Unwaking Waters

This article is about a mission. This name is also used for an explorable area, a Zaishen mission quest, and a Zaishen vanquish quest. For the outposts, see Unwaking Waters (Luxon) and Unwaking Waters (Kurzick).

Unwaking Waters
Campaign	Factions
Region	The Jade Sea
Type	Cooperative
Party size	8
Duration	Short
Preceded by	Into the Whirlpool or Journey to the Whirlpool
Followed by	Taking Back the Palace

The great dragon Kuunavang has been corrupted by Shiro. Defeat Kuunavang to remove Shiro's control and seek its advice on what is to come. This mission features two parties working together to defeat Kuunavang.

Mission information

Requirements

• Your party will not be able to enter this mission unless it has eight members.
• If the party contains any characters that have not completed Into the Whirlpool (accepting the reward is not required), the gate from Morostav Trail will be closed, and if the party contains any characters that have not completed Journey to the Whirlpool (accepting the reward is not required), the gate from Silent Surf will be closed.

• Into the Whirlpool and Journey to the Whirlpool grant access, but any characters that have not completed The Eternal Grove will be left behind in Morostav Trail.

Objectives

Defeat Kuunavang.

• Weaken Kuunavang to destroy the barrier.
• Continue to weaken Kuunavang until the next barrier is destroyed.
• Continue weakening Kuunavang until the last barrier is destroyed.
• Defeat Kuunavang.

Rewards

Normal mode	Completion time	Rewards
Standard	> 20 minutes	1,000 XP	100	1	1,000 or
Expert's	15 - 20 minutes	1,500 XP	150	1	1,000 or
Master's	< 15 minutes	2,000 XP	200	1	1,000 or
Hard mode	Completion time	Rewards
Standard	> 20 minutes	1,000 XP	200	1	1,000 or
Expert's	15 - 20 minutes	2,000 XP	300	1	1,000 or
Master's	< 15 minutes	3,000 XP	500	1	1,000 or

• This faction can only be gained once in each difficulty mode.
• Faction cap is increased by 7,000 (only applies to the side this mission is entered from). This mission must be done twice (once from each side) to increase both the Kurzick faction cap and the Luxon faction cap once per account.

Walkthrough

In this mission, you have to defeat the corrupted version of Kuunavang in the Harvest Temple in the heart of the Jade Sea's whirlpool. Your path follows a downward spiral blocked by three gates, each powered by the dragon — they can be breached by dealing enough damage to her (the first gate opens when she reaches 75% health, the second at 50%, and the third at 25%). Each gate is blocked by groups of Afflicted, usually led by a boss, and Kuunavang cannot move back beyond an opened gate, forcing the parties to pursue her if she flees.

There are several challenges unique to this mission:

• Kuunavang can sometimes be out of melee range during her phases until you reach the temple.
• She is semi-resistant to interrupts, taking sometimes multiple interrupts to interrupt a skill.
• She has several deadly skills, notably Corrupted Dragon Scales (creating six creatures) and Dark Chain Lightning (which hits an initial target for 300 damage and will then hit subsequent targets, diminishing in force by 10% with each hit).

In addition, this is the second two-party mission (after Vizunah Square). You will not be able to see the health bar of the other party, but skills that affect other allies will benefit both groups. If no party joins from the other outpost, your allies will consist of eight henchmen. You cannot use resurrect skills on the other party and the two Resurrection Orbs that can be found during the mission cannot resurrect members of the other party.

You have plenty of time to obtain the Master's reward for the mission: the right team can finish it in less than five minutes, even in hard mode with henchmen from the other side. Even with henchmen from both sides, you should be able to finish in less than the required fifteen minutes if you proceed carefully.

Reaching the temple

After the initial gate opens, clear out the initial Afflicted mobs and then attack Kuunavang. Stay spread out to avoid AoE damage. Keep attacking until the first gate opens and she leaves; if you have enough firepower, you can damage her enough to open all the remaining gates, and teleport you straight to the temple, skipping all the remaining Afflicted of the mission.

As you approach the next gate, two more groups of Afflicted spawn (the composition varies and the number depends on how many bosses appear with them). Kill the new mobs and cross the gate to find the first Resurrection Orb, which you might want to save for the final battle. Kuunavang will appear again and you must fight her again to open the next gate (and find the final Resurrection Orb). As you follow the path, two more groups of Afflicted will spawn. You can destroy them and then attack the dragon to drop the last gate or you can wait for Kuunavang to fly back towards you; as long as you stay near the gate, you will not trigger the last group.

Lowering her health to near zero will trigger a cinematic, after which you will be transported to the temple and the final battle.

The biggest danger during this part of the mission is trying to attack Kuunavang and the Afflicted at the same time. If the dragon overlaps with the other foes, retreat quickly to the outside of the path, so you are out of her reach. Finish off the Afflicted before confronting her again.

