Curse

Guildmaster Cain · Nov 08, 2006, 10:59 AM // 10:59

This guide will explain the basics into unlocking new armors for you Heroes. Where to get them (Challenge Missions in NF), what you need (unique drops from Guild Lords, Lost Souls and Portal Mages) and how they look like (screenshots below). Strategies and methods for quicker unlocking are also available.

1 - Introduction

2 - Elite Sunspear Armor
2.1 Available for
2.2 Where to get it
2.3 What you need
2.4 Challenge Mission Basics
2.5 Maximizing Drop rate
2.6 Crafting the armor
2.7 Buying additional drops

3 - Ancient Armor
3.1 Available for
3.2 Where to get it
3.3 What you need
3.4 Challenge Mission Basics
3.5 Maximizing Drop rate
3.6 Crafting the armor
3.7 Buying additional drops

4 - Mysterious Armor
4.1 Available for
4.2 Where to get it
4.3 What you need
4.4 Challenge Mission Basics
4.5 Maximizing Drop rate
4.6 Crafting the armor
4.7 Buying additional drops

1 - Introduction
Ahai Twolegs! Bored by your standardish looking Heroes? Does that Crystalline Sword not go with Koss' Noobish Sunspear Outfit? Fear not, after reading this guide, you are able to change the appearance of your heroes!
Scroll down to read more about methods to maximize the droprates per Challenge Mission.
Happy hunting!

~ Cain

2 - Elite Sunspear Armor

2.1 Available for

2.2 Where to get it
Dajkah Inlet (Challenge Mission)

Exit from Sunspear Sanctuary to Marga Coast, hug northern wall and continue west until you reach Dajkah Inlet. This is also the town in which you arrive, after completing Venta Cemetary (or Cemetary of Dunahm).
You can get to the inlet by talking to the dockmaster in Kamadan, you don't need to go through the Consulate Docks mission to get there. I still need to investigate the boundary conditions the dockmaster will need to let you go to Dajkah Inlet.

2.3 What you need
Stolen Sunspear Equipment, seems to have a 1/5 chance of appearing in inventory, after killing a Guild Lord. It will not drop on the map as regular items, nor is the drop rate influenced by killing Guild Lords with smaller teams, or for instance soloing one. As far as I know, there is not a maximum number of SSE anyone can acquire per character. So far the droprate has not been affected by getting more then 5 SSE (the number 1 character would need for all heroes Armor), but I need to test that more.

2.4 Challenge Mission Basics
Talk to (NPC, forgot name, Guildwiki = afk again) to start the Challenge Mission in Dajkah Inlet. In this mission, you get 1 point for every kill you make. Getting high scores will put your name in the Records, however getting high scores will NOT give you Stolen Sun Spear Equipment (SSE). These are obtained only by killing the Guild Lords on the islands. There is 1 Guild Lord on the first island, the next two islands have 2 Guild Lords each. After killing all Guild Lords on an Island, you can use the Teleport Pad, as is shown on the map below. This will teleport you to the next island. Getting to the Teleport Pad on the last island, will return you back to the first island. All drops which your team didnt pick up yet, are still there, but so are new Corsairs and their Guild Lord.

3.5 Maximizing Drop rate
As SSE 'drops' only when a Guild Lord is killed, it is important to maximise the number of Guild Lords killed per run. Preferably this is done by getting a guild team together with people playing characters they are familair with. It will also be more rewarding to see your guildmates/friends get drops. Plus the fact that you can share the SSE drops you get equally.
Killing Guild Lords will be first priority, but killing any Corsairs between you and him is recommended, since they tend to keep following and harassing you for a while. See the map for probably the shortest way of getting to all the Guild Lords. Note on the apparently 'long' route to kill the second Guild Lord. By taking this route, you can avoid a big part of the Guild Lords henchmen.

