Abaddon's Gate

From Guild Wars Wiki

This is a mission entry. For information on the corresponding mission outpost, see Abaddon's Gate (outpost).

Abaddon's Gate
Campaign	Nightfall
Region	Realm of Torment
Type	Cooperative
Party size	8
Duration	Short
Preceded by	Gate of Madness

It is time to destroy Abaddon once and for all, and to save the world from Nightfall. This mission has a simple objective; to kill Abaddon before he breaks completely free from his bindings. Compared to the previous mission, Gate of Madness, this mission is simpler.

[edit] Mission information

[edit] Objectives

• Destroy the Graven Monoliths to power the chains of Abaddon.

[edit] Reward

The reward for the mission depends on how long you take to kill Abaddon.

[edit] Walkthrough

For this mission you are accompanied by Kormir; she does not take damage so you will not need to concern yourself with her presence.

Run along the passage until you get to the end, there is only one way you can go. You'll come to a bridge which looks down on the spot where Abaddon is imprisoned. There are three paths down to Abaddon from here, two to the binding points for each of his hands which are situated to the left and right and one which leads to where his head is bound in the middle. Two Graven Monoliths guard each of the binding points, a maximum of six are on the map at any one time.

Abaddon will break free as you approach and you must kill the Monoliths to rebind him and get the opportunity to attack him. It is best to attack the Monoliths at the hands first, as killing those at the head first, without first rebinding the hands means the Monoliths will respawn at the head, wasting your effort.

When the Monoliths at each of the binding points are destroyed Abaddon will take about 1000 damage, his head will be lowered and you will have a short while to lay down as much damage on him as possible before he breaks free and you have to start over again at rebinding the hands to get another opportunity to attack. It will take several cycles of binding, damaging and breaking-free before Abaddon is killed. Get into a rhythm, agree before-hand which side you will go to first each time so your team can kill off the Monoliths with least effort. Each time you rebind part of Abaddon by defeating a pair of Monoliths you will receive a morale boost.

Abaddon isn't entirely defenseless while you complete this ritual, he has a number of attacks which can be rather frustrating and damaging for a team. Of particular note is Words of Madness which causes the team to be knocked down, dazed and to take damage; key to coping with this is timing your skill use to avoid getting interrupted. Of particular note is when Abaddon is in his prone state, invariably this skill is used about 5 seconds after he is bound just when you're launching into your best spell. The team has to be prepared to remove daze or to operate with it on. Party wide healing is a good counter to the area of effect damage which Abaddon deals.

Finally, Torment Claws appear from time to time during the battle. They have a nasty area of effect attack which can devastate your team if they're not noticed and taken care of. Keep a wary eye out for them and use your Lightbringer's Gaze to interrupt their attack skill and kill them.

[edit] Skill recommendations

• Bring Lightbringer's Gaze for the Torment Claws. Alternatively, any skill interrupt will do.
• The real premium is not in doling out inordinate damage, but in staying alive. An additional healer instead of a damage dealer can make the difference. The healers should concentrate on party-wide condition removal and heals, such as:
  • Light of Deliverance, Heal Party, Recuperation, Protective Was Kaolai
  • Martyr, Extinguish, Cautery Signet, Recovery, Pure Was Li Ming
  • Healer's Boon is very effective when coupled with Heal Party to counter Words of Madness as it also halves casting time allowing the dazed effect to be minimal.
  • Heal Area is a cheap and very effective spell in this mission, as even a secondary monk with 2 maxed primary stats and 3 healing will counter a lot of the AoE damage (60 hp per party member).
• Resurrection Signet or Sunspear Rebirth Signet are preferable to hard resurrect skills, as you will be receiving many morale boosts throughout the mission. Or even better, a hero with Unyielding Aura, to resurrect you instantly with full health and energy.
• Secondary monks can be very effective using Martyr/Purge Conditions or simply Empathic Removal
• Bring plenty of direct damage and armor-ignoring damage.
• Consider spells with short activation times to avoid getting interrupted.
• A Paragon with "Fall Back!" or a Warrior with "Charge!" helps a lot when Abaddon breaks free and your party needs to move away from him before being attacked by the recently spawned monoliths.
  • Hexbreaker Aria works when the Monoliths are in their Mesmer form where they cast Conjure Phantasm on each party member and Song of Purification helps when cripple and dazed occurs. Having two Paragons, one casting Hexbreaker Aria and the other casting Song of Purification with different skill set is recommended instead of having one Paragon with both of these skills.
• Ritualists with Vengeful Weapon and/or Weapon of Remedy or monks with Reversal of Damage can deal some damage to Abaddon while he is unchained.
• Wastrel's Worry is quite effective against Abaddon.
• Pain Inverter is also very useful against Abaddon, as its damage will be increased if the player has the Lightbringer title. Using this skill right after Abaddon is bound but before the god uses Words of Madness will deal a considerable amount of damage, in the 800+ range even at low levels of Asuran rank and Lightbringer rank.
• Ray of Judgment works very well against Abaddon.
• Powerful skills with long recharge work well here, because frequent morale boosts recharge them instantly.

