Dark Tower

Dark Tower
Biome	Dark Forest Center
Consists of	Towerwood Dark Tower Devices Twilight Oak Logs Darkwood Logs Spruce Stairs Oak Fences Netherrack Various Saplings & Flowers Ladders Redstone Devices
Boss	Ur-Ghast
Map Icon
ID	twilightforest:dark_tower

Rising ominously over the Dark Forest are the awe-inspiring Dark Towers. So tall that they seem to pierce the sky itself, these immense constructions contain all manner of unique rooms, obstacles, treasure and monsters to explore and fight on the epic journey to the top. They are generally found at the very heart of a Dark Forest, where the thick, choking foliage becomes a strange, autumn-like hue, perhaps due to the sinister influence of the Tower.

Features

Superficially, Dark Towers resemble the Lich Towers scattered elsewhere in the Twilight Forest, in that it has a central shaft from which many smaller towers and turrets jut out from at seemingly random places along the walls. This is where the similarities end, for those smaller towers may as well be child's toys compared to this monster. Stretching at least twice as tall again, a typical Dark Tower may have several shafts above the main structure anchored into the ground, only reachable by climbing up into the smaller turrets.

Another obvious difference is that instead of stone, the tower is built out of the appropriately named Towerwood, a ruddy orange wood that is incredibly dense and difficult to break, with an encased variety forming the corners and frames within and throughout the tower. Despite it's unearthly toughness, even here the passage of time marches on - moss has crept onto some parts, cracks have formed over the years and even some parts have been infested with creatures. In the main though, the tower still stands proud. No windows are set into the walls, but oddly, huge holes can be glimpsed in the sides of the turrets connected to the tower, with netherrack strewn amongst damage burning eternally. As the tower has not collapsed, clearly the towerwood appears to be immune to fire.

Finally, once inside there are wondrous technological devices and all manner of rooms with various functions, all linked together by small passages and blocks that respond to touch, serving as doors between the various chambers. Vanishing Blocks disappear upon being activated, while Reappearing Blocks will return to their physical form after a few seconds. Caution is advised as being in the way of a Reappearing block when it reforms would be unpleasant.

Entrance

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Upon reaching the base of the tower, there are usually several entrances into small antechambers. These can be entered via the reappearing doors into an entrance hall with a staircase leading up.

Maze

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Only found near the bottom of the tower, this seems to be a test for those who would try to explore the tower. This area consists of narrow corridors and reappearing doors, with some double chests containing food and loot hidden in side passages. The maze is not difficult to navigate, with another staircase leading up out of it.

Support Beam Chamber

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This is a large vaulted space with many log beams criss-crossing through the space with ladders on them. Climbing is made more difficult with ladders placed below vertical beams, requiring tricky maneuvers to avoid falling back down. Sometimes Anti-Builder devices are placed within the space, preventing block placement to bypass the ladders. Other explorers have reported that magical spawners for Carminite Ghastlings may be found here as well, presenting a difficult challenge as their attacks may damage or destroy the beams.

Builder Chamber

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Even higher in height and mostly empty, this awesome space seems impossible to climb, with no visible walkways, stairs or ladders up to the shadowed platforms above. Instead, what is found here are floating masses of Redstone Lamps with small platforms of encased towerwood and Carminite Builder devices. There are always Anti-Builders here as well, preventing an easy climb. Instead, one must use the Builders to form temporary bridges and stairs from one platform to another, all while watching their step extremely carefully - one wrong move here may well be the last. Truly, those who have successfully ascended to the top of these rooms show an understanding of, and mastery of the Carminite devices.

Smelting Room

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Similar in design to the entrance hall, here there are multiple Furnaces to be found set in the walls on raised wooden platforms, along with two Anvils in varying states of repair.

Dispensary

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Identical to smelting rooms, but instead there are Dispensers in the walls instead of furnaces. Occasionally a Brewing Stand may be found here as well.

Farm Room

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For lack of a better term, this room appears to be dedicated to storing various varieties of plants, saplings and fungi, as evidenced by the varieties planted in soil on platforms. There is usually a chest and crafting table here, with food and possibly some loot stored within.

Netherburst

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Netherbursts are large burning holes that have been blasted into a Dark Tower, seemingly at random. They can be a serious hindrance to explorers as they often have destroyed stairs and walkways, hindering movement in the tower. An extra source of danger comes from being open to the outside of the tower, allowing Carminite Ghastguards to see in and attack intruders, as well as other monsters to potentially knock them through the opening and to their doom far below at the base of the tower.

Small Tower

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The smaller towers encountered higher up the tower normally come with a central chamber, with four doors leading into auxiliary turrets at each cardinal direction. These in turn reach higher again with smaller rooms, which may contain odd redstone contraptions - scientific experiments? - or perhaps simple furniture for the former residents. Some doors do not lead into rooms, but instead onto small balconies where the view is truly breath-taking, whether looking down over the Twilight Forest below, or above at the rest of the tower.

