes me a little sad. But it's something that we can live with - I just was looking forward to finally opening up Proxima to her full potential.

I personally have 17 Rank 5 champions, and 1 Rank 2 - Masters AW/Map 7x5 AQ - and with the way this content seems to be developed, I don't see it possible to even think about initial completion without "spending." I feel like this shouldn't be this way.

I appreciate your time, and would love it if this was relayed to the team.

P.S. please buff daredevil.

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BigPoppaCBONE

There have been caps on things from time to time in this game. The damage cap is definitely an annoyance but an argument can be made for one given the damage output for certain champs (although 85k is a bit on the low side given the hinting of Boss Hps). I can't understand basically a hit cap. What's the goal here? It really only seems to be forcing players to revive regardless of how well they play. If a player is playing so well they can stay alive long enough to defeat a boss and the nodes, why does it seem like they are being punished for being good?

The damage cap is an unnecessary anchor too. The restrictions are built-in already because every champ was designed with a specific attack level in mind. If they made the champ with +85k damage against opponents with much lower Health pools, why restrict damage more once the health pools are bigger?

Sieger7999

All I wanna know is, based on early predictions for now.

Does Ægon seem like the best champion for the Abyss?
Quake seems like the only champ capeable of a solo, but it’d be near impossible, stealth spidey and crazy intercepts could as well, the best general options are appearing to be ghost with minimal hits aegon with the furies from getting hit and potentially a few others who hit hard in low hits
Interesting. Kinda made my G2099 useless because you can't ramp her. So, 240 hits with a 5/65 right? So, if I die 4 times with Ægon, I still carry over the combo and get 999 hits. Correct e if I'm wrong. I use a translator.

This is how I have read it as well, which is pretty disappointing

Lou2499

The thing that annoys me the most about the AOL is not the evade or the damage cap or the locked camera - even though they are stupid - it's that Kabam clearly have not listened to what people didn't like about LOL. It's such a cheap move to introduce things that they know that people don't like, but will just have spend their way through. And if Kabam didn't know that them, they clearly aren't listening at all. You may as well just have some content that requires 5,000 units to enter (please don't do this - though you clearly aren't listening)

Shawshanker

Brands of the Abyss V should be changed to when the attacker blocks or is hit, you lose a charge. The whole point of a long fight is to hit the other guy more than getting hit. To get penalized for achieving the main objective is ludicrous. Seriously Did everyone fell into a silly pre-12.0 trance that made them forget the point of the game. A fight basically ends after 240 contacts with the opponent. This can’t be right and should be reworded or changed.

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ECOMA

All I wanna know is, based on early predictions for now.

Does Ægon seem like the best champion for the Abyss?
Quake seems like the only champ capeable of a solo, but it’d be near impossible, stealth spidey and crazy intercepts could as well, the best general options are appearing to be ghost with minimal hits aegon with the furies from getting hit and potentially a few others who hit hard in low hits
Interesting. Kinda made my G2099 useless because you can't ramp her. So, 240 hits with a 5/65 right? So, if I die 4 times with Ægon, I still carry over the combo and get 999 hits. Correct e if I'm wrong. I use a translator.
This is how I have read it as well, which is pretty disappointing

Wouldnt you need 16 revives to do that in theory.
Aegon doesnt Carry a combo in a loss if I recall?
I dont play him much yet.

But if you need 4 revives a fight wouldnt only the kill count so to hit 999 you need 3 completed fights and then a 240 combo?

RogerRabs

If Aegon dies with his combo still up (combo shield or blocked hit) does he convert it to his persistent charge?

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Saintsfan349

So if I'm understanding this correctly, since the enrage "timer" is based on your challenge rating, if you enter a fight with a 5/65 that has a challenge rating of 120 and only removed the charges from landing hits, you'd only be able to land 240 hits before the fight is basically just over? If that is the case and the health pools are "larger than we've ever seen, I don't understand how any of these fights could be completed in one go. Unless the plan is to force using multiple revives on every single fight regardless of how well you play.

Gamer

Aegon doesnt Carry a combo in a loss if I recall?

If you die while blocking a hit, you keep your combo.

However, since the attacks become unstoppable and unblockable after you lose all of your charges, I'm guessing that wouldn't apply.

Not sure, though.

Can always get sl ther giv u combo shield or just quick out before run out
No idel

T-DeAdLY-J

All I wanna know is, based on early predictions for now.

Does Ægon seem like the best champion for the Abyss?
Quake seems like the only champ capeable of a solo, but it’d be near impossible, stealth spidey and crazy intercepts could as well, the best general options are appearing to be ghost with minimal hits aegon with the furies from getting hit and potentially a few others who hit hard in low hits
Interesting. Kinda made my G2099 useless because you can't ramp her. So, 240 hits with a 5/65 right? So, if I die 4 times with Ægon, I still carry over the combo and get 999 hits. Correct e if I'm wrong. I use a translator.
This is how I have read it as well, which is pretty disappointing
Wouldnt you need 16 revives to do that in theory.
Aegon doesnt Carry a combo in a loss if I recall?
I dont play him much yet.

