Curse

Ka El Windstorm · May 09, 2006, 09:51 PM // 21:51

Can I have some tips for beating this mission? The last group I was in died cause we ran out of time. There seems to beso much to kill, even if we try and avoid most of it.

Dahl · May 09, 2006, 10:38 PM // 22:38

Find a better group, and choose talon and danika to skip the most annoying parts.

There's no special secret to beating this, just find a good group.

Zinger314 · May 09, 2006, 10:41 PM // 22:41

It's the last big mission, of course it's difficult.

If possible, find a Necromancer, particulary a Minion Master. If you have one, the mission is MUCH easier. (Due to the overpowered Celestial Horror)

Dahl · May 10, 2006, 09:56 AM // 09:56

Another random tip I suppose is when you get to the Ele boss, single him out, make sure he comes ALONE!

Otherwise, his starburst is going to floor your party and the survivors will be killed by the mobs.

Are you still stuck in this mission or did you get past?

x-todd · May 10, 2006, 02:28 PM // 14:28

ive been stuck on this mission for a few days now. its just so hard to get a good group.
and when i do with henchies, i just cant kill the stuff fast enough and run out of time.

Mai · May 10, 2006, 02:44 PM // 14:44

A boon prot monk can make this mission a whole lot easier since he/she can stop the spike dmg from a lot of the bosses and mobs there. Only other thing I can say is to get as much damage dealing classes as possible. Raisu can be done with 1 boon prot monk if need be.

I've monked it by myself before for guildies and friends...wasn't fun..but it got the job done >___>;

frickaline · May 10, 2006, 07:58 PM // 19:58

here's a couple tips for you -

1. If the people in your group want to run past warriors and eles to kill healers, they aren't too bright. You will soon find both Togo and Mhenlo dirt napping if you follow that strategy because those 2 will take the brunt of the damage. You must PULL warriors and eles out away from their respective healers, at least a little, and then take them out before going after the healers. Do not be afraid to use the special dragon skill on the sliver armored dragons if you need to. You will get it back after one boss kill and you can save all the subsequent uses of this skill for the remaining bosses.

2. Contrary to popular belief, Minion Masters are (for once) not necessarily the greatest choice for this mission. There is a lot of sliver armor here and minions can make it really painful to your melee party members. If you haven't much for melee in your party, an MM will help, but otherwise, I'd rather take an SS. As a side note, I was with a party that needed to suicide (/resign still bugged *sniff*) and they couldn't die to the dragon elementalists because they weren't attacking them. Keep that in mind when you fight them and you might live a bit longer.

Quote:

Sliver Armor: For 5-10 seconds, you have 25-45% chance to block attacks and whenever you are the target of a hostile spell or attack one nearby foe is struck for 5-29 earth damage.

Disenchants could also help for this, but its a pretty short duration, so an interrupt is preferred.

3. Interrupts, interrupts, interrupts. Personally, I prefer the ritualist skill dissonance on this mission over almost anything. Interrupt rangers are also nice to have. Backfire can be a speed up when you come to healers. Guilt and shame are always nice. Melee should all carry an interrupt for elementalist spells (sliver armor, star burst).

4. Take Talon and Danika at the beginning to save yourself time. The other NPCs just don't buy you much. Make sure you keep them alive so they can perform their function.

5. If you aren't with a lot of henchies, there are a couple of areas good to run past. If you have Danika in your party, have *1* party member run for the cut scene just after killing the elementalist dragon boss and engaging the the assassins at the top of the stairs. Second place is down the long corridor to the ritualist boss - without hench you can run the whole length of it, just kill the boss and run through the gate to the cutscene.

6. Always pull the smallest group possible. A smaller pull is a faster kill. You should be especially careful and take your time with pulls at the very beginning. That first room is usually the party killer.

7. Be sure that if you haven't used the dragon skill that you do use it when you come across a boss. It will recharge immediately after a boss kill. Use this skill whenever your party is having serious trouble with a foe or use it on bosses.

Zinger314 · May 10, 2006, 08:20 PM // 20:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by frickaline

2. Contrary to popular belief, Minion Masters are (for once) not necessarily the greatest choice for this mission. There is a lot of sliver armor here and minions can make it really painful to your melee party members. If you haven't much for melee in your party, an MM will help, but otherwise, I'd rather take an SS. As a side note, I was with a party that needed to suicide (/resign still bugged *sniff*) and they couldn't die to the dragon elementalists because they weren't attacking them. Keep that in mind when you fight them and you might live a bit longer.

Wrong. Being able to maintain the Celestial Horror indefinately makes them worth it.

Plus Minions can help aid a Warrior's Storm of Swords.

frickaline · May 10, 2006, 08:56 PM // 20:56

If your party is mostly casters I'd agree but you won't be doing any damage at all with a dead party. The impact of this skill:

Sliver Armor: For 5-10 seconds, you have 25-45% chance to block attacks and whenever you are the target of a hostile spell or attack one nearby foe is struck for 5-29 earth damage.

...far outweighs any other reasoning. Build your party with it in mind and you will be just fine. I just completed this mission again, with just an SS, no MM. We did it in 2-sword time, but then, we were down a player. We had 1 player d/c at the very beginning.

In fact, with the above tips, this mission is even henchable. It takes just 2 people: 1 to dance around and hold the hench back for run spots and one to do the running.

Eclair · May 10, 2006, 09:34 PM // 21:34

Echo -> Celestial Storm

or echo any other really powerful dragon skill.

