Lord Blackburn

Lord Blackburn
HP	7200/9000/10800
Damage	100-200
Attack Rate	2.0s
Armor Rating	High (75%)
Magic Resistance	None
Speed	Slow
Lives Taken	20
Abilities	Area attack Can disable towers Raises dead friendly units as Skeleton Knights (Steam/Android only)

Lord Blackburn is the boss of the Curse of Castle Blackburn mini-campaign in the Steam, iOS, and Android versions of Kingdom Rush. He is the second most heavily armored boss in the series (after one of the Ancient Ghosts, who has physical damage immunity).

Lore

BE CAREFUL OF WHAT YOU WISH FOR..

There was nothing special about that particular day. It was a sunny afternoon, just like many others before it and also like many others that would come after that one.

Yet, despite how ordinary that day seemed to be, that was the day when everything changed.

Lord Blackburn gazed out of the window and looked at his statue. He was certainly not prone to pride and that statue had been a tribute his beloved citizens have built for him. He was respected and loved, and he loved them back and felt responsible for their well being and happiness.

With a heavy sigh, he moved to his meeting chamber and started the daily meeting with the villagers. The evil forces were getting stronger, but that was not fresh news.

For as long as he could remember, he had fought evil. There was a time when he was certain he could banish it from the realm and he had made every possible effort to see that happening. But he was an older man now, worn and sullen from years of conflict. He was getting tired since no matter how bravely he fought or how many men he lost, evil would rise again with a new face. He knew now, in his heart, his beloved citizens would never be free from it.

This knowledge was the cause he was barely eating and sleep became a luxury tainted by nightmares. Someday, he would die, leaving his lands and his people unguarded. Who would stand strong against the darkness? Who would ensure peace and happiness for the citizens? If he died, his duty and promise to them would remain unfulfilled forever. The great Lord Blackburn, in all his strength, would die a failure. He couldn’t allow that to happen.  

On that day, word of a terrible attack on the southern border reached his ears. The crops had been ravaged, and hundreds of villagers had been slain. The sight of it was haunting. The houses burned, and the soil ran red with the blood of innocents. He had failed to protect them. No more, he decided. It was at that precise moment that he took a decision that would change not only his fate and also the ones that trusted him the most.

Since the beginning of time, a coven of white witches had lived on what was now lord Blackburn's lands. They had always lived peacefully providing help and medical aid to the villagers. The covenant was directed by two twin sisters, who had sworn an oath to serve and protect the Lord and his family.

They were not surprised when Lord Blackburn requested them to come to the castle to meet with him, as this had happened more and more often due to the continuous increase of the attacks.

What caught them by surprise was his unusual request. Lord Blackburn had gone through the ancient library and found references on a scroll of rotten parchment about a special kind of magic that he thought could shield his lands and inhabitants from the impending doom the evil forces represented and wanted the coven to perform those rituals.

The witches tried to explain to him that that kind of magic always came with a steep price and that he was asking them to meddle with forces beyond his control, but their warning fell into deaf ears. There was nothing he would not sacrifice to ensure the safety of his people, and he gave them the order to proceed.

This desperate act would have dire consequences. The ritual’s magic spread unchecked across his domain. It was true it ensured the protection against the evils that had been restlessly attacking, but it did so by lending the lands so uninhabitable that nothing, not even the demons of Pandemonium itself, could live there.

As for the villagers, they were drained of all life, reduced to mindless vessels, void of suffering, pain… and happiness.

The White Witches were twisted into wicked creatures who thrived on the power of black magic. Strengthened by the energy of the ritual and their new abilities, any who dared step foot in Blackburn’s territory would meet a grim fate.

But it was Lord Blackburn himself whose fall was most tragic. His own choice corrupted his soul and caused his body to fade into mist. Banished from death and bound to his sworn duty, he was given a new form to carry out his eternal charge in a shell of cold steel. He was now tireless, undying, and would stand to protect his domain. Forever.

