Death Scourge guide

Death Scourge is finally here, and we will be able to unlock the final Horseman – Archangel.

Unlike in previous Scourges, in Death Scourge you will be forced to use minions (which is not an issue, trust me) and you will have to use both Wakanda and Bionic Avengers if you want to reach a high score on Difficulty 8. This could be an issue only if your goal is to maximize Archangel immediately or after the second Death Scourge – otherwise, unlocking him should not be a problem at all.

Scourges

The first thing I need to mention is that if your Bionic Avengers and War Dogs are on Tier 16, and if you have all other Horseman, Unlimited X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, Spider Weaver, and Spider-Man 2099 on Tier 16, you can freely turn on all Scourges on Difficulty 8 and try to reach the maximum score. It is already apparent that the top 1000 in the first Death Scourge will aim for that Score.

However, since I already suggested that only Horsemen members and specific characters needed for Apocalypse Saga (Spider Weaver etc..) should be improved above T15, I will try to show you what is the maximum result with Wakanda and Bionic Avengers on T15.

My aim is to reach a Scourge level above 236 and reach around 2.3 million+ which is doable and should be enough for the Top 5% in the first Death Scourge and even better in the second and third (if needed).

Let’s talk about Scourges that you should activate for a desired Score:

Active Scourges

• Not So Fast… – When a Non-Minion Player Character Gains Ability Energy Applys Slow To Them
• Gloating – When Any Player Character Dies, Enemies Gain 2 Ability Energy
• Unkillable – When An Enemy Drops Below 50% Health, They Gain Deathproof
• Weakened – Non-Minion Player Character Healing Is Reduced By 20%
• Blinded By Power – When A Player Character Uses Their Ultimate, They Gain Blind
• Too Clever – When A Player Character Uses Their Special, They Gain Ability Block
• Off Balance – When Non-Minion PC gains Offense Up or Defense Up, Gain Heal Block
• Overcharged – When an Enemy Character gains Ability Energy, they gain Offense Up
• When It Rains – When a Positive Effect is applied to an Enemy Character, increase the duration of all Positive Effects on that Enemy by 1 (up to a Max of 3)
• Unstoppable Force – On an Enemy Striker’s turn, they gain a 5% Barrier and flip Offense Down
• Butterfly Effect – When a Fortifier Character uses an Ultimate Ability, Spread Positive Effects on that Character to Adjacent Allied Characters
• Power Fatigue III – Non-Minion Player Character Special and Ultimate Abilities cost 1 more Ability Energy
• Life After Death – On Enemy Healers Death, all Enemy’s gain Regen
• Look At Me – On Enemy Fortifier Spawn, gain Taunt
• Undead Swarms – On Spawn, all Minions gain Revive Once
• Rise Anew – On Turn, Minions flip Negative Effects
• Super Soldier Serum – All Minions gain +30% Focus, Health, Crit Chance, Crit Damage, Revive Health, and Active Healing
• I Don’t Need Skills – While Ability Blocked, Enemy Characters gain +15% Damage, Crit Damage, Crit Chance, and Speed
• Zombification – On Spawn and on Turn, Enemies gain Deathproof. At the end of the Turn, if an Enemy has 5 Deathproof and not Revive Once, remove all Deathproof from that Enemy and they gain Revive Once.
• Vanguard – While an Enemy Character has Taunt, all other Enemies gain 15000 Armor
• End Is Near – When Non-Minion PC drops below 50% Health, gain Trauma

Scourges that will not change the battle mechanics but may prolong the combat and make it harder

• Experimental Serum – Enemies Gain +10% Max Health
• Experimental Serum III – Enemies Gain +30% Max Health
• Strong Opener – On Spawn, Enemies Gain Immunity
• Experimental Serum IV – Enemies Gain +40% Max Health

Scourges that make things really hard and require maximized teams

• Dark Resolve III – On Enemy Death, Remaining Enemies Gain Offense Up
• Bleeder II – When A Non-Minion Player Character Takes Damage, They Gain Minor Bleed
• Vile Resurgence II – On Enemy Turn, They Gain Minor Offense Up
• Energy Absorption – On an Enemy Character’s turn remove all Negative Effects and Heal 10% per Negative Effect removed

As I said, the Death Scourge is doable with all Scourges activated but I don’t believe that for f2p player is justified to spend gold and resources for bringing War Dogs and Bionic Avengers on T16. Reaching 2,2+ million points should be enough for an easy play.

Let’s see how you should do it.

Nodes 1 & 2

Watch Node 1 video HERE

Watch Node 2 video HERE

In Nodes 1 and 2 you will have to use minions. A lot of people were really unhappy because of this but it proved to be for no reason.

