Elona Reach

Elona Reach is one of the missions required to achieve ascension in Prophecies.

Objectives
Help the Ghostly Hero complete the ritual that will combine the three pieces of the Vision Crystal.
 * Return Crystal Shard 1 to the Ghostly Hero.
 * Return Crystal Shard 2 to the Ghostly Hero.
 * Return Crystal Shard 3 to the Ghostly Hero.
 * Bonus Use the Crystal Shards to awaken the three Ritual Priests of Elona

Walkthrough
This mission is split into two parts. The first part is to simply find the Ghostly Hero ( on the article map) and bring him the first Crystal Shard ( ●  on the article map) that the party begins with. He can be found northwest of the party's starting location. Beware, as a fairly large group of Minotaurs patrol the valley. Even if you are on the bridge, the minotaurs below will aggro and come around. It is common for the party to simply engage the patrol just before reaching the Dune Burrower blocking the bridge.

Watch for Splinter Mines, as they appear throughout the mission. When any party member moves in the area of one, a ward-like circle appears. After a few seconds, anyone within the area will become crippled and begin bleeding. The mine will continue this unless its core is removed. If a player touches the core, it will be picked up as a bundle and the mine will no longer activate (although it will finish its current cycle, often resulting in the player who picked up the bundle suffering the conditions unless he or she moves fast). Furthermore, the core may be dropped: seconds after dropping it will cause all foes near it to become crippled and bleeding. It may not be used again after it has been dropped.

When the player carrying the Crystal Shard talks to the Ghostly Hero, the second part of the mission begins after a cut scene. The party has 30 minutes to find the last two Crystal Shards and bring them to the Ghostly Hero (who will remain close to the gate). Many groups falter by attempting to rush under the time constraints, but there is sufficient time to move slowly, pull groups, and otherwise be patient and still have plenty of time to spare, even if attempting the bonus and even in Hard Mode. With only six party-members, the best way to fail at this mission is to rush and end up being overwhelmed by multiple enemy groups. The only time-consuming possibility is if you engage multiple Forgotten Sages or worse, the monk boss Wissper Inssani along with a sage. If your party has a difficult time defeating these, run away, break aggro, and let the monks separate again before rejoining the fight.

There are two gates out of the fort, one to the south, and one to the west. Likewise, one shard lies to the south and the other to the west. Outside the fort is a courtyard with various forgotten patrols. Two patrols tend to pass by the western gate, so if that gate is used, be wary of the patrols and try not to aggro more than the party can handle. For this reason, the southern gate is often the only gate used. When engaging forgotten patrols, focus on the Forgotten Sages first. They have Word of Healing, a very strong heal that can make the Sages tedious for an uncoordinated group. Spiking and interrupting skills like Dwarven Battle Stance can be very useful.

When approaching the southern crystal, you may choose to go around the bridge, avoiding the boss awaiting you on the other side. There are two patrols on the other side, one which approaches the side gate and another that frequents the cliff overlooking the gate. Pull the gate patrol first, and do your best to defeat the sage before the second patrol has a chance to aggro. Fighting two sages healing each other is often time consuming, and with close proximity to the boss's group it can be very risky. Once these patrols are defeated, the party may choose to fight the boss's group or hug the southern cliffs to avoid it. At the top of the hill, you should see the Crystal Shard guarded by a boss and company. Either defeat the group to clear the crystal or use a Splinter Mine to cripple the group, allowing a single player to grab the crystal and run away with it. Backtrack the path you cleared to return this crystal to the Ghostly Hero -- or, if you have more than one human in your party, continue on to the western crystal. Note that picking up the Crystal Shard will cause 2 additional mobs to spawn along the path you cleared.

Note that, from the southern area, there is a path behind a boulder that leads to the western crystal. This allows you to avoid most of the mobs roaming the western courtyard. You should also take this path if you want to complete the bonus.

After the southern crystal is returned to the Ghostly Hero, you can fight through the western gate if you wish. But to save repeating work, enter the southern gate and find the path behind the boulder. Pull the boss and its group and defeat them behind the boulder. Rush northwest towards the wall, keeping away from the patrols that cover the courtyard. Defeat the group there and work your way westward. You should see the last crystal, again with a boss. Once again, you can either defeat this group or simply plant a Splinter Mine to cripple them, grab the crystal, and run. Beware of the Enchanted Swords however, as they can use Hamstring to cripple the runner. Once you have the third crystal, its easiest to backtrack again, going across whatever path you've already cleared to return to the Ghostly Hero and complete the mission.

Bonus
To achieve the bonus, the players carrying Crystal Shards must approach three gravesites ( on the article map), prompting various ghosts to appear and walk towards the Ghostly Hero. Any crystal will activate any gravesite, and crystals may be used multiple times if needed. Note that the ghosts will engage and fight any foes they encounter, but they do not follow the party and do not need to survive to be awarded the bonus.

The first gravesite is located east of the party's starting location in the mission behind two Dune Burrowers. This site should be easy to reach, but if you forget to trigger it, bringing one of the other two crystal shards to trigger it will work -- this however may be time-consuming. The priest triggered by the first gravesite will start walking up towards the Ghostly Hero. He will get attacked and killed by mobs if the party is not careful. Unless you are sure that you can kill the mobs fast enough, or don't care about the priest surviving as the priests death won't stop you from obtaining the bonus, clear all the way to the ghostly hero first (but do not hand him the crystal), then backtrack and get the priest.

