Talk:Thunderhead Keep

the bonus on this mission dosnt seem to work even with haveing 2 runners with runing skills
 * Try lighting the beacons, not running to the dwarves. AyaStowar

Removed passage
"Or you can just stay with the king with everyone and dont leave him and let the bad guys fight each other and they will sometims go for you. This is the easy way though." Yeah, no. Kabu To 04:02, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

Easy to H&H/bonus.NM or HM.
Activating bonus makes this mission easier. How to activate bonus solo: Run to the first until beacon, grab the torch, light the beacon and run to the second beacon and light it. You wont need to bring a running skill as there is plenty of time to get to both becons, also carying the torch wont slow you down as it does in other missions.

An MM using aura of the lich works great since it has been buffed. I also use masochism and i can keep 11 minions alive at all times.I recommended that you use "withering aura" this will cause weakness on all melee attackers, helping to keep your minons and party alive.I also like to bring a spirit spammer.Micro 01:44, 3 February 2008 (UTC)

Two questions:-
Just how long is allowed to light the beacons? Even with Ursan Force I still can't get the bonus. If there are two human players can they each light one of the beacons? Moebius the Malign 18:57, 18 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Weird place to put a new section (right in the middle), but two players can light the beacons. Also try Recall. To be honest, however, I've always found it easy enough to light them both with any of the professions' simple speed boosts. Are you sure you're starting as early as possible? | 72 User_Seventy_two_Truly_Random.jpg (UTC) 20:11, 18 January 2010 (UTC)

LOL
I saw a level 5 Mursaat here with the name "Black Bear". I found it odd that the bear looked like a Mursaat and had Spectral Agony. It seemed to have the health of a level 5. Can anyone confirm this? I was too slow to get a screen cap. --Gah The  Epic  01:42, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
 * It's a known bug, it can happen anywhere. - [[Image:User HeWhoIsPale sig.PNG]] HeWhoIsPale 01:47, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Possible Glitch?
I had a similar problem when playing the game in Hard Mode. What I thought was a Level 26 Black Bear appeared to storm the keep alongside a Jade Armor. Upon the pair reaching my party's holding area, I discovered it was apparently a Lv. 26 Jade Armor, named "Black Bear". Glitch, or Non-boss foe meant to catch Animal Charmers unaware? (As far as I know, Black Bear was the same scale as his fellow Jade Armor.) -- Cybertronian 141.225.192.214 05:11, 7 May 2009 (UTC).
 * I'll confirm the appearance of a "black bear," lvl 26 jade armor, as I just saw him today. I have no idea what may be the underlying cause, but it's there alright.70.58.233.132 03:14, 24 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Its been said before, but thats a glitch that can happen anywhere, not just thunderhead keep. personn5[[Image:User_Personn5_sig.jpg|19px]] 03:18, 24 August 2009 (UTC)
 * I saw a level 26 elementalist mursat named Black Bear, today, in Thunderhead Keep HM. --98.21.140.253 02:09, 25 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Common bug in every campaign (+ eotn). Supervillain-Tox 02:16, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Gornar Bellybreaker ?
I entered this mission about 30 times capturing the skills the bosses offered. I didn't see Gornar Bellybreaker spawn once.

Xmanden 20:54, 21 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Are you sure you checked all 3 possible spawn points and that it was 30 times? Not seeing him a few times is ok, 30 times when the probability is 1/2 is ... VERY unlikely. --Xeeron 23:17, 21 November 2008 (UTC)


 * unlucky if you ask me, i just did the mission and saw him at the spawn spot in the city.. Wikke 15:31, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

The main page says "When the mission starts, you'll see King Jalis in front of you. He will follow whoever talks to him first, so if you have a designated babysitter, wait until that player speaks with the king." - shouldn't this be "He will follow whoever talks to him last,"?... (i.e. most recently)? I thought all NPC's that "follow" worked that way in GW...

Confessor Dorian
How come he isn't in the boss section, with the elite as Word Of Healing?--Sam6555 22:24, 9 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Well, if he doesn't have the boss aura he's not a boss. And he only has WoH in the BMP. --JonTheMon 22:27, 9 February 2009 (UTC)
 * He's not a boss.- TheRave [[Image:User_TheRave_sig.png|talk]] (talk) 22:27, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

IPs Comment
The final part is pritty boring since u always fight the same enemy,whit hero's, it might be possibol to flag 3 at each gate and just remain afk,though you will need perfect hero's for this, don't afk if u have henchies.


