Caliginous Caper (mission)

Caliginous Caper
Basic Information
Name:	Caliginous Caper
File name:	mvm_ghost_town
Developer(s):	Valve
Map:	Ghost Town (Coaltown Event)
Mission type:	Endurance
Waves:	1 wave with 8 subwaves
Difficulty:	Nightmare
Starting credits:	5000
Maximum possible credits:	13300
Minimum respawn wave time:	3
Maximum respawn wave time:	3
Fixed respawn time:	Yes
Tour:	None
Sentry Buster spawn time:	120 seconds
Sentry Buster respawn time:	120 seconds

Caliginous Caper is a nightmare endurance mission available on the Ghost Town map. This mission has only one incredibly long wave, Wave 666, consisting of 911 enemies (not counting support-only enemies) and 9 Tanks with no checkpoints whatsoever. All robots in this mission, with the exception of Sentry Busters, are reskinned to look like zombies, though this is purely cosmetic.

As an endurance mission, Caliginous Caper features a timer that will appear over the bomb when it is not being carried, similar to the timer that appears over the briefcase in Capture the Flag or Special Delivery. When the timer runs out, the bomb is reset back to the robot spawn area. In addition, the respawn time for the defenders is set at a constant 3 seconds.

Waves

Sub-wave	Class			Count			Delay(s)		Credits
Wave 666
1		Hard	100% crit chance	10	10	30	0	0	300
		Easy	Fires continuously	8	8	32	3	7	200
		Expert	100% crit chance	4	4	12	5	5	200
2		Normal	—	4	20	20	5	2	400
	Über Medic	Normal	Spawns with full Über  +400% ÜberCharge rate  -90% heal rate  -3 seconds Über duration
3		Easy	—	5	10	40	8	2	300
		Easy	—	5	10	40	8	2	300
		Expert	—	1	2	5	8	30	200
		Expert	—	1	2	5	8	30	200
4		Easy	100% crit chance Spawns from all three sides	5	10	80	10	8	600
		35,000	—	1	—	3	0	50	600
5	Type 2	Expert	—	5	10	40	10	10	500
		Hard	100% crit chance	5	5	40	30	8	500
		40,000	—	—	—	1	55	0	600
6A		Expert	The Direct Hit The Buff Banner  Spawns with full rage  +800%  +100% damage dealt Spawns from all three sides	10	20	40	15	2	300
6B		Expert	100% crit chance	2	8	8	0	30	400
		Expert	—
7		42,000	—	1	—	4	10	30	1100
		Expert	—	8	16	96	40	5	200
8A		Expert	100% crit chance  +50% damage dealt  +80% faster reload rate Spawns from all three sides	5	20	75	10	1	300
8B		Expert	100% crit chance  +100% damage dealt  +180% faster reload rate  +40% fire rate bonus Spawns from all three sides	5	20	75	10	1	300
8C		Expert	100% crit chance  +100% damage dealt  +180% faster reload rate  +100% projectile speed Spawns from all three sides	5	20	75	5	1	200
8D		Expert	100% crit chance  +100% damage dealt  +50% movement speed Spawns from all three sides	5	20	75	10	1	200
8E		Expert	100% crit chance Spawns from all three sides	5	20	75	5	1	200
8F		Expert	100% crit chance  +50% damage dealt Spawns from all three sides	4	22	48	5	1	200
	Über Medic	Normal	Spawns with full Über  +400% ÜberCharge rate  -90% heal rate  -3 seconds Über duration
8G		60,000	—	—	—	1	20	0	0
Support		Hard	Vision range 3000	2	—	—	120	210	—
		Expert	—	2	—	—	180	180	—

General Strategy

Contrary to popular belief, Caliginous Caper isn't actually that hard of a mission. The "Nightmare" moniker is more for flavor and to fit with the Halloween theme than any actual indication of difficulty. However, this mission is very different from any other in the game, and approaching it with the right strategy is helpful.

