These are challenges available to the contestants of DreadZone in a mining facility on Orxon in Deadlocked. This planet and its challenges come directly after the Avenger Tournament and Shaar, and will provide the necessary Dread Points and blue medal for the Crusader Tournament. The DreadZone vendor will only have the Morph Mod available, which turns affected enemies into explosive animals.
Challenges[]
Labyrinth of Death[]
At the start of "Labyrinth of Death" you have a choice between going left or right, although either route does not actually matter; they each follow the same path except each is the reverse of the other. In either case you will first be ambushed by DZ Berserkers being dropped off by dropships from behind, which will happen in a few of the other areas too. If you go right you simply face a few more Berserkers and Claw Tooth Swarmers, followed by a lone 70 millimeter Stalker Turret in the long corridor (both ends have ammo and nanotech crates, with another jackpot crate on the far right too).
Two forcefields later is a lone hostile Landstalker, followed up by more Berserkers from a dropship. In the final room for the right path a squad of Berserkers will ambush you from the ridge above. If you pick the left path you encounter the same enemies, except in reverse, generally this means the hardest fights will go first instead.
Node Overload[]
This challenge spawns the entire area above the 'rooms' from the first challenge. The goal is to capture all six bodes (bolt cranks) while handling the many DreadZone forces. A single Landstalker roams the central area and should be taken out first, which is followed by constantly respawning Executioners and small Beam Turrets. These two enemies repeatedly drop in from above as long you as you stick around the central area, so it is recommended to not do so.
Instead, head for the nodes; each node is guarded by three large Beam Turrets, and sometimes Swarmers and dropships that will drop off reinforcing Berserkers. Berserkers can also spawn after a node has been cleared, appearing from the rooms down below. Note that there is a cache of nanotech and ammo crates near the vendor as well as at the base of the large drill. Regardless if you do die you do not need to re-capture already captured nodes.
Refinery Ambush[]
The third challenge requires you to guard your combat bots while they hack a series of orbs in a single chamber. Claw Tooth Swarmers and DZ Berserkers constantly spawn in relatively minor numbers from the area below the orbs. As these enemies are relatively weak this challenge should not prove a real challenge compared to the previous one.
Chains of Villainy[]
In the final challenge on Orxon you must use the Landstalker to destroy four anchors keeping down balloons with audience members. The anchors will go down easily enough to a mortar barrage and there is otherwise no real threat to your Landstalker other than another one nearby, opposite of you. Have it disabled with an EMP Grenade, then roam around the map to clear the other anchors. The one on the far side is guarded by a Stalker Turret, so use any of the vehicle pads to heal yourself if need be. The only other threat (other than dropships with Berserkers) is the water that damages you if you stand in it, so jump across any gaps as the Landstalker is a bit too slow and bulky to rely solely on walking.
Completion of "Chains of Villainy" rewards the player character with a blue medal, with which they should have all they need to attempt the Crusader Tournament, after collecting enough Dread Points by completing Dread Challenges.
Dread Challenges[]
Swarming the Gauntlet[]
"Swarming the Gauntlet" takes place in the area as the right path from "Labyrinth of Death", while using the same weapon mechanics as from "Assault on the Frozen Tundra". The only weapons are the Dual Vipers, Magma Cannon, Hunter Mine Launcher, and the B6-Obliterator (hidden in a corner in the corridor passage). The goal is to destroy enough enemies within the time limit, but the only enemies encountered are Blade Balls and large Beam Turrets. Due to the mass numbers of Blade Balls the Shock Mod is highly recommended. Other than that you only need to be careful to avoid being sniped by the turrets, as it can be hard to see them due to the Blade Ball numbers.
Scoring with the Blarg[]
"Scoring with the Blarg" is a repeat of the Shaar challenge "Shoot to Kill", except substantially more difficult. The target score is much larger, but the real challenge comes from keeping the Landstalker alive long enough to reach the end intact. Start by charging the mortars to eliminate the group of Berserkers that get dropped off in front of you (the dropships leave), followed by the Executioner and pair of small Missile Turrets where the drill once stood. More Berserkers will line up on the ridge on your left, and two more Executioners drop down in front of you as you head through the corridor trench.
From here on you must keep destroying the orbs while fending off pockets of Berserkers that keep teleporting in in front of you. Because of this you cannot really dare to leave the target orbs behind, as turning around to pick off stragglers means you cannot immediately take out enemies spawning in front of you. Said enemies from here on out only include three more Missile Turrets (on the island amidst the toxic water), followed by a dropship with a group of Berserkers across a bridge in the next area. In the final and largest space, where a massive wall of target orbs is lined up, another Missile Turret spawns on a bridge, and a final group of Berserkers appears at the finish location. Destroy these first and then focus on the orbs, preferably by targeting a jackpot orb first to ensure you get the most points.