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Last updated: Exalt Version 3.3.5.0 (Mar 2023) |
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The Kogbold Steamworks is a hard lategame dungeon filled with many different traps, enemies, and a miniboss before the main boss. This dungeon combines the enemy variety of the Fungal Cavern with the miniboss element of the Lost Halls and the trap elements of the Cave of a Thousand Treasures. The dungeon drops from the Kogbold Expedition Engine encounter in the Realm.
The Kogbold Steamworks can drop from the Kogbold Expedition Engine, an event boss that can spawn at least once per realm. It can be spotted on the mini-map near multiple orange dots that represent its nearby turrets. The boss rides on rails, occasionally breaking off to move in diagonal directions, so be sure to keep some distance. The Engine’s carts also fire high-damage shots, so avoid getting run over at all costs. During one of its phases, the Engine will go to the center and attack while being 
Invulnerable, requiring you to attack its turrets. These turrets can’t be stunned, so Knights aren’t recommened for group support. Necromancers and Priests are recommended for healing the group, and ranged characters in general are recommended in order to safely deal damage from afar without the risk of getting run over. For more tips and strategies, see the Kogbold Expedition Engine page.
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Completing the Kogbold Steamworks on an 8/8 maxed stat character gives you an Exaltation in Vitality. The Steamworks is the only way to get this permanent stat boost.
There are a few UT weapons…
The Steam Pipe fires 4 shots in a line, 2 which armor pierce, 2 which pierce enemies. These shots have a range of 2/4/6/8 tiles, with the shorter range shots moving slower. While it is difficult to land all 4 shots, it outdamages the T14 staff if you do. It is best used on chasing enemies, which are prone to running into its shots.
The Chain Dagger is an odd dagger that inflicts Bleeding. It isn’t impressive for raw DPS, but you can inflict Bleeding even when a boss is invulnerable, resulting in extra damage. It also has a “Rev up” proc, which increases your DEX when you continue to fire this dagger. You can swap to this dagger for the DEX, then swap to a different one.
The Laser Pointer is a powerful wand that acts like a spellblade. Its “main” shot fires straight and ignores armor, the “side” shot is wavy and pierces enemies. A direct upgrade to the Wand of the Fallen if you can hit both shots. It is outdamaged by the Dusky Catalyst (at low-medium DEF) and Lumiaire (at all reasonable DEF), but both come from much harder dungeons.
… and a few UT abilities.
The Kogbold Cower Shield turns the Knight into a buffing class, giving you and allies aroudn you +15 DEF. For a Robe class, this buff is nearly equivalent to 
Armored.
The Scepter of Rust is one of 2 items that can consistently inflict 
Weak on bosses, reducing their damage by 10%. In addition, this scepter doesn’t slouch for damage - it has more damage per mana than the T7 scepter. This item also gives +7 WIS, only making it better.
The Brain Cube is a Skull that deals damage. (WIP)
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The Kogbold Enhancement Core is not a usable item in its own right, but can be used in the Forge to upgrade certain UT items. These upgrades are exactly the same as their precursors, but with extra damage. Notably, these are the only items from Kogbold with an 8% fame bonus.
The Clockwork Repeater is an upgrade of the Doom Bow. This bow is great against high-DEF enemies, and can out-DPS even Warmonger at > ~30 DEF.
The Mechanical Kogbold Limb is an upgrade of the Tezcacoatl’s Tail. Like the Clockwork Repeater, it is great against high-DEF enemies, beating the T14 staff at > ~41 DEF.
The Atavistic Soul Sabre is an upgrade to the Ancient Stone Sword. Better than the T13 sword, weaker than the T14 sword at most reasonable defense levels. Has 0.5 tiles of extra range compared to tiered.
The Socket Blade is an upgrade to the Void Blade. The Void Blade is an invaluable item for any katana class looking for damage, as you can “pre-fire” during any invulnerability phase for thousands of extra damage. The Socket Blade is a direct upgrade, which makes it the only Core item with an irreplaceable niche.
The Overclocking Amulet has the highest DPS stats of any accessory in the game, boasting a hefty +8 ATT/DEX that surpasses The Forgotten Crown, Magical Lodestone and even the Chrysalis of Eternity, the Crown’s upgraded version. However, this damage comes at the cost of -8 DEF and no HP. Although this loss can be made up with survivability gear, especially on melee classes like Knight, it becomes less viable on classes with already low base DEF caps like robe classes.
The boss has a chance of dropping T14 armors. While not a good main reason to do this dungeon due to the decent variety of white bag drops, they’re still nice side bonuses.
The Steamworks is a great source of Greater Stat Increase Potions. Unlike Fungal Cavern, Life does not drop here. However, this dungeon compensates with the amount of potions. The miniboss can drop 1 greater potion, and the boss can drop up to 3.
The layout of the Kogbold Steamworks is deceptively large. While there are only 5 rooms until the boss, the room types make most of the rooms very large or long to go through. It’s common to hit a couple of dead ends, but because of the low room count until the boss, it’s not too hard to find it.
