The Deep

Locate and defeat Kanaxai.

Objectives

 * Find and destroy the source of the Luxon outcasts and Oni

Rewards

 * 1) Excluding Reborn Irukandji and creatures spawned when Kanaxai is knocked down.


 * The following items can only be obtained in The Deep or Urgoz's Warren, with inscribable versions only being available from Kanaxai's Chest or Urgoz's Chest:
 * Ceremonial Daggers - Random drop, Deep Jade Chests/Stoneroot Chests, and Kanaxai's Chest/Urgoz's Chest.
 * Ceremonial Spear - Kanaxai's Chest or Urgoz's Chest.
 * Crab Claw Maul - Kanaxai's Chest or Urgoz's Chest.
 * Draconic Scythe - Kanaxai's Chest or Urgoz's Chest.
 * Dragoncrest Axe - Random drop, Deep Jade Chests/Stoneroot Chests, and Kanaxai's Chest/Urgoz's Chest.
 * Exalted Aegis - Random drop, Deep Jade Chests/Stoneroot Chests, and Kanaxai's Chest/Urgoz's Chest.
 * Gavel of the Nephilim - Random drop, Deep Jade Chests/Stoneroot Chests, and Kanaxai's Chest/Urgoz's Chest.
 * Ironwing Flatbow - Random drop, Deep Jade Chests/Stoneroot Chests, and Kanaxai's Chest/Urgoz's Chest.
 * Pronged Fan - Kanaxai's Chest or Urgoz's Chest.
 * Serpentine Scepter - Kanaxai's Chest or Urgoz's Chest.
 * Straw Effigy - Random drop, Deep Jade Chests/Stoneroot Chests, and Kanaxai's Chest/Urgoz's Chest.
 * Wayward Wand - Random drop, Deep Jade Chests/Stoneroot Chests, and Kanaxai's Chest/Urgoz's Chest.
 * Zodiac weapons - Random drop, Deep Jade Chests/Stoneroot Chests, and Kanaxai's Chest/Urgoz's Chest.

Additionally, killing Kanaxai will make a Kanaxai's Chest spawn. The chest drops the following loot for each player:
 * 3 Jadeite Shards (6 Jadeite Shards in Hard Mode)
 * 1 Demonic Summoning Stone
 * 1 Passage Scroll to the Deep (Hard Mode only)
 * One of the following (or two in Hard Mode):
 * A rare inscribable item.
 * Kanaxai's Axe
 * Kanaxai's Edge
 * Kanaxai's Mallet

Overview
The entire mission area is divided into fifteen different sections, each with its own environment effect. The environment effects persist until their respective Aspect of Kanaxai in that section is defeated. Taking down the Aspect of Kanaxai fast and early helps in some rooms but it is not necessary to kill Aspects to continue through the mission. The start and final sections do not have Aspects of Kanaxai, Kanaxai himself is in the last section (this area has a permanent environment effect).

Bear in mind that this mission can take anywhere between 12 minutes to several hours, depending on how experienced the team is. If you have not been there before, it is wise to proceed slowly and carefully, due to Oni pops and Aspect effects. It is a bad idea to try to rush through this mission as some rooms require clearing to continue.

In The Deep, a tank and wall method is used. One tank pulls foes into a wall made of one or more other tanks who bodyblock. The skill level of your tanks often define how effective your team will be, before attempting The Deep, its highly suggested to find an experienced tank or someone who knows The Deep reasonably well. Stance warriors are recommended for the tanking role, as enchant removal and area effects can get through skills such as Shadow Form and Spell Breaker.

Make sure, before you enter the mission, that at least one party member has either Rebirth, Unyielding Aura or Scrolls of Resurrection; to get all players past a 5-switch gate near the start of the mission. An enchantment removal skill of some sort or massive amounts of interrupts is also required for this mission to disable Nightmare Refuge as it makes spells fail. You also need a lot of knock down in order to kill Kanaxai and his aspects.

