Curse

Than · Aug 08, 2005, 01:21 AM // 01:21

Well for one don't do the Bonus. Not worth it.

Tsukiyomi · Aug 08, 2005, 01:44 AM // 01:44

Just keep trying. It's hard but you'll eventually get a group that knows what they're doing and follows directions and can succeed.

Dac Vin · Aug 08, 2005, 03:55 AM // 03:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by RTSFirebat

I given up, thinking of quiting this game, its just too damn impossible.

Is it just me or have the devs made this mission much much harder then it use to be.

How the hell do you finish this mission? Let alone trying to do the bonus as well... any tips?

Two tanks for taking the damage, two monks for the healing, two trappers for weakening when they enter the fort, a necro to keep the energy flowing AND cast "Weaken Armor" on those jades, and a nuker. Oh yeah, two of them should use the catapults. And everyone need a brain. At least, that's how I did it today!

Only problem is that if you get the mursaat monk, you're screwed. (I got the jade bow boss, so it was easier.) Confessor Dorian is a wimp, so no worry there

sleazeh · Aug 08, 2005, 05:02 AM // 05:02

Even though I have finished this mission a number of times over different characters, it still proves to be, in my opinion, the most frustrating of any in the game.
There are a number of solid strategies that have been posted in numerous threads, most of which offer good, sound advice. Strategy is not the problem in my mind.
You could have conducted a flawless defence, have everything well in hand, an organized and healthy party that is handling the enemy mobs as they approach, and still be doomed by the seemingly random behaviour of the king. Its unfortunate that this mission is often decided not on the skill of the participants (although an unskilled team will almost certainly fail), but rather on chance or luck that the king's quirky AI will or wont act up at a key moment. I dont know how many times I've seen the king leave the safety of his perch to go rushing down the stairs into enemy hordes for what seems like no reason at all. There's no apparent trigger for this effect, nothing you can guard against, and unless you are fortunate enough to spot him darting away immediately, kill the enemies quick enough to save him, and/or heal him at the expense of the rest of your party, the mission ends. Once he moves from his perch, there is also no noticible manner of making him return to the safety of the rear lines.
With careful and controlled play, the mission itself wouldn't be overally difficult if the king never left his perch once you got him there. Its a shame that success often seems to be a crapshoot that has little to do with skill, planning, or ability.

Ristaron · Aug 08, 2005, 06:08 AM // 06:08

I HATE this mission. I have been stuck on it for over a month. I have given up on it, and have taken to farming to afford pretty things for myself and my guild members. As well as PvPing. I shall get a sigil before I beat the mission, most likely.
It frustrates me far too much to even bother attempting it any more. Several guild members have gotten through it, but not me. It pisses me off and I am so sick and tired of trying over and over.
I was so close one time, we were on the last mob... and somebody RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOed up. We died, and I signed out and went to read - too pissed at the game to bother trying again.

If any Devs hear me, I hate you eternally for this mission. I love you for making the game, but my desire for vengeance burns more scortching than the all-consuming, hot fires of Mordor!

Shamblemonkee · Aug 08, 2005, 07:19 AM // 07:19

Do a search for a thread called thunderhead keep success, that has looads of great tips on completing this mission.

Myself I did it with henchmen, although you'll find that ALesia has an aversion to healing the king so you'll be advised to switch to monk secondary to get him to the keep.

Once there use the catapult on the right to blast the first wave, then stay on the steps and wait for the mobs to come to you.

arkitex · Aug 08, 2005, 07:22 AM // 07:22

well, I failed it about six times with PUGs until i got fed up.

then i got three random other people and 4 henchies, and we beat it!

the keep part, stay on top. works best there.

trelloskilos · Aug 08, 2005, 09:44 AM // 09:44

Got to agree - Thunderhead Keep is a tough mission, but definitely not impossible. I was stuck on the mission for about a week, but my problem was due to incohesive PUGs.

My personal tips for beating the mission:

1. Keep the king out of Melee. Get your party monk or spellcaster to talk to the king, and keep that player at a distance, otherwise the king will tank everything he sees, and he's a pretty poor tank at that.

2. Take it slow. No matter how tempted you are, don't rush. Clearing the city should be a doddle, and taking on the last group before the door, get rid of the archers next to the door, then take out the main lot along with the boss, then get your nukers & ranged people to take out the ice giants on the grard post behind the door.

