Dunes of Despair

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This is a mission entry. For information on the outpost, see Dunes of Despair (outpost).

Dunes of Despair
Campaign	Prophecies
Region	Crystal Desert
Type	Cooperative
Party size	6
Duration	Short
Preceded by	Sands Of Souls
Followed by	Augury Rock* *Elona Reach and Thirsty River must also be completed to continue the mission at Augury Rock.

[edit] Mission information

[edit] Objectives

Help the Ghostly Hero reclaim his throne.

• Escort the Ghostly Hero to the Temple of Ascension.
• Defeat the Enemy Ghostly Hero.
• Hold out while the Ghostly Hero performs his ritual.
• Bonus Gain more glory by defeating the three forgotten generals and their minions within their forts.

[edit] Walkthrough

After talking with the Ghostly Hero, he will drop the gate, allowing the party to proceed. Note that he will follow the first player to talk with him. If that player talks to him again, he will stay put until someone talks with him again. Following the path, you'll run into small groups of Losaru Bladehands. After the bladehands, you'll see a group of Losaru Bowmasters. When attacking the bowmasters, you'll be under constant attack from a distant Siege Wurm. From here, you can either continue down the path towards a suspension bridge across the gorge, or you can take a short cut by leading the Ghostly Hero to the edge across from the drawbridge near the wurm. In any case, proceed across to the other side of the gorge.

Once on the other side, you may choose to continue the mission by proceeding south and killing the boss there, or you can proceed to the west to get the Slow Totem . When on the ground, the totem will create an effect much like Ward Against Foes, snaring any foe that attempts to pass through. While slightly useful, it is not necessary. Eventually, make your way south towards the fortress looking building and defeat the boss and his cohorts to trigger a cutscene.

After the cutscene, approach the drawbridge. You may choose to have the Ghostly Hero hold back, allowing the party to kill off the Enchanted Bows guarding the gate. The Ghostly Hero will lower the drawbridge when he approaches it. Afterwards, have the party hold back in the gateway. If you have the Slow Totem, drop it slightly ahead of where the party is waiting. Four waves of Enchanted Swords and Enchanted Hammers will eventually attack. The only foe left in sight should now be the enemy Ghostly Hero at the Throne. Defeat him and have your Ghostly Hero approach to capture it and begin the last stage of the mission. You must defend him for the next ten minutes.

If you have the Slow Totem, drop it near the Ghostly Hero to help delay melee approaching him. But before any melee troops appear, Forgotten Arcanists will come in pairs from the west, east, and south. Afterwards, a Siege Wurm will start pelting your party with attacks from the east. After the Arcanists are dead, there is sufficient time to kill the siege wurm before the first melee group attacks, but it may be possible to simply heal the damage and ignore the wurm.

At the five or six minute mark, groups of Forgotten will approach the altar, including a boss. Another pair of siege wurms will appear on the west, and then another siege wurm on the south. If you defeat the Forgotten, there will be no more groups attacking the altar, and you can use the time to kill off the wurms. After the ten minutes has passed, the mission ends.

[edit] Bonus

The bonus for this mission is often regarded as one of the more difficult ones.

During the final siege where you defend the Ghostly Hero, you must kill three bosses (and their groups!) located south of the fortress without letting the hero die and before the ten minute timer hits zero. The first boss is to the south behind the drawbridge (which drops when you lead the Hero to the altar). The second and third bosses are in the building behind the first boss.

To make things even more fun, killing a general and its group spawns a small group of Forgotten outside the temple who approach the altar to attack the hero.

You still get credit for the bonus if the Ghostly Hero dies as long as you kill all three generals first.

Method one: Just focus on the mission first

The simplest method is to first focus on eliminating the foes attacking the Hero, and then go for the bonus.

You can avoid killing some of the siege wurms that do not attack the Ghostly Hero. The wurms only begin attacking if aggro'ed by the party.

If all goes well, you'll have four or five minutes left in which to complete the bonus. The first random Forgotten boss will come to engage your group at the second siege worm gate. After destroying that group you can make haste to the remaining three random generals.

To allow the extra time you need to engage the last two generals it is advised to aggro the group of Forgotten that spawns after the first general dies. If left alone this group will go to engage the Ghostly Hero who is unprotected. The group of Forgotten that spawn at the death of the second general can be ignored as you can engage them after destroying the third general.