Skill recommendations

 * Due to large mobs, skills that do area damage are very useful and essential to bring (Searing Flames, Meteor Shower, Spiteful Spirit, traps, etc.). Similarly, party-wide healing and protection spells like Aegis, wards, Heal Party, and Light of Deliverance are extremely useful, since they affect twelve party members at once.
 * The necromancer energy regeneration of Blood Ritual and Blood is Power is very valuable to monks, since it lets them use Heal Party more often. Melee is not as effective in some parts of The Deep, due to huge quantities of blind.
 * "You Move Like a Dwarf!" is a very useful skill, as it can be spammed to knock down and more easily kill Kanaxai and his aspects. It can be used to prevent Kanaxai from successfully casting Nightmare Refuge, since both skills have a 10 second recharge.
 * Inspired Enchantment (or Revealed Enchantment) is useful to remove Kanaxai's enchantment, since it has no recharge time when used on monster skills.
 * Spinal Shivers (or Shivers of Dread) with icy weapons can be used to interrupt Kanaxai's enchantments.

Section 0 (exhaustion)

 * Aspect of Exhaustion : While under this aspect, you suffer from exhaustion every 30 seconds.

This is the arrival room. The party must split into four groups of three. Each group needs to enter through one of four different portals and take out an Aspect of Kanaxai. Plan the grouping and subsequent strategy for the next section before starting the mission; you should not linger in this section for long. The best plan for organizing groups is to try and place one tank, one damage, and one monk in each room, (Almost never a possibility, so try and make at least two rooms clear).

Section 1-4 (four separate effects)

 * Aspect of Soothing (room 1, right portal) : While under this aspect, it takes you twice as long to gain adrenaline.
 * Aspect of Death (room 2, middle-right portal) : While under this aspect, you receive 20% less benefit from healing.
 * Aspect of Surrender (room 3, middle-left portal) : When under this aspect, whenever you are struck by an attack, you are knocked down.
 * Aspect of Exposure (room 4, left portal) : While under this aspect, you cannot "block" attacks.

In general, Riposte is a good skill against the Aspects of Kanaxai because they only use melee attacks. All Kanaxai aspects need to be knocked down at 75%, 50% and 25%. When an Aspect of Kanaxai is defeated, the exit door out of that small room will open, granting access to the next section, as well as leading to the locked doors of the other small rooms. Large numbers of enemies will stand between each exit, requiring careful pulling, or attempt to run through the mobs. See the next section regarding another method of opening the locked doors.

The room beyond the left portal should have a good protection monk, although powerful healing would still be fine.

Skills like Dolyak Signet, Balanced Stance, and Ward of Stability are very helpful for the middle-left room.

Powerful healing plus strong health regeneration is necessary for the middle-right room.

The room from the rightmost portal will be easier if the primary source damage comes from energy-based attacks and casters.

The far left and right rooms are the easiest to clear. The middle-left portal can easily aggravate players. In the middle-right room you can't run away, so this room should be avoided. Your best plan is to place team based players like Bips or Paragons into the rooms you don't plan on clearing until you group up in Section 5.

Section 5 (health degeneration)

 * Aspect of Pain : While under this aspect, you suffer -2 Health degeneration and suffer from the effects of Deep Wound.

This room is filled with Ripper Carps, Scourge Mantas, Blessed Mantas and Darkened Irukandji. The party should watch out for the Irukandji's Restoration spirits, since they can resurrect. They patrol in several groups with tight patrols. A bad pull will result in a huge aggro. Party-wide healing skills like Heal Party and Recuperation are very useful here.

The groups that managed to kill their Aspect of Kanaxai and entered this section could attempt to clear out this section. Once the Kanaxai Aspect of Pain here is killed, and all stationary Blessed Manta, any doors to the previous rooms that are still locked will be unlocked, allowing the rest of the party to go in and help the remaining groups that were unable to break out. Regroup and recuperate before proceeding to the next section.

Section 6 (slowed movement)

 * Aspect of Lethargy : While under this aspect, you move 50% slower.

