Curse

FyrFytr998 · May 10, 2006, 04:44 AM // 04:44

Seeing as it's one of the more trying bonuses in the game, and searching has produced little results.

What would be the optimal team to take for completing the bonus for Dunes? And should 3 or 2 stay back to protect ghost?

lambda the great · May 10, 2006, 04:59 AM // 04:59

I did it with. two monk two warriors necro and a ele. split the team into two. Send a Monk, Warrior and Ele out and keep the Monk Warrior and necro to stay and fight.

Carth` · May 10, 2006, 07:27 AM // 07:27

Just split the team in two and have a warrior and a monk per team. The people who have the harder job are actually the ones staying with the ghostly warrior - or at least, that's what it was like when I did it. After the bonus team (mesmer, ele and me playing the monk) had finished the bonus, we came back to find the other team mostly dead!

Do you also know the necrotic traversal + rebirth trick? That can take off the pressure of the timer

CorstedPirate · May 10, 2006, 08:32 AM // 08:32

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Dunes_o..._%28Mission%29

Look there, some very good ideas and even a map with the locations of the Custodians/Generals. I was actually the monk that stayed back, all by myself, with the ghost. Everyone else went off after the generals. There were no creatures in range with the gates up, so none of them could be killed for a traversal.

It was pretty easy keeping the ghost alive, since I didnt have to worry about anyone in the party. When I had to go closer for an actual heal, most of the time it was fine because they focus on the ghost. If a couple of them notice the prot monk, it is ok. Just run back up the ramp a little and they will refocus on the ghost.

Skills I had: Orison, Blessed Signet, Life Barrier, Life Bond, Mending, Essense Bond, Divine Boon, Rebirth

I think that it would have been even easier with another enchantment instead of rebirth since the prot monk has to stay with the ghost which can't be resurrected. Or if I had waited till the ghost was taking some hits to put up all of the enchantments, then I wouldn't have needed the Blessed Sig.

Orison+Divine Boon was nice, up till it came time for me to hang with the ghosty, I could help out the healer sometimes. Then, I got to use it to keep the ghost healed pretty well, cause just the enchants aren't enough. Not considering the mob he has attacking him!

Dragou Du Porzan · May 10, 2006, 01:01 PM // 13:01

If you want to get real cute, have every member of your party come with Necrotic Traversal. When you get to the the fort, don't put the ghostly hero on the pad! Instead, tell him to stay put and have everyone go to the northern wall. Have someone whip out a bow with a long range and target the boss standing a distance from the wall. As soon as he's killed, one of your party must use NT to get out of the fort. Now that party member has to go rustle up some scarabs and bring them back by the wall where the rest of the party is. As the scarabs get killed, party members beging teleporting across. Repeat until everyone is out of the fort.

Obviously this is convoluted and would take a great deal of patience (and unless you leave one party member in the fort, it would also preclude you finishing the main mission), but the one big plus is that you would be free to complete the bonus (and do any mapping you might want to do) without any pressure from the countdown timer.

Antheus · May 10, 2006, 01:21 PM // 13:21

After trying too many times and failing, I got into a random team.
2 E/Me
2 E/Mo
Lina
Alesia

All level 20. One ele was earth/warder. Others were echo/glyph fire nukers. Having up to 10 MS/rodgorts/FS available at any time just shredded everything there was (except wurms, waste of time).

We defended the ghost first. After the initial wave, we rushed out to the first bonus boss. Then back, to kill the additional wave. Then back for the remaining two bosses. Hectic, but it surprisingly worked.

Dralspire · May 10, 2006, 01:40 PM // 13:40

When I did that bonus, we had two monks stay back and heal the hero from the very beginning. The key for those monks is staying out of trouble (aggro) themselves.

The other four took off to take care of the bonus business, and they were done a couple of minutes ahead of the 10 minute mark. We did not plan to complete the mission per se, so we did not wait out the last minutes.

Healing the hero did become somewhat difficult at the end, so speed is really your friend in that bonus.

dare49devil · May 10, 2006, 01:46 PM // 13:46

Two monks, Two warriors, Two Eles.

Just fight all the guards until 8 minutes or so left.

All those patrols will be dead.

Two monks, One warrior, Both eles go do bonus.

One warrior stays with ghost and solos the centaurs dudes that come hwne you trigger them by going after bonus.

Simple.

Cherno · May 10, 2006, 04:37 PM // 16:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragou Du Porzan

If you want to get real cute, have every member of your party come with Necrotic Traversal.

Actually this doesn't work out a nice as it would like most of the time.

Most of the time you are lucky to be able to get one exploitable corpse to show up, usually have to draw the boss enchanted or if lucky the snakes in.