Some rooms may contain a chest with loot, including the essential Tower Keys that are required to unlock access to the upper floors of the tower. Some others contain a magical spawner that summons Carminite Broodlings or the more dangerous Carminite Golems, so be prepared for a fight.

Locked Tower Door

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Usually, access to the upper floors is secured by these locked doors. Four Tower Keys are required to unlock the door and open the way forward.

Reactor Room

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Found near the top the tower, these rooms are similar in size to the forges but with a very different purpose. In one corner is a raised platform with a crafting table upon it, with item frames on the walls. The 3x3 patterns appear to be crafting recipes for the blood red material known as Carminite, as well as various recipes for different machines and blocks that use it, for example a Carminite Builder.

The corner next to the crafting station will always hold a strange contraption, possibly the culmination of Carminite research. Pistons and Redstone blocks surround a 3x3x3 block with Obsidian in the corners and Netherrack between, all surrounding a strange machine that explorers have come to know as a Carminite Reactor. Activating the pistons surrounding the device may activate the reactor - caution is strongly advised.

Tower Ruins

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Just above the reactor rooms is the top of the tower, or rather what's left of it. Multiple Netherbursts have devastated the turrets, leaving nothing but eternally-burning Netherrack and half-intact floors and frames in a scene of devastation. There usually isn't a lot left, except that the design seems to mirror the small towers, suggesting that at one point the tower may have been taller still, until whatever catastrophe befell it. Regardless, those who have battled their way to the top must be prepared for the fight of their lives, as reaching what remains of the central chamber will rouse the horrifying, anguished Ur-Ghast.

Monsters

Several monsters can only be found in a Dark Tower, perhaps unsurprisingly given the strange blend of magical and technological research that went on here. Carminite Ghastguards, similar in appearance to those monstrous denizens found in the Nether roam the exterior of the tower, attacking anyone foolish enough to be outside, while Carminite Ghastlings patrol the interior, smaller than the Ghastguards but no less dangerous for it. Also found are Carminite Golems, similar in aspect to Iron Golems but animated by Carminite and packing a fearsome punch. Carminite Broodlings have also made their nests in the tower, swarming any who get too close. Towerwood Borers can be found in the walls of the tower itself, having infested even the toughened towerwood.

In addition to these terrors, more mundane creatures such as Skeletons, Creepers, Blazes and Pinch Beetles can be found in the shadowy chambers. Adventurers would do well to bring light sources to prevent unpleasant surprises.

Last, but by no means least, the Ur-Ghast itself resides at the very top, amidst the burning ruins at the tower peak.

Treasure

Food, arrows and Red Wool can be found in many chests in the tower, along with Enchanted Books, Steeleaf, Ironwood Ingots, Redstone, Diamonds and more. One special treasure that you can find in these chests are Tower Keys. In order to travel to the top of the Dark Tower, one must search the many floors and towers, looking for the four Tower Keys to complete the Locked Vanishing Block doors. Charms of Keeping can also be found.

Progression

Adventurers will need to defeat the Knight Phantoms before assaulting the Dark Tower, otherwise the structure will be entirely locked out by a magical force field, preventing any attempt to interact with the doors or breaking in through the walls. That is, of course, if one is able to even get to the tower through the blindness spell that shrouds the centre of the Dark Forest. Putting the Phantoms to rest will lift both enchantments.

Slaying the Ur-Ghast and obtaining some of its Fiery Tears completes the Dark Forest part of the Twilight Forest journey. Seeking out and defeating the Hydra and Snow Queen is also necessary in order to dispel the magical acid rain that falls over the Twilight Highlands.

History

History

Version	Details
1.14.0	Added Dark Tower.
1.15.1	Revised interior and added more rooms.
1.15.2	Mobs can no longer spawn on top of the Dark Tower. Carminite Ghastguards now spawn outside of the Dark Tower. Added more new rooms to the Dark Tower. Added Tower Keys to the Dark Tower loot. There is a set amount of keys that can generate in loot. Unique mobs exclusive to the Dark Tower now spawn.
1.15.3	An error will now print instead of crashing if 4 Tower Keys cannot generate.
1.15.4	Revised the interior rooms for more thematic appeal. Tweaked spawn rates to account for vertical height. Minor tweak to make the fourth door accessible in the rooms with 4 doors.
1.16.1	Changed the map icon for Dark Tower.
1.17.2	Replaced Maze Wafers with Experiment 115.
1.18.2	The Dark Tower will no longer attempt to build the boss room above world height.
3.8.654	Fixed a Repeater circuit not working properly.