This room is filled with different kinds of Leviathan Fish. The party tanks can form a wall on the left side and pull the first group. Block the Leviathan Arms and take out the Leviathan Minds and Leviathan Heads first. Repeat this with the center group and the right group as well. Casters should be wary of Choking Gas used by the Leviathan Heads. Warriors with "Charge!" or Sprint can counteract the environment effect. Once the mobs are cleared, the party can take out the Kanaxai Aspect of Lethargy.

After clearing this section, look around for square, wooden boards spread out close to the next gate (which leads to the next section). If there is one character standing on each of them, the gate will open. The moment any of those standing on the boards step off, the gate will close. It closes too fast for the these characters to run through. As such, these five characters must be left behind as the other seven head into the next section.

It is very important to note the following: immediately after the seven have gone through the gate, the remaining five must quickly run up to the gate and stand right next to it. This is because once the seven aggro the Kanaxai Aspect of Depletion, a very large mob of Sapping Nightmares and Freezing Nightmares will spawn in the corners of this section and head towards the gate. The five characters left behind will almost certainly die. Since they will all die by the gate, it is easy for the seven beyond the gate to use Rebirth and bring the dead ones across. Recall or Shadow Meld will save you from dying if you are an assassin primary or secondary, any Mesmers can bring Arcane Mimicry and mimic Shadow Meld, or Blood is Power to sacrifice yourself to death.

Note that it is possible to kill all the spawned nightmares, since the seven can come back to the gate and support the five. Killing all the nightmares and clearing the Room 5 will open the gate permanently. This is mostly considered pointless by many, since the sheer number of enemies in this mission and their high levels will easily remove the death penalty incurred.

Section 7 (energy loss)

 * Aspect of Depletion : While under this aspect, every 30 seconds, you lose 10 Energy and take 8 points of damage for every point of Energy lost this way.

There are quite a few Outcast mobs in this section. As mentioned in the previous section, the first two or three groups would have been taken out already. Careful use and management of energy is very important here, especially for monks. When engaging these Outcasts, casters should watch out for Maelstrom. Also, avoid standing near corpses if possible, since Outcast Deathhands have the skill Putrid Explosion.

When Kanaxai Aspect of Depletion can be reached, pull it away from the remaining three or so mobs and take it down. Then proceed to clear the rest of the mobs to clear this section.

Section 8 (no spells)

 * Aspect of Failure : While under this aspect, all of your spells fail.

This section renders casters almost useless. The key to clearing this section is to stay outside of it. Tanks in the party need to set up a wall at the gate into the section. Any trappers should stay behind them and trap the gate area. Casters should stay behind the walls on both sides.

Designate one of the tanks to go in and pull the mobs to the gate. Since Outcast Reavers use "Charge!", they are easy to pull. Block them at the gate and take them down. Repeat this for all the mobs that can be pulled (leaving some Outcast Raiders and the Kanaxai Aspect of Failure).

At this point, the party can actually choose to ignore this Aspect of Kanaxai and head into the next section (killing it is not required). This usually depends on whether a chest has spawned amongst the Outcast Raiders on the higher platforms. If there is one, the party would need to run into the area and past the enemies to right before the stairways down. There is a corner there where the environment effect is not active, allowing casters to function normally. Pull the Aspect Kanaxai down to that area and kill it. The remaining Raiders are easily killed once the environment effect is lifted.

Section 9 (no enchantments)

 * Aspect of Shadows : While under this aspect, you cannot use enchantments or be targeted by enchantments.

Sweeping this section is absolutely essential. There are many Oni of the Deep popups here. Due to the environment effect, strong healing skills are essential.

The central area of this section has the Leviathan seemingly trapped in jade. As the party closes in, it breaks free and starts attacking. Ignore both the Leviathan and the surrounding Reborn Irukandji and their Disenchantment spirits. These Irukandji respawn quickly and indefinitely when killed. There is another groups of Oni popups that lie just past the Leviathan. Before engaging that group, make sure to stay outside the range of the Leviathan's attacks as the combined damage easily overwhelms the healing capabilities of monks in the party (as no enchantments are possible). Standing near the second Fire Flower you walk past will make the Leviathan bomb you.