After the third general is destroyed the bonus will be complete. If you also need to complete the mission you have to kill the last group of Forgotten that will spawn and head toward the Ghostly Hero, but you can aggro them easily on your way back to the Ghostly Hero. When you arrive back at the Ghostly Hero, the Forgotten spawn that you left from the death of the second general will arrive. Even if left alone this group often has no time remaining to destroy the Ghostly Hero.

Method two: Use the pause

After the Arcanists are clear, there is a time delay before the Forgotten attack the altar again. If you're not using this delay to attack the siege wurms, a party with a high damage output may be able to rush the southern fort and take out the generals before the Ghostly Hero dies.

Variations of this include a monk staying back to heal the Ghostly Hero, allowing the party more time to finish the bonus. A bonder monk is usually chosen for this task.

Method three: Some now and the rest later

After the Arcanists are clear, you can use the time delay to kill just one general, then pull back to defend against the remaining attacks on the Ghostly Hero, then try to kill the last two generals with the couple of minutes that remain.

Note that you can sometimes kill the first general even before the timer begins by having the Ghostly Hero wait before capturing the altar and using distance attacks from the southern cliffs next to the drawbridge.

Method four: Teleport

This method is difficult to use, and may take a couple of mission restarts to work. Before leading the Hero to the altar and starting the timer, teleport across the ravine while the drawbridges are still up using spells like Necrotic Traversal, Consume Corpse and Rebirth. The generals can then be killed without time constraints or danger of the Hero dying. If using Rebirth, have party members kill themselves with sacrifice skills, vampiric weapons, or by letting themselves die from foes.

One problem is that there might not be a corpse within reach. Sometimes Jade Scarabs will spawn if you run along the edge of the ravine, and you can kill these using distance attacks. Sometimes you will be able to kill the first general or his party; the best place to attempt this from is the little overlook to the left of the southern gate. Using a bow with long range, such as a Flatbow or a Longbow, may help you pull the boss group from their spawning position into your aggro bubble. Neither method is guaranteed to work every time, so you may need to restart the mission and try again, but make sure you check the eastern and western gates for corpses before restarting.

If you want to do the mission in the same run, there are various methods to get back across the ravine:

• Have a party member stay back with the Hero. After the bonus is complete, lead the Hero to the altar to cause the drawbridges to drop.

• Try to find some corpses to use. On the north-east side of the temple is an area in the sand dunes with a chest that usually spawns a few Jade Scarabs. Running along the edge between the outside of the temple and these sand dunes should make the scarabs spawn -- kill them and the necro can teleport back over and lead the Ghostly Hero to the altar. If the necro is a hero (e.g. Olias), get him to Rebirth you back across so you can lead the Ghostly Hero yourself.

This method allows a single person with an all hero/hench team to complete mission and bonus, providing that the person is either a necro themselves or has access to a method of suicide for their own character and a necro/monk hero with Rebirth. Henchmen can be teleported across by flagging the party at a spot outside the radar range of the fort. Move to that spot, then cancel the flag: the hench will soon appear on the edge of your radar, having mysteriously jumped the ravine. You can also run close to the map (around the east side) and see if any scarabs spawn back on the other/main side of the ravine, and then have the necro warp there just as you did to get to the ravine in the first place.

If you make it outside using the method described above, you will notice two different gates with groups of Enchanted Bow in front of them. Kill the Enchanted Bow then walk out over the ravine. The bridge is invisible, and the door is fake.

[edit] Skill recommendations

• If using the teleport method for the bonus, ensure someone has both Necrotic Traversal (or Consume Corpse) and Rebirth.
• If using a Bonder Monk to stay with the Ghostly Hero, use Life Barrier, Life Bond, Mending and Essence Bond on the Ghostly Hero, as well as Heal Other and Orison of Healing or Dwayna's Kiss equipped. The Bonder Monk can stand in the north doorway near the bridge to stay out of the way while the bonds protect the Ghostly Hero, and run in only when the monk needs to use Heal Other or Dwayna's Kiss.
  • Note this tactic may not work in hard mode because Forgotten Cursebearers have Strip Enchantment.
• If you bring physical attackers to kill the generals, also bring a condition removal since the Enchanted Bows cause blindness.