 * agreed, this is probably the most boring mission in the entire GW series 41.245.150.242 15:52, 5 March 2009 (UTC)


 * +1 I don't like the Shiverpeak mission, they bore the s*** out of me Justgetmein 18:06, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Really, funny that cos I find the Shiverpeak missions better than most (bar the Ascalon ones). Then again, i find Prophecies missions the most boring of all the campaigns. Elvnd Asailight 21:19, 29 April 2009

I don't understand how it's supposed to be fun to do such a long mission. 70.135.124.172 18:49, 30 October 2009 (UTC)


 * You should have tried beating the mission when the game first came out. Players didn't have other campaign skills, didn't have heroes, henchmen AI was worse, and there was a general misunderstanding or lack of understanding about game mechanics. People would be stuck here for weeks at a time, and nobody knew about the Bonus Jade Glitch to be able to help out. Perhaps it should receive an update? I think all of Prophecies should, but that's not a responsible way or spending money for ArenaNet. --Knux 07:08, 28 December 2009 (UTC)
 * I didn't play THK when the game first came out, but I did play it before Factions happened (and, most importantly, the update that made the Mursaat monk bosses cake :<) and before it wasn't considered hard anymore...to be honest, I never found it to be a challenge, and I always played with full hench teams. I still have fond memories of Lina saving Jalis with a lucky Protective Spirit after I accidentally let him get hit by Spectral Agony. ^^" Vili &#x70B9; [[Image:User Vili sig.jpg|User talk:Vili]] 07:13, 28 December 2009 (UTC)

Be careful
I almost completed this, then I noticed a Jade Bow somehow slipped past me and killed Jalis in a quite swift way. They should make him shout when he's under attack. I just wasted 40 minutes of my life >.>


 * Yeah, that thing can be a bit stressful and tricky the first time through. Check the "Defending the King" section; that's the way I've always done it. Pin all your heroes and such near the king's area. When we were duoing it, we put a monk just out of adjacent range of the king, another monk in front of the main brazier, and one other hero on each side of each of the main ramps up. Aside from rushing to light the beacons (after setting up heroes) if desired, never go farther away from that area than the bottom of the ramps or the corners of the upper passages, unless you're SURE nothing is close to coming into the area (and then only to grab items.)


 * If your're solo H'n'H-ing it, I'd say, pin a hero monk by the kings till, and your other two heroes on the farther sides of the ramps where they can watch two passages each, and pin the henchmen infront of the brazier. In either case, set your heroes and leave them, unless you end up engaging the final group with Dorian in the center of the field for some reason.


 * Of course, if you're playing a monk, you probably just want to stay smack in the middle and zoom way out if that helps you.


 * I've noticed that very few of the enemies that meet a full party on the king's floor zerg the king, usually maybe one will attack him sometimes, otherwise they're busy with all the other people that are hammering on them. Of course, this is on normal mode only so far. (Grr Sparks of the Titans Grr.)


 * Oh, and watch your compass. Asside from Dorian's I Need A Map To Find You display, enemies have one of three states after coming in a gate: Coming Straight Toward You, Doing Something Unclear By The Gate (means they're climbing up to come through an upper path), or Crossing The Courtyard Before They Decide.


 * Hm, Come to think of it, two direct paths, two upper paths, large courtyard . . . if I ever make a VCTF map, I'll have to use this for one base and . . . IDK, that horrible thing in the desert where you have to defend the guy AND go off and kill bosses as the other base :D. --Star Weaver 17:05, 1 May 2009 (UTC)

Halleluyah!
I've just done this mission in hard mode today, and noticed that the king is no longer aggro'd by enemies in the part where you need to defend the fort. He must've been fixed in one of the latest updates. --Adul 15:08, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

I did this a mission a few times today as it was the Z mission. I H&H and was camped out at the king, each time i found the king at the bottom of the stairs fighting.If you meant that you guarded each gate, or waited in the middle of the arena, then please specify that. Micro

1st time not completing bonus on nm
So I was soloing this mish and then after the cutscene I ran towards one of the beacons. Then, 3 giants and a herd thingy walked under the bridge and stomped the hell out of everything and i missed the other torch by like 1 sec. :(
 * Same thing happened to me, the page is very misleading about how hard the bonus is to solo without an IMS or anti KD.

