Commencement

Commencement
Moon of Petrichor V
Stage	Final
Soundtrack	...con lentitud poderosa
Lunar Seer Quote
You dream of glass and dirt.

Commencement is the final stage Environment added in the 1.0 Update. It is located atop the Moon of Petrichor V.

The Artifact of Kin will allow its selected Monster to spawn, but not prevent the Lunar Chimera (Exploder), Lunar Chimera (Golem), or Lunar Chimera (Wisp) from spawning.

Description

Commencement is a large domain located above the shattered breach of Petrichor V's moon. It is ostensibly the desolated seat of Mithrix' power.

It is made up of the shattered remains of four individual sections emblematic of Mithrix and Providence's tools of creation:

• The area where Pillars of Design are found appears to be a workshop of sorts, with the unfinished remains of Lunar Chimera (Golem). The upper half of one remains suspended by large chains as if abandoned in the midst construction.
• The Pillars of Blood are found within a large circular arena, encircled by tall pillars with raised platforms resembling seating.

Raised high above the rest of the grounds by what appears to be a titanic arm is a massive circular vigil, where Mithrix himself remains.

Monsters

• Lunar Chimera (Exploder)
• Lunar Chimera (Wisp)
• Lunar Chimera (Golem)
• Void Reaver (during detonation sequence)
• Mithrix (Boss)

Overview

• 

  Layout of the stage

Releasing the Rescue Ship

Upon entering the main area of the stage, the player will discover a Rescue Ship protected by an unbreakable force field. Their new objective will be to find a way to release the Rescue Ship in order to escape the planet.

Different pillars are scattered around the stage. The player's objective is to activate and charge (i.e. complete the holdout event) 4 of them in order to activate jump pads that will lead to Mithrix, the final boss. 4-7 pillars will spawn in total and there can't be more than 3 pillars of a given type at once. Each pillar type has its own way of charging:

• Pillars of Mass take 60 seconds to charge.
• Pillars of Design take 30 seconds to charge and will release shockwaves during the process, pushing the player away and inflicting them with the Cripple status (-20 Armor and 50% reduced Movement Speed). The shockwaves can be avoided by repeatedly jumping.
• Pillars of Soul take 30 seconds to charge and their charging zone will get smaller over time. The pillar's charge rapidly decreases if players leave the charging zone.
• Pillars of Blood take 10 seconds to charge and will absorb the health of the player in the process. It will drain 10% health per second for a total of 100% over the charging duration.

• 

  Pillar of Mass

• 

  Pillar of Design

• 

  Pillar of Soul

• 

  Pillar of Blood

However, it is not necessary to activate any of the pillars if the player has enough movement abilities (e.g. Milky Chrysalis, Hopoo Feathers) to make it to the boss arena and trigger the fight.

Once Mithrix is defeated, the Moon will begin a detonation sequence with an on-screen countdown. The surviving players have 3 minutes to get to the Rescue Ship and complete its holdout event in order to escape. The Event requires the players to protect the Ship by staying near it for 1 minute. Lines of flames will appear, similar to the columns used by some of Mithrix' attacks. Void Reavers and Chimeras will spawn and attack the player but they won't enter the protection zone of the Rescue Ship.

• 

  Defend the Rescue Ship during the detonation sequence

After successfully charging the dropship the game is over. An ending cinematic is played during which the ship can be seen flying away from the moon. Shortly thereafter a purple sphere grows from the center of the moon before it disappears with a flash of light.

Cauldrons & Lunar Pods

On the left end side of the stage, near where the Pillars of Design spawn, there will be 5 Cauldrons, randomly selected between Common, Uncommon and Legendary. Common Cauldrons are unique to Commencement and will exchange one red item into three of the displayed item. (This area is denoted by the community as "Soup Island")

On the right side of the stage, near where the Pillars of Soul spawn, there will be 0-5 Lunar Pods that can be attached to walls and in other unusual places.

Shrine of Order

A Shrine of Order will always spawn on a floating rock behind the area where Pillars of Mass spawn (left of the map when starting from the Rescue Ship, see the Overview section).

• 

  Guaranteed Shrine of Order location.

Logbook Entry

Like the Hidden Realms, Commencement's Logbook Entry is obtained through picking up an Environment Log. Said Environment Log is located within the central hole underneath the Boss' arena. It will disappear 5 minutes after entering the level.

• 

  Environment Log location, underneath the Boss' Arena.

• 

  Environment Log location, inside the crater.

Lore

Have you forgotten – that those gates are my design?

You would not know, because you do not look up. You bend knees only for ants and vermin. But I have been working on a grander design. A greater gate – to travel greater seas.

What if I met you, on one of these extinct planets? What if I caused the calamities you strive to avoid? What if I reaped destruction? What would you do then?

I know the planet you trail – of water and dirt. You fear their stability. That they will consume themselves. Maybe I will go there first.

Trivia

• A 'commencement' is a beginning or 'start' of something, an apt name given the nature of Mithrix and his brother's involvement with creation.
• The implosion of the Moon in the ending cinematic is reminiscent of the death implosion of a Void Reaver, albeit on a planetary-sized scale. It could be assumed that the Moon was not actually destroyed, but rather 'detained' in the same way that something caught within the Void Reaver's implosion is described as.
• A Glass Frog can be found during the escape sequence. It can be found by returning to the teleporter ring at the start of the level but only after defeating Mithrix.
  • This easter egg was requested on the official discord. The PurityReduce your skill cooldowns by 2 seconds. You are unlucky.
    All skill cooldowns are reduced by 2 (+1 per stack) seconds. All random effects are rolled +1 (+1 per stack) times for an unfavorable outcome. log refers to "glass frogs", implying that the frog could be more than an easter egg.
• The Pillars in this stage are all based on the 4 elements of the universe Mithrix found. What they are, how they function, and how they look are all based on the Bulwark's Ambry log.
  • "...Round, with no features. No orientation. It is mass. Almost everything here is mass. Mass is boring, but required." The Pillar of Mass is the blandest in design, and has no effects. Featureless and boring.
  • "...Features, angles, and intent. Look at the planarity of the surfaces. This is design. I love design." The Pillar of Design has a clear design unlike most of the other pillars, having a distinct feature, being its twisted design.
  • "...a volatile one - a lifeline. Blood. Sharp, yet radiant. Blood is heat. This is my blood, but there is plenty of blood in this universe." The Pillar of Blood is literally a pillar made of blood. Perhaps made of Mithrix's blood given the log, and how desolate the moon seems to be.
    • Prior to the maps redesign, a Pillar of Blood could be found on soup island as decoration.
  • "Now be gentle. Look closely here. Do you see it? Almost invisible, a thin film. Frail. It’s not in this reality, but an adjacent one. I’ve heard you discuss this - something you innately understood. What you describe as soul. Don’t you love soul?" The Pillar of Soul is nearly invisible, and it being the frailest of the elements, it requires the most amount of attention when charging.

• 

  The literal Glass Frog