However doing the bonus this way has been the easiest for me as you can take your time, and more importantly have the time to go explore that bonus zone for cartographers titles.

Have one person be either monk/necro or necro monk. The rest of the party must bring a vampiric weapon or have some way to kill themselves off (necro sac skills) Clear the way to the fort, kill the enemy ghost and don't take the ghost to the platform.

Instead walk around to the south gate and up in that section to the left, try to hope that a scarb pops up. If not a scarb, use a long bow to get the boss and party to come up to you. Sometimes the scarabs don't show and the boss won't come so you have to restart. In any case, once you have an exploitable corpse, have the mo/n or n/mo use consume corpse or necrotic transversal to warp there. They shouldn't move around as they will definately trigger the scarabs in the area.

The rest of the party should start killing themselves. The Mo/N or N/Mo then uses rebirth to bring the rest of the party across one by one.

Works like a charm. Hard part is usually finding a party in town that has a vamp weapon or skills to kill themselves off.

Jetdoc · May 10, 2006, 05:16 PM // 17:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragou Du Porzan

If you want to get real cute, have every member of your party come with Necrotic Traversal. When you get to the the fort, don't put the ghostly hero on the pad! Instead, tell him to stay put and have everyone go to the northern wall. Have someone whip out a bow with a long range and target the boss standing a distance from the wall. As soon as he's killed, one of your party must use NT to get out of the fort. Now that party member has to go rustle up some scarabs and bring them back by the wall where the rest of the party is. As the scarabs get killed, party members beging teleporting across. Repeat until everyone is out of the fort.

Or one necro will do, if he's able to solo effectively (like me)...

Dougal Kronik · May 10, 2006, 06:58 PM // 18:58

Looks like I'm going to have to change my secondary to Necro and try this trick. I'd like to get the bonus, but the Grandmaster Cartographer is higher on my list of priorities at the moment.

Njall · May 10, 2006, 09:48 PM // 21:48

Did it last week with guildies :
2 monks, 2 rangers, 1 necromancer, 1 warrior.

We killed the first boss (the one coming from West I think) then rushed to kill the first of the 3 bosses, ran back to kill the 3 Forgotten elementalists then rushed to killed the 2 last bosses... and even had time to ran back to the ghost one more time and save his life to complete the main mission.

Son of Urza · May 10, 2006, 10:20 PM // 22:20

Also, couldn't you do it with assassins or assassin secondaries now? It seems like those would make it much easier, since they teleport to a live enemy (or ally, in the case of Return and Recall) instead of a dead one and thus don't have to worry about the boss being the unexploitable enchanted boss.

Or are assassins not allowed into the mission? I know that there are at least a couple missions that they aren't allowed to do if they're from the wrong campaign.

FyrFytr998 · May 11, 2006, 02:01 AM // 02:01

Thanks for all the feedback. SO the bonus can be done if the timers is not going? If so then I might try that Necrotic/Consume trick.

CorstedPirate · May 11, 2006, 05:22 AM // 05:22

The bonus can be done either way.

By using Necrotic Traversal or Consume Corpse to teleport past the gate. I will have to try that for mapping purposes. Possibly damage dealers take an assassin secondary to teleport to a live foe. Then have healers with the necro teleports. That would probably be even easier! It would be impossible to get the mission in this way, I'd imagine since the mission is so easy that it would be ok with most people.

You can also do it with the timer going. Leave one bonder monk with the ghost, everyone else go after the custodians. You don't need 2 monks to keep the ghost alive. I had him at 75% or more most of the time. That leaves 5 people to go get the bonus.

Cherno · May 11, 2006, 01:27 PM // 13:27

Actually it isn't impossible to finish the mission after using the transport trick. We usually wind up doing it anyway afterwards and it is easier since we've killed a number of the inital mobs outside the gates. After you finish the bonus/explore the map keep going east until you are up around where you entered the fort from the front entrance. There is almost always scarabs or a dune lizard there you can kill and repeat the warping tricks to get back out front to get the ghost and complete the mission portion.

Katari · May 11, 2006, 02:34 PM // 14:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cherno

Actually it isn't impossible to finish the mission after using the transport trick. We usually wind up doing it anyway afterwards and it is easier since we've killed a number of the inital mobs outside the gates. After you finish the bonus/explore the map keep going east until you are up around where you entered the fort from the front entrance. There is almost always scarabs or a dune lizard there you can kill and repeat the warping tricks to get back out front to get the ghost and complete the mission portion.

When I did use that trick, the team just left a guy behind to dirrect the ghost. Being one player down shouldn't stop you from getting the bonus.

