Nightmare Old Scratch
In the World of Dreams

As you level up your companions they will occasionally reach epic promotion opportunities. When you first meet Old Scratch he is an Undead Witchdoctor. This is his fourth epic promotion and it occurs when he reaches Level 70.

You can learn much more about his  abilities and skills at this level from Pirate101 Central. At the end of this promotion quest, he becomes a Skeletal Shaman.

• Undead Witchdoctor
• Undead Bokor – Level 24 Promotion
• Undead Hougan – Level 35 Promotion
• Skeletal Shaman – Level 70 Promotion

After you’ve applied your training points and Scratch levels up, he’ll tell you he needs to speak with you. Let’s go to a nearby Tavern so you can talk.

In the Tavern he’ll tell you The other side is hungry and that he feels dark powers moving, at the edges of his sight. He explains this sensation is like a nightmare, and the Old Scratch waits beyond for his doom! He’ll tell you that his magic is no match for this and you must head off to talk to Vadima. 

She will explain everything clearly, ….yeah right, and suggests Scratch must face the Nightmare Door on the Isle of Bones. Where she says a Skeleton Key will open the Door. Thankfully Scratch will do a little interpretation for you and explains the Isle of Bones must be Scrimshaw.

Indeed it is. Vadima will give you a Skeleton Key to enter the Doorway inside the World of Dreams. So it’s off to Scrimshaw and the Obsidian Doorway.

The Dark Reflection Quest
Like all Companion Promotions, this is not going to be easy. The first time I went through the door and battled the Dark entities, I was defeated miserably.  But what Level 70 Companion Promotions are?

This is one of those battles that you really want help with. Either with a large number of minion doubloons or hiring Crown Henchmen. You’re not going to get through this alone!  I strongly suggest making this a Team Up with a friend or three.

We entered the World of Dreams with a two player team on the sigil. Only one of us needed a skeleton key to get through the door. You don’t need to Join a Group with each other, in order to get beyond the Boss door. Who ever has the skeleton key enters first, then other team members can Teleport to that player to get beyond the locked door. (Remember to be “friends” in order to use the “go to” option to teleport).

If you are defeated in this battle, use the “return” door button to get back into the dungeon so you don’t need another skeleton key. If you have to leave the battle and can’t get back to it until later, you’ll need another key to get through the door.  (See the World of Dreams article for how you can pick up extra skeleton keys).

Once inside, here’s who you’re facing:

In this battle the Dark Reflection Scratch will call death minions to his aid and you can quickly be out numbered. The more people who are on your team, the more Dead he will call to help him. So you want to defeat the Dark Reflection Scratch as quickly as possible and then pick off the rest of his crew and minions.

Bones McCoy will summon Drakes and Scorpions to the battle. The Drakes he’ll call one at a time. But the Scorpions will be summoned 3 at a time. Yikes!

Mr. Neville is the guy I’d target right after Dark Reflection Scratch. He will heal everyone on the Dark side’s team. And he can do that several times. Yuck!

One good thing about these first 3 of the initial enemies, they stand still and don’t move around on the battleboard. Our 4th opponent, Dusty Ted does move around, once Dark Scratch has been defeated.

The Battle Begins
Dark Scratch and his crew will be in the upper right corner. There are obstacles in the middle of the board. Some you can destroy, others you can’t. Dark Scratch will throw some dark magic at you that will reach across the entire board. You have a chance of being killed before you even get to him on the other side. So some planning is key. If you have a Magic Resistance Doubloon, use it!

Once you and your crew have made it through the choke point of the obstacles, move to the bottom right side of the board. You and another member of your crew have a better chance of getting up and behind Dark Scratch where his group hit weapon won’t reach you.  Some of your crew will need to go straight at he and his crew. These should be your toughest crew members.

 

Another tool in your belt, those of your crew who can go invisible can make it across the board along the bottom, without much trouble. Only the Dark Scratch’s group hits will impact those invisible crew members.

From behind your enemies, with the wall to your back, you should be able to take out Dark Scratch and Mr. Neville.  Use your Doubloon minions liberally. The more the better!

You’re going to want to make sure you have your healing talents up front in your powers. Witchdoctors should summon all their available minions. When Dark Scratch calls his minions, a number of them will appear on the left side of the battleboard. If you drop some of your minions back there, they should be able to help take care of those enemies.

Some other tips, use your shooters in this battle. If you have a Privateer in your team up, let them go into the battle first. Their heals coming up first in each battle round could be the difference between you being defeated or not.

Helpful Doubloons
In this battle, one of your first doubloons should be Magic Resistance! Use your Minion doubloons! The more the merrier.

Use Critical Boost when you’re in the thick of the enemy. That way any riposte and vengeance strikes will also be critical hits.
Move your healing doubloons up front before you enter the battle.

Most of Dark Scratch’s minions aren’t too hard to defeat. Once Mr. Neville has been taken care of that is. So focus on his crew, then you can more easily pick off the minions.

Once the battle has been won, you’ll need to return to a Tavern to talk to Old Scratch. He’ll transform into the Level 70 Skeletal Shaman!

Congratulations!!

Once you have defeated Scratch and won the battle, you’ll find an initial badge in your backpack. Keep finding Obsidian keys and defeat these Nightmare Bosses over and over again to attain the Collection badge for this battle! For Scratch, you’ll receive the Obsidian Scratcher to start with.

I’m assuming that, like all Collection badges, once you’ve defeated a Boss 10 times, you’ll be presented witha new Collection badge to defeat the boss 25 times and so on. Much like the badges for defeating Moo Manchu. So keep battling!

Good luck!

© 2018 A Pirate’s Portal;  Springwolf, D.D., Ph.D.  All Rights Reserved.