Harvest Temple

The final battle takes place in the Harvest Temple against Enraged Kuunavang alone. Melee characters will finally be able to attack the dragon, but there is no room to maneuver and both parties will be at risk of her massive AoE damage skills, so put up protection skills as quickly as possible. Keep spread out and try to interrupt as many of her skills as possible. If she summons Corrupted Scale creatures, eliminate them before returning your attention to the dragon; you will need to call them as targets, otherwise heroes and henchmen from both sides will ignore them. Leaders of henchmen-only parties should be prepared to flag and re-flag their party repeatedly to keep them out of harm's way.

The mission ends when you deplete the dragon's health to near zero again.

Hard mode

Defeating Kuunavang in hard mode is only slightly more difficult, since she is not much stronger. However, the Afflicted mobs are likely to take more time to take down, so proceed more carefully.

Avoiding the Afflicted

You can skip the later Afflicted spawns by damaging Kuunavang quickly at the start of the mission, which triggers the pre-temple cinematic and takes you to the final battle. This makes it possible to complete the mission in under three minutes.

• With at least one party of mostly players and/or heroes, spike her with as much ranged damage as possible.
• With any team (including henchmen alone), stack as many hex spells and long-lasting health degeneration on her as possible.

Skill recommendations

General recommendations

• Enchantment-based builds are vulnerable to Afflicted Necromancers, Afflicted Mesmers, and Kuunavang's Corrupted Breath. Afflicted that deal physical damage can also remove enchantments when enchanted with Afflicted Necromancer's Order of Apostasy.
• Barbs combines well with the physical damage of ranger henchmen from the Luxon outpost.
• If entering from the Kurzick outpost, consider not bringing Signet of Spirits, since Aeson of the Luxon party (if no player-Luxon party joins) uses it.
• Binding Rituals such as Shelter and Displacement can easily provide protection to both parties provided the caster has a Soul Twisting-based build.

Confronting Kuunavang

• Ranged attacks and skills are usually easier to consistently deal damage Kuunavang during the first phase of the mission.
• Armor-ignoring damage and life stealing bypass Kuunavang's high armor rating.
• Kuunavang's large amount of health makes Spoil Victor especially valuable.
• Bring ways to mitigate her Dark Chain Lightning.
  • Pain Inverter will reflect damage.
  • Minions and spirits can absorb some of the damage.
  • Consider other damage mitigation skills, e.g. Shelter.
  • Blindness prevents her from hitting the first target.
• Enfeeble helps reduce her damage.
• Corrupted Scales are considered spirits:
  • They are immune to hex spells and all conditions except for burning.
  • They are vulnerable to anti-summon skills (e.g. Banish or Consume Soul) and will trigger effects that depend on the presence of spirits.

Interrupting Kuunavang

• Kuunavang is partially resistant to interrupts.
• To maximize your chances of preventing the dragon's skill use, take multiple interrupts and daze Kuunavang.
• She is also vulnerable to Choking Gas.
• A Dissonance spirit can interrupt Kuunavang every two seconds.

Two-party considerations

• Bring skills that can affect multiple allies. Wards and Wells are especially useful in the small battleground for the final confrontation.
• Party healing helps, e.g. Heal Party or Breath of the Great Dwarf.

NPCs

Allies

Henchmen

(All henchmen are human, except if noted below.)

From Unwaking Waters (Luxon)

These henchmen form a party of eight, if no player-party enters from the Luxon side.

• 20 Talon Silverwing (Tengu)
• 20 Aurora
• 20 Daeman
• 20 Zho
• 20 Sister Tai
• 20 Argo
• 20 Kai Ying
• 20 Aeson
• 20 Hector (Aurora's pet)

From Unwaking Waters (Kurzick)

These henchmen form a party of eight, if no player-party enters from the Kurzick side.

• 20 Lukas
• 20 Aidan
• 20 Danika
• 20 Redemptor Karl
• 20 Brutus
• 20 Sheena
• 20 Cynn
• 20 Nika

Foes

Afflicted

• 24 (26) Afflicted Warrior
• 24 (26) Afflicted Ranger
• 24 (26) Afflicted Monk
• 24 (26) Afflicted Necromancer
• 24 (26) Afflicted Mesmer
• 24 (26) Afflicted Elementalist
• 24 (26) Afflicted Assassin
• 24 (26) Afflicted Ritualist

Dragon

• 30 (32) Enraged Kuunavang
• 30 (32) Kuunavang

Bosses

Afflicted

• 28 (30) The Afflicted Maaka → Enraged Smash
• 28 (30) The Afflicted Pana → Broad Head Arrow
• 28 (30) The Afflicted Jingme → Ray of Judgment
• 24 (30) The Afflicted Lau → Order of Apostasy
• 28 (30) The Afflicted Hsin Jun → Stolen Speed
• 28 (30) The Afflicted Shen → Mind Burn
• 28 (30) The Afflicted Senku → Shadow Form
• 28 (30) The Afflicted Xenxo → Weapon of Quickening

Dialogue

The Harvest Ceremony cinematic

Emperor Angsiyan: "Has the temple been secured?"

Temple Guard: "Yes, my emperor."