I just did this mission three times. One of the times the enemy was spawned, the other two times they didnt. I still got bonus as i lit the becon that didnt have enemy by it first. Micro

Recurring bug? (solved)
Might be a by-product of a recent update, or maybe it's just Beshaba looking after me, I don't know. I went today to try this mission and the king just wouldn't open the gate after the city part. I stopped, looked around, quest log, wiki... looked like I was doing everything right. I then restarted the mission and the same thing happened again. I'm not trying a third time, screw this S*** T_T

Anyone else ran into this kind of thing?

My char is a Factions Mesmer and I was taking Tahlkora, Goren and Olias with me, as well as henchies. It's as far as I've gotten on Proph, so, NM.

VileLasagna 21:01, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
 * did you try aggro the group behind the gate, that sometimes works Infested Hydralisk  21:03, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
 * I was unable to duplicate this bug, the mission is working fine for me. Vili &#x70B9; [[Image:User Vili sig.jpg|User talk:Vili]] 21:27, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

I did and actually killed some of them but still the gate remained closed both times. I'll give the mission another go, probably tomorrow and updater here. Right now I'm kinda demoralised u.u VileLasagna 23:05, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Well, seems third time was NOT the charm with this thing. Tried it again and same result. I got a screen, just in case: VileLasagna 16:49, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

...Never @£$#$@@ mind.... it's the small gate that's hidden deep in the darkest corner, not the one that is "obviously the way"... I can't believe this...I... just..No...VileLasagna 16:55, 1 September 2009 (UTC)
 * you're standing at the wro..... ohh never mind :) you worked it out MrPaladin talk 16:55, 1 September 2009 (UTC)
 * atleast you capped an elite ;) Infested Hydralisk  17:03, 1 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Gotta catch'em all XD VileLasagna 17:21, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Poor party composition advice
The article says: "A party consisting out of two monks, two tanks, two nukers and two interrupters should be able to complete the mission without any problems. Make sure you can split up your party into two balanced teams if you choose for the strategy 'defend the gates'."

I suggest this part to be removed, or changed, as it is full of misleading concepts. Parties hardly have to rely on 'tanks', instead we take a melee or two for their massive damage output and frontlining abilities, not tanking per se. Interrupts are hardly run by players as a primary goal on their builds (maybe a d-shot for important stuff, not bars based around interrupting), specially not in Hard Mode with monsters' fast activation times. Nuking is highly innefective as well, and is usually better done with Hexes (SS, Barbs, Mark of Pain, Empathy, Pain Inverter) than by armor-sensitive spells (Mursaat = high armor). As for the backline, a Ritualist can also perform a healing role pretty well, leaving the prots for a Monk to do. I think the party recommendation in the article is simplistic and just plain stereotypical, as it doesn't mention powerful options such as minion masters, paragons, spirit spammers, hexers (Curses Necro, Domination Mes). --Sensei 20:01, 1 September 2009 (UTC)
 * changed 86.159.99.46 20:22, 1 September 2009 (UTC)
 * While i agree changing the mention of "tanks" for melee, the other changes seems a bit too exagerated, specially when talking about a mission that can be finished without too many problems by only using henchmen (and without consumables, at least on NM). Also, while a ritualist spirit spammer is great anywhere, it would be better to not mention it as a strategic requeriment on a mission from a campaign where they don't come from (sure, they come in handy in "The North Wall", but sure as hell they are not "required", by example). As the op said, the current recomendation is stereotypical and simplistic, and i think that is exactly the idea.--Fighterdoken 20:35, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

His Majesty won't open the city door
Has anyone else had this happen to them (or can they simulate the same)? I've ran the mission twice now, in Hard Mode. And he will just stand there. I have tried leaving and re-entering the city, talking to him, nothing makes him open the damn door. BlazeRick 09:55, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
 * you sure you got the correct door? Infested Hydralisk  23:24, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
 * There's only one door that is closed in the city. You defeat the groups (which are counted and announced in the Mission Objectives), defeat the ones behind the gate on the outlooks (Frost Giants?) so he will not get distracted by aggro and he still won't open it. Excuse my grammar btw, just came home from drinking. Cheers! BlazeRick 23:27, 5 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Fml, two doors. Sorry. BlazeRick 07:56, 8 September 2009 (UTC)