The second gravesite is located behind the boulder between the second and third crystal locations. It is common to use this path anyways to travel between the second and third crystal sites, so just remember to hit it with one of the two shards. It has a small group of Forgotten guarding it, but they should be easy to deal with.

The third gravesite is located north of the western crystal, thus to the northwest of the courtyard. It is most common to use the western crystal to trigger this site, but you can also have carried the southern crystal across to do it. It too has a group of Forgotten protecting it. Try not to aggro one of the nearby groups when you engage it.

Skill recommendations
There are several bosses with elite skills in this mission, which can be learned with a Signet of Capture. Sages can be difficult to take down in the case of overaggro, especially when attempting the bonus. Interruption spells along with the Hero AI helps significantly. Remember that the Enchanted are not fleshy creatures (except for the bosses), and therefore are immune to poison, bleeding and disease. Bleeding, Crippled and Blindness are often encountered, so condition removal skills can be useful.

Running
This mission can be easily run solo as the AI doesn't use Earthquake on one person and there are no other skills who Knock down. The only slowing hex is Ethereal Burden used by the Mesmer boss. "I Am Unstoppable!" is recommended for running as cripple is abundant here. Shadow steps are useless when carrying crystals since shadowstepping will cause you to drop the bundle.

Allies
Ghosts
 * 20 Ghostly Hero
 * 15 Ghostly Priest (Elona Reach)
 * 24 Ritual Priest Hehmnut
 * 24 Ritual Priest Kahdat
 * 24 Ritual Priest Nahtem

Charmable animals
Animals
 * 5 Dune Lizard

Foes
Behemoths Constructs Forgotten Minotaurs
 * 22 (26) Dune Burrower
 * 20 (26) Enchanted Sword
 * 20 (26) Enchanted Bow
 * 20 (26) Forgotten Sage
 * 20 (26) Forgotten Cursebearer
 * 20 (26) Forgotten Arcanist
 * 20 (26) Minotaur

Bosses
Constructs Forgotten
 * 24 (30) Custodian Dellus &rarr; Warrior's Endurance
 * 24 (30) Custodian Jenus &rarr; Marksman's Wager
 * 24 (30) Wissper Inssani &rarr; Word of Healing
 * 24 (30) Uussh Visshta &rarr; Order of the Vampire
 * 24 (30) Tiss Danssir &rarr; Mantra of Recovery
 * 24 (30) Vassa Ssiss &rarr; Ether Renewal

Initial dialogue

 * Ghostly Priest: "My master searches for the three shards of the Vision Crystal. If you bring them to him, he can complete the ritual that will fuse them back together."
 * Ghostly Priest: "But be warned: The Forgotten hold two of the three pieces. They have set traps to keep us from getting them."
 * Ghostly Priest: "Here is the first piece. Take it to my master, and he will begin the fusion ritual."

Intermediate dialogue
When bringing a vision crystal shard to Priest Kahdat's Bones.
 * Ritual Priest Kahdat: "In our failing we learned the error of our ways."
 * Ritual Priest Kahdat: "I will help our great hero complete his ritual. Thank you for this second chance."

When giving the first vision crystal shard to the Ghostly Hero.
 * Ghostly Hero: "I am grateful. You have brought me the first shard. Now I can begin the incantation to fuse together the Vision Crystal."

Intermediate cinematic

 * Ghostly Hero: "And so begins the test of the Elonians. This was where my people failed to Ascend."
 * Ghostly Hero: "When assembled, the Vision Crystal can focus the gaze of the gods and deliver to you the Ascension that you seek."
 * Ghostly Hero: "You've brought me the first shard, but you must still retrieve the others."
 * Ghostly Hero: "Ultimately it was greed that was our undoing."
 * Ghostly Hero: "The shards of the Vision Crystal were kept in separate camps, for we did not trust each other, not even our own kin."
 * Ghostly Hero: "To pass this test, you must retrieve the remaining two shards."
 * Ghostly Hero: "There is one in each base."
 * Ghostly Hero: "Return here with the shards, and I will cast the ritual to fuse them back together."
 * Ghostly Hero: "But you must hurry. Once the ritual begins it cannot be stopped."
 * Ghostly Hero: "If I do not have all three pieces, then all of this will be for naught."

Intermediate dialogue
When bringing a vision crystal shard to Priest Hehmnut's Bones.
 * Ritual Priest Hehmnut: "It was greed and mistrust that drove my brothers and I apart."
 * Ritual Priest Hehmnut: "The glory of the gods will shine upon us once more. You have seen to that."

When bringing a vision crystal shard to Priest Nahtem's Bones.
 * Ritual Priest Nahtem: "Just as the crystal was in shards and scattered, so were my brothers."
 * Ritual Priest Nahtem: "It destroyed us in the end. In death we can regain the glory of the gods."

When giving the second and third vision crystal shards to the Ghostly Hero.
 * Ghostly Hero: "The ritual is almost complete."

End cinematic

 * Ghostly Hero: "The Vision Crystal is complete. Your day of judgment at Augury Rock is near."
 * Ghostly Hero: "The gaze of the gods shall be focused upon you, and your path will be made clear."