But if you need 4 revives a fight wouldnt only the kill count so to hit 999 you need 3 completed fights and then a 240 combo?

If you die while his combo shield is activate via his abilities or synergies, he keeps the combo. If you die while the opponent is hitting into the block, you still keep the combo .

ECOMA

Aegon doesnt Carry a combo in a loss if I recall?

If you die while blocking a hit, you keep your combo.

However, since the attacks become unstoppable and unblockable after you lose all of your charges, I'm guessing that wouldn't apply.

Not sure, though.

Ahh didnt know that guess we gotta die at 239

Deacon

i echo the locked map .. that's so just not necessary imo. but i see a long list of frustration coming lol

Inferno_616

Que bien! Yo espero completarlo dentro de 2 another jajaja

T-DeAdLY-J

Aegon doesnt Carry a combo in a loss if I recall?

If you die while blocking a hit, you keep your combo.

However, since the attacks become unstoppable and unblockable after you lose all of your charges, I'm guessing that wouldn't apply.

Not sure, though.
Ahh didnt know that guess we gotta die at 239

Die at 239 combo with combo shield up, do that idk 3-4 times to get 999? lol.

ECOMA

Aegon doesnt Carry a combo in a loss if I recall?

If you die while blocking a hit, you keep your combo.

However, since the attacks become unstoppable and unblockable after you lose all of your charges, I'm guessing that wouldn't apply.

Not sure, though.
Ahh didnt know that guess we gotta die at 239
Die at 239 combo with combo shield up, do that idk 3-4 times to get 999? lol.

I mean if its die at 240 and start over or die at 239 and keep it it seems like the smart play

Rockypantherx

Great so by the time regular endgame players right now can do it, the reward will most likely not be relevant. Challenger rating thing sounds like you’ll need a R4 6* to get R3 resources. Once again, great

Master3418

6* ag :0

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DNA3000

I expected nothing less ... when LOL was released I didn’t even touch for a long time ... that’s how this is gonna go

Only thing is that they want to annoy their players with camera lock because that is all that it achieves
The goal is never to Annoy our players. This is an ongoing theme, and whether somebody likes it or not, it adds to the atmosphere of the Labyrinth and Abyss. It's a Maze, and it's supposed to be hard to find your way around.

I'm not going to argue difficulty or rewards: this is supposed to be the absolute highest difficulty thing in the game, and I personally understand and are willing to go along with the notion of making content that might be essentially impossible to complete for most players for very long periods of time. That's what makes it the absolute highest difficulty content in the game: not everyone is going to be able to do it without essentially outleveling it.

But I think the camera lock is still nonsensical, and atmospherics is not a sufficiently good reason to do it. We have the same issue we had with alliance war. The developers wanted "counterplay" but they also wanted "surprise" and they were not initially willing to accept those two were contradictory. If you surprise the player, they cannot prepare. That is the definition of taking counterplay away. The developers eventually "compromised" by making every path save one visible in AW, which was an admission that the idea you could have both counterplay and surprise on the same node was nonsensical.

Here, we have the absolute hardest difficulty content in the game, explicitly intended to be challenging no matter what kind of roster the player has, and yet the game is trying to also surprise them by not letting them see the fights they are going to have to fight or the options they have for attempting a completion run. That's pointless: essentially the first time anyone encounters a fight it will be purely blind luck as to what they bring. In effect, the first fight is wasted: no real strategic counterplay is possible.

That might be worth it if there was any benefit to surprising the player. But if the fights are designed to be so strong that even careful preparation might not be enough, then unless the devs completely missed the mark that surprise will have zero entertainment value, as the fight is essentially lost from the start.

And all of this is largely meaningless anyway, because unlike an alliance war map which is different for every alliance for every war, the Abyss map is going to be the same for every player for every attempt, which means the only players that will experience the "atmosphere" of the Abyss are complete idiots who don't download maps and just blindly wander around the absolute hardest content in the game.

As others have said, maybe this makes sense as an additional challenge for the legend runners. I would be fine with that. But once the legend runs are completed, this feature makes no sense. It runs contrary to the presumptive goal of challenging players' skills and roster because it blinds them to what the challenge even is, and it forces players to find external resources to bypass the feature because the feature is so problematic for completing the challenge that you would have to be galactically stupid to attempt it without those resources.

The difference between AW and the Abyss is you can't just keep iterating the Abyss over and over again over a dozen version releases of the game because that would become increasingly unfair to players who have to suffer through all those iterations. It would be better if by the time the last legend runner completes the Abyss the dev team decides to change policy on the camera lock.

Basically, exploration makes sense in content that has interesting things to explore. Exploration makes no sense in content designed to kill you if you don't have the right champs, and also kill you even if you do have the right champs, and every single step in every direction is likely to end your exploration journey with a team wipe anyway.

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