Every Guild Lord has a number of 3-man groups around him and two 5-man groups with both a Corsair Doctor (Healer) in it. To safe time, it is recommended that you kill only 1 of the 5-man groups, which should give an opening to get to the Guild Lord, mind that they can be timeconsuming because of the healer. Often your team will get diseased, which should be countered by someone (or two) bringing Extinguish, which removes 1 condition on all partymembers.
The Guild Lord does not appear to have a shorter Hex duration, so you can use hexes to take him down faster. Empathy for instance does great armor ignoring damage. Combined with Spiteful Spirit and Reckless Haste, it should take him down very fast. Furthermore, Corsairs seem to be very short on the energy side, making Spirit Shackles + Mind Wrack trigger fast, even on the Elementalists.
If your team has a MinionMaster in it, it will give you the advantage to kill the Guild Lord and run away, leaving behind the minions that will distract the Corsairs.
While your team is killing the 5-man group guarding one of the Guild Lords sides, one person should aggro the Guild Lord and lure him closer. By doing this, you should be able to drag him away from the other 5-man group, saving time being bother by them. For instance I used my Mesmer to do Wastrels Worry on a Guild Lord that was on a high slope to lure him down. (Dont mind me standing in the middle of enemies, I died shortly after the screenshot

, maybe I should have informed the monks in advance). Once he has been lured closer and the rest of the partymembers are still finishing off the henchies, all should turn on the Guild Lord. Dont mind his henchmen, they cant outdamage the monks healing capabilities (or they shouldn't).
A good team should be out: 1 healer Monk, 1 protection Monk, 1 MM Necromancer, 1 Searing Flames Elementalist, 1 domination Mesmer, last 3 slots are free for change (for instance 2 Warrior + 1 Dervish)

Recommended skills in party: Extinguish (mass anti-disease), Searing Flames, Empathy, Mind Wrack.

2.6 Crafting the armor
Talk to the NPC Bahldasareh [Hero Armor] (look at the similarities with God/forger Balthazar), you need to have the Hero in your party and you need a SSE in inventory. After you crafted a new armor for the Hero, you can change back and forth, ALWAYS and for FREE, the armor of that particular Hero, simply by talking to Bahldasareh again.

2.7 Buying additional drops
Price SSE: 5-15k
Buying additional SSE is not encouraged by Anet, they have stated there is a limited number of SSE reserved for 1 player, though that has failed to show proof of any kind. It appears that drops are less frequent after a number of drops on that character.

3 - Ancient Armor

3.1 Available for

Where to get: Remains of Sahlahja (Challenge Mission)

This town you arrive automaticially in, when you finish the Gates of Desolation mission. For the challenge, you need to be able to control a Wurm, so you need to choose Melonni's route (Nundu Bay->Gates of Desolation->Remains of Sahlahja).

What you need: Ancient Armor Remains

How to get those: Doing the mission. It is a solo mission, in which you need to acquire points again to get on the records list. Getting high points will not ensure getting an Ancient Armor Remains, which is needed for the crafting of the Ancient Armor for Heroes. It appears that killing Losts Souls, give you AAR, similar to killing Guild Lords does, in Dajkah Inlet. To get AAR it is however adviced to score points, since each 15 points will open up an additional section (in which Lost Souls can spawn), up to 4 additional sections.

Savio's Guide: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10074308
Lord Helmos' Guide: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10075020

Crafting the armor: Talk to the Johe [Hero Armor] , you need to have the Hero in your party and you need a AAR in inventory. After you crafted a new armor for the Hero, you can change back and forth, ALWAYS and for FREE, the armor of that particular Hero, simply by talking to Johe again.

Buying AAR from players: This is not encouraged by Anet, they have stated there is a limited number of AAR reserved for 1 player, though that has failed to show proof of any kind. Need more input on that. General prices of AAR have varied between 20-30k, but 15k seems to be the best price for quick buy/sale.

Mysterious Armor

Where to get: The Shadow Nexus(Challenge Mission)
Getting there: get to the Torment Realm first, if you dont know what that is, I suggest continuing the game's main story line, since you are not ready for this yet. From Gates of Torment town, simply take the eastern exit to The Shadow Nexus.

What you need: Mysterious Armor Pieces

How to get those: Do mission, similar to killing Guild Lords and Lost Souls in previous Challenge missions, Margonite Portal Mages give a Mysterious Armor Piece in one of the players inventories.
Need more input on maximizing this drop rate. (havent tried this mission myself yet)

Crafting the armor:

Buying MAP from players: This is not encouraged by Anet, they have stated there is a limited number of MAP reserved for 1 player, though that has failed to show proof of any kind. Need more input on that. General prices of MAP have varied between ??k, need more input on that.

