There is a new defensive gear-set in the Proving Grounds of Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire: the Halloween-themed Undertaker’s gear. In this article we will explain the new Proving Grounds level, and discuss the gear itself and who it is most likely to work best for.
Proving Grounds: Hall of Horrors
The Hall of Horrors works similarly to the Aranea events: you fight a series of small monsters interspersed with boss monsters that have higher health, using Elixir to get in hits. Much like Aranea, the bosses drop the gear pieces required for the new set.
The boss monsters require more and more elixir as the dungeon levels progress, with players reporting dozens of packs required to clear the floors in the late 20’s. Be aware going in that the monsters will take a LOT more elixir than early levels would lead you to believe.
One good point to keep in mind is that progress is saved between events, even though the Hall events only last a few hours apiece.
Undertaker Gear
The Undertaker set has several key mechanics:
- Extremely high HP when on defense in your Empire, which counters Armor Piercing from Prompto or Aranea’s Lance and also boosts general survivability
- Intimidation: The gear pieces with Intimidation lower the march speed of incoming attackers, countering march speed boosts
- Buffs to your banishment effects, which works for both defense and attack
Undertaker was clearly designed with defense of your Empire in mind. With the extremely high HP and the Intimidation effect which lowers incoming march speeds, this gear is potentially relevant to both traps and any empires that are under attack frequently by strong enemies.
The HP buff on this gear is huge, and the purple or yellow pieces will cut casualties significantly and give a huge surprise to any attackers who don’t bother to check gear.
The Axe and Ring may be of benefit to the stronger players who prefer to attack, as well. The Axe banishment bonus doesn’t require being on defense, and unlike the Calamity Blade doesn’t require attacking an Empire either. And the Ring’s banishment bonus duration effect is set when the banishment happens, meaning you don’t need to wear it for the entire time to get the bonus.
Undertaker is really solid gear. The only real downside to the gear is the current cost to acquire.
While the blog promises a full gold set to anyone who completes level 31 of the Hall of Horrors, it takes over 50+ packs of elixir to complete the dungeon all the way due to scaling enemy toughness. And most of the mat drops required for purple or yellow pieces happen in the last few floors. Players are reporting 10-30 packs for 1-2 yellow pieces, so be aware that a partial set is also costly.
This puts the better colors of gear out of range of all but the most dedicated of traps, or players who are already higher-power than trap range. If you are a t4 in danger from t5 players with higher-level Promptos this gear may be helpful to you, but you’ll have to weigh that against buying packs to increase your t4 research.
Be aware also that the lower-tier gear (green, blue, etc.) scale differently than the yellow gear. A yellow Undertaker’s headpiece, for example, will be more effective than a yellow Sentinel piece. But a green Undertaker’s headpiece will be LESS effective than a Sentinel piece of the same slot.
Conclusion
The Undertaker gear is extremely good, but very pricey due to the scaling boss requirements. And the lower-tier versions of the same gear due not compare favorably to Sentinel.
But if you have the means for dozens of packs and the inclination to get the best current defense gear in the game, yellow Undertaker is fantastic. Just be aware that the quality is matched by the price.