Defend the Gates > Defend the King
I ran several characters through this mission today and surprisingly most groups wanted to go the "defend the king" method. "Defend the King" method IMO is the most difficult way and most likely to fail. Not only is the king in direct aggro with whatever comes up, thereby increasing the workload of the monks, but because there are more things up there at once, sometimes as many as 8 foe at once, that means the potential for an instant-death spike from multiple sources doubles. On the other hand, if the party splits evenly into 2 groups, each defending a gate, then the maximum possible spike from incoming foe is half...yes half...of that potential when you all huddle around the king. Half the foe, half the potential damage any one person might sustain in a random (the ai isn't smarter than that is it?) coincidental spike. Moreover, the ballista kills close to a quarter of the foe before they ever get to the gate, if the person using it knows what they are doing. And the rest of the foe is usually heavily damaged.

If the party pauses at the fort before killing the boss leading to the cutscene, you will notice a group of about 8 foe just outside the west gate. I am surprised few pug groups ever bother to kill them while they are helpless out there. They are conveniently standing in the blast zone of one of the ballista on that side. The reason the devs did this is obvious, - so noobs can practice to see how many pulls on the ballista it takes to kill them. I will tell you... four pulls on the trigger... 4.  Many subsequent groups floating toward the fort will pause in the blast zones long enough to hit them 4 times and die...and even if they don't wait long enough, they still will take heavy damage making the final fight at the gate much easier. But surprisingly few do this and instead waste time trying to defend at the king.

If you want to get through easily, then make sure you have casters that know how to use the ballista. Melee obviously can't use that since they have to be on the ground to fight. Using the ballista properly while casting from above, with melee blocking below, literally 2 people can completely defend a gate for most of the game. The final group comes in by the west gate (although they tantalizingly pause first near the east gate before doubling back). A good ballista operator on the east gate will see this and relay that info so everyone can run to the west gate for the final showdown with the Confessor. --Rpger 04:21, 31 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Heh. I totally owned this mission with Discordway + MoP Nuker without any other party members using the defend the king method. PvE has long since ceased to be hard in any way whatsoever. Dark Morphon 15:30, 31 October 2009 (UTC)

Yeah i've played this mission several times, and found most people want to defend king too. not sure why, but w/e. this mission isn't hard no matter which route you take---it's just long. 70.135.124.172 17:01, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

Defend the gates indeed the most reliable way to go. So reliable its dull. Only two players need to know how to man the ballistae. One player can easily fire both ballistae above his respective gate. Simply jump back and forth between firing levers. In my experience, keeping the volley of attacks up even though no enemies are on radar greatly increases the likelihood of success. By the time they show on radar, enemies are already softened up by the attacks and some are even killed out of viewable range. The only difficulty is that the other players get bored and want to go collect drops in the attack zone. Insist that they stay back or else the'll be killed by friendly fire.146.115.165.15 04:04, 21 November 2010 (UTC)

I have always done Defend the King even in HM as long as you have enough damage you can manage them quite easily. I did this with a discordway team Mhenlo, Cynn, Lina, and Little Thom. Dab Kilm 11:13 11/24/2010(PST)

Re "First of Four Missions" Note
What's the point of the note which says "This is the first of only four missions required to complete the Prophecies storyline"? It seems to me that it would be more precise (and equally pointless) to say "this is the 22nd of only 25 missions required to complete the Prophecies storyline". Kirbett 21:35, 3 November 2009 (UTC)
 * It has been made accurate. | 72 User_Seventy_two_Truly_Random.jpg {U|T|C} 23:52, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

To end the game, some people just use the "run to LA, run from beacons perch to droknar's forge, and droknar's forge to thunderhead keep" approach, making their effort minimal, but they are needed to do this quest to keep going in the storyline(even if they get a run or just leech near the king) so, indeed is the first of 4 missions to be required to do if you want to end the game with your character(together with ring of fire, abaddons mouth and hell precipice. If someone want to rush his char, he may want to know what is the fastest way XD Batousai 19:24, 4 November 2009 (UTC)

Another Bug
After cutscene, where I have killed boss (Dagnar Stonepate) in keep area, King somehow managed to stop at central torch and then no enemies were spawning. Then we had to restart mission. --Jagtiger 00:03, 10 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Story continues after we restarted whole mission. King managed to get into his place, we got 2 waves of enemies and then no spawn again. We were lighting up torches for bonus objective for both cases... /sigh --Jagtiger 00:31, 10 January 2010 (UTC)
 * EDIT: enemies spawned in second case, but did not came to keep area. As result, we had to come out and kill him. Then all came fine. --Jagtiger 00:39, 10 January 2010 (UTC)