Makes things much faster ^^

Savio · May 10, 2006, 10:46 PM // 22:46

The skill that Warriors receive from Kuunavang, Storm of Swords, works perfectly with a melee-heavy group, a minion master, or a bunch of dumb hench casters that like to be in melee range. The team I was with got Master's by using a MM and Storm. Bosses would die in roughly 5 seconds, and anyone else in the way of the Warrior and minions would just crumble.
Each of the allies you pick in the beginning has a specific room they make easier. The order of the rooms is:

1. Argo
2. Talon Silverwing
3. Nika
4. Cynn
5. Danika
6. Panaku

When one of your party members steps into the correct room, a cutscene occurs in which the ally leaves the group and holds off some of the Shiro'ken. It's possible to have someone run to the room, shaving off quite a few minutes you'd waste fighting your way there. I prefer to take the allies with the later rooms, as they stick with your party longer and help out more.
The skills that you get from Kuunavang work the same as Resurrection Signets; they recharge after killing the Shiro'ken bosses (and Bounds in the final mission). So just use the skills shortly before killing a boss.
Don't spend too much time deliberating and pulling small mobs; just charge down a path, don't aggro more than you can handle, and you should be fine. If you have multiple paths open, just pick a side and hope your teammates follow you.
Rooms:
- First room: It's not that difficult, except for the initial attacks by Elementalists. Pick a side, blow through the single group, then kill the group at the stairs. There is a Warrior boss at the end of the room. Argo knocks down the image of the Emperor, allowing you to bypass the two side groups; he's hardly worth it as he leaves your group immediately, and he only allows you to bypass a single enemy group.
- Second room: Shiro'ken Warriors and Rangers warp in from the two side hallways. Just stay in the middle and take out the Rangers that run to the middle. You can ignore any of the Shiro'ken that stay in the hallways. There is a Necromancer boss at the end of the room. Talon will close off the hallways, although I've never used him to finish the mission.
- Third room: Two bosses in this room; a Ranger towards the front and an Elementalist towards the back. Take out the Ranger boss group first (with your freshly recharged skills) and then choose either side path; if you don't kill the Ranger boss group, it'll come at you as you try to sneak by on a side path. The groups in the back will patrol in front of the other boss. As the Elementalist boss is by its lonesome, you can aggro both and use your Kuunavang skills to quickly eliminate them. Nika is supposed to do something here, but I've never used her.
- Fourth room: Several bridges in the middle, Shiro'ken spawning to the sides of the first bridges. Try to run past the Shiro'ken and make your way across as quickly as possible; it's a pretty short room so you can get to the next room's cutscene easily. Cynn will blow up the first bridges, passing you by the Shiro'ken entirely.
- Fifth room: A crapload of Shiro'ken Necromancers in this room; I just bring Danika, who closes this room and sends you off down a side hallway with considerably less Shiro'ken. There isn't a boss in this room.
- Sixth room: Acid traps on parts of the floor, which do -20 damage per second while you stand on them. Panaku turns them all off; you can turn off some by checking the vases yourself, but don't waste too much time trying to do so. I actually didn't find the acid traps to be too much of a bother. There are a few Shiro'ken groups patrolling the hallway and side rooms; chances are you'll run into all of them. There is a Ritualist boss at the end of the room, whom you must defeat to open the gate to Shiro and the Emperor. (It might be that you have to clear the entire room to open the gate, I don't remember.)
- Final room: Three bosses - Monk, Assassin, and Mesmer - and some random Shiro'ken. Don't try to attack Shiro as he's invincible. After you've cleared the room you've finished.
I finished in 18 minutes (the Emperor was about halfway dead) and earned Master's; it might be at 20 minutes for Master's if you're after that at all.

MaglorD · May 11, 2006, 12:53 AM // 00:53

heh, I did the mission with henchmen

Used Argo first time, but he glitched...he just stood rooted to the spot after creating the makeshift bridge.

So I restarted without him and completed the mission. I was wondering when I'd ever get to the emperor...so many rooms and wasn't sure I was going in the right direction...was my first time though those areas.

Savio · May 11, 2006, 03:04 AM // 03:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaglorD

Used Argo first time, but he glitched...he just stood rooted to the spot after creating the makeshift bridge.

That's not a glitch, that's supposed to happen. After the appropriate cutscene, the ally stays behind. It's part of the reason why Argo isn't worth it - he's with you all of 5 seconds.

Mr D J · May 11, 2006, 04:29 AM // 04:29

I've beaten it with only 1 crazy good monk from XoO and 1 spirit ritualist. At the end where acid traps are, we leeroyed and aggroed everything, ran past mesmers and the survivers killed the ritualist boss. Skipped cutscene and had enough time to own everything before time ran out.

Rok · May 15, 2006, 03:24 AM // 03:24

Well, I made it through with my Assassin - but I used my 2ndary class. Ranger interrupts and Assassin criticals. Rangers don't get raped by silver armor if their interrupt misses, unlike Assassin.

Definately take Danika and I take Talon because his room is harder than any of the remaining 4. At least using him makes the chances for error much lower anyway.

Aërendil · May 15, 2006, 09:15 AM // 09:15

i take Danika and Cynn. I think this mission is easy with the dragon elite skills. Thanks frickaline for putting that up, i didn't knew that although i suspected some parts of it. 20 minutes for master.. have to get that

Selerious · May 15, 2006, 09:46 AM // 09:46

When I did that mission with my Ritualist, we progressed quickly, skirting as many of the mobs as possible and just plain running what felt like half the damn map. Had good warriors though that helped. The bosses were targeted and elimenated quickly then it was another sprint to the next boss.

pegasux · May 15, 2006, 02:32 PM // 14:32

I was able to do the mission on my 4th try after changing up my skills. We took a MM and I brought Mark of Pain (I know Scatter but). I would call mark of pain and the minions would go to work and kill a whole mob pretty dang fast. any leftovers we just mopped up.