[edit] Mission NPCs

[edit] Allies

Undead

• Ghost
  • 20 Ghostly Hero

[edit] Foes

Centaurs

• 20 (26) Losaru Bladehand
• 20 (26) Losaru Bowmaster
• 20 (26) Losaru Lifeband

Forgotten

• 20 (26) Enchanted Hammer
• 20 (26) Enchanted Sword
• 20 (26) Enchanted Bow
• 20 (26) Forgotten Cursebearer
• 20 (26) Forgotten Arcanist

Rider

• 20 (26) Storm Kin

Scarab

• 20 (26) Jade Scarab

Wurm

• 20 (26) Siege Wurm

Undead

• Ghost
  • 20 Enemy Ghostly Hero

[edit] Bosses

Forgotten

• 24 (30) Custodian Fidius → Warrior's Endurance
• 24 (30) Custodian Kora → Marksman's Wager
• 24 (30) Dassk Arossyss → Word of Healing
• 24 (30) Byssha Hisst → Order of the Vampire
• 24 (30) Goss Aleessh → Mantra of Recovery
• 24 (30) Ayassah Hess → Mantra of Recovery
• 24 (30) Cyss Gresshla → Ether Renewal

[edit] Dialogue

[edit] Initial dialogue

Ghostly Hero: "Once my people came to the desert and built a great temple. But while we labored, we were set upon by the stewards of the desert, the Forgotten."

Ghostly Hero: "They killed my people, and now another ghost sits upon my throne. I beseech you, help me return to the temple. Help me reclaim my throne and my passage into the Hall of Heroes."

[edit] Intermediate dialogue

When the Ghostly Hero is commanded to stay.

Ghostly Hero: "I beg of you. Take me to my throne. The gods await me in the Hall of Heroes."

[edit] Cinematics

For more information, see Dunes of Despair (cinematics).

[edit] Intermediate Cinematic

Ghostly Hero: "Up ahead, inside the Temple of Ascension, is the Throne of Pellentia."

Ghostly Hero: "The gods gaze down from the Hall of Heroes, granting favor to those who control the throne."

Ghostly Hero: "But there is another spirit who sits upon that hallowed throne."

Ghostly Hero: "The Temple is well guarded."

Ghostly Hero: "Get me inside, so that we may supplant the usurper. He must be destroyed before I can retake the throne."

Ghostly Hero: "Keep me safe while I cast the ritual to open the door."

[edit] Intermediate dialogue

When the Ghostly Hero reaches the temple gate.

Ghostly Hero: "I can see the usurper there, in the middle of the Temple. We must defeat him before I can reclaim my throne."

Ghostly Hero: "Watch that no harm comes to me while I lower this bridge."

When the Enemy Ghostly Hero is defeated.

Ghostly Hero: "The Forgotten will come again. Hold them back while I cast a ritual and return the throne to my custody."

Ghostly Hero: "Peer down from the heavens, I beseech you. Grant us your gaze, oh gods of Tyria."

Ghostly Hero: "We have proven ourselves worthy. Grant us that which we seek."

When enemies reach the Ghostly Hero's aggro radius.

Ghostly Hero: "Enemies draw near!"

[edit] End Cinematic

Ghostly Hero: "We have drawn the attention of the gods. Let us hope they are pleased."

[edit] Notes

Bug.

In the beginning, the bridge often falls before the Ghostly Hero uses Claim Resource.

Bug.

Even after you die, the timer continues to count down

Bug.

Occasionally the Ghostly Hero will become stuck while under attack by the first Siege Wurm, in which case he will not activate Claim Resource to lower the bridge and stops following the player. He won't continue onward until you slay the Siege Wurm on the other side, meaning you have to take the long way around, then go back for the Hero.

Bug.

Though it is a ghost, the Enemy Ghostly Hero is fleshy.

• There is a large amount of desert to uncover for the cartographer title beyond and around the fort, which makes using Necrotic Traversal even more beneficial, if not a must-do, for cartographers. The large area amounts to approximately 0.7% of Tyria.
• Even though Enemy Ghostly Hero has the appearance of a Ghost, his corpse is in fact exploitable.
• The Enemy Ghostly Hero uses Axe Mastery skills even though he carries a sword.

This is the stone tablet in Augury Rock representing Dunes of Despair.