The Shadow Nexus

The Shadow Nexus is a Challenge Mission where your party must close Torment rifts before a rip between the mortal world and the Realm of Torment is created. Each open rift is guarded by a Margonite Portal Mage, which must be killed in order for the rift to close. Each rift is also guarded by a number of Torment creatures and Margonites, starting with two and increasing as the mission progresses. Each open rift adds one pip to the total rift progress bar. The mission is untimed, but it ends if your party wipes or if the progress bar fills completely. The rift progress bar decreases a little for every portal mage slain. The party receives 1 point and 1 Lightbringer point for every creature killed, and 10 points and 25 Lightbringer points for each portal mage killed.

Objectives
Keep the Margonite Portal Mages from summoning enough demons and Margonites to overwhelm the area.
 * Defeat the creatures guarding the Torment rifts to increase your score.
 * Defeat the Margonite Portal Mages to close the rift and earn a bonus score!

Reward
Each party member has a random chance to obtain a Mysterious Armor Piece whenever a Margonite Portal Mage is killed. Like other armor pieces given in other challenge missions, they do not drop on the ground; they are automatically placed in the player's inventory. These pieces can be used to upgrade the visual appearance of certain hero armor to Mysterious armor. This upgrade is available for Norgu, Goren, General Morgahn, Zenmai, and Olias.

Walkthrough

 * Use the Mission Map (default hotkey U) to see all of the rifts and their current states. Gray rifts are inactive and have no units there.  Red rifts are active and contributing to the rift progress.  Use this information to save as much time as possible when moving between rifts.
 * Once the party zones in, there is a one minute countdown before the mission begins. Because not all the rifts are visible in the Mission Map to start, use this time to explore to the north and reveal the last three rifts.
 * Bringing Fall Back to move between rifts can save precious time.
 * The portal mages are powerful air elementalists. Their Invoke Lightning can wreak havoc on unprepared groups.  There are a few steps teams can take to prevent wipes:
 * Bring skills that increase armor against elemental or lightning damage (Mantra of Lightning, Ward Against Elements).
 * It is highly recommended for monks to bring a form of damage mitigation, like Protective Spirit or Spirit Bond. Remember to preprot.
 * When engaging a portal mage, spread out so that the mage's Invoke Lightning will only damage one team member.
 * Rangers and Mesmers should bring interrupts. Interrupting Invoke Lightning is the best way to prevent damage.
 * While only the portal mage needs to be killed to close a rift, it is advisable to kill the surrounding creatures as well. This is because the monster would otherwise still be present should the rift reopen, leaving higher numbers of monsters near the next portal mage.
 * After clearing a rift, move away from it as quickly as possible. This is imperative because the rift may reopen while you are engaging a nearby rift, causing potential aggro problems from multiple monster groups.
 * The portal mage is not in the same group as the creatures guarding it, so if possible, pull the surrounding creatures before engaging the mage.
 * The portal mage is a boss giving a +2% morale boost when killed, so Resurrection Signets will be recharged frequently and provide a very effective resurrection skill. Skills that recharge slowly will also be ready for use after killing a portal mage due to the morale boost.

Foes
Torment creatures Margonites
 * 28 (30) Blade of Corruption
 * 28 (30) Arm of Insanity
 * 28 (30) Word of Madness
 * 28 (30) Shadow of Fear
 * 28 (30) Herald of Nightmares
 * 28 (30) Rain of Terror
 * 28 (30) Spear of Torment
 * 28 (30) Scythe of Chaos
 * 24 (26) Margonite Executioner
 * 24 (26) Margonite Bowmaster
 * 24 (26) Margonite Cleric
 * 24 (26) Margonite Warlock
 * 24 (26) Margonite Seer
 * 24 (26) Margonite Sorcerer
 * 24 (26) Margonite Ascendant
 * 24 (26) Margonite Reaper

Bosses

 * 24 (30) Margonite Portal Mage &rarr; (Invoke Lightning)

Trivia

 * Early after Nightfall's release, many players were unable to access this area due to a crash bug that was associated with zoning. It has since been resolved.