The main threats are the various different traps present throughout the dungeon, borrowing from the Cave of a Thousand Treasures. Different turrets that fire different types of shots, moving conveyor belts, damaging steam vents, and crushers all litter the dungeon’s rooms. All these traps, combined with the dangerous enemies, make this place deadly. The best strategy is to drag enemies away from traps so you can deal with them uninterrupted. As for the traps themselves, the laser turrets that inflict 
Armor Broken are Stunnable, while only the turrets that fire orange shots armor pierce. Crushers only do AoE damage every few seconds, so pay close attention to their telegraphs and move out of the way before they, well, crush you. Similar concept with the steam vents; most of them only activate periodically, so get the timing and only move over them when they’re inactive. Conveyor belts can be annoying and even move you towards other hazards, so it may be best to drag enemies from afar instead of close in order to avoid being conveyed into their attacks.
WIP
The Factory Control Core is the boss.
This boss fight consists of 4 phases - “Windup”, Factory Core, Enforcer Core, and Ferrus. Windup is always the same between every fight. For every other phase, the boss will go through 2 of 3 possible attacks before moving to the next phase.
In order to progress the fight, you must destroy all the Shield Generators, then damage the boss by 15% HP (10% during Windup).
For these phases, the control core will stand near the middle of the room. Shield generators spawn near the edges of the arena, often on the edges.
You will always have Windup:
And then two of three of these attacks:
Push Apart - Turrets split the arena in half, and conveyor belts on both sides will push you to the edge of the arena. Walls of high-damage shots approach you, with gaps in between. Sawblades fire perpendicular to the turret shots. Two shields appear on the left/right edges of the map, and two appear near the boss.
For this phase, you must pass through the gaps in each wall. Meanwhile, you must move against the conveyor belt so you won’t get hit by the shots behind you. It is preferred to tank the sawblades over the wall.
Scatter - There are multiple barrages of “arrow-heads” with gaps in between, one from the boss, one from outside. The boss fires shots from time to time. Two shields appear on the top/bottom edge, and two appear near the boss, on the top-right / bottom-left. You can weave in between each set of arrows; left-right or up-down can work with the right screen rotation.
Semi-spiral - Similar to Windup in that the shields appear on the 4 corners. A white spiral of shots come from the outside of the arena, while the boss fires slow, cyan lines of bullets. The spiral doesn’t do too much damage to a maxed DEF character, but you don’t want to tank too many shots.
In these phases, the enforcer core is now mobile, and will chase the nearest player. The boss will go through two of three attacks:
Minefield - A “minefield” of high damage shots is spewed by a turret in the middle. This minefield never changes, but in the meantime you are chased by the boss, which fires V-shaped shots of drills AND yellow quiet shots. Shields are in the 4 corners. If chased, weave between the minefield. Occasionally, the boss will stop moving and fire waves of quiet shots.
In a group, it is possible to have the boss continously encircle you. This isn’t 100% safe, so you’ll need heavy armor and outside healing to tank any shots that hit you.
Sawblade - Two rings of conveyors, one outside, one inside, form. As the boss chases you, players are barraged by lines of 3 sawblades. The boss can occasionally stop to fire a spiral of bullets. Other than the boss itself, the most threatening part is where you are hit by multiple sawblades at a time. Up to 6 can hit you in a row, which can kill robe classes from full HP.
Crush Them - Rings of crushers appear on the platform, approaching the inside. The crushers won’t do too much damage, so long as you aren’t being chased by the boss, too. The boss fires V-shaped shots which are the real threat. Occassionally the boss walks to the middle, and fire spirals. Shield appear on the 4 corners.
This is the only Enforcer Core phase where the boss can be slowed.
In these phases, Ferrus is now vulnerable to Slow, except during Energy Storm. Like the other phases, the boss will use two of three of these attacks:
Draconic Fury - A turret in the center fires a rotating spiral of shots, splitting the arena. The boss rotates counter-clockwise, and sometimes shifts from rotating on the outside to the inside (and vice versa). Factory Maintenance Cores fire brown waves perpendicular to the fight, and the boss fires bullets too.
Rip and Tear - The arena becomes much smaller. A turret in the middle fires rotating shots, and there are shots converging from the outside. The boss chases the nearest player, like with Minefield. Rotate around the arena to fight this boss. Slow is very helpful in this phase.
Energy Storm - During this phase, you will be slowed. Many, many shots fire from the top of the arena. There are lasers, with indicators before they fire. Two lasers aim both horizontally, from minions. The boss, from the top of the arena, also fires a vertical laser. There are 6 shields, two on each of the top, middle, and bottom. In a group, you will want to split on left/right, with each side going from bottom to top.
Being hit by a laser leads to a very quick death. Sometimes, your character hitbox can be deceiving, so be very cautious. The shots also do a lot of damage, and require some micrododging. Use all 4 movement directions to dodge these bullets.
After reaching 0.1% of its health, the Factory Core will begin its death animation. It will fire a couple shotguns, which will kill players sitting on it.
The Kogbold Steamworks is a dangerous, trap-filled endgame dungeon full of many different UT’s and GPots, along with a unique forge item. Don’t succumb to the Core!