• Your team requires multiple heavy damage-dealers in order to destroy the Tanks and giants fast enough. Soldiers, Demos, Pyros, and Snipers are all great choices for the main damage classes. Having one or two support classes like Scout, Engineer or Spy is recommended.
  •  Scout is an excellent class to have here. Although players start the wave with plenty of money, collecting all that drops during the wave will help the team buy and use as many canteens as desired, in addition to keeping the Scout's health at ridiculously high levels. His Mad Milk is a great asset, increasing the survivability of any Soldiers, Pyros, Heavies, or Demomen on his team. Marking giants for death doesn't hurt, either, and the amount of money on this mission allows a Scout to fully upgrade his Scattergun, allowing him to deal massive damage, especially to tanks. Dealing damage to tank comparable to Soldiers and Pyros, Scout can easily jump on top of a tank and unload his weapon into it without fear of being back-stabbed.
  •  Soldier provides a combination of high amounts of explosive damage and team support and is arguably the best class for this mission. The Beggar's Bazooka is by far the best primary weapon choice for Soldier here. Coupled with his Concheror, he is able to spam rockets upon groups of robots, giants, tanks, and makes it much harder for Spy bots to backstab him, especially if he positions himself on top of the tank and rocket jumps himself into the air. He is also able to quickly fly back to spawn via Overload Jumping to take out anyone who has slipped through to take them out quickly. Since the Two Cities Update, the Soldier can update his Rocket Specialist ability to allow his rockets to stun giant robots temporarily, as well as increasing their blast radius to allow him to deal massive damage to larger groups of small robots.
  •  Pyro is a useful class, capable of dealing high damage, killing Spies, and resetting the bomb. Pushing the bomb carrier into the pit with airblast can be helpful if the bomb gets too far, preventing a lone Scout from sneaking through and delivering the bomb before anyone can react. However, the bomb will reset itself periodically, so resetting is not as useful as on other maps. Upgrading Damage and Health on kill on the Flamethrower, coupled with Movement Speed and Resistances, can make the Pyro almost invincible. Consider using the Backburner or Phlogistinator to maximize damage against giants or tanks, respectively. Let robots target your teammates first so that you can ambush them for maximum damage.
  •  Demoman is another class that can take advantage of splash damage here. Although his raw DPS might not be as high against tanks as the Soldier's, the Demoman can use his Stickybomb Launcher to deal blanket damage to hordes of robots. The ability to eliminate those pesky Über Medics before they can do anything is helpful, but not essential since Soldiers should already have enough upgrades to do the same. Equipping the Chargin' Targe and upgrading resistances to tank loads of damage and using the Grenade Launcher or even melee as your primary source of damage here are viable options as well.
  •  Heavy is not as useful here as on most missions, unless he has a Medic that is willing to pocket him with the right loadout and upgrades. His relative ineffectiveness against tanks and the amount of the money players begin the mission with make him less effective than normal compared to most other classes, but his ability to kill giants can still be quite helpful. It is not advisable for beginners to play Heavy without the support of a Medic or a Scout using Mad Milk. It is essential for a Heavy to have Penetration, Destroy Projectiles, and Health on Kill upgrades.
  •  Engineer is virtually an essential asset in most missions, especially in this one, depending on the set-up you are running (such as Scout, Heavy+Medic, Sniper, Soldier). Teleporters for quick transport, a Dispenser for ammo, and a Sentry to keep Scout bots from slipping through will always be helpful. The Engineer should be responsible for taking care of stragglers and guarding the bomb, as well as making it easier for your teammates to have a steady supply of ammo, health, and a quick way to get back to spawn for upgrades and canteens.
  •  Medic is a very recommended class for this mission if you have a friend or teammate running Heavy that will cooperate with you. With the Kritzkrieg, your Heavy will annihilate any and all robots, giants, and tanks, and your shield will block all incoming damage. If you and the Heavy are running the correct class and upgrades, the wave will be a walk in the park. Upgrading to have a fast ÜberCharge will ensure you will keep your Heavy in constant crits, and having the max shield and overheal upgrades are essential, shield to keep your Heavy from dying and overheal to make it so he doesn't die so quickly when your shield is down. Having the ability to share canteens is also very important when you absolutely need crits in tight moments when you are down on ÜberCharge.