"40-45 minutes"
I'm pretty sure mine was 34 minutes if "The Mantle followed you! Stand fast friends! This will be our finest hour! (about 17 minutes left until Confessor Dorian arrives)" does mean 17 minutes left. So, 17+17 = 34. – alistic 19:19, 30 January 2010 (UTC)
 * So, I finished around 35 minutes, is 40-45 really an average for efficient groups? – User Balistic Pve B d-dark.jpgalistic 19:33, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Fed Up
I have run this mission about 8 times trying for the bonus. I reckon I can light the beacons pretty quickly. The time before last the jade bows turned up in the courtyard and knocked out a few foes. Finished the mission - no bonus. This last time - same thing jade bows turned up took out about two groups and just one bow left. Then nobody else turned up. Went out of the fort, found the dwarves all in good health to the NE. Went up to the spawning point at the N - took out two groups of three Jade Bows that were just hanging about - no one else appeared. Found several groups of foe to the west. As soon as they turned up on the radar they started off for the fort so ran back to Jalis and went through the mission as normal. Got to the end but no bonus. Can someone either tell me what I am doing wrong or can ArenaNet please sort out the bug. Moebius the Malign 17:10, 1 March 2010 (UTC)


 * No idea what you are doing wrong, I just went through the mission and it was smooth as always. Are you waiting for the bonus to register before talking to Jalis? --Xeeron 20:30, 7 April 2010 (UTC)


 * I've had problems with bonus several times already here... i just wait until nothing attacks the castle anymore and run up to where the bonus guys spawn, most times they're there and killing them gets the bonus. would appreciate a fix by anet too...--83.79.45.197 04:29, 11 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Your best best would be to report the bug here. I have no idea what bug you are talking about myself btw. Haven't encountered such issues as of yet. BlazeRick 04:58, 11 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I was having trouble with the bonus, too, so I went with a Shadow Meld build to light one torch and quickly Shadow step back to the other torch. I also went outside the keep after killing Dorian's gang to the northern cave and killed 2 small Jade groups. After I was sure no enemies were left, I talked to Jalis and got the bonus. Should I add these notes to the bonus info? Netpassport89 03:01, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

I have tried this mission twice more over the last two weeks. Both times the dwarves kept quiet and after killing off all comers I went outside and checked - the dwarves were all still alive. went back, talked to Jalis - no bonus. I'm getting really p****d off with this as I only need this bonus for the maxed title. I'll try it again and see if there are any foe left outside the keep, but I really wish Arena Net wouls sort this. I've reported it at here but there has been no response. Moebius the Malign 14:16, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
 * I never had any problems (except that the mission is extremely long and boring) I don't use any running skills. I light both beacons myself. I never go outside the fort. I always get the bonus. If you keep having problems, look me up in-game and I'll lend you a hand. --Manassas  [[File: User Manassas Mannysig.png]] 14:36, 8 February 2011 (UTC)

Trivia
Where does it say that Jalis becomes "immortal"? In fact the EotN cutscenes suggest otherwise: Also: Why would there be huge costs, or legends born, if the stone dwarves were immortal? In fact what would we need the players for, if the immortal dwarves could simply kill anything hostile without being killed? I think that trivia is bogus. --Xeeron 20:30, 7 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Jalis Ironhammer: "We have driven them back."
 * Ogden Stonehealer: "But at a huge cost, and the Destroyers are regrouping."
 * Ogden Stonehealer: "Jalis and his Dwarves pursued them into the depths of the earth."
 * Ogden Stonehealer: "Legends were born that day."
 * How does this section relate to Thunderhead Keep? --Ravencroft0 07:10, 11 April 2010 (UTC)
 * See http://wiki.guildwars.com/index.php?title=Thunderhead_Keep&diff=1974298&oldid=1938326. --Xeeron 09:45, 11 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I see. Yeah, that bit of trivia was not really trivia so much as it was a plot hole.  Could be an interesting story idea:  All of Primordus' minions have finally been vanquished, now the Deldrimmor can rest in peace (or pieces)?  Huge costs = many casualties.  Legends born = epic battle.  And their immortality could simply extend as far as they not being crushed or broken into pieces.  They were transformed into stone and stone does break with enough force.  Definitely a quest or story arc in the making. BMP? --Ravencroft0 11:03, 11 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Seeing Ogden's perspective on the whole affair and how it's supposedly put in the Tome of Rubicon, the huge cost could possibly be the transformation itself. The dwarves, as a race, end on that day. As it stands, GW2 lore says there are very few of them left at that time and that those few that are still there are almost like statues, as if they had drifted away from the world. - VileLasagna 23:49, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

