Verdant Forest

“The Drifter: Clear as many branches as you can, maverick!
Mr. Tachibana: And look out for chests; you'll find Reveler's Essence in them.
The Drifter: Good luck, mavericks!”

―The Drifter and Mr. Tachibana^[src]

The Verdant Forest is the new activity introduced as part of the Extinction's Revelry event in Call of Duty: Age of Extinction. In this activity, players are recommended to be at least Rank 15 before being able to play, as their Rank will matter in the Verdant Forest.

The Verdant Forest uses the same four Difficulties as well as introducing a new powerful difficulty called "Nightmare", which is described as being a lot more harder and unforgiving than Extinction difficulty.

Lore[]

The Verdant Forest was a realm created by Mr. Tachibana and The Drifter. Both agreed on its forest-like design and vast open world. The Forest was built to serve as a training realm for their allies as well as for the Nexus Apparitions. For this task, both of them had gathered a group of Reflections from antagonistic individuals to serve as "bosses" in the Forest.

Believing the Forest was ready, the two of them brought Rose Squad to the Forest and told them of their purpose there as well as bestowing upon them special abilities for use. Their expectations are met when Rose Squad is able to clear the Forest without hassle, and congratulate them. Though, they are unaware that The Angel was not a Reflection but was actually herself. She would discreetly corrupt the Forest and shape it in her own image while the two Jokers went to gather more "heroes" and would return to find the Forest corrupted.

Gameplay[]

Reveler's Tonic[]

With the Reveler's Tonic, players will be able to give themselves mysterious power that is described by The Drifter as "out-of-this-universe energy", and will have a choice to choose between 18 "Mysterious Supers" which are powered by the Reveler's Essence that players will obtain from playing Verdant Forest and completing Challenges. Using the Reveler's Tonic will consume 50 Reveler's Essence each use.

Mysterious Supers[]

In the lobby screen for the Verdant Forest, players will see an option appear below "Find Match" titled "Reveler's Tonic", which is where they'll be able to choose which one of the 18 Mysterious Supers they'll use throughout the Verdant Forest.

These Mysterious Supers are categorized into three different elements: Solar, Arc and Void. Each of these elements contain six Supers to choose from.

Solar

Golden Gun
Summon a flaming pistol that disintegrates enemies with Solar energy.
Hammer of Sol
Summon a flaming hammer and wreak destruction down upon your enemies.
Daybreak
Weave Solar energy into blades and smite your foes from the skies.
Blade Barrage
Vault into the air and unleash a volley of Solar-charged explosive knives.
Burning Maul
Summon a flaming maul and crush enemies with the force of a quake.
Well of Radiance
Thrust your Daybreak sword into the ground. The sword generates a powerful aura that heals and empowers allies in it.

Arc

Arc Staff
Form a staff of pure Arc energy and acrobatically take out your foes.
Fists of Havoc
Supercharge your fists and slam the ground with the force of a maelstrom.
Stormtrance
Chain Arc Lightning from your hands and electrify enemies with devastating streams of Arc energy that intensify over time.
Whirlwind Guard
While wielding your Arc Staff, hold down LT to deflect incoming projectiles. Deflecting projectiles triples Arc Staff damage for a short time.
Thundercrash
Hurl through the air like a missile and crash into enemies to inflict meteoric damage.
Chaos Reach
Unleash a long-range channeled beam of concentrated Arc Energy. While active, deactivating Chaos Reach will save Mysterious Super energy.

Void

Shadowshot
Tether enemies to a Void Anchor, slowing, weakening and suppressing them for you and your allies.
Sentinel Shield
Press both Triggers to summon a Shield of Void energy. While Sentinel Shield is active, press RT to attack. Hold LB to guard. Press LT to perform a Shield Throw.
Nova Bomb
Hurl an explosive bolt of Void energy at enemies, disintegrating those caught within its blast radius.
Spectral Blades
Summon a pair of deadly Void blades and stalk the battlefield in a veil of shadows. Press RB to perform a quick melee attack. Press RT to perform a heavy attack and once again vanish from sight.
Banner Shield
Guard with Sentinel Shield to create a defensive wall. Allies who shoot through the wall have increased weapon damage and guarding allies makes the shield last longer.
Nova Warp
Step between dimensions to subvert the laws of physics. Press LS to teleport a short distance. Hold and release RT to unleash a deadly Void eruption.

Class Abilities are not available for use in the Verdant Forest as they are replaced by the Mysterious Supers.

Ranking[]

Players who are below Rank 15 will not be able to play the Verdant Forest as Rank matters in this new activity. Enemies will even have a Rank attached to them, setting difficulties also affects their displayed Rank and how powerful they'll be.

Groups of Ranks and Prestige will determine how powerful Players and their chosen Mysterious Supers will be:

Rank 15 to Rank 45 - Standard Damage Resistance — Mysterious Super does 100 per hit
Prestige 1 Rank 1 to Prestige 3 Rank 45 - Better Damage Resistance — Mysterious Super does 150 per hit
Prestige 4 Rank 1 to Prestige 7 Rank 45 - Great Damage Resistance — Mysterious Super does 200 per hit
Prestige 8 Rank 1 to Prestige 11 Rank 45 - Reinforced Damage Resistance — Mysterious Super does 300 per hit
Prestige 12 Rank 1 to Prestige 15 Rank 45 - Sturdy Damage Resistance — Mysterious Super does 450 per hit
Prestige 16 Rank 1 to Prestige 19 Rank 45 - Hardened Damage Resistance — Mysterious Super does 650 per hit
Prestige 20 Rank 1 to Prestige 23 Rank 45 - Exceptional Damage Resistance — Mysterious Super does 1000 per hit
Prestige 24 Rank 1 to Prestige 25 Rank 45 - Plot Armour-style Damage Resistance — Mysterious Super does 2000 per hit

Grimm and their Cryptid counterparts will have the same Rank, but will differ between each type of Grimm/Cryptid. On all Difficulties, the Grimm and Cryptids do not scale any higher than Prestige 5 Rank 45.