The Kanaxai Aspect of Shadows stands past the previous group of Oni. Killing it will ease the difficulty of this section. Killing the Leviathan is now possible (although there's really no reason to). There is one more large group of Oni before the next set of stairway down.

At the top of that stairway, there is a single Reborn Irukandji. Do not kill it (or if it is dead, wait for it to respawn before continuing). This Irukandji makes the next section easier.

Section 10 (teleport and knockdown)

 * Scorpion Aspect : While under this aspect, every 30 seconds, you are teleported to the nearest foe and knocked down.

The sudden teleport makes this section one of more difficult sections in the Deep, due to the confusion it causes. The environment effect here is the sole reason to keep the Irukandji at the top of the stairs alive. Since the effect teleports a character to the nearest foe, by staying nearer to the Irukandji than the mobs below, party members will not suddenly find themselves in the midst of a large mob. Party-wide healing is again very important here.

The first part of this section should be cleared with most of the party at the top of the stairs. One puller needs to sweep the bottom of the stairs for hidden groups of Oni of the Deep. There are several groups, with some spawning some distance from the stairs. The party must be patient and wait at the top of stairs and take the Oni down as they come.

Once it appears that no more Oni are charging in, pull and take out the nearest patrol of Outcasts, and then another patrol to the right of that first group. The path is now clear to a flight of stairs to the right. The whole party should run and hide here. From there, another patrol can be pulled and taken out. In general, every party member must anticipate the teleport and be ready to regroup with the rest of the party when it happens.

Outcasts in this Aspect tend to run away in a patrol, it is advised to be very cautious not to follow their patrol into other groups, they will eventually come back.

Next, hug the right wall and engage another group of Outcasts that stands before the Kanaxai Aspect of Scorpions. Once that Aspect of Kanaxai is taken out, there should be a couple of groups of Outcasts left, which the party can either ignore or easily take out.

When fighting the Aspect of Kanaxai, healers must be very watchful as the effect will pull everyone to it. With powerful melee damage and Demonic Agility, it can kill a party member (especially casters) very quickly while they are still recovering from the knockdown. Party-wide protection spells like Aegis, Shelter, and Displacement are very useful.

Section 11 (damage while moving)

 * Aspect of Fear : While under this aspect, you move 10% faster. You take 25 damage each second you are moving.

Monks need to be watchful of party health and use skills like Heal Party often.

Upon entering, it will appear empty. Do not enter the corridor and turn the corner before regrouping. Make sure the whole party is together, and as one, run into the corridor and turn the corner, and keep running. Large mobs of Oni of the Deep and nightmares will spawn behind the party and start to chase them. The best counter strategy is to keep running until the party reaches a sharp corner. Casters must bunch up into that corner and tanks need to body block and protect the casters. If the body block is set up correctly, traps and AoE damage will take the enemies down easily. After killing these waves, often a Chest spawns at the top of the stairs.

Once the pursuing mobs are killed, the party can go back to proceeding slowly. Along the way, there will be three long bridges spanning gaps. At the end of each bridge, there is a Thorn Flower and several groups of Oni popups. By this point, the party should already be reacting naturally, with tanks taking up body blocking positions and casters taking enemies down from behind.

The Kanaxai Aspect of Fear stands at the end of the last bridge. It is up to the party whether to sweep and pull the Oni first or to pull the Aspect of Kanaxai first.

Section 12 (energy depletion damage)

 * Aspect of Depletion : While under this aspect, whenever your Energy hits 0, you take 50 damage.

From this section onwards, the scenery will change. The party has progressed through the depths of the Jade Sea and has now entered the caverns deep beneath the sea itself. These dark and misty caves hold some of the most beautiful scenery in the game.