As you can see, I’ve used a combination of Ravagers and Mercenaries on T15. Because of activated Scourges, my minions were buffed all the time. All of them even had Revive Once among other cool things. That makes things really easy and, honestly, it allows you to use any combination of minions that you have.

They don’t even need to be on T15. T14 is enough and you can just turn on all scourges and activate auto-combat. Dying will be impossible, as shown in the Videos that I provided you.

Node 3

Watch video HERE

In nodes 3 and 4 you will have to use Hero characters. There are a lot of possible combinations, but I decided to use Red Hulk, Rogue, Spider Weaver, Spider-Man 2099, and Kestrel. The idea is simple – use Tangled Web to minimize damage while Horseman and Kestrel cause damage.

As you can see, Node 3 is really simple with activated Scourges, but you have to be careful about some things – save Red Hulk’s ultimate, use Spider Weaver’s special against the target with most buffs, and avoid Taskmaster and Mister Negative causing you problems. If possible, prevent Squirrel Girl from using her healing, but even if she does that, it will not be a disaster.

If you are careful, Spider Weaver will have her CDs ready for Node 4.

Node 4

Watch video HERE

Node 4 is even easier than Node 3 if you are using the same team as I did. Do not use Spider Weaver’s ultimate immediately if there is no need for that. Also, there will be no need for Red Hulk’s ultimate, so use this node to build its CD to be ready for Node 9. You should do the same with Rogue’s CDs.

Kestrel and Tangled Web will be enough for all dangers in Node 4. Kestrel will prevent summons from Nick Fury and Mister Sinister, while Tangled Web will control Omega Red and Gambit when they spawn. In the Video, I made a mistake and let Gambit enter Stealth before I could Stun him with Spider Weaver. For Omega Red, Spider-Man 2099’s special will be enough as long as you focus on him immediately.

All in all, if you do everything properly, Red Hulk and Rogue will have all their CDs ready for Node 8 and they will be in full Health. In the video, you can see how I did it, but it could be even better and easier.

Node 5

Watch video HERE

For Node 5 you will need War Dogs. Unfortunately, this is not negotiable, and it is mandatory if you are looking for a high score and a chance to clear Node 10.

Even with them, the Node is not easy, and you will have to have mandatory T4 abilities prepared on all of them. In the Video, for content purposes, I cleared the Node without BP passive on level 5 and Special (it will give 2 counters on the entire team at the start) on Level 7. Also, Shuri’s special was on level 6.

I advise you don’t allow yourself that because your job will be a lot easier otherwise and your War Dogs will have more Health when the battle ends. This is crucial – your War Dogs have to be capable of continuing mission 10 without fear that someone will die instantly! That means that all of them must be on at least 60% of HP when the battle ends.

For Node 5 you need to understand a few things about War dogs. The most important thing is that Nakia’s basic clears up to 2 positive effects on the target (3 if she is Skirmisher). Also, if your BP passive is on level 5, he will play indefinitely as long as the target is killed upon his attack (including if it is killed by Okoye’s follow-up). Having Striker on BP is mandatory!

Anyway, when the battle starts you have 2 tasks in front of you – to kill Emma Frost and Valikirie before they can act. Killing Mighty Thor at the same time is also possible. However, you must be careful that your BP (1mm) can use his ultimate when Ebony Maw spawns in the second wave (his special will trigger Ability Block if he uses it on the start which allows you to kill Mighty Thor as well. If that happens, prolong the battle before the second wave spawns).

When the second wave spawns, your goal is to kill Ebony Maw before he can play. The problem will be multiple Taunt on Thanos, which can you remove with Nakia’s basic and Skirmishers in your team.

Once you steal and distribute Ebony Maw’s buffs to the rest of the team, things will be much easier – your BP will have charges for the full attack with his ultimate (be sure that he has Immunity from Ebony Maw) and he will instantly destroy the enemy formation. If you are perceptive, you can use his passive to literally kill everyone immediately, but it would be wise to kill only the major threats and prolong the battle until most of your CDs are ready again and until you are fully healed.

At this point, the greatest threat will be Shield Troopers (have all buffs as your minions at the start) and Cull Obsidian (his buffs will multiply to the point where he can do more harm if he is left alive).

In the video, my War Dogs (690k strong) were at 40% HP when the battle was over. I suggest that you try better because they will be needed again.

Node 6

Watch video HERE

Fore Nodes 6 and 7 I decided to use Unlimted X-Men and Emma Frost. I believe that those characters are the strongest non-legendary Mutants for most of the players, so it was obvious that I should show it how to use them properly on those nodes.

With this setup, 2 things are important. First is that your Fantomex is Fortifier (Fortifier Scourge bonus applies to you too, so you will be buffed with evade if your Fantomex has adjacent allies) and the second is to rotate Dazzler’s and Emma’s cleansing so you can always clear debuffs when needed.

