Darkmess, Uncontained, 3 Turns - Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope

Darkmess, Uncontained completed in 3 turns. This is an improvement from the previous run, which completed the level in 4 turns.

There are two ways this level can generate enemies. One is with an Oozer, Medicians, and Magikoopas. This type starts with six enemies on turn 1, with four spawning on turn 2, and four more on turn 3. That is not enough to win in 3 turns. The other type starts with only five enemies, but one is a Spellraiser instead of two Magikoopas. Only three enemies will spawn on turns 2 and 3, but each of those will have one Spellraiser. The Spellraisers will break even with the Magikoopa generation after spawning one Stooge each. By keeping the Spellraiser on turn 1 alive until the enemy's third turn, it can spawn another Stooge to give enough enemies to clear the level in 3 turns.

The Spellraisers must be kept alive until they summon Stooges on the final turn, which makes the setup challenging. The Medician Barriers also have to be worked around. Even slight positioning differences can significantly alter enemy movement. There is some buggy behavior with this map such as characters spawning out of bounds and some enemies starting on cover blocks, but that didn't change the strategy.


Characters:

Bowser - A Mechakoopa was used to trigger an explosive barrel through an enemy attack. His large body made it easier to launch him into the POW Blocks. The Demolisher ability also allowed him to remove cover blocks that got in the way. Starburst increased the damage of heroes to defeat enemies on the first turn. Ethering made Bowser invisible to enemies, which redirected the final Shock attack towards the Mechakoopa without compromising his position.
Rabbid Mario - The Dukes were used to defeat many enemies. His dashes and high ground movement helped weaken a Spellraiser on turn 3. Glitter and Reflect increased his weapon damage with Attack Master.
Luigi - His high ground movement and team jump landing range helped position him into optimal positions. Many heroes can do what he did here. Gargantu-Fan destroyed cover blocks to setup for the final turn and dealt damage to a Spellraiser and Stooge. Squashette Master's summon prevented the first Medician on the final turn from ruining the setup by baiting its attack.


Notes:

-This level uses a randomized layout and enemies. There is no known way to clear layouts with Magikoopas in 3 turns. Besides that, each layout would have to use different strategies to setup the destruction of the final wave of enemies.

-Relaxing difficulty makes it easier to defeat enemies. More complex setups with more POW Blocks would be required for higher difficulties.

-Three POW Blocks are used in the setup for this run, activated through collision damage from the explosive barrel's Gust. It may be possible to do it with only two, but I doubt it's possible to win without any POW Blocks unless there is another discovery.

-The Spellraiser from the beginning of the battle was kept alive, but it was still kept at low HP. This was so the Medicians would use their Heal instead of Barriers. On the final turn, no Medicians would use Barriers because the first one Heals and the last one attacks before it uses a Barrier. The Spellraiser would be also low enough HP to be destroyed by one POW Block. It typically stands the farthest away on the final turn, so that makes positioning the POW Blocks easier.

-It's important to not move too close to the Spellraiser before ending turn 2, or else the Darkmess Portal will appear in a completely different area of the map.

-The other Mechakoopas are thrown off the map to prevent them from being targetted. If they are put too close to where the enemies are spawning on turn 3, the Medicians will activate a Barrier before moving.

-The Squashette will be defeated too early if both the Spellraiser and Stooge land critical hits, leaving no one to defend the heroes from the first Medician.

-A Squashette is used to redirect the enemy attacks instead of other summons because their unique abilities and movement make it more difficult to position them in an open space without defeating enemies or detonating POW Blocks prematurely.

-Rabbid Luigi and Peach were considered for this strategy instead of Bowser due to their defensive abilities being able to support the Squashette, but their abilities either didn't help enough of blocked too many attacks for the setup to work. By integrating a Mechakoopa into the strategy, the only enemy that could ruin the setup was the first Medician.

-Edge was considered for dealing the final damage with Stormblade. However, her attack is weak and doesn't trigger easily after getting pushed by the explosive barrel. Rabbid Mario was also considered for Counterblow, but it's AoE was too hard to work with.