Darkest greetings Underlord, The march towards The Under Games continues unabated, and today we’re delving into the dungeon of Underlord Volta! Just like Shale, he has some comments to make about his own chances of winning The Under Games, so we invited him to explain his strategy to you: https://youtu.be/s56Qo5K0jls

Underlord Volta – The Infernal Contraption

Volta is a steam-powered Underlord created long ago. Was he the result of Mendechaus playing Frankenstein, or a now-lost civilisation building their own monster to fend off invaders? Regardless, Volta is now the workhorse that drives the Underlords and their machine of war across the cosmos. Unable to comprehend the difference between good and evil, he is less sadistic than his brethren; but as a cold and calculating contraption, his indifference to life makes him even more sinister. He believes he will win The Under Games because he is the only one that can fathom the optimum strategy.

Defend Yourself!

Volta makes no secret of the fact that he thinks other Underlords, such as Shale and Rhaskos, are misguided in their volatile and overtly aggressive strategies. In contrast, he is a cool player that bides his time in any situation, fully preparing his battle line and gradually creeping across the map in an unstoppable tide of fire and iron, achieved through his trait Iron Curtain.
Through this powerful trait Volta is going to be diving right into building his defences as soon as he hits the ground. With vastly improved Defence Part build speed and reduced costs to all his defences, it should be expected that wherever Volta is, there will be a nigh-impenetrable wall of iron between him and his adversary. Moreover, with Chilli, Chilly and Arcane Chunders at his disposal, he’ll have a larger workforce ready to produce Parts, who can fulfil other roles as well!

We Have the Technology

But it’s not just the defences you’ve come to know that will be making up Volta’s fortifications – in fact he’s got a whole new set of tricks up his sleeve! The Storm Vortex is a brand new defence that is both deadly and disruptive: its primary mode hurls bolts of lightning at enemies, and its secondary mode opens wholesale into a vortex, which warps enemies back to their own dungeon in exchange for a slice of the Vortex’s health relative to the target’s power.
A well placed Storm Vortex can be the key to disrupting an attack from a hot-headed Underlord The flexibility of his defensive line is enhanced further through the Alchemine, a booby trap which can hold any potion; when an enemy gets too close the trap will spring, and the potion’s contents will be splashed all over them! This keeps his enemies at bay, and allows him to spend more time planning out his next move. Perhaps that next move will involve an assault of Thunderlings, the devastating elemental bruisers that he can amass behind closed doors.
The Alchemine pairs well with the new effects granted to many of the potions And if you think there might be a chink in Volta’s armour-plated dungeon, then you might be surprised by what you find in the Infernal Urn, a mystical defence which channels the power of flame. It burns nearby enemies in an area, but can also be activated to absorb nearby sources of fire, whether that be by turning Brimstone into Quartz, vanquishing Ember Demons, or destroying Underminers! So for those thinking of assaulting Volta with explosive power… think again!

The Price of Patience

For all of Volta’s virtues in the defensive arts, his cautious calculating nature causes him to spurn anything unruly or chaotic. To him the height of Underlordliness is to preserve order within one’s own domain, like a carefully crafted piece of clockwork. To this end his negative trait Civilised prevents him from attracting any Beasts, or building the Beast Den at all – after all, Beasts cannot be controlled so readily as those that can be employed.
If by some circumstance he does find himself in possession of a Beast Den then he’ll be attracting Badass Flying Chunders to his dungeon – the closest he’ll ever come to owning a true Beast. As with the other new Underlords, Volta’s Veins of Evil have also been modified and trimmed to focus on his playstyle, as you can see below:
And thereby ends our dive into the mechanical machinations of Volta. We hope you’ll join us again next week for the final Underlord reveal; but first join us in three days for a look at the new Map Editing functionality headed your way! Volta is certainly chomping at the bit to get his Hand of Evil on these new tools. Until next time, bide your time. Cheers, – Brightrock Games Team Discuss this update on the Steam Discussion Boards Click here to chat about this update on our Discord Never miss an update! Sign up to our newsletter!