This node could be extremely easy if you avoid turning all those Scourges for minions. However, since you benefit from it in the first 2 Nodes, now is the time to feel the retribution. Shield Operator will be especially annoying.

Your goal on Node 6 is that all your team is at full HP in the end. Also, save Gambit’s Ability Block for Taskmaster and Dazzler’s Blind for Colleen in the second wave. Emma’s ultimate will instantly remove all buffs from enemies which is essential. However, try to save all CDs for Node 7 because this node might be a problem if you are not prepared.

Node 7

Watch video HERE

Node 7 can be really hard if you are not careful and patient.

At the start, you have to kill Nakia as soon as possible. She will be in stealth but because of Fortifier Scourge, Sam Wilson will make her targetable. Once that happens, you should kill her before she can use her ultimate (she will use it immediately if you don’t put Abi Block on her). The easiest way to do it is with Sunfire’s special which will give all Unlimted X-Men Offense Up and allow Sunfire to place Def Down on her.

Killing Sam Wilson before he can use his special is also mandatory. You can do it by successfully using Dazzler’s ultimate on him (this could be tricky since his Resistance is insane).

In ideal conditions, you will kill both of them before Shury spawns. When she spawns, your main problem will be Okoye because she will spread her Offense Up on other enemies and she will delay your turns. She is protected by Shield Trooper (minions are insanely buffed as mentioned before) so be careful.

Your main problem in this mission will be the fact that you will not be allowed to use Gambit’s ultimate because he will be blinded after that. You have two options – either to use it when he has Immunity (he can have it if he is next to Emma who is Fortifier) or when he will kill most of the threats at the end of combat (as I did). Having Gambit blinded is not optional because you need his passive damage all the time.

When the last wave spawns you will be in problems if you don’t have Emma’s, Sunfire’s, and Gambit’s ultimate ready. Shield Security Guard will cause you serious problems if you can’t eliminate him fast. Wait for Maria Hill to Spawn her ads and only then use Emma’s ultimate (ideally on Sharon). Save Gambit’s ultimate to be used while he is under Offense Up from Sunfire.

During the last wave, it is essential that Fantomex have his Taunt ready because the enemy DPS will be insane, and you don’t want to be focused on anyone else. The third wave of Node 7 is really hard, so you must be patient. This is only because you have activated Scourges for minions previously. Otherwise, it will be easy.

Node 8

Watch video HERE

Nodes 8 and 9 require Legendary Characters. Red Hulk, Rogue, and MLF are mandatory. Omega Red and Jubilee are additions that I’ve chosen to help the Horseman.

In Node 8, you will have Red Hulk’s ultimate immediately ready (if you followed my instructions on Hero nodes). Stunning Gambit immediately will preserve your HP which is important considering that it is unlikely that you can expect any outside healing. Do not focus on IM Zombie before Hela is dead. Keep in mind that Hela summon will have all buffs that are granted to minions.

Clearing the first wave should not be hard except that Jubille will suffer if Gambit is not killed fast. In the second wave, you should prevent Dazzler from using her ultimate while at the same time you do the same for Squirrel Girl’s healing. Ms. Marvel’s passive taunt could be a problem if you are not careful and if you don’t have Skirmishers available in your team.

In the third wave when Phoenix spawns, you should kill her in the end when everyone else is dead. Otherwise, she will remove all buffs from enemies and cause you to suffer increased damage before Node 9. The easiest way to do that is to place Abi Block at her.

As you can see in the Video, I didn’t have any problem except my Jubille died. It could be prevented, but even if that happens you shouldn’t be worried as long as all 3 Horsemen are alive, and their CDs are ready.

Node 9

Watch video HERE

In Node 9 the main problem will be Safeguard on Infinity Watch members. It will prevent you from flipping their buffs and can cause you problems if you are not careful.

Disposing Darkhold enemies and Deathpool will not be hard even if you don’t use Red Hulk’s ultimate. If you think that you should save his ultimate for when Safeguard is removed, just don’t do it because it will not happen due to activated Scourges. Adam Warlock, Phyla-Vell, and Moondragon will be buffed until you kill them.

You will not have problems in this node as long as you save Stun for Spider-Man 2099 in the second wave and Spider Weaver in the third wave. Taking Adam Warlock in my team made things easier for me regarding that, but even if you don’t bring him, it shouldn’t be hard to control Tangled Web once they spawn.

If you successfully monitor the situation and carefully use your CDs, you will not have problems in this Node even though the arrival of Shang Chi and Agatha alongside Spider-Weaver may suggest otherwise. The best course of action is to totally ignore enemies Adam Warlock and Phyla-Vell until the end. Moondragon should be killed so she doesn’t interfere with your turn rotation. All in all, Node 9 is not that hard even if you turn on all scourges and you have an average roster.

