My quest to become the Guardian of Elona continues in Guild Wars. I’ve beaten one Hard Mission a day over the past five days so I’m now 6/20 towards the title.
Having being defeated at Gandara, it was time for the Sunspears to retreat back to Istan. The task at hand was to get the surviving Sunspears to a hired ship and doing that entailed running through a gauntlet of Kournan guardposts and patrols in the Venta Cemetery mission.
I decided to do this one without having a healer in the party. It wasn’t an outrageous decision since the mission requires escorting eight Sunspear Evacuees who all happen to be healers. It’s so refreshing to have an escort mission where the NPCs being escorted aren’t major liabilities.
I would recommend removing the mini-map and paying close attention to the warnings and timers during the mission. The siege attacks and the Sentry traps aren’t deadly on their own but when combined with the hitting power of a Hard Mode fire elementalist (like the Kournan Scribes), you’re looking at a potential party wipe.
There were a few occasions when I had to retreat temporarily and I did end up losing five of the evacuees but it wasn’t difficult overall.
Guardian of Elona: 2/20.
Kodonur Crossroads
Though I had completed this mission in Normal Mode several times, I found it unexpectedly difficult in Hard Mode. It was sufficiently challenging that it took me half a dozen attempts over the course of a two-hour session before I finally nailed it. It was partly because I was perhaps a little nonchalant but mainly it was due to the mission design.
This is one of those areas and missions in Nightfall that feature deadly overlapping mob patrols. Players with a bad case of target lock will suddenly find themselves battling more foes than they had initially engaged. Watch out for the patrols with fire elementalists and a healer and make sure your target prioritisation isn’t screwy.
Guardian of Elona: 3/20.
Rilohn’s Refuge
If Kodonur Crossroads was unexpectedly difficult, this was unexpectedly easy. Unlike most Guild Wars missions, the Master’s for this one actually takes less time than Expert’s or Standard challenge levels.
I was a little concerned about the finale which requires defeating a hard-hitting Elementalist boss but the boss dropped ridiculously quick thanks to a Pain Inverter I cast on him just before he hit the party with an AOE spell that affected most of the party.
Hoisted by one’s own petard. How sweet it is.
Guardian of Elona: 4/20.
Moddok Crevice
Moddok Crevice is a tricky little beast that’s all about hotspots. Move to the right hotspot to trigger a suggestion from Dunkoro which will require either moving to another hotspot or avoiding a particular hotspot.
The Master’s for this one requires following all four of Dunkoro’s suggestions during the course of the mission. The problem is Dunkoro only makes those suggestions when you move the party to a specific hotspot. Miss the hotspot and Dunkoro won’t make the suggestion.
The first three suggestions are ridiculously easy to follow (as long you know the right hotspots) but the final one is a royal pain in the ass. It requires quickly taking out a pair of runners before they hit hotspots which spawn baddies.
The tricky part is the runners take off in different directions and you don’t have much time to take both of them out. If you’re playing with heroes and henchmen (as I am), coordinating a split attack can be a real hassle. It took me many, many tries to complete this part of the mission as I had considerable difficulty killing both runners in time.
Guardian of Elona: 5/20.
Tihark Orchard
After all that frustration in the caves, it was time to par-tay. Specifically, it was time to head to Tihark Orchard for a party without a party.
This is one of the simplest Hard Mode missions in the game. It requires dancing, acting, drinking, bribing and of course, miming. The latter is actually the hardest part of the mission. Who can remember all those emotes? It’s not like anyone uses them in the game. After all, why type “/taunt” when you can claim your opponent sucks roosters or is uncommonly intimate with his mother?
Anyway, 6/20.
