Mano a Norn-o

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In this solo quest you fight one on one against Knorr Oaken, a Norn warrior. The Battle takes place within the Eye of the North.

Mano a Norn-o
Section	Far Shiverpeaks Quests
Given by	Artificer Mullenix in Eye of the North (outpost) (Far Shiverpeaks)
Followed by	Service: Practice, Dummy
Campaign	Eye of the North
Type	Secondary quest (Solo Quest)

[edit] Quest information

[edit] Requirements

Look into the Scrying Pool in the Hall of Monuments.

[edit] Objectives

Speak to Artificer Mullenix when you are ready to duel with Knorr Oaken.
Stand as the champion for the Eye of the North and defeat Knorr Oaken for the sake of all humanity!
See Artificer Mullenix for your reward.

[edit] Reward

[edit] Walkthrough

This article needs to be cleaned up, see Guild Wars Wiki:Formatting for details.

[edit] General

After talking with Mullenix, the room will be emptied except for you and Knorr. After 30 seconds (and his taunt emotes), he will become hostile, turn into bear form, and attack you. Simply defeat him before he defeats you.

Anti-Melee tactics work well against him such as blinding, but try to avoid blocking skills. Use an interrupt skill as soon as he turns hostile to prevent him from turning into a bear. This will make the fight much easier.

Alternatively, run into the Hall of Monuments as soon as he casts Bear Form as he only follows you up to the entrance. Wait for Bear Form to wear off and attack him.

Here's some profession specific hints for beating Knorr:

[edit] Assassin

Just keep him blinded and heal yourself.

Critical Strikes 10
Dagger Mastery 10
Shadow Arts 11

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[edit] Monk

Its easy for a monk to do this, all you have to do is to take a 55 armor with a totem axe and use the following build:

Healing Prayer 8
Smiting Prayer 15
Protection Prayer 11
Divine Favor 13

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Interrupt Healing Signet and you'll be fine as long as you keep your enchantments up and watch his interrupts.

[edit] Elementalist

The easiest method is to simply bring blinding flash, which renders Knorr useless. Also equip air attunement and glyph of lesser energy to insure you have enough energy to keep him blinded. Lightning orb and lightning javelin should easily finish him off. You should be able to defeat Knorr with 12 Air Magic and 12 Energy Storage.

Air magic 5
Fire Magic 13
Water magic 12
Energy storage 9
Sunspear rank preferred to be quite high

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Cast Fire Attunement and then Glyph of Sacrifice before going into Knorr's aggro range after the countdown has stopped and he has became hostile. Use Gale to interrupt Bear Form. Use Glyph of Elemental Power and then Mist Form to prevent him from attacking you. Then use Intensity and then spam flare to kill him.
Glyph of Sacrifice is not neccesarily needed, but it's easier to interrupt Bear Form with Gale having 1/4 casting time instead of 1 second.
Enchantments last 20% longer weapon helps but is not needed

[edit] Necromancer

Curses - 12 (1) from Headgear (3) from Superior Rune
Soul Reaping - 12
Other skill points aren't necessary

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Just wait out the prelude of him taunting you and such
After he turns hostile get right outside of aggro and be prepared to hit your skill keys
Spiteful Spirit for beginning damage, followed by Enfeeble so if he does hit it won't hurt, Soul Barbs for what is to follow, Price of Failure for damage on fail to hit, Reckless Haste for additional damage on miss with 62.5% chance to miss (This is where main damage comes for this build), Signet of Lost Souls after a few seconds to regain energy, Insidious Parasite for life steal if he does hit, and then Suffering for cover damage if necessary (I didn't even use it, and the battle lasted all of maybe 30 seconds)

Note

This was done while wearing Full Radiant Armor with 3 Runes of Attunement and +10 energy from weapon (Totaling 53 energy)
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[edit] Ritualist

Restoration magic 14-15 (doesn't matter, he can be beaten with 14 but 15 is always better)
Inspiration magic 10
Domination magic 10

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When the countdown starts, go near Knorr but so that he's not in your aggro range. When countdown stops he won't attack before you get into his aggro range so cast the spells AFTER the countdown stopped and he's turned hostile.
First cast Arcane Echo and then Vengeful Was Khanhei. Go into Knorr's aggro range and interrupt his bear form with Cry of Frustration. Use Physical Resistance to reduce his damage and cast Auspicious Incarnation and then Ignorance to prevent him from healing. Cast the echoed Vengeful Was Khanhei when the first one has ended. If he interrupts your VwK, then spam Vengeful Weapon until VwK has recharged. Knorr should be dead in only a matter of seconds.