Cut scene at keep
Is that cut scene after Dagnar Stonepate is killed new? I don't recall seeing it before. Ramei Arashi 04:27, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
 * No. --Xeeron 09:54, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Ah the fun of the skip button? | 72 User_Seventy_two_Truly_Random.jpg (UTC) 15:08, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

Mursaat gate
I was scraping the area where the mursaat spawn in waves and i noticed theres no page or mention of the giant purple gate with glowing particles that they spawn from.

It looks unique and i was wondering why theres no page?

Please fix bug
FFS FIX THE JALIS HILL GLITCH PL0x!-Drug 20:55, 28 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Feedback namespace says hi. ANet doesn't look here. --Kyoshi [[File:User Kyoshi sig.png]] (Talk) 20:56, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Undead Lich in the Ending Cutscene
Does this mean that Vizier transformed, then followed them through, or that they are in fact, separate entities? Sorry for the spoiler if anyone cares or didn't know >.> ~Farlo Talk 09:10, 3 August 2010 (UTC)


 * He can disguise himself i believe. We see him as vizier again and he even transforms before the players eyes during another cutsceen. Justice 05:41, 18 September 2010 (UTC)

Allies
Is this a mission where the vizier summons allies for us aswell? I cant recall because im ussually doing the torches. If so then they should be added to that section. If i recall, if you talk to his summons they will follow you and stop if you talk to them again. Perhaps useful for better positioning like at king if thats where you choose to defend (the best option if you ask me). Justice 05:41, 18 September 2010 (UTC)

Cartographer
It should be noted that the easiest way to map this area is to go exploring after completing the waves and before accepting the bonus (after all the waves have finished), since the mission doesn't end until you speak to Ironhammer. If I knew this before, I couldv'e saved myself 30 minutes (from 2 mapping attempts).

Boon Bug?
During the cutscene when reclaiming the fort, Vizer mentions a boon and the aid of the undead...But a boon is never applied? Was wondering if this was a bug and if it had been documented before.
 * he does not mean "boon" in the game sense. The boon is the free undead helpers. -- 'Mai Yi ' talk  20:30, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

No Spawns
Haha, the spawns never started coming. Protect the fort? From what? Damn glitch. Restart for me

Waste of time
Don't do Bonus mission, because stupid programmer cannot fix bugs. I tried many time and waisted more than 10 hour to try to do bonus missions. I very disappointed this game. Many quest bonus is not interesting and have many bugs. --The preceding unsigned comment was added by 119.177.15.238 (talk &bull; contribs) at 23:15, 25 April 2011  (UTC).
 * Use a speed boost, light the first beacon, drop the torch and run straight across the courtyard to the the other torch. Pick it up and light the other beacon. As you run back to the King use the catapults (and whenever you have free time) to hit groups outside the fort. The bonus is realitvely simple if you follow the instructions other users have already made. <I>Ghosst</I>  [[Image:User_Ghosst_Ghosst_Sig.jpg|19px|I Make Dead People]]  •  Talk  •


 * To be fair to the OP, it would be nice if the devs at least updated the bonus as soon as you saved the dwarves (even if you cannot get full credit yet, it would be helpful to know that you failed the bonus before spending another 20 minutes combating the mantle/mursaat.) — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 17:21, 26 April 2011 (UTC)


 * I'm totally on-board with that. Updating the bonus would be perfect! As it is, the only indicator is if the Dwarves scream "The end is here!", you may well start over. 76.164.71.104 21:35, 26 April 2011 (UTC)


 * My experience has been very consistent, having done the mission at least a dozen times. If the dwarves scream "The end is here! Great Dwarf save us!", I didn't get the bonus.  If they don't scream that, I did get the bonus. -- Kniblet Beast  23:46, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