[edit] Completing the mission

Upon completion of this mission, the players will end up in the Throne of Secrets.

If this is the first time your character has completed this mission, remember to talk to Keeper of Secrets in Throne of Secrets. There will not be any quest nor reward indicator over his head. Keeper of Secrets will give you the Book of Secrets. You can then go to one of the nearby keepers and trade the book for a unique item. You can only receive this book once per character. If for some reason you forget to talk to Keeper of Secrets and leave the Throne of Secrets, you can perform the mission again and talk to Keeper of Secrets to receive the book.

[edit] Mission NPCs

[edit] Allies

Human

• 20 Kormir

[edit] Foes

• 22 Graven Monolith
• 31 Abaddon

Torment creature

• 24 Torment Claw

[edit] Dialogue

[edit] Opening Cinematic

<player name>: "Abaddon abides within. His power is that of a god, and his madness threatens to destroy everything."

<player name>: "No matter what happens, remember one thing:"

<player name>: "We never fight alone."

Dunkoro: "It's a good plan."

Morgahn: "Varesh's madness ends here."

Tahlkora: "I've never fought a god before."

Melonni: "There's a first time for everything."

Koss: "Ready whenever you are!"

<player name>: "Kormir? Are you ready?"

Kormir: "Yes. I think so."

Kormir: "Lead on. I will follow."

[edit] Initial dialogue

Kormir: All our efforts and sacrifices have brought us to this point. Now is the time for heroes. Prepare yourselves... today we end this nightmare once and for all.

Kormir: Remember, we fight together... and not just for our own lives, but for the life of every man, woman, and child in Elona... for all the people of the world.

Kormir: We cannot fail. We shall not fail. March forth to victory, Sunspears! For Istan! For Elona! For the Five True Gods!

[edit] End Cinematic

<player name>: "Abaddon is breaking up!"

Kormir: "Incredible! All that knowledge!"

<player name>: "It's running wild! It will destroy everything!"

Kormir: "I'm going into it!"

<player name>: "You can't do that!"

Kormir: "Yes I can! I can contain the power. This is the gift the avatars gave me!"

<player name>: "Kormir! No!"

Kormir: "You said it yourself - it's about a choice! A choice that only a mortal can make!"

<player name>: "Kormir?"

Kormir: "No. Yes. Kormir. And much more."

<player name>: "Abaddon?"

Kormir: "No. His power. His knowledge. But not him. His will is broken. There is a new god of secrets. There is a new day."

Kormir: "Nightfall has come and gone. I have much to do...Much must be repaired."

Kormir: "This will take you home, or to wherever you desire."

<player name>: "Kormir, if you need help..."

Kormir: "Yes. Yes, I will, but for the moment, you have your world back. The gods spoke the truth. It is your world. Use it wisely."

<player name>: "Of course."

Kormir: "And remember my friend - you never fight alone."

[edit] Notes

• This mission is easily done in normal mode with npcs and heroes (including master).
• The Torment Claws and Graven Monoliths in this mission do not appear to drop loot.
• Abaddon will drop items rarely. You will not acquire the dropped item until you enter a town or outpost.
• Since the 13 November 2008 update you now gain 50 Lightbringer title points for each level of completion in Normal Mode and 100 in Hard Mode, as well as the normal xp and gold rewards.
• Kormir will sometimes body block you in this mission.

Bug.

Sometimes the ghost animation on the bridge freezes, as with several other animation bugs this can easily be fixed by restarting Guild Wars.

[edit] Trivia

• Until the August 16, 2007 update, it was possible to defeat Abaddon easily using damage reflection skills. This strategy has now been nerfed, but it has been kept on this article's Talk Page as a historical record.
• Enter the mission, just before the point Abaddon breaks free type the "/dance" emote (every non-NPC in your party must dance for this to work). Not only do you start dancing, but Abaddon joins in, with a dance of his own! This includes a "Shimmy" like the warrior dance followed by a "raise the roof" and finally he will "mosh" out. However, after this point your team will die and the message "You Got Served!" will appear on the screen. Beware that if your entire party dances when Abaddon is half dead, Abaddon will start dancing and you will fail the mission. This is most likely a reference to the film "You got Served".