Temple Guard: "There is no one inside. Your safety is assured."

Emperor Angsiyan: "You will allow my retinue and my bodyguard to pass. They are coming with me."

Temple Guard: "But... but... no one except you is allowed inside the temple."

Temple Guard: "Those were your own orders."

Emperor Angsiyan: "There has been a change of plans. You will let them through."

Temple Guard: "As you wish."

The following dialogue occurs in Shiro's mind.

Fortune Teller: "Beware the Harvest Ceremony."

Fortune Teller: "Beware the Harvest Ceremony."

Fortune Teller: "The emperor... he is going to kill you..."

Emperor Angsiyan: "There has been a change of plans."

Temple Guard: "No one except you is allowed inside the temple."

Emperor Angsiyan: "There has been a change of plans."

Temple Guard: "No one except you is allowed inside the temple."

Emperor Angsiyan: "There has been a change of plans."

Fortune Teller: "The emperor... he is going to kill you..."

Fortune Teller: "Beware the Harvest Ceremony."

Fortune Teller: "You must make the choice... him or you."

Initial dialogue

Kuunavang: "Who are these mortals? Are they really so brave as to enter my domain? No, truly they are fools who wish for a ticket to the Underworld."

Intermediate dialogue

When the first gate opens.

Kuunavang: "Fools! How dare you enter my whirlpool and threaten me with your meager magic. Turn back now or die!"

When the second gate opens.

Kuunavang: "You have been lucky to get this far, but your luck has come to an end. There is still time to run, if you have found your wits."

End cinematic

Enraged Kuunavang: "You have released me from his grasp."

<party leader>: "Shiro's Grasp?"

Enraged Kuunavang: "Yes. It was his touch that corrupted my body and fought for control of my spirit."

Enraged Kuunavang: "His foul presence tore at my flesh and withered my bones. Still I resisted."

Enraged Kuunavang: "You brought me back to this life, and I owe you a tremendous debt."

<party leader>: "Please. It is enough of a reward to simply be in your presence."

<party leader>: "You owe us nothing."

Enraged Kuunavang: "Let me give you a piece of advice."

Enraged Kuunavang: "Never refuse a gift from someone who can swallow you whole."

Enraged Kuunavang: "When the time is right, I will grant you the powerful magics you require to defeat Shiro, the Unholy Deceiver."

Enraged Kuunavang: "Together we will send him back to the Underworld where he belongs."

Brother Mhenlo: "What is it he seeks?"

<party leader>: "Judging from the locations where we've encountered him, I'd say he's doing research."

Brother Mhenlo: "Research? For what?"

Master Togo: "Yes, you are right. He must be preparing a spell."

Brother Mhenlo: "A spell? To do what?"

Messenger Vetaura: "To leave the spirit realm and join your world again... as flesh and blood."

Courier Torivos: "We congratulate you. Your debt to us is nearly paid in full."

Courier Torivos: "Complete this final task, and you will have earned your mortality."

Master Togo: "What is it you ask of us?"

Messenger Vetaura: "Shiro is very close to getting what he is after."

Messenger Vetaura: "He needs to do only one last deed to cast his spell."

<party leader>: "What deed? What will he do?"

Herald Demrikov: "That which cursed him in the first place-he will spill the blood of the royal family."

Master Togo: "The emperor!"

Courier Torivos: "Yes. The blood of the emperor is the last component needed to give Shiro back his mortality."

Courier Torivos: "Your final task is to stop this from happening."

Messenger Vetaura: "Hurry now. You have no time to waste."

Notes

The Guild Wars 2 Wiki has an article on Unwaking Waters.

• Groups from the Kurzick and Luxon outposts can usually synchronize their entry by pressing the Enter Mission button at close to the same time.
• You will only encounter three of the Afflicted bosses during the mission. If you are attempting to capture skills you may need to repeat it a number of times.
• Until the first barrier is brought down, enough Afflicted reinforcements will spawn every two minutes (at the barrier) in order to maintain a group size of seven. Similarly, enough reinforcements will spawn at the second barrier to keep the opposition at five foes.
  • At each barrier, the composition of the group will remain the same for the remainder of the mission but will differ next time you play.
  • These reinforcements do not drop loot.
• The Kurzick party leader will have the spoken dialogue during the end cinematic unless there is no human player from that side.
• After completing this mission, your party will be taken to Harvest Temple.
• If there are players on both sides then skipping the cutscenes without the other party's approval is not possible.
• If you approach her from the upper cliffside she will be in melee range, however if you approach from the lower cliffside closest to her, she will not.
• Completion of this mission will fill in page #9 of the Shiro's Return storybook.

Bug. In the end cinematic, the gender of the voice of the lead party member is often reversed (e.g. male Assassins will get a female voice). Also, if the lead party member is female, the character model from another (male) character in the group will be used.

^{[verification requested]}

Anomaly. Unlike the other henchmen NPCs, if no party joined from Unwaking Waters (Luxon), Aeson uses a skill set that is different from the one he uses as a henchman.

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