To this day, the White Witches turned Black Hags fly the skies north of Valardul, terrorizing anyone that crosses their path to fulfill the oath made to their Lord.

Overview

Once a great noble knight, his yearn for the power to battle evil corrupted him and his lands.

In addition to having more armor than any other boss in the franchise, Lord Blackburn has a range of powerful skills to breach your defenses. Most notably, he can disable nearby towers and units for 4 seconds and stun heroes for 2 seconds by slamming his axe on the ground. He can also hack through multiple troops at once by swinging his axe, although this attack is rather weak compared to those of other bosses. His tower disabling ability is the most powerful in the series; it affects any tower in about 3-holder-long radius from him, covering up to 8 towers.

On Steam and Android, Skeleton Knights rise from soldiers or Earth Elementals that are killed near the boss.

Strategy

• Due to Lord Blackburn's extraordinary armor rating, advanced mages and durable heroes are crucial to his defeat - physical attacks will simply bounce off him.
• Arcane Wizards placed along his exit path can deduct a large portion of the boss's health.
  • Sorcerer Mages can deal quite a bit of damage and weaken his armor if not distracted by other enemies, and proper use of the Earth Elemental will stall Lord Blackburn for quite a while.
  • Teslas upgraded with Overcharge will deal high damage to him, especially if combined with Sorcerer Mages.
  • Rangers' Poison Arrows can weaken other enemies alongside the boss, but the damage done is negligible, thus do not rely on them to kill Lord Blackburn.
  • Paladins can block Lord Blackburn for a while, thanks to his rather modest attack damage for a boss and lack of an instant kill, giving time for your towers to deal damage.
• It is recommended to use abilities and ranged, mobile heroes to stall him as long as possible so that he doesn't go too far after disabling your towers.
  • Magnus Spellbane and Elora Wintersong can be kited to harm Lord Blackburn without being killed, however, beware of other enemies swarming over, distracting and hurting the fragile ranged heroes.
  • Melee heroes, especially Ten'Shí, Thor, Oni, Hacksaw, Ingvar Bearclaw and Gerald Lightseeker can stall the boss for a while. Make sure you retreat the hero when they are low on health, and use your other units to block Lord Blackburn while your hero is healing.
  • On Steam and Android, Gerald Lightseeker's Shield of Retribution allows him to potentially reflect a damaging blow and harm the boss. 
  • Ignus's attacks and abilities deal True Damage and can heal himself while fighting. However, do not use Ignus to block the boss, since he frequently dashes to other enemies, making him an unreliable blocker.
  • While most melee heroes cannot hurt the boss through the great armor rating, Oni can still harm him with True Damage from his two special skills.
  • Ingvar Bearclaw's Bear Form and Ten'Shí's Iron Time allow them invulnerability to take significantly more hits from Lord Blackburn before needing to retreat.
• Blackburn takes a short route to the exit, so most of your towers should be concentrated around the center to quickly kill him before he makes it out.
• Because Lord Blackburn will disable nearby towers every few seconds, striking him with Rain of Fire and Reinforcements as much as possible with help stop him from walking through unscathed.
• As of a patch change, Lord Blackburn will now use his stunning ability even when there are no towers nearby when he's being stalled by a melee unit.

Related Achievements

GAME OF CROWNS Defeat Lord Blackburn and preserve peace between realms!

Trivia

• Lord Blackburn appears as a boss in the board game Kingdom Rush: Rift in Time.
• Despite resembling the Spectral Knight, he is not immune to physical attacks and does not resist magic.
• Lord Blackburn's armor appears in Kingdom Rush: Vengeance on the level The Ancient Ghosts in the ruins of Denas’s previous attack. When reconstructing Lord Blackburn, the player's towers gain a 50% increase in damage for 5 seconds, plus an achievement that awards 500 gems.

Appearances

• Castle Blackburn
• The Ancient Ghosts

Gallery

Blackburn's area attack, surrounded by disabled towers

Death of Lord Blackburn

Lord Blackburn explodes upon death

Lord Blackburn's figurine in Rift in Time

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