Talk:Gate of Madness (mission)

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Discussion
"The distance at which you'll aggro him is roughly radar range minus twice the width of the shaded annulus on the perimeter of your radar."

What? (T/C) 00:47, 18 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Huh...? --Gimmethegepgun 00:48, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Theres a shaded bit on the very edge of your compass, look in game.--[[Image:Gigathrash_sig_G.jpg]]îğá†ħŕášħ 00:49, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
 * See page history. I don't like teh language because aggro is usually talked about in relation to teh aggro bubble. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 01:02, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
 * About 2.5 times--[[Image:Gigathrash_sig_G.jpg]]îğá†ħŕášħ 01:03, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
 * k thx [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 02:44, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
 * So is this actually larger than spirit range? --◄mendel► 07:34, 18 November 2008 (UTC)


 * It's much easier to eyeball double the length of the shaded annulus than 2.5 times the aggro bubble range. Being able to eyeball the distance pretty precisely can help, as if you run forward too fast, you aggro both at once.  If you start inching slowly too far back, you might waste 5 minutes on it.  Quizzical 08:48, 18 November 2008 (UTC)


 * I think the operational word is "shaded annulus", because almost no one knows firstly what an "annulus" is (and can't be bothered to look it up), and also because I don't think people even know that it exists. I look at teh radar all the time, but I never really noticed how the shadow remains a constant and could be used for measuring until Giga said here and I thought about it somewhat.
 * If there was some other landmark, either on the compass or visually, that could be used that would work just as well. My main concern was that with the language used it would be hard for most typical players to understand what was being talked about. Aggro bubble, on the other hand, is hard not to know; I don't think it is too hard to conceptualize of 2.5 times the bubble.
 * I mean, whatever is easiest is fine by me. I understand the importance of accuracy too. I think what would help most is a screenshot demonstrating exactly how far away to be (by drawing on the compass) [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 09:02, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

HM Solo Walktrough (Mission & Bonus)
Maybe the only NF mission that I had to restart 5 or 6 times, so as there's no real tip on how to do it HM solo, I'll write this guide.

Heroes setup: Henchmen setup: Kihm, Mhenlo, Herta, Eve
 * Gwen/Domination/key skill: VoR, Backfire, Empathy, misc interrupts & e-management
 * Olias/Curse/key skill: SS, rest mostly the same as curse sabway
 * Sosouke/Fire/key skill: SF nuker

You setup: key skill: Unyielding Aura (even if you're not monk, it's a life saver -> insta rez, full life, full-e and stoopid hench won't waste time in a middle of a fight to rez), pain inverter, lightbringer gaze, seed of life.

Make your way to temple, just pay attention to pop-ups and madness titan (from titan abomination -> Pain Titan) which could easily wipe a party in HM. The displayed map in mission section is probably not the most easiest way (after you've defeated the 2 first abomination titan go right, kill 2 more titan then torment claw, then a group of margonite, go left [beware pop-ups], go up, at the next 2 torments claw, go up, kill 3 scythe of chaos, continue up, when you trigger the dialog of shiro, come back down).

Close the 5 chaos rifts: easiest way is to pull the portal wraith with a longbow (NB. while rift is not closed margonite will respawn regularly -> kill the annoying ones, then go for wraith).

Shiro, the Lich & the Bonus: flag all heroes & hechies in "U" just to the door of the entrance. Pull Shiro FIRST !!! (Lich is easy to kill and won't follow you while attuning the altar). Use pain inverter to defeat Shiro (+VoR & SS, I didn't micro managed my heroes), you should expect 2 to 6 death amongst your AI fellows (but much more if you didn't flagged them correctly). Start attuning shrine from left to right, flag your heroes in the middle of each shrine, run with them, and if one is killed by the lich dismiss unyielding aura to rez (NB. as the lich won't follow, you shouldn't encounter much problems). DeoX 00:21, 18 January 2009 (UTC)


 * The reason why this mission doesn't have an extensive hard mode section is that hard mode doesn't change much about the mission. The tactics that work in easy mode work just fine in hard mode, too.  The point of a hard mode section is to warn players who know how to beat the mission in easy mode of adjustments that they'll have to make or things that may catch them off guard in hard mode.


