The operations you are deployed on are divided into four phases, culminating in the boss phase, where the enemy commander attempts to put an end to your little band personally. Getting through a phase takes you to a room where you can use a recovery font that heals the entire party, and then you can keep pushing onward.
Phases 1 and 3
These phases have you attempting to fight your way through the zone you’ve entered. You face multiple groups of enemies, and there are plenty of side areas you can take the time to explore, if you have the right party members to get through the locked doors, magic barriers, and weakened walls strewn throughout.
Exploration of side areas is important, as you can locate treasure chests filled with gold or equipment. Sometimes, these chests are traps, and you must fend off an undead ambush, possibly lead by an arcane horror. If you’re especially unlucky, a revenant could be summoned, and unless your warrior tank is on their game, this can be the end of your little band.
Phases 2 and 4
These two phases can also be called “event phases.” A member of the Inquisition war council narrates the nature of the surprise objective. It can be the escort of another Inquisition agent who was stranded in the zone, or it can be recovering weapons or artifacts that the enemy is attempting to destroy. The escort missions are complicated, as the agent will attempt to “help” you during a fight, putting them in the line of fire. The item recovery missions demand that you move quickly: A timer appears on the upper right corner of the screen, telling you how close you are to failing the objective.
Failing these events does not end your mission entirely, but you lose out on bonus gold and experience, so it is worth doing your best to get these events done.
Boss Phase
The last phase of an operation places you against a powerful boss enemy, along with a massive number of reinforcements. A party member must first plant the Inquisition flag at a designated location, triggering this final battle. Each enemy faction has a unique boss, and the battles themselves act as a sort of test of the party’s ability. Warrior tanks must tank the boss, and rogues and mages must kill the reinforcements as quickly as possible while supporting the tank fighting the boss as much as possible.
Ending an Operation
Regardless of whether or not you complete or fail an operation, you earn gold and experience based on how far you manage to go, how many enemies you’ve slain, and how much treasure you’ve recovered. The end-of-match screen shows you how much you’ve earned in all these categories. Additionally, you’ll be shown all of the challenges you’ve made progress on. There are hundreds of challenges, and they all have multiple levels of completion. You’ll be busy for quite some time trying to finish them all!