3. Once at the outpost, once you clear the keep, before you take on the Stone Summit king, there is a glitch you can take advantage of (No doubt this will be nerfed soon anyway), but you can walk through the doors of the keep and into the outside area. Here, you will find 3 jades and a large group of ice giants. It won't stop the flow, but it will give you a bit of an edge.

4. When you have killed the king, and when the minions start coming in at the end, keep your party next to the king, and don't rush off. Leave the catapaults alone. Even if you inflict a large amount of damage to a foe through the catapault, by the time they get round, they're back to full health. - Get rangers to trap the stairs, and have a W/Mo call targets. With a good tight team, the constant flow of enemies should be manageable.

5. There are also enemies which can be killed outside the keep with spells and arrows from Ironhammer's standpoint. Confessor Dorian is one of them. Just hit him with a slowdown and rain fire on him, all from the safety of the keep. Job done!

Therlun · Aug 08, 2005, 09:44 AM // 09:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dac Vin

Two tanks for taking the damage, two monks for the healing, two trappers for weakening when they enter the fort, a necro to keep the energy flowing AND cast "Weaken Armor" on those jades, and a nuker. Oh yeah, two of them should use the catapults. And everyone need a brain. At least, that's how I did it today!

Only problem is that if you get the mursaat monk, you're screwed. (I got the jade bow boss, so it was easier.) Confessor Dorian is a wimp, so no worry there

IMO that is the completely wrong way to collect a group...

one tank is enough, if he knows what he is doing. especially in this mission, where the numbers of enemeies you fight at the same time are low.

having two healing monks is a waste! you loose too much offensive power that way.
a half decent healing monk could keep two tanks alive (and as i said IMo you dont even need two of them).
when any non-tank is getting massive damage, there is something wrong with you strategy, not with your group!

even a secondary mesmer is enough to handle the priest boss, if he has only 2 anti-caster skills with him...
a mage with maelstrom works too (it does not even need to do damage.)

you dont need two tanks and two healing monks!
most missions can even be done without a healing monk if you got only a half decent team and a minimum of strategy...

trelloskilos · Aug 08, 2005, 09:45 AM // 09:45

(sorry- Double post)

Dac Vin · Aug 08, 2005, 03:03 PM // 15:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Therlun

IMO that is the completely wrong way to collect a group...

If it's wrong, then WHY it worked?

We had 1 tank, 1 monk, and 1 trapper on each exit, and the necro and nuker running. And it worked extremely well too! Just because you did it a different way, don't mean a *PUG* can do it too

elenna · Aug 08, 2005, 04:44 PM // 16:44

I'm glad to hear that monk boss doesn't show up every time. We tried this mission for the first time last night and died trying to take down that monk boss.

Ashkarian Faststaff · Aug 08, 2005, 05:20 PM // 17:20

Our guild has beaten this mission so many times it's not funny.

2 people light the beacons.

No strategy, no messing about just stand with the king kill the stuff when it comes, that simple.

Mission complete.

zehly · Aug 08, 2005, 09:59 PM // 21:59

This mission is my favorite, because it's probably the one that requires the most cooperative effort. With eight people, coordination can be difficult if everyone wants to do their own thing.

Another reason I like this mission is because you MUST complete it to get to the RoF, and I'd hate to those damn droknar-runees getting the precious elites in the RoF and taking them to the Ascalon arena. Kudos to A.Net and NCSoft.

delfin42 · Aug 09, 2005, 01:39 PM // 13:39

It's not THAT tough.

Keys:
* Protect the King as best you can on the first bridge; he has a nasty habit of running in and taking on five or six Golems and Giant Herders solo.
* After clearing the city, have the nukers wipe out the Giant/Ranger mobs from the outside before entering the fort.
* In the fort, make the Arcanists your top priority. King Thunderbutt is a decent tank, but Mesmer spells like Conjure Phantasm will drain him dry quickly.
* In the last sequence, just sit in front of the King and kill whatever comes. Kill the escorts before the Mursaat bosses. Even if the Monk boss comes, you can whittle the wave down until it's JUST the Monk and you can pile on him 8-on-1. It's slow going, but he will drop eventually.

