Ruins of Morah

The objective of Ruins of Morah is simply to kill Varesh in one last attempt to prevent her from bringing about Nightfall.

You will fight against Varesh twice; during the first part, she fights you as Prophet Varesh, utilizing powerful AoE skills. The second part consists of fighting Commander Varesh as she leads Abaddon's demons to battle.

Requirements
General Morgahn must be in your party to enter the mission.

Objective
Kill Varesh.

Reward
The reward is based on the time it takes for you to kill Varesh (See Normal mode reward/Hard mode reward for details).

Walkthrough
Varesh is situated in a crater in her Prophet Varesh form, which is a level 29 Dervish. When you enter, take note of where you entered the mission, and then head straight for Varesh. Three Margonite Clerics accompany her in the middle of the crater. Kill the clerics first while trying to stay out of Varesh's way.

Once the Clerics are dead, start working on Varesh; she might take a long time to kill. Try to stage your fight away from the crater, closer to where you spawned; it makes the next stage easier. Blind, snare, or knock down Varesh to keep her from doing significant damage. Keep yourself (and any heroes or henchmen) out of any Earth or Frost Vortex.

After killing her Prophet form, head immediately back towards your spawn point, as close to the gate as possible. Torment creatures will start to spawn around the crater and Varesh will be reborn as a level 30 Paragon, Commander Varesh. Flag your henchmen and heroes close to the gate to avoid getting spiked by Varesh's Enemies Must Die! (which causes nearby foes to target a single character). Take out the demons first, which also reduces the impact of the skill.

Three demon groups of two each will spawn in front of you, one group after the other. Pull the first group which spawned up to where you are standing; the others will start a circuit of the crater. Torment creatures use Call to the Torment, which allows the demon to duplicate once it reaches under about 1/3 of its health. Focus your attack on a single called target to kill the each demon before it duplicates. Eliminate the group you pull, and continue pulling the wandering groups one at a time to the place where you stand. Varesh might occasionally join in, but she will not be much threat as long as you only engage two demons at a time.

Once the demons are dead, come down the hill slightly to fight Varesh in a spot where she doesn't run away all the time. Keep disabling Varesh's attacks (as above) while finishing her off.

Alternatively, after killing the clerics near Varesh, pull her to opposite end of spawn area to kill her. After she dies, more Tormented groups will spawn. Eliminate them; the resurrected Varesh will remain in the middle and your group will avoid her aggro range. After eliminating the Tormented, kill the new Varesh. This strategy works reliably well, but it will make it harder to get Masters &mdash; since you will have to wait until all groups spawn and walk in your direction.
 * Slow and steady strategy


 * Varesh-only strategy

Instead of dealing with the demons or cleric, focus all your attention on the two Vareshes. The team should include a single tank (either player or hero, with his/her status set to Guard); avoid using melee henchmen because you cannot control them as easily.

At the beginning, flag your heroes and henchmen as close to the gate where you zoned in as possible. Have the tank approach Varesh, stopping short of the aggro range of the Clerics. Pull her towards your main group by walking slowly backwards, allowing her to close the distance with your tank. Remember to unflag your heroes and henchmen if Varesh's spells hit the area.

Once the first Varesh is dead, flag your heroes and henchmen as close to the gate again as possible. Again, move the tank towards the center of the circle while avoiding the patrolling demons. Using the same backwards walk as above, draw Varesh towards the main group. Once she gets into contact with your backline, move the tank forward, but out of reach of any demon patrols. With Varesh focused on the tank, it should be easy to take her down.


 * Hold the center strategy

This strategy is designed to reliably complete the mission at Masters level using non-melee heroes and henchmen. Instead of posting heroes at the top of the hill, keep your heroes with you and kill all three Margonite Clerics in the center. Kill Varesh in the center; make sure that when she dies, the heroes and henchmen are flagged in the center of the map. If done correctly, the demons won't engage your team at all. (If they do, restart and place your flags farther from the spawn points.) This allows you to concentrate your attack on Commander Varesh. Although the occasional demon might wander into your Danger Zone, you are unlikely to be swarmed.

