Thunder head mission

There are the few noobs that trickle into the Fire Islands though.

That is my BIGGEST pet peeve in Thunderhead Keep right there. I'm one of the few people who absolutely loves this mission -- I do it a few times a week for fun and loot, and I usually play a monk there. Nothing gets on my nerves quite as fast as someone telling me to heal the king. And there's always one. Always. I usually grit my teeth and curse at my screen, but sometimes I'll tell 'em to STFU already; I know what I'm doing. The king won't die.

Wow. That felt good to get out.

(And when I'm on my necro and I tell the monks to leave combat ressing to me because I can Rebirth and get my energy back up fast with SR and OoB, DON'T FRICKING REBIRTH IN THE MIDDLE OF BATTLE.)

This sounds too familiar . I just tried to get a group together yesterday and thought I'd help some real people. But whenever I mentioned camping at King Jalis or taking Mhenlo and Lina someone left the group.

I finally henched that mission alone again as I did with most of my other chars. That way you know what you get: beat the mission first try.

The only thing that really bothers me about this mission is the time it takes in the end with Mursaat and White Mantle pouring in slowly over quite some time.

My first Character is a Monk, and I'm still playing that one, because It's my favourite.
Many monks get fed up because they always get the blame when everybody dies. Nobody blames the party leader who invited those low lvl players who took 90% of my healing energy. I know, I know, you probably have a lvl 10 who has played this game already twice, but I am talking from experience, not prejudice.
I mostly ignore those parties who desperately ask for a monk. I know from experience that they are probably not the best players in the game, and a healer is a good scapegoat when things get sour.

Could be that most people who roll a monk and stick with it are on their 2 or higher charactar, and realise that henchmen > PUGs for thunderhead.

The only reason I like to have at least one human monk in the party is to be able to target the king. Henchmen have a tendency to never heal allies, only party members. Sometimes Jalis can go off on his own and leeroy the mursaat and it really helps to have at least one human monk. That's why a lot of people think that you MUST have a monk in order to do the mission.

I can see peoples frustration with this mission but personnally I love it.
I Completed it at the first attempt with my second charater E/R and it was a breeze, oh, by the way we had henchy monks. All you need is a trapper at each gate just spamming traps galore and a fighter to hold them there, then use a meteor storm type skill to send anything that did get through back through the gate (they turn and run).

I was amazed at how easily and quickly we did it. Nobody died, everybody stood thier ground and the henchies did thier job with no probs. One bloke left at the start cos we wouldnt camp at the king, and we still did it easily - his loss.

Its the same old, same old - People listen to instructions and you have a much greater chance of success.

The best way is to have 2 groups. 1 Tank, 1 Ele, 1 Monk each and 1 ranged attacker of your choice to fire the catapults and shoot down on the enemies when they try to enter the fort.
Did this with my clan yesterday and it almost gets boring. The problem for PUGs is that this needs some kind of tactical thinking and intelligence and that's what many people lack - in this mission it shows.

I like this mission too, because it's different than all the other missions with one attacking and one defending part.

YEY!!!! finally someone speaks up!!! this is the exact reasson why i refuse to heal (unless its guildie group) and most i ever do with my monk is 55ing!!! or bonding, but healing? NO WAY!!!
i play this game for fun and not to get my mood down or getting pissed off, PUGs are not worth my time

Now I am not sure why people insist on having 2 monks. I have done THK before when I was the only monk. I have also done it with a friend who was monking and we about half henchies.

The only time that THK is hard is if you are doing it with a PUG. That is why it is imperative to get into a guild or find some people to put in your friends list that will help you out.

Dunderhead Keep ....otherwise know as the noob filter.

I have done this mission so many times in so many configurations helping guildies. One time our primary healer (monk) got disconnected after we got to the keep. We finished without a primary healer.

As has been stated, the reason this mission is hard with pugs is that a lot of people have no idea how to work as a team, and this is one mission that requires teamwork.

I completed it easily with a PUG that turned out to be superb. One of my few good PUG stories.

Right on. I hate it when I'm in a group and the leader accepts someone much lower level than everyone else. Two choices: either babysit the baby at the expense of everyone else, or let the baby die. Neither one works well.

bingbingbing winner
I had made and deleted about 4 monks and my first one that I kept was my 3rd toon to finish the game. Now I absolutely love it (when I'm not too tired) for the challenge. I also love to do THK, but with lots of good strats posted already I'll forgo that.

I absolutly will not PUG with my monk. I have tried before in the early SHiverpeak quests and the rewards are not worth the stress and hassle. In any difficult mission people will die. Yelling at the monk doesn't help the situation. I think that there are many people who feel the way that I do. That is why Monks are hard to find in THK and other advance areas.

My first character is a warrior, did THK numerous times successfully and unsuccessfully with him. My third character is a monk and is not to THK yet but have done all missions with pugs as my guild only has two members. I have found that many people do blame the monk for deaths and failures but many also appreciate the monk and treat him as another valuable player, thanking for heals, etc. I have enjoyed all my characters as they all offer different rewards and challenges. If I run across a Noob who is unfair or mean or uncouth I just leave the computer after finishing the mission and go mow the lawn or something. Playing GW is supposed to be fun anyway right, that's why it is a GAME..........

If you are doing that with a PUG, all I have to say is good luck. That needs a very good combination of characters and human monks to cover where needed, not to mention people who listen to you. If you have a guild or group with TS, yeah I agree, it'd be a sure thing. But after camping the king for the first time and even getting the bonus, to me that's almost a sure 100%. On my first character, though, how you told it was how it got done.

I’m quite surprised at a lot of the posts here. I play heal monk at THK for fun quite a bit and have had my share of bad groups. But the majority of PUGs I have been with were very good. I rarely have been yelled at if someone dies and if that happens I just blow it off and continue with the mission.

The split group strategy is a little harder to do because there is no monk back up. It really depends more on the fighters killing targets quickly and getting help from people covering the east gate when the jade or mursaat boss shows up. The only problem with staying with the king is that he has a tendency to run off his platform and start fighting mursaat. If you don’t watch him the little guy dies easily.

I'll monk there for fun too. but by thk most folks wont be yelling at the monk when they die... they know whats good for em thk I actually bring restore life or plain Res on my monk too.

After the first wave of Stone Summit you can leave the fort and head north to a choke point just to the south of the spawning point where all the waves come in. Just because of the features of the map this area is completely defensible with nothing but henchies. I perosnally have yet to try it but tactically the idea is sound and I intend to give it a shot tonight after I get off of work. Since I want to get my ranger through I'll likely rig for traps and trap the hell out of the choke point then sit back and let them kill themselves, maybe ninja it a little.