[Dungeon Defenders II] Mastery VII - Forest Crossroads (5 Stars)

Game: Dungeon Defenders II
Port: PC
Mastery Diff: M7
Map: Forest Crossroads

I am starting to believe there is a masochist at Trendy Entertainment who designed Masteries as you are once again put into a rough round once again in Forest Crossroads. With 3 defense types disabled, you must make do with what you have.

5 STAR REQUIREMENTS
====================
Survive all 5 waves
You cannot build Blockades
You cannot build Auras
You cannot build Nodes
Do all the above in 1 run

PLAN
=====
Because of the lack of the aforementioned defense types, you will have to make do with just Towers and Traps. In lieu of Blockades, you can use Frostbite Towers with Totems, Obelisks and Volcanos to repel attackers. Make sure that if you are using Frostbite Towers, you pack them together so Snooki don't slip through. If you have totems with Hardened and Protective Downgrade, they will help immensely. Skyguards can also be used to shred Kobolts before they venture close to your setups.

Each lane should be equipped with an Earthshatter and the Earth Toss shard. This will help not only damage heartier foes, but send them flying so they can be gunned by Skyguards.

The Mystic is once again extremely effective on this map. She can stall enemies with Call to Madness (this can also be enhanced with shards) and can turn Obelisks into Flamethrowers at Max Appeasement. Just make sure you put aside 20 DU for a Serpent Coil as she cannot heal herself without Ancient Power aid.

Keep tabs on the Radar, Kobolts are easy to spot (orange air unit) and should be downed as soon as possible to avoid shut down of your other defenses. On Wave 5, there is a chance that Zapper will spawn and his explosion is not only larger, but his stun duration is longer as well. This guy must be destroyed as soon as possible. DO NOT PROVOKE OR CONFUSE IT! You can also use low cost defenses to bait them into divebombing them to protect your main line. Skyguard and Hailstorm Towers can be deployed effectively to shoot down Kobolts, but having Tenacity on them helps immensely.

On wave 3 and onwards, you will be harassed by Dark Assassins. If you have any abilities to break yourself free, then use them. Otherwise, pull them near defenses that can kill them quickly or break their lock fast. On Wave 4 and 5, Hex Throwers will be added to the mix and must be slain as to avoid getting your defenses Cursed.

Aside from Kobolts, you will have to be vigilant against Hex Throwers, Snooki and Kobolds as they can still do considerable damage to your defenses. Witherbeasts can also pose a problem if you got a meat wall in front of your defenses. These things can also be a problem when a Cannon Ogre or a boss spawns alongside them.

HYPER SHARD RECOMMENDATION
=============================
Hyper Destruction - Any tower that is either facing bosses or handling multiple lanes or a specific one that is in most or all lanes.

Vicious Strikes - Anything that benefits from the increased range.

Radiant Critical Power - The hero you will be most active with. Fight near your auras, traps and nodes or use ranged near your towers to take full effect of this.

Explosive Shielding Guard - Whichever Blockade will benefit from the Shielding and Explosive effects. Preferably one that is in multiple lanes.

Thunderstruck - Your most active hero, preferably one with high offensive power. This is a useful shard when trying to keep Dark Assassins pacified long enough to kill them before they disappear.

Destructive Pylon - Give this to 1 of the towers in your Diversity Quota and try to incorporate it with your Earthshatters for maximum effectiveness.

Automation - Any of the "psuedo-Blockades" you are using.

CHARACTERS
============
Kasuti (Mystic) - AP DPS (Obelisk, Serpent's Coil, Sand Viper)
Apophis (Mystic) - AP DPS (Obelisk)
Lezard Valeth (Apprentice) - AP DPS (Frostbite Tower)
Tsumiko Kuri (Initiate) - AP DPS (Skyguard Tower)
Mishera (Adept) - AP DPS (Earthshatter Tower)