Node 10

Watch video HERE

Node 10 is the culmination of the entire Death Scourge. I’ve spent 12 hours (literally) trying to clear it with one team. Unfortunately, it is impossible, and you must use 1 team as a sacrifice team if you wanna prevail.

You must start the battle with Bionic Avengers. Even if you have War Dogs fully maximized and at full HP, it is simply impossible to survive the first wave of the battle because of Gambit/Echo/Red Guardian trio, especially when you learn what is coming in the second wave.

With Bionic Avengers you can successfully beat the first wave and you can dispose of Gambit instantly. The trick is to avoid allowing Gambit to enter stealth so you can kill him with Iron Man Ultimate. Vision’s special and Hulkbusters’s special will give Iron Man enough energy to use his ultimate immediately and with little luck, he will one-shot Gambit (Iron Man must have Offense Up from Deathlok).

However, if you turn on Zombification Scourge (as I did) Gambit will have an additional Deathproof and you will not be able to one-shot him. Nonetheless, he will lose all his buffs after the Iron Man/Vision ultimate combo (be careful to accumulate enough energy with other allies so they can use their ultimate) and you will kill him with one of your AOE’s.

When you kill Gambit and 2 more enemies from the first wave (preferably Red Guardian and Echo) the second wave will spawn with Rogue and Sunfire among Ms.Marvel who is Fortifier and who will have Taunt instantly (because of Scourge). Your goal will be to remove Taunt (you can do it only with Skirmishers) and to place Ability Block on Rogue before she can use her special. In ideal circumstances, you will be able to place Ability Block on Sunfire as well and prolong its duration with Iron Man missiles (you didn’t use them in the first turn).

If your Bionic Avengers are strong enough and if you somehow managed to do all that while using Hulkbuster’s ultimate in the process slowing down the entire second wave you have a chance to kill both Rogue and Sunfire and to live when the third wave spawns (I have managed that while trying to one-shot Node 10). If you can’t do that, your goal should be to make Rogue and Sunfire spend their specials (and ultimate if possible) and that there are at least 2 enemies who can be instantly killed when War Dogs enter.

In the third wave, there will be Kate Bishop, Squirrel Girl, Ghost-Spider, and Spider-Punk among survivors for the second wave (2 -3 enemies at the most). Due to Scourges and ability cost, it will be impossible for Bionics to live through his last wave – they will be already hurt and without CDs and they will die without a chance to cause any serious damage.

There are a few things that are crucial for War Dogs On Node 10:

It is essential that BP (1mm) ultimate can be ready when the last wave comes (watch out for Ability Block after using special). When picking a target to hit with his ultimate, do not target enemies with Evade. Your goal is to copy as many Deathproofs as p[possible on all members of your team.

BP (1mm) also should have his special on Level 7. This is not mandatory but you will have significantly better chances of placing Defense Down on the most important targets if that is so.

Do not use BP ultimate if you are not about to kill all potential threats instantly with it ( Rogie, Sunfire, Kate Bishop, and Spider-Punk ). It is better to use only Basic and Special as long as you can maintain a killing streak.

Do not try to target enemies with Evade with Nakia’s basic.

Make sure that your Shuri has her special on Level 7, and make sure that you are under the effect of Defense Up when you are about to be hit by enemies’ AOEs.

All in all, as long as you can live through Rogue’s special/ultimate combo and Sunfire has spent his special, you should not have problems once you bring War Dogs in combat for the second time. Of course, to do that your War Dogs must remain healthy in mission 5, so pay attention to that as your main task for successful clearing of Node 10.

Conclusion

Even though it will be mandatory to score the maximum number of points (3.3 mills) if you want to get the best rewards, you shouldn’t be bothered if you can’t do it. Even if your teams are average at best, by following my instructions you will maximize Archangel after the second Death Scourge.

From what I can see at first glance, Archangel will not be part of Arena Meta until Apocalypse is released (I’ve used Archangel in combat, and I don’t see how he could find a place in the current Arena Meta – don’t take this for granted, it still needs to be tested). If that is so, there is really no need to force things. He will be invaluable for Doom 3 Mutant Nodes, but he will be usable even with 5 stars.

What I want to say – is there is no need to spend hours and hours trying to beat all scourges with teams that are not on T16. At the same time, it is questionable if spending Teal Gear on Scourge teams is justified knowing the time needed for farming. It is true that we don’t have Tech and Skill Apocalypse requirements, but something tells me that we will have it the same moment our Tech and Skill gear is spent. Just saying.

Enjoy, and please check the character infographics that we made for you!