Naluh · Aug 09, 2005, 02:33 PM // 14:33

Been stuck for 4 days now at the keep and about 20 runs... Mostly with pugs, but I've tried a few hench runs.

Best results so far I got with the henchies, but when the Mursaat boss shows up things go wrong...

I tried focussing fire on him, got beaten to a pulp by his minnions...
I tried taking his minnions out first, but still got beaten to a pulp...

With the pugs I've had similar results, when ppl work together all goes well until the mursaat boss shows up, and it doesn't even seem to matter which one, monk, Necro, warrior, whatever...

So what am I doing wrong? Must be something... If any of you can give me some tips, I would much apreciate it

My char is a lvl 20 Mesmer/Ele.

mm00re · Aug 09, 2005, 03:03 PM // 15:03

Try to get yourself a trapping ranger to help babysit the king and set traps at all the ramps to the area where the king will be. If your ranger is watching his map and the enemy coming he can already be at the next entry gate and set traps there to help out the tanks. I mean they usually go from one side to the other so it's not that hard

we would have 3 jade's and a mersat coming at once i would have traps set at the bottom of the stairs, my tanks would be in the middle and I was up top hitting the mersat with psn arrow while the tanks took on the jades.

After you have made it to the top part of the fort, if the ranger has a long bow he should be able to pick off groups that are on their way around to the entrances and that may help as well, it was nice to hit them with pin down and then pick them off one by one that way.

It is really not that hard once you get into it if your ranger knows what he is doing but you have got to stay in a group, if you split up you will be weak and you will lose the mission. Have a target caller, and stick with it.

If you have a "human" healer monk in your group, have the king follow him, we had better results that way.

Muddy terain may help out to at least slow down the jade's from moving on your group, I didn't bother with it but it took me a while to find a good group.

I tried to stay away from the "elite group forming now!" types, as most that I encountered were the farthest from that and wound up being nothing more than people doing their own thing and ruining it for everyone else.

There are a couple of nice skill caps along that that make it a nice trip as well. I know it is a bit long winded, but I hope this helps you.

Esprit · Aug 09, 2005, 07:46 PM // 19:46

If you know what to do, you can lead pretty much any PUG. I tried the mission twice, failed it, and then was told to camp the king, letting the groups come to us, which worked really well. There was only one or two tight/scary situations (which includes the monk mursaat boss), but the second time around with another character, we hardly used the catapults and did fine.

If you can find a energy denial mesmer, you will have a much easier time. The first time I used a Monk/Mesmer build, points in Healing, Divine, and Inspiration. The Monk Mursaat Boss may have near infinite energy, but even infinite energy cannot survive a constant barrage of Spirit Shackles and Energy Drain.

Cymmina · Aug 09, 2005, 09:34 PM // 21:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Naluh

Best results so far I got with the henchies, but when the Mursaat boss shows up things go wrong...

I tried focussing fire on him, got beaten to a pulp by his minnions...
I tried taking his minnions out first, but still got beaten to a pulp...

Blackout is your friend, as I discovered on one of my many successful trips through the Keep (lvl 14 dom = 7 sec Blackout). When a monk or ele boss came along, my sole purpose was to keep Blackout on him (unlike hexes, which last half as long on bosses, Blackout lasts the full duration). Without skills, they're helpless as newborn kittens. This buys you plenty of time to clear out the easier to kill stuff, allowing you to deal with the boss at your leisure.

Naluh · Aug 09, 2005, 09:48 PM // 21:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cymmina

Blackout is your friend, as I discovered on one of my many successful trips through the Keep (lvl 14 dom = 7 sec Blackout). When a monk or ele boss came along, my sole purpose was to keep Blackout on him (unlike hexes, which last half as long on bosses, Blackout lasts the full duration). Without skills, they're helpless as newborn kittens. This buys you plenty of time to clear out the easier to kill stuff, allowing you to deal with the boss at your leisure.

Black out! Offcourse

. Perfect for a dominatris like me.

Thx! I'll try that the next time I go in. I've made it through today with a decent PUG, all we did was stand in the middle of the keep attacking whatever came in. After the kills we immediatly regrouped.

I see now that this mission is even kinda easy if you have a good target caller and everybody attacks the same target. It was nice to play with ppl who listen to advice and accept leadership from someone, although one of our monks had somewhat of an attitude problem...

Going to help some guildies get through it and I will use the black out advice.