Credits for screenshots and more to: Savio, Sarevok Thordin, Traveller, Mokone, Crow120, Rinkxing, Dr Ripley, Ranger Geko, Maximelene, Gir, Cherno, DarkDawn

Guildmaster Cain · Nov 08, 2006, 11:12 AM // 11:12

Need input from other players on:
-How to acquire the drops from missions
-price estimates on drops
-Any observations you have made about the droprate
-encouraging words to keep this post going
-Anything else usefull

Savio · Nov 08, 2006, 12:17 PM // 12:17

Dakjah Inlet is Elite Sunspear, Remains of Sahlahja is Ancient, Shadow Nexus is Mysterious. Shadow Nexus is Margonite Portal Mages, similar to Lost Souls and Corsair Guild Lords. Scores are irrelevant to armor drops.

Ancient Armor Remants go for 20-30k currently, though I just sell for 15k because I'm not going to spam it all day long and the prices will be down in a few days due to the masses of players starting to reach there. Also, a majority of people there seem to have difficulty finding Lost Souls, which is rather sad. I'm writing my own guide since wurm tactics takes a post or two by itself.

Mysterious Armor Pieces are a bit less than the price as Ancient and will drop the same way, except it'll take a bit longer for masses to get there.

Also, the drop rate seems to just go down after your fourth or fifth drop, though I've had 10 Ancient Armor Remnants on one character. It's not impossible to get more, it's just rather boring and takes forever to do so. Essentially, you get the armors you need for yourself and one or two more.

Pictures of other hero armors are in this thread.

Guildmaster Cain · Nov 08, 2006, 12:33 PM // 12:33

Thanks Savio, I've seen your posts before, looking forward to your guide, since I'm one of those wurm-guys running around and rarely finding Losts Souls. This post will be a more general guide, and with your permission I will add the link to your specific guide once you are done.

For the Guild lords case, I will extend that further to include maps and tactics on getting the Guild Lords killed as fast as possible, unless someone else already has a guide on that. Any help on getting data on the following:
-Think about Shadow Stepping for getting to the Guild Lord as fast as possible.
-I think Guild Lords have a 'Luitenants Underpants', which means they have 1/3 hex duration, making them vulnerable to Wastrels Worry. Which means 68-71 dmg each sec, no matter their armor. Need testing.

Sir Mad · Nov 08, 2006, 04:01 PM // 16:01

I find Nexus quite easy actually, but the drop rate seems to be low (well it could just be bad luck). I've tried today and I didn't get a single armor for the 20ish Portal Keepers killed, despite the fact I was running a 3 men build half of the time.

Note: concerning the build used for the challenge, as i've been asked in town by players having difficulties with it, I went with:

- 1 member to shutdown the keepers - they strike hard. In my case, a BHA ranger with needling shot to keep the presure high and finish him quickly, I guess a mesmer would do a great job too.
- A hammer warrior with For Great Justice! and Flail.
- 1 Healer - I went with a monk, but I'm going to try a warder with healing spells - I may have better results with that.

And it worked well. Just go for the Keeper straight unless there is a Word of Madness around - the ranger will take the preasure off and it will be incredibly easy.

SnipiousMax · Nov 08, 2006, 06:28 PM // 18:28

Stickied as long as you keep it updated!

Cherno · Nov 08, 2006, 08:49 PM // 20:49

Additional Information:
You can get to the inlet by talking to the dockmaster in Kamadan, you don't need to go through the Consulate Docks mission to get there.

Question:
Are all the thumbnails supposed to link to larger pictures? They all like to the imageshack mainpage now.

Daily Rituals · Nov 09, 2006, 07:00 AM // 07:00

Any tips on the Remains of Sahlahja challenge? Normally i just camp till i get all area's are unlocked and then I make a run for it and search for Lost Souls... But, well, it isnt very effective...

Guildmaster Cain · Nov 09, 2006, 11:04 AM // 11:04

w00t ty for the sticky ^^

Anyways, at school atm, but I tested more tactics yesterday to kill at least 5-6 guild lords in one run. (yes SIX, after you clear the whole series, you get teleported BACK to start, and you can start all over again)
Will make that complete strategy guide on that soon.
Basically its using a mesmer with empathy, mindwrack and spiritshackles takes a big chunk out of the GL. And the route is very important as well.