The hordes of Sapping Nightmares in this area specialize in draining energy by spamming Chaos Storm. Aside from this, these foes are easy to take down; most standard tactics should work, especially using proper tanking or pulling.

You can counter any energy loss using skills such as Blood is Power or Well of Power. An easier tactic is to change from using wands or staves and switch to spears (or other martial weapons); the nightmares only attempt to drain energy from members of your party wielding caster weapons. Swapping weapon is critical if you have lots of casters, otherwise your party will spend too much time running from a dozen or two of the chaos storms.

You can choose to kill the Kanaxai Aspect of Depletion or you can avoid it by hugging one of the walls and ignoring it.

Section 13 (conditional health degeneration)

 * Aspect of Decay : While under this aspect, if you are Poisoned or Bleeding, you suffer an additional -4 Health degeneration.

This section is a circular cavern with a path circling up to a central mound. The Kanaxai Aspect of Decay stands atop that mound. The path around the mound is full of flowers that inflict bleeding and poison on party members. Careful sweeping is also required, as there are hidden groups of Oni scattered from the entrance until the exit. The flowers can be "deactivated" by clicking on them.

The better strategy is to avoid the central area altogether and ignore the Aspect of Kanaxai (again, not required to kill it). The exit is to the left, as such, tanks should sweep and pull mobs from the left side of the cavern. When sweeping, pulling, and engaging mobs, make sure that battles do not occur within range of any flowers.

Section 14 (damage unless skill used)

 * Aspect of Torment : While under this aspect, you take 50 damage every 3 seconds if you don't use a skill.

This section has an environment effect similar to Wastrel's Worry. The long and winding path hide many hidden Oni and nightmare groups (Depending on which side you entered from, the right only has oni spawns, the left is a mixture of sappings and oni). The same strategy as before applies to tanking them. At the end of the path waits the Kanaxai Aspect of Torment, accompanied by a group of Outcasts (though it can be pulled separately).

Section 15 (heavy health degeneration)

 * Nightmare Aspect : While under this aspect, you suffer -8 Health degeneration.

This is the final section. Kanaxai can be found standing in here seemingly alone. The constant -8 health degeneration makes it imperative that some form of party-wide healing is available. Note that this environment effect does not go away even after Kanaxai is killed.

Kanaxai is a difficult foe, he hits very hard and very fast. Each successful hit also knocks his target down. He also uses an enchantment called Nightmare Refuge (1-second cast time, 10-second recharge), which makes all spells and attacks that target him to fail 50% of the time. In addition, that enchantment also heals him for 1,000 health if it is not removed within 10 seconds (before it expires). And finally, like the Aspects of Kanaxai, he stops taking damage at 80%, 60%, 40%, and 20% of his maximum health. To resume normal damage, a knockdown is necessary (although life stealing skills continue to function). The difference between Kanaxai and his aspects are that each of Kanaxai's knockdowns will spawn a mob of eight creatures:
 * Sapping Nightmares (above 80% of maximum health)
 * Freezing Nightmares (between 60% and 80% of maximum health)
 * Oni of the Deep (between 40% and 60% of maximum health)
 * Random mixture of the above (below 40% of maximum health)

Skills like Spinal Shivers (or Shivers of Dread) can prevent Kanaxai from using his enchantment. Even better would be Revealed Enchantment or Inspired Enchantment to remove it. Since it is a monster skill, the removal skill is immediately recharged.

A conventional strategy is to body-block Kanaxai and trap all around him and around all monks when he is knocked down. With sufficient traps, the spawned creatures will fall quickly.