 * If you're relying on unyielding aura to rez, you're doing something seriously wrong. You might take a death or two here or there, especially against the pairs of titan abominations, but it's nothing that simple rez signets can't handle.


 * It's really not that hard of a mission, especially compared to other hard mode missions. I rated it #21 in difficulty, out of 57 hard mode missions in the campaigns.  (I exclude Augury Rock from my ratings because it varies too wildly by class.)  If I were to go strictly by my empirical results, I'd rate it as quite a bit easier still.  Quizzical 00:41, 18 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Hard mode has always been easier than normal mode, at least for me. Shiro attacks faster, thus dies faster.--Darksyde  01:14, 18 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Unyielding Aura Vs Rez signet -> you waste one elite but save 1 slot by hero (plus it's insta rez and tteleport to your location -> very usefull for bonus). Well not too hard once you know setup and what to do, but it's the mission that I had to restart the most in NF in order to probe builds and tactics at the end (btw. still amongst top 3 NF most difficult with Moddok & Dzagonnur when soloing / Every Canthan mission are freakin easy / only proph had a few quite hard mission where I was forced to team). Darkside, I would say Vs Shiro nm & hm are barely the same, die slower in nm but hit harder in hm... DeoX 01:45, 18 January 2009 (UTC)


 * If you've got no stance-ending skill, you're basically taking on Shiro by hoping to get lucky. That's not a strategy.  If you need a strategy that reliably works (both in easy mode and in hard mode), try reading the article.  Quizzical 03:44, 18 January 2009 (UTC)


 * You never have to engage Shiro in melee, and thus can kill him with totally random whatever-you-want skills...although that method is very slow. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 05:47, 18 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Well I guess there is that approach, too, but it's not the one described above. Quizzical 06:18, 18 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Shiro is easy regardless of difficulty level.--Darksyde  17:32, 18 January 2009 (UTC)


 * If you're relying only on hexes to kill Shiro without taking any defensive measures, you're taking a big risk. Impossible Odds sheds hexes, so if his attacks get 200 lifestealing, he has no hexes on him, and you don't have any way to end Battle Scars, you could wipe rather quickly.  Quizzical 18:36, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

Alternative bonus method
Someone has added an alternative way to do the bonus that relies on killing Shiro first. If one were to assume that the Lich follows you around on the bonus just like Shiro, the strategy would be absurd. It's pretty easy to kill the Lich first, and much harder to kill Shiro first. The lich tends to hit harder, too, at least if you're comparing their plain attacks. Shiro's skills don't matter if you're not hitting him.

The claimed benefit of the strategy is the Lich not following you into the shrines. How effective is that? If first setting foot in a shrine (or at least getting the whole party into it) makes the Lich turn back immediately, the strategy could be pretty effective. If it takes going all the way back to the far corner to sometimes get the Lich to turn back, but isn't reliable or hampers your fight against the margonites, then the strategy is a waste. Quizzical 17:32, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
 * The whole point is the Margonites are pretty darned easy compared to everything else. Shiro, being melee, will follow you relentlessly (unless you use the spirit trick described in the walkthrough), while the Lich, being ranged, not so much.  And so long as your healers are competent, the few licks the lich does get in won't matter one bit... and neither will charging to the back of the shrine to break his aggro.  Lich takes a heck of a lot more damage from you and yours, as well... frankly the easier fight to end is more enjoyable.  Besides... don't knock it til you try it!  :P PyroMage13187 21:26, 30 January 2009 (UTC)
 * He has tried it, though, as have many people. It's just generally better to take out the Lich first unless you've specifically got the skills for Shiro, cause in that case it doesn't matter one bit. :\ [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 22:00, 30 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Ah, this whole point is rather moot, if you think on it. Depending on primary class/build/style of play, either one could be easier for an individual player.  I've personally done it both ways, had no probs with either, and had Master's every time.  It comes down to let the players choose, and to each their own...  So let's find something more fun to nitpick, like which is the bigger hinderance to a party throughout factions- Togo or Mhenlo?  :D PyroMage13187 22:15, 30 January 2009 (UTC)