  •  Sniper excels against giants and Heavies, both of which appear aplenty in this mission. With Explosive Headshots and Projectile Penetration, the Sniper can headshot two giants at once and deal heavy damage all surrounding zombies. The end result is similar to spamming Beggar's Bazooka rockets into massed targets. His upgraded Jarate provides support to his team and makes his shots even easier. The Sniper can even do appreciable damage against tanks by noscoping them with maximum Reload Speed (it may be helpful to stand on top of the tank to avoid Spies). Also, equipping the Bushwacka with maximum fire rate, coupled with a Soldier's Buff Banner, the Sniper can deal constant melee crits. The Hitman's Heatmaker can be very effective against giants, as its 'focus' mode allows for a fast rate of headshotting giants, made even more powerful through damage, projectile penetration and explosive headshots upgrades. Be sure to target the slowest-moving robot in a group.
  •  Spy is basically a novelty class here, although he can prove to a helpful class at times. Due to the number of tanks and the sheer number of non-giant robots, Spy will have difficulty contributing his "fair share" of damage. His giant-killing ability is impressive, though, and his ability to draw the robots' attention away from teammates can be quite helpful. He can be useful as the primary money collector or simply as a fun class to have on a server where the other players don't mind doing a little extra work. Due to the sheer amount of money available, Spy can even afford to upgrade his gun and spam crit canteens to help a bit with tank-killing. Equipped with the Diamondback, Dead Ringer, and Big Earner, Spies can easily help contain giant robots and destroy tanks.
• Each subwave on Caliginous Caper can be split into three categories: Giants (Subwaves 1-3, 5, 6B), Tanks (Subwaves 4, 5, 7, 8G), and Crits (Subwaves 6A, 8A-G). Each part requires different strategies.
  • Giant waves: The closer you let them get to the spawn, the less chance of winning you have. At that point, the Giants will spawncamp you, preventing you from getting into a favorable position to attack them. Apply mini-crits and Mad Milk whenever possible. Use crit boost Canteens if you need to take them out fast, or an ÜberCharge canteen if you're cornered by them or to tank their attacks.
    • On Subwave 6B (Giant Deflector Heavy & Giant Medic), be sure to take out the Giant Medic first since it heals at a virtually infinite rate. It is best to take out Giant Medics with large bursts of damage.
  • Tank waves: Your Tank busters (Soldiers, Demomen, and Pyros) should focus on dealing enough damage before moving onto the zombies. Be sure to keep an eye on the bomb while killing tanks. Crit boost canteens may be helpful for these waves.
    • On Subwave 7 (Spies & Tanks), avoid getting backstabbed while you kill the tanks. Strafing while you attack, constantly checking behind you, and shooting everything that moves should be enough to keep you alive. Classes that don't deal explosive damage should consider standing on the tank for safety.
      • Zombie Spies always spawn at the exit of your team's spawn, so it might be helpful for even just one member to stay at spawn and get the Spies' attention, allowing your teammates to focus on taking care of the tanks.
  • Crit waves: With little or no resistances upgraded, they will be able to kill you in a single shot. At this point, you should invest some money into upgrading resistances. Maximizing crit resistance will let most classes survive at least one hit. ÜberCharge canteens may help.
    • If the crit-boosted zombies are too much for you, as a Pyro or Heavy, you can take cover behind the walls on either side of the map between the middle building and the side buildings and constantly fire to the sides, creating a "wall of death". This gives the zombies less time to react, depending on how fast you kill them.
    • The crit-boosted Soldier zombies can be the most frustrating enemies in the entire wave, as their constant barrage of super-powered rockets can throw off your aim.
    • As a Soldier, be careful against the zombie Pyros. They are very skilled at reflecting rockets, and one reflected rocket can end up killing you or an ally.
    • The final stretch (final Tank & Heavy-Medic combos): Split your force between the Tank and the Heavy-Medic combos. The player(s) dealing with the Heavy and Medics are to distract them long enough to keep your Tank busters away from them. If you don't have a convenient way to dispatch the Medics, your best bet is to let them trigger their ÜberCharges early so you can finish them off before they make it too far.
• Canteens can be helpful to players having difficulty. Plenty of money is available to buy them, but make sure you're getting upgrades as well!
• While you start the wave with a ton of money, don't forget to collect the money whenever possible. You need all the money you can get for upgrades, respawns, and canteens.
• An easy class balance for beginners to beat the mission with is 4 Soldiers with the Buff Banner and Beggar's Bazooka, with an Engineer and Scout for support.

Trivia

• An alternate version of this wave can be found in the game files named mvm_ghost_town_666.pop with some minor tweaks in credits dropped, robot health, amount of robots spawned, and cosmetics.
• "Caliginous" as a word means "dim", "misty", and/or "dark".

Update history

October 26, 2012 Patch

• Added the map Mvm_coaltown_event with a special Halloween mission

November 2, 2012 Patch

• Added more credits to Caliginous Caper, Wave 666

See also

• The pop file for Caliginous Caper