While most missions simply rehash what is seen elsewhere in the Clockworks, some missions excel at presenting a satisfying challenge, striking a particular tone, advancing the game's plot, or just making a player laugh. In no particular order, here are my ten favorite mission moments. What are yours?

A Revelation in Flames: Discovering Drakon

Rhendon is easily amazed. Battle sprites are adorable. When these facts collide, you end up with one pretty cute scene. The crudely superimposed still image of Rhendon petting the drakon only adds to the charm.

Spark and Roar: New Ending

Have you played this mission since 2014-05-21? The new ending ties together at least two loose ends in the plot of the game. For readers who have never played a Shadow Lair: The graphics are not glitchy; they're supposed to look like that.

The Great Escape: Sputterspark Revisited

This mission used to be easy. Release 2014-05-21 added quite a difficult fight, involving shock traps, rocket puppies, mecha knights, and more. The rocket puppies respawn and are not easily reachable with swords. Meanwhile, Sputterspark's pompadour could easily be turned into a hit accessory.

The Silent Legion: Arkus

Arkus is a tough mini-boss with unique attacks. Defeating him is Pyrrhic victory: You've just killed a fellow Spiral Knight. If only you could have saved him! No, only knights over 405,000 prestige have that power (just kidding).

The Gauntlet: Third Level

As a whole, the missions try to teach new players about equipment, monsters, damage, and status. The third level of the Gauntlet is where it all comes together. Even seasoned players sometimes succumb to that fiend-undead-freeze room. And having multiple arsenal stations in a level is a design idea worth exploring more (see Shadow Lairs below).

The King of Ashes: (First Time, at Least)

Like many players, I've done Firestorm Citadel so many times that it's too boring to play anymore. But the first time I went down the elevator from depth 23 to depth 24 and saw the wheels and the fire, I was truly panicked.

Ghosts in the Machine: East Side of Second Level

The east side of the second level of Ghosts in the Machine is a satisfying battle, where you must kill numerous difficult enemies in a tightly constrained room. By the time you've finished, you may have forgotten the warning about the MEDICAL SUPPLIES AVAILABLE HERE. The first time I played this mission, I walked right into the trap and had a good laugh at myself.

Heart of Ice: Devilite Humor

The Office Space-style humor of the devilites can be enjoyed throughout the Clockworks, but the inter-office memos in Heart of Ice take it to the next level. They're especially welcome as comic relief among some of the most strenuous battles in the game.

Shroud of the Apocrea: Harvester

Three Rings has gone through three iterations of the "ominous recurring threat" idea: phantoms in graveyards, grimalkins in Candlestick Keep, and the Apocrean harvester in the Grasping Plateau. I've gotten over the first two, but that harvester still gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Shadow Lairs: Unknown Passage

Shadow Lairs are not technically missions, but they taste a lot like missions, and the Unknown Passage is their secret sauce. From the scrambled radar to the magenta-and-black color scheme, the Unknown Passage exudes alien menace. The ability to change equipment is intriguing, although there's little time to take advantage of it. How best to move through a Swarm point is an interesting tactical problem, which players solve in various ways.