 * I don't see why Lich being ranged is an advantage over Shiro being melee. The first bonus strategy is to keep Shiro weakened, in which case, he won't do much damage to you at all.  While one can theoretically do the same to the Lich, that he will stay back firing with ranged attacks could easily mean that a hero that is supposed to weaken him while flagged in the shrine could be out of range.  Ordering the hero to attack the Lich in particular could lead to the hero running off and grabbing the Lich and dying alone, or pulling the Lich back to the group, either of which would be bad.
 * I don't doubt that the alternative strategy can be made to work. If the Lich doesn't reliably break aggro and leave you alone entirely pretty quickly once you're in the shrines, though, it would pretty much invariably be harder to use than the first strategy listed.  In that case, there isn't any reason to list it at all; it would be saying, here's what you could do if you wish to make the mission harder for yourself.
 * So the question again, which you didn't answer so far, is how reliably does the Lich break off aggro once you get into the shrines? How far in do you have to go to break aggro?  And does easy mode versus hard mode make a difference here?  As for trying it myself, I don't want to spend an hour to try out a dubious strategy.  Indeed, it would take quite a bit longer than that, since I'd have to refamiliarize myself with the controls of a game I haven't played in about six months.  Quizzical 22:40, 30 January 2009 (UTC)
 * I haven't done this recently either, but I have tried killing Shiro first, and as I recall the Lich did not always disengage from the group, even when moving back into the shrines. Either way, the one that is left alive is attacking the party during the fight for the shrines, and the Lich does more damage there. Also, the shrine bonuses are not worth much fighting the Lich due to how weak he is. The current walkthrough for this alternate method could probably be cut down a bit, as the tactics are essentially identical to killing Shiro first.67.240.83.137 15:57, 31 January 2009 (UTC)


 * The method doesn't work to good in HM especially. He hit's got insane amounts of damage. I'd rather take the lich out first and then get all the shrines and then take out Shiro. Scorpion

Flagging H/H for free bonus
I am pretty sure this doesn't work anymore. After initiating Shiro's speech to open the gates, I sent the H/H in to go capture the shrines. But, this activated the Lich's dialogue, which spawned the portals and other monsters, and they were wiped shortly after that. Am I missing something? (T/C) 05:56, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, this most certainly does not work. I even tried moving out of radar range and then dying just to make sure I was out of range, and the H/H triggered the dialogue. I wonder when they fixed this... :\ I guess that's what I get for trying to cheat. (T/C) 06:44, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

This does work. In fact I did it a few days ago with a guildmate. 2 players + 6 heroes. When the final door opens we opened the "U" map, zoomed in for accurate flagging, flagged the heroes on every shrine, the heroes captured the shrines easily, mainly because Lich and Shiro weren't hostile to them yet. Ne33us 09:12, 10 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Oh, you flag them *after* clearing out the portals? Well that explains a lot. It also tells me that it's not worth the trouble, since the actual capping is one of the easiest parts of the mission..... I thought I'd be able to skip most of it and have all buffs before taking on the patrols. Entropy [[Image:Entropy Sig 2.jpg]] (C) 02:35, 12 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Update: I just tried this again today, and I found that while it's indeed true the heroes can go in and cap etc, you can not click on any of them ("dead person camera") or else that somehow counts as you "being" there and the Lich and Shiro turn hostile. :\ Entropy [[Image:