Daily Rituals: Patience... I tried the same, but didnt see very effective. Maybe Savio will shed some light into the situation. Maybe he got a map with Lost Soul spawn locations. I also heard rumors, sometimes you need to exit the worm to get to places it cant go and kill the Lost Sul there.

Sir Mad: I tried 1 quick run in the Nexus, since I was healer and got way to much interrupts, I got wacked in a few secs. But your strategy seems worth good to investigate seriously. I will come back on that, once first mission is properly guided.

Guildmaster Cain · Nov 10, 2006, 11:00 AM // 11:00

@Cherno: It appears the Dockmaster does not give the option yet to travel to the mainland. You will need to do the mission first. Maybe it is possible getting ferried there, but I doubt it.

Effendi Westland · Nov 10, 2006, 12:09 PM // 12:09

Great guide! Kept me awake too long last night, just had to try a run at it after reading this.

I like this concept, after doing it once I'm attracted to the mission again, very unlike the canthan challenge missiosns.

Going to try and get some more elite sunspear armors on my Heroes tonight, keep up the good work!

tanedos · Nov 10, 2006, 03:30 PM // 15:30

Is there a thread showing where all the Heros are located? I'd like to pick up more Heros Especialy the Necro and centaur.

Sir Mad · Nov 10, 2006, 06:35 PM // 18:35

^ Follow the storyline and you'll get your heroes. Everything in good time :P

Lem · Nov 10, 2006, 09:57 PM // 21:57

I have only seen one lost soul in the remains of sahlahja and that is in the bottom right section, it is also in a stoney bit so you have to get out of your worm and every time I got for her a maddened soul comes and one shots me before I can get a spell off.

reniori · Nov 11, 2006, 07:31 AM // 07:31

Purchased 5 MAPs from 2 different sellers at 20k/ea.

Purchased 5 SSEs from 2 different sellers at 10k/ea.

Guildmaster Cain · Nov 11, 2006, 04:12 PM // 16:12

Great thanks for the prices ^^ and other usefull replies.

Just saw the new and improved Savio guide, which can be found here. I is really excellent. Check it out here: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10074308
Ill try to get a brief summary in this guide.

Unfortunately work and the double-fun-weekend has got my hands tied to do updates this weekend.

Hump Masta · Nov 12, 2006, 05:35 AM // 05:35

i have got only 5 armors at shadow challenge i got 1 then for 4 the next run and have not got another one since so i think it is 5 max per person :s

lews001 · Nov 12, 2006, 05:59 AM // 05:59

I've had similiar experiences with two of my characters actually. But it doesnt seem to be a cap on the number of armors I get, but rather the number of times i'm alotted armors. to elaborate, I got a sunspear armor on the first run through. On the second run, I got two armors. However, each subsequent time i've gone (and i've spent a lot of time doing it) I've gotten none, so overall, I recieved armor during that challenge mission twice, but no more. Now for the wurms, I simply went for hours got two pieces, gave up. went a second time a few days later, got two pieces, gave up, havent tried it since (it's SO boring, and I only needed the 4 to advance). Now lately I've been working on getting my mysterious armors, and the same thing is occurring there as with the first challenge mission. I recieved one or more mysterious armors in two seperate tries at the mission, but never again, and I've been doing it all day (today being saturday), and killed over 100 portal mages, and scored over 150 multiple times. If anyone can contradict this theory, please do, I'd love to know it's just the fact I have my "unlucky" title on. :P

Guildmaster Cain · Nov 12, 2006, 11:44 AM // 11:44

Lol at the last sentence...

If anyone else can post more information about the following questions:

- For what price have you sold/bought Armor pieces? (making PC)
- Did you get more then 5 armor pieces of the same kind on one single character? (testing theories)
- Did you notice a significant change of droprate after acquiring more pieces on one character? (testing theories)
- How many Guild Lords/Lost Souls/Portal Mages have you killed and how many Armor pieces did they give you. (working out the chances)

Savio · Nov 12, 2006, 12:39 PM // 12:39

I've gotten 10 Ancient Armor Remnants on one character, so I doubt there's a limit. Drop rates seem to go down after 3 or 4 armor pieces. I couldn't tell you how many Lost Souls I've killed, it's roughly a couple hundred.