An alternate strategy exploits the fact that Kanaxai can have a maximum of 24 creatures (3 spawns) spawned at any one time. The idea is to trigger the spawns away from Kanaxai's default spot. The steps are as follows:
 * 1) Pull Kanaxai to one side of the cavern, make sure other party members are out of the environment effect or it will be difficult to pull.
 * 2) With Kanaxai near one side of the cavern, knock him down 2 times in succession, causing the max amount of creatures to spawn (this can be done with either two people using "You Move Like a Dwarf!" or Meteor Shower. Always wait until Kanaxai is standing before applying the next knock down, otherwise they will not count. The moment the creatures spawn, the whole party can run out of the room. The assassin skill Recall or Shadow Meld allows that tank to quickly escape from the mob. Do not kill any of the spawns or they will spawn again from Kanaxai at a later point in time.
 * 3) When the party escapes back to the previous section, Kanaxai will return to his original spot in the cavern, and the spawns will home at the location where they spawned (they have a small patrol range, be careful not to aggro).
 * 4) After recuperating, the entire party should head back in and head to the opposite side of the cavern (away from the spawns). Pull Kanaxai to that side and body-block him to prevent him from running. Now the whole party should give everything they've got to take him down. Remember to have one party member tasked to constantly remove Kanaxai's enchantment.

Variations from the above do exist, such as a tank to pull and run around maintaining aggro of all the spawned creatures while the rest of the party takes down Kanaxai.

Foes
Demons Fishes Leviathans Nightmares Outcasts
 * 28 (30) Kanaxai Aspect of Death
 * 28 (30) Kanaxai Aspect of Decay
 * 28 (30) Kanaxai Aspect of Depletion
 * 28 (30) Kanaxai Aspect of Exposure
 * 28 (30) Kanaxai Aspect of Failure
 * 28 (30) Kanaxai Aspect of Fear
 * 28 (30) Kanaxai Aspect of Lethargy
 * 28 (30) Kanaxai Aspect of Pain
 * 28 (30) Kanaxai Aspect of Scorpions
 * 28 (30) Kanaxai Aspect of Shadows
 * 28 (30) Kanaxai Aspect of Soothing
 * 28 (30) Kanaxai Aspect of Surrender
 * 28 (30) Kanaxai Aspect of Torment
 * 24 (26) Oni of the Deep
 * 24 (26) Blessed Manta
 * 24 (26) Scourge Manta
 * 28 (30) Ripper Carp
 * 28 (30) Darkened Irukandji
 * 24 (26) Reborn Irukandji
 * 28 Leviathan Arm
 * 28 Leviathan Head
 * 28 (30) The Leviathan
 * 28 Leviathan Mind
 * 24 (26) Sapping Nightmare
 * 24 (26) Freezing Nightmare
 * 28 (30) Outcast Reaver
 * 28 (30) Outcast Raider
 * 28 (30) Outcast Deathhand
 * 28 (30) Outcast Spellstorm
 * 28 (30) Outcast Assassin
 * 28 (30) Outcast Ritualist

Boss-like foes
Demons
 * 30 (32) Kanaxai

Objects
Chests
 * Fire Flower
 * Thorn Flower
 * Blood Flower
 * Venom Flower
 * Deep Jade Chest
 * Kanaxai's Chest

Dialogue
While approaching Kanaxai.
 * Kanaxai Aspect of Decay: "I am Kanaxai, creator of nightmares. Let me make yours into reality."
 * Kanaxai Aspect of Depletion: "So, you have passed through the depths of the Jade Sea, and into the nightmare realm. It is too bad that I must send you back from whence you came."
 * Kanaxai Aspect of Failure: "Even if you banish me from your sight, I will remain in your mind."
 * Kanaxai Aspect of Lethargy: "Is it comforting to know the source of your fears? Or do you fear more now that you see them in front of you."
 * Kanaxai Aspect of Pain: "Fear not the darkness. It is already within you."
 * Kanaxai Aspect of Scorpions: "You mortals may be here to defeat me, but acknowledging my presence only makes the nightmare grow stronger."
 * Kanaxai: "What gives you the right to enter my lair? I shall kill you for your audacity, after I destroy your mind with my horrifying visions, ofcourse."

Environmental Effects
Each section in the Deep has an Aspect that causes an Environment effect, similar to player-usable skills (most of which are Assassin or Mesmer skills).

Trivia

 * Prior to the 13th November 2008 update, this mission did not affect the faction cap.