Ever wonder why the Gremlins don't try some stronger fortifications? Well, now they can! A blockade is a set of obstacles and structures that lend themselves to giving Knights a hard time moving through an area.

But before I get into those, here's some new traps that go with them:

FORT BLOCKS are blocks that mobs can shoot through due to a hole in them. However, Knights have to pass through them. They take four hits to destroy.

IRRADIATED BARB WIRE is just like regular barb wire, but it glows green and causes both Fire and Poison to targets. No touchy.

SUPERCHARGED BARB WIRE is barb wire with another deadly cocktail: Stun and Shock. Touch them and you'll very easily die.

POLAR THORNS are like brambles with added Freeze. The freeze automatically breaks after a set number of hits, allowing you to escape, but darned if it doesn't make it tough to get out of.

TOWERS are completely immobile. Depending on the type of mob in the fortress and the status effect in the level, they'll look different. Special damage types deal 80% damage to them, no matter what; Normal Damage is actually the ideal choice for Forts! And they have multiple effects:

Forts generally have one or more openings that are also their weak spots. Enemies will come out of these openings (while not dropping crowns or heat); while there's a limit to how many can exist at once, that limit is somewhat generous. They are the centerpiece of most Blockades! When a Fort is destroyed, it might drop a Fire Crystal. Large openings mean that a large monster, like a Lumber, will come from that opening; beware.

Projectile Towers shoot at you, much like huge turrets. The thing the fort shoots depends largely on the monster type; Beasts shoot Chroma Spit, Slimes have giant spike ballistae, Constructs shoot energy cannons, Gremlins fire liberal amounts of explosives at you, Undead launch exploding Howlitzer Skulls, and Fiends catapult a storm of devilish paperwork into the air! (Alternate ideas for projectiles are welcome. In fact, make multiple different types of projectile towers for each monster family if you can! More variety, right?) Status effects largely depend on the Stratum, with Stun coming into play in Clockwork Tunnels.

Shredder Towers pack powerful spinning blades that start activating as soon as a Knight approaches. The wind-up time is about two seconds. They're meant to deter Knights from getting within range of nearby Forts. The blades look different depending on the monster family (be they bone swords for undead or energy blades for Constructs), but all of them are split Normal/Special damage, and blades never cause status effects.

Mist Towers spray mist at a certain distance, covering the area in a cloud of bad status. These, of course, are dependent entirely on the stratum's status effect type!

Booster Towers increase the stats of monsters and Towers in their area. Red Boosters increase attack, Green Boosters increase defense, Blue Boosters increase movement and attack speed (this lowers attack delays). Mix the colors and you get multiple effects (Yellow Boosters increase attack and defense, Cyan Boosters increase speed and defense, Purple Boosters increase speed and attack); the dreaded Grey Booster will increase attack AND defense AND attack speed AND movement speed.

You can see a Booster's range by watching the circle around it.

DEN TOWERS are a beast-only tower. Wounded Beasts can retreat into it, instantly curing Poison and rapidly healing damage done. 16 Beasts can fit inside at once, with an Alpha Wolver taking up two slots; once a Beast has used a Den Tower, more Beasts can spawn from Forts! If you destroy a Den Tower while Beasts are inside it, they'll all take about 30% of a wolver's max HP in damage, but will otherwise spawn where the Den Tower was.

MUCK TOWERS are a slime-only tower that constantly spreads a disgusting goo. Knights near their range suffer the effects of a hypothetical Movement Speed Decrease: Double Maximum, as well as Attack Speed Decrease and Charge Time Increase: Very High. Slimes in their range love the nasty stuff; it gives them a hefty Damage Bonus. Keep a distance!

DISRUPTION ARRAYS are a construct-only tower. If Knights enter their range, they'll charge an area attack; if this attack connects, their equipment is hit with a Disruption Virus. While you're affected by the Disruption Virus, you can't dash, Swords and Guns can't charge, Bombs always slow you down during a charge, Shields can only be restored to half their energy, and here's the big one: Status Resistances, Damage Bonuses, Attack Speed Increases, Movement Speed Increases, Charge Time Reductions, and all Unique Variants are reversed. Negative effects like those on Plate Mail, however, are not reversed.

Constructs within the Array's range are constantly given the Disruptor effect, which allows them to apply the Disruption Virus effect on a successful hit; this effect lingers two seconds after a Construct leaves the Array's range.

AIRSTRIKE TOWERS are a Gremlin-only tower. They're based around one mob: the Gremlin Demo. Demos can go into Airstrike Towers, then come back out on a large hang glider that lets them soar over Knights' heads, dropping multiple bombs while remaining invulnerable for eight seconds. They come with a respawning Demo just in case the Fort wasn't kind enough to supply them with Demos.

TOTEM TOWERS are an undead-only tower. In addition to having the usual effects of a Grim Totem, they'll also create up to three Grimalkins that patrol their range! If the Grimalkins are lured too far away from the Totem Tower, they'll vanish and will respawn shortly.

PORTAL TOWERS are a fiend-only tower with a sinster purple vortex on top of them. They'll summon blocks in every unoccupied square up to 10 squares away, including monster cages that contain Silkwings, Overtimers, Gorgos and Greavers, when they're hit or when a Knight is charging an attack in their range. They also start with blocks around them.

Now for the Blockades. Blockades show up in Clockwork Tunnels and Compounds; they're also sometimes a branching path in Wolver Dens, Lichenous Lairs, Deconstruction Zones, and the like. They contain one to three Forts, as well as multiple other towers, with Fort Blocks placed along with either Irradiated Barb Wire, Supercharged Barb Wire, or Polar Thorns. Killing the mobs is not the most important part of clearing a Blockade; instead, the Towers are the main targets.

Not every Blockade is a carbon copy of each other; in addition to the differences in monster-only towers, they'll have randomly generated "lines of defense" consisting of various setups.

When they show up, you can be certain that at least five treasure blocks will lie directly behind them!

But wait, Doc! Why would Beasts make blockades? We'll just say Gremlins tame some war beasts to keep them defended.

So! Compliments? Complaints?