@ IP's revert
I was just going through the mission articles project page, and the note there said it should be removed. I wasn't clear on it really and I was tired as hell, but Looking at it and the other article formats, I think that should be incorporated in the "walk-through" heading underneath the Bonus section. ~Farlo Talk 19:56, 8 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Fair enough. (I take credit for the revert, cuz I cited the edit as an example of changes that are significant enough to need summaries, but lack them.) | 7  2   User_72_Truly_Random.jpg | 22:33, 8 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Haha, I'll move it in then. ~Farlo Talk 22:44, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

(Reset indent) I've removed a couple of things: — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 03:44, 9 May 2011 (UTC)
 * 1) The HM bonus doesn't require a speed boost; I've done it several times without bothering (it does require using the two different torches, tho).
 * 2) Every proph mish can be done with 7 hench. Not sure why you want to, tho. (I never tried HM with just hench, but I did try it with just Vekk/Gwen/Ogden+Hench, but the heroes had only proph skills and no elites. We got through to the first wave...and then I got a phone call. But it took too long, so I don't think I would bother trying again except to prove it can be done.)
 * 3) Done well, Minion Masters make nearly every mission/quest easier. It's not helpful to put that on every mission page. What's more interesting is to note when MMs make things harder...or what types of alternatives are equally or more effective.
 * Very good points. I didn't really read it over, just moved it around to fit the formatting.  I guess the next phase of the project would be to review all the walkthrough/suggestions and update them however they need it.  That's right after I make the BMP edition of the In-game Mission Maps of course. ~Farlo Talk 03:50, 9 May 2011 (UTC)

Hard mode *does not* require a speed boost for lighting the beacons
Hard mode does not require a speed boost. It's obviously easier with one, but, if you use the different beacons torches and don't get distracted, it's not at all necessary. (The first couple of times I have done the mish were with caster-heavy teams and no skills at all that increased movement speeds.) I am going to try to rephrase the current text to suggest that lots of teams use IMS, but I think it's incorrect to state that the bonus requires it. — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 08:51, 20 May 2011 (UTC)
 * I can confirm you don't need a speedboost. Did this in HM and nm both without any boost.
 * Thanks for changing that. I haven't done that mission in years, so I had no idea whether it was true or not >.< ~Farlo Talk 17:38, 20 May 2011 (UTC)
 * And I can confirm that going along the ramparts and then across the courtyard with no speed boost works in HM. --Ceru talk contribs 18:35, 20 May 2011 (UTC)


 * The courtyard is safer than the ramparts, especially in HM and especially for people unfamiliar with the bonus. Getting knocked down won't present a problem unless the runner (or single player) starts late and/or forgets to drop the first torch ASAP. However, for the purposes of the walkthrough, it probably makes more sense to specify a single less risky route than listing all the possibilities. — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 18:46, 20 May 2011 (UTC)

Drop the first torch or not
I'm convinced that dropping the first torch ASAP decreases the overall time spent lighting the beacons:
 * Carrying a bundle decreases your speed significantly.
 * Dropping the bundle costs little time; it costs no time if you spacebar the second torch and switch weapon sets (your movement does not stop in that case).

The only times I've seen the bonus failed are if the runner is distracted (e.g. starts too late) or fails to drop the torch (or, in my case one time, I got lost and went the wrong way). I know at least one contributor believes strongly that dropping the bundle slows you down. What are other people's experiences? — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 19:56, 20 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Oh yeah, they definitely do. ~Farlo Talk 20:16, 20 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Sorry, I wrote the change before I saw this discussion start, feel free to revert.--Ceru talk contribs 20:22, 20 May 2011 (UTC)
 * It always seemed faster when I dropped the torch and ran.--Ceru talk contribs 20:26, 20 May 2011 (UTC)
 * The problem I had was the giants below me using Giant Stomp several times consecutively. <font color="#008800">Manifold  [[Image:User_Manifold_Neptune.jpg|19px]] 22:35, 20 May 2011 (UTC)


 * You used the ramparts? (balconies?) — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 00:32, 21 May 2011 (UTC)

Black Bear?
I did this mission yesterday in HM and saw something weird during the siege. A lone Mursaat named "Black Bear" came in through the gate and attacked my group. I have a screen shot if anyone is interested. 148.177.1.213 15:11, 23 June 2011 (UTC) darktyco


 * It's a well-known graphic bug. It can happen anywhere, not just here. -- Hong 15:13, 23 June 2011 (UTC)