Some players have observed that General Morgahn will ignore the party flag and rush Varesh, aggroing the demons, and spoiling this technique. To avoid this, flag him with the rest of the party. Also, avoid doing anything that could interfere with your attempts to avoid the torment creatures: do not use summoning stones and be careful with your use of spirits and/or minions.

Skill recommendations

 * Bring Lightbringer's Gaze. Remember to display your Lightbringer title.
 * Anti-skill hexes such as Spoil Victor and Visions of Regret are effective against Varesh.
 * Inspired Hex or Revealed Hex can be used to quickly remove hexes caused by Varesh. Since all her skills are monster skills, Inspired and/or Revealed Hex will recharge instantly, allowing for quick and free hex removal.
 * Skills which counter attacks or mitigate damage from attacking foes are effective in this mission. Constant blindness on Varesh through Shadowsong can remove a lot of pressure from your tank.
 * Protection Prayers are generally more useful in this mission than other methods of preventing or healing damage. Aegis offers party-wide protection from Arms of Insanity and Spears of Torment, and Varesh herself, while Shield of Absorption and Spirit Bond greatly reduce damage taken by allies targeted by Varesh's Enemies Must Die!.
 * "Save Yourselves!" makes Varesh's Enemies Must Die! a non-issue, since the shouter will be the AI's priority target anyways, making the job much easier on healers/protters.

Foes
Demons (Margonites) Demons (Torment creatures)
 * 24 (26) Margonite Cleric
 * 30 (32) Commander Varesh
 * 29 (32) Prophet Varesh
 * 28 (30) Arm of Insanity
 * 28 (30) Shadow of Fear
 * 28 (30) Herald of Nightmares
 * 28 (30) Spear of Torment

Opening cinematic

 * Morgahn: "The Mouth of Torment. Varesh's mentor, Kahyet, spoke of it."
 * Morgahn: "It was here that the Five Gods defeated Abaddon."
 * Morgahn: "Here that the walls of his prison are the weakest."
 *  : "Here that Varesh Ossa will finish her ritual."
 * Morgahn: "She will turn the world into Torment, and unleash Abaddon into that world."
 *  : "Are you up for this?"
 * Morgahn: "Yes. No. I just remember Varesh as she was. She did so much for Kourna. She was a good leader."
 *  : "She has been touched by Abaddon."
 * Morgahn: "We have all been touched by Abaddon. Our entire world. We must stop it now."
 *  : "When the time comes, you have to strike."
 * Morgahn: "I know. But I will strike her down only because I remember what she was."
 * Morgahn: "I will redeem her memory."
 *  : "That will be good enough."

Initial dialogue

 * Prophet Varesh: Abaddon reclaims his possessions, soon his true power will be revealed and the door to his prison opened.

Intermediate dialogue
When Commander Varesh spawns.
 * Commander Varesh: I have returned! Abaddon's sword has been drawn, and he sends me back to you with tokens of his renewed power!

Combat dialogue
Commander Varesh
 * The gate to Abaddon's prison is nearly opened!
 * Welcome to your end.
 * You will not live to see the sun rise. If it ever rises again.
 * Your arrogance has doomed you!

Ending cinematic

 * Morgahn: "I am sorry, Varesh. Both for you and for Elona."
 *  : "What now, Morgahn? We stopped the ritual. Does it end with Varesh's death?"
 * Morgahn: "I don't know. Each part of the ritual, at Gandara, at the Temple of Lyssa, and now here, was to weaken the walls of Abaddon's prison."
 *  : "If the walls are weakened too much, could something breach them from the other side? From the Realm of Torment itself?"
 * Morgahn: "I don't know..."
 *  : "Everyone! Out of the area! Now!"
 * Night has fallen on Elona.
 * The heroes must confront the dark god Abaddon...
 * In the Realm of Torment itself.