Other tips:

For Spirit Spammers, you can set up at around 10 seconds left and he will start taking hits immediately. Make sure to note their casting times. Bringing Painful Bond will drop him even faster. Example template code: OACjAuhqoOfzyZ0Ozt5ObXzqJA

Shadowsong will blind him, generally long enough for you to take him out.

[edit] Mesmer

For a mesmer it can be kind of tricky.

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Use Imagined Burden first.
Use Cry of Frustration if he uses Healing Signet
Other than that just spam Conjure Nightmare til he dies. It should take a few minutes.

Warriors hate skills like Ineptitude, Clumsiness, Empathy, Wandering Eye and even Shrinking Armor shine here, and Visions of Regret works if you're not shutting down the melee skills (say, if you bring "I Am Unstoppable!" from doing the Tracking the Nornbear thread first, or other anti-KD). Ignorance or Complicate can be used to stop Healing Signet. Anti-adrenaline skills like Soothing Images can shut down the guaranteed KDs that depend on adrenaline, and a mixed Illusion/Domination caster with a skill interrupt (for bear form) and then Ignorance + alternating Sympathetic Visage and Ancestor's Visage can completely shut down Knorr's skillbar, allowing for a Wastrel's Worry spam. Cry of Pain spams can be used, as well.

[edit] Paragon

Spear Mastery 12+1+3
Leadership 9 (for Anthem of Flame)
Command 9 (for shield)

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Use Anthem of Flame and Signet of Aggression as soon as you enter the arena. Spam both on recharge until all of the adrenal attacks are charged.
Refresh Anthem of Flame (1) just before battle. Refresh on recharge since this is one of your only energy based skills.
Interrupt Bear Form with Disrupting Throw (2) then run from 3-7. If he stops moving to use Healing Signet, hit Cruel Spear then Spear of Lightning to take advantage of the reduced armor.
It's possible to interrupt healing signet, but not necessary.

[edit] Dervish

Scythe Mastery 12+1
Earth Prayers 8+1
Mysticism 10+3+1

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As soon as you load cast Faithful Intervention and Avatar of Balthazar and wait for energy to recharge. When the timer reaches 0 cast Heart of Fury and Eternal Aura, charge up to him, use Zealous Sweep first and then spam your attack skills until his dies. Use Mystic Regeneration if you find it necessary, but you should be able to outdamage him and Victorious Sweep should take care of any damage he deals. With the Avatar on its easy to beat him, whole thing didn't take 20 seconds.

[edit] Dialogue

[edit] Initial dialogue

Artificer Mullenix

[Solo Quest] "We have a bit of a problem. Of course, with all these Norn around, that shouldn't be too much of a surprise. You wouldn't believe how often Norn warriors wander down here and challenge us to duels to prove their valor. Then they go home and boast about how easy it is to defeat the "puny humans" in battle. Usually, we just ignore them and hope they go find something else to beat about the head."

"The latest barbarian to arrive, however...some brutish oaf named Knorr Oaken...simply won't leave. he's starting to cause a real problem. Nobody can get any work done what with constantly being challenged to single combat. You're the most battle-tested of anyone here at the Eye. Will you fight as our champion against this Norn?"

Accept: "This will be a victory for all humanity!"

Decline: "Can't we just hug and be friends?"

Ask: "You will be removed from your party to face Knorr Oaken alone. Are you ready?"

I am ready.

I am not ready.

[edit] Intermediate dialogue

[edit] Initial

Knorr Oaken

"What's this? I ask for a champion and they send me a flea!"

"Were you the runt of the litter, or is your entire pack this puny?"

"I've eaten bigger chunks of bear meat than you!"

[edit] After winning

Knorr Oaken

"Astounding! You have bested me. By the bear, you are unlike any human I have ever met. Well fought, little...big one."

[edit] Reward dialogue

Artificer Mullenix

"Well done! It's certainly good to see someone finally put those brutes in their place! That's the last we'll hear from Knorr Oaken, I imagine. With any luck, and a little help from a crafty artificer, the word will get out to the rest of the Norn about how he was defeated by a human. Take pride; you've raised the reputation of not only the Vanguard but our entire race with these barbarians."

[edit] NPCs

Norn

20 Knorr Oaken

[edit] Notes

"The duel begins in: 00:30" allows Knorr to insult you for a while. He is not hostile during this time.
You will be returned to the Eye of the North 10 seconds after winning.
If you turn north and run into the Hall of Monuments, there will be no portal and all 4 tapestries will be shown.

[edit] Trivia

The name of this quest is a reference to the Spanish phrase "Mano-a-mano."