[email protected] · May 11, 2006, 03:37 PM // 15:37

A bonus team is best with very high dmg that can kill targets fast. Mulitple Fire eles, SS necros, Frenzy Warriors, IW Mesmer, etc make the bonus simple if following the outline below.

There are generally 3 common ways PUGs attempt to do bonus: The split team method (rarely works), the 4 minute method (Perfect as executed), and the necrotic method (usually fool proof).

Here I outline the 4:00 method as done with henchies and a w/x sword build (Evis would be best..).

The question is where should you be when the timer starts? Here is a standard trigger list of what happens when the 10:00 timer starts and what you should do with your party: Any delays will result in lost time and most probably failure except in rare instances. Most common delays are party members that refuse to follow instructions and wanna hang back at ghost and not actively eliminate targets.

9:55 2 Arcanists spawn East; Meet them at the bottom of stairs and dispense of them quickly.
9:35 2 Arcanists spawn South,
9:15 2 Arcanists spawn West; Kill these four quickly in the field outside of ghost stand.
9:00 2 More Arcanists Spawn East
8:45 2 More Arcanists West; Actively dispense of all remaining Arcanists.
8:00 Worm spawns East; ignore. Arcanists should be dead.
7:45 Worm spawns South; ignore.
7:30 2 Bows spawn South; Actively dispose of them by pulling. Note: If your PUG is quick enough, you can step outside south gate and aggro the jades. If your party is really really good you can kill the boss, but dont try either of these as as it will cost you the bonus.
7:15 Hammer/Sword Spawn West; Destroy them at gate.
6:30 Worm west; ignore.
5:40 Boss Spawns West with Bow/Sword; Kill as quickly as possible as your now on bonus time.
4:00 First Boss dead at West gate; always at 4:00, hence the name. Good parties can save time here and have 4:30 atleast. Immediately run out south gate at this point.
2:50 Second Boss dead outside South gate, 3 Arcanists head to ghost; ignore them.
1:30 Third boss dead inside fort.
0:22 Final boss dead; Bonus done, although ghostly hero is getting pwned by the arcanists that spawned at 2:50.
0:00 Mission done, ghostly hero at 25% health. Often hero dies but bonus complete. Ways to compensate for this are slow totem, or send monk back at about 2:00 mark.

Note on slow totem: Leave it at the west gate to ensure mission success by slowing down the 3 arcanists that sneak in the base. I never do this but it would work.

That is the standard method and very fulfilling to a party when its done becuase the action is constant. If you lead a party, just be sure they know you are calling targets, and call.

Stig Figger · May 11, 2006, 08:57 PM // 20:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by FyrFytr998

SO the bonus can be done if the timers is not going? If so then I might try that Necrotic/Consume trick.

The PUG I joined in desperation last night did this (after multiple failed attempts with henchies and tring RyZell's method...if you get a monk boss, they're very hard to kill without interrupts). 5 of us had Necro as primary or secondary (if you're not Necro, come back after completing ascension and beyond and change your secondary to Necro, purchase Necrotic Traversal or Consume Corpse). After leaving Ghostly Hero far behind (i.e. talk to him and he says he'll stay put), we went up the rise just left of the south wall and a Jade Scarab spawned across the gorge. 3 guys Traversed over by pulling in single Scarabs. I sacced and they Rebirthed me over. No problem dealing with the boss groups to get the bonus (by the way, one boss may be a "Custodian" even though it says to kill "Forgotten" which look like snakes).

There is at least 0.5+% of Tyria across that gorge! It is impossible to explore it without doing this trick (i.e. the timer isn't running)! We killed pretty much every Scarab, Enchanted foe and Losaru we could find to make it easier for the 2 guys left behind to explore later.

Note: there are two 'keeps', one on the East and one on the West side. Even though the bridges are drawn up, *you can still go across* (see attachments).

When we were done mapping, the 2 left behind brought the Ghostly Hero in, triggered the 10:00 timer, and then went to explore/map while the rest of us dispatched the newly-spawned foes and kept the ghost alive.

lucifair · May 12, 2006, 02:22 PM // 14:22

I did this bonus on my monk. We did it with 4 guys (seeing as one of the warriors and a necro both lagged out. I stayed back at the centre and the rest of the party (a monk, a war, and an ele) killed all of the bosses.

If you stand a bit behind the Ghostly Hero, you can take all of the aggro, and all of the monsters are unable to kill you, for thankfully stone daggers cant go through walls, and neither can arrows. Also the necros tend to sack themselves with OoV. Finally, when the warriors came along, they all got bodyblocked by all of the ele's, rangers, and dead necros who were attempting to kill me. :P