Vindicator/Seeker - Rank 15 to Prestige 1 Rank 15
Warrior/Scout - Rank 20 to Prestige 1 Rank 20
Stalker - Rank 20 to Prestige 1 Rank 20
Scorpion - Rank 25 to Prestige 1 Rank 25
Gladiator/Hunter - Rank 30 to Prestige 1 Rank 30
Bruiser - Rank 40 to Prestige 1 Rank 40
Apparition/Phantom/Leper - Prestige 1 Rank 20 to Prestige 2 Rank 15
Aggressor/Rhino - Prestige 1 Rank 45 to Prestige 2 Rank 45
Guardian/Mammoth - Prestige 3 Rank 1 to Prestige 3 Rank 45
Predecessor/Ancestor - Prestige 5 Rank 45

High-Value Tier will have different rankings on each Difficulty.

Casual Difficulty
Elite scale from Rank 20 to 40
Major scale from Prestige 1 Rank 20 to Prestige 1 Rank 35
Ultra scale from Prestige 2 Rank 20 to Prestige 3 Rank 10.
Regular Difficulty
Elite scale from Prestige 4 Rank 20 to Prestige 5 Rank 35
Major scale from Prestige 6 Rank 35 to Prestige 7 Rank 35
Ultra scale from Prestige 8 Rank 20 to Prestige 8 Rank 45.
Hardcore Difficulty
Elite scale from Prestige 9 Rank 35 to Prestige 10 Rank 25
Major scale from Prestige 11 Rank 25 to Prestige 12 Rank 35
Ultra scale from Prestige 13 Rank 35 to Prestige 14 Rank 35.
Extinction Difficulty
Elite scale from Prestige 15 Rank 45 to Prestige 16 Rank 45
Major scale from Prestige 17 Rank 45 to Prestige 18 Rank 45
Ultra scale from Prestige 19 Rank 45 to Prestige 20 Rank 45.
Nightmare Difficulty
Elite scale from Prestige 21 Rank 45 to Prestige 22 Rank 45
Major scale from Prestige 23 Rank 45 to Prestige 24 Rank 45
Ultra do not scale higher than Prestige 25 Rank 45.

Branches[]

As players start in the Verdant Forest, they'll first notice they are on a time limit. The starting time is 4 minutes. In order to keep this time limit up, players will need to clear out enemies in Branches; the more Branches cleared and enemies killed, the more time they'll be given at the Boss Battle when their time limit runs out.

Each type of Grimm and Cryptid encountered will have a specific amount of time added to the clock.

Warrior/Scout/Vindicator/Seeker - 2 seconds
Stalker/Scorpion - 3 seconds
Gladiator/Hunter/Bruiser - 4 seconds
Apparition/Phantom/Leper - 6 seconds
Aggressor/Rhino - 9 seconds
Guardian/Mammoth - 12 seconds
Elite Grimm & Cryptids - 25 seconds
Major Grimm & Cryptids - 60 seconds
Ultra Grimm & Cryptids - 2 minutes

Players can clear as many Branches as they can before the time runs out.

Bosses[]

Main article: Verdant Forest/Boss Dialogue

“Mr. Tachibana: Hey listen, friend... Drifter and I were taken to some place a few months ago.
The Drifter: And we got out. But we did have fun there.
Mr. Tachibana: What you are about to face, or I should say WHO you are about to face...
The Drifter: They are just a reflection. Physically, they can still harm you. So get to work, maverick.
Mr. Tachibana: Just don't die on us, friend, you right now are the only person who makes BIG purchases at the Armoury.”

―Verdant Forest Boss Intro^[src]

Once the time limit runs out, players will be transported to a small open arena-like area and will come face to face with five Bosses, who are actually reflections of Villains within the Nexus.

These Bosses will appear in order.

Loki, Nexus Apparition (supported by lesser Nexus Apparitions)
The Hybrid (supported by Infected New Fort Trinity soldiers and scientists)
Re'mai, the Ursa Major (supported by Warrior and Gladiator Grimm)
Grimm Predecessor (supported by all types of Grimm)
The Angel (supported by Cyborg Zombies)

These Bosses can only be damaged with Mysterious Super attacks, meaning players will need to utilize their newfound powers if they wish to take down the Bosses quickly.

Nightmare[]

The "Nightmare" difficulty has been confirmed by design director Anakin Nakamura that it actually is the original scrapped Extinction difficulty.

Nightmare is the ultimate Age of Extinction experience. The HUD is completely absent; only completed Challenges notifications will pop up. Friendly-fire is enabled; both players will be harmed. Grimm and Cryptid A.I. are significantly more intelligent and will outwit players, becoming more unpredictable. 80% more Grimm and Cryptids will spawn. Players will encounter more stronger Grimm and Cryptids early on. Grimm deal 80% damage to players, essentially allowing them to two-hit players; High-Value Tier Grimm and Cryptids will deal an additional 60%, allowing them to one-hit players. High-Value Tier Grimm and Cryptids are encountered more frequently. All Grimm and Cryptids have quadruple the amount of health than Extinction difficulty, this includes High-Value Tier Grimm and Cryptids.

Videos[]

The Verdant Forest

Trivia[]

The "some place" Mr. Tachibana mentions at the start of the Boss Battle is actually the Arena from Boss Rush.
Unlike the other four Bosses, The Angel's reflection will not disappear into dust when defeated. Instead she will intentionally act as if she was knocked out.