Abaddon's Gate

This article is about a mission. This name is also used for an outpost and a Zaishen mission quest.

Abaddon's Gate
Campaign	Nightfall
Region	Realm of Torment
Type	Cooperative
Party size	8
Duration	Short
Preceded by	Gate of Madness
Followed by	Finding a Purpose Goren's Stuff: Part 2 Norgu's Nightfall and quests from Throne of Secrets

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.

Mission information

Requirements

• Gate of Madness mission completed

Objectives

Destroy Abaddon.

• Destroy the graven monoliths to power the chains of Abaddon.
• Attack Abaddon while he is vulnerable.

Rewards

Normal mode	Completion time	Rewards
Standard	> 25 minutes	1,000 XP	100	1	50
Expert's	20 - 25 minutes	1,500 XP	150	1	50
Master's	< 20 minutes	2,000 XP	200	1	50
Hard mode	Completion time	Rewards
Standard	> 25 minutes	1,000 XP	200	1	100
Expert's	20 - 25 minutes	2,000 XP	300	1	100
Master's	< 20 minutes	3,000 XP	500	1	100

Walkthrough

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's 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 party 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. Every time Abaddon is fully bound, he loses 1000 health.

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 party. Of particular note is Words of Madness which causes the party 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 party has to be prepared to remove daze or to operate with it on. Party 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 party if they're not noticed and taken care of. Keep a wary eye out for them to interrupt their attack skill and kill them.

Skill recommendations

• Bring Lightbringer's Gaze for the Torment Claws. Alternatively, any skill interrupt will do.
• The real premium is not in dealing 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 in countering 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 a rank of 3 Healing Prayers will counter a lot of the AoE damage (60 health per adjacent creature).
• Secondary monks can be very effective using Extinguish, Purge Conditions, Martyr, or Empathic Removal.
• Resurrection Signet or Sunspear Rebirth Signet are preferable to hard resurrection skills, as you will be receiving many morale boosts throughout the mission. Or even better, a hero with Unyielding Aura, to resurrect instantly with full health and energy. Avoid resurrection spells as they will be affected by dazed caused by Words of Madness.
• Consider skills that prevent knock downs (such as Ward of Stability and/or "Don't Trip!") from Earth Shattering Blow and Words of Madness.
• 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 bars is recommended instead of having one Paragon with both of these skills.
• Wastrel's Worry is quite effective against Abaddon.
• Area damage over time skills (see Nuker), such as Chaos Storm and Fire Storm, work very well against Abaddon.
• Powerful skills with long recharge times work well here, because frequent morale boosts recharge them instantly.

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 or 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. Note completing the mission in hard mode does not give the Book of Secrets again.

NPCs

Allies

Human

• 20 Kormir

Foes

Demons (Torment creatures)

• 24 (26) Torment Claw

God (Torment creature)

• 30 (32) Abaddon

Monoliths

• 22 (26) Graven Monolith

Dialogue

Opening cinematic

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

<Party leader>: "No matter what happens, remember one thing:"

<Party leader>: "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!"

<Party leader>: "Kormir? Are you ready?"

Kormir: "Yes. I think so."

Kormir: "Lead on. I will follow."

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!

End cinematic

<Party leader>: "Abaddon is breaking up!"

Kormir: "Incredible! All that knowledge!"

<Party leader>: "It's running wild! It will destroy everything!"

Kormir: "I'm going into it!"

<Party leader>: "You can't do that!"

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

<Party leader>: "Kormir! No!"

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

<Party leader>: "Kormir?"

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

<Party leader>: "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."

<Party leader>: "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."

<Party leader>: "Of course."

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

Notes

• Kormir follows the party leader, never attacks and rarely uses skills except for "Incoming!". Foes cannot target her but she does take damage from area of effect skills.
  • She sometimes body blocks her own allies.
• The Torment Claws and Graven Monoliths in this mission do not appear to drop loot.
• After completing this mission, all players in the party are taken to the Throne of Secrets and subsequently may enter Kamadan, Jewel of Istan with a party larger than 4.
• After completing this mission, Nightfallen Garden is reverted back to Garden of Seborhin unless Heart or Mind: Garden in Danger is active.
• Completion of this mission will fill in page #17 in the Night Falls storybook.

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.
• If you type the "/dance" emote when all non-NPC party members are close enough to Abaddon (every non-NPC in your party must dance for this to work), Abaddon will join 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 party 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".
• The ending dialogue and the situation seems to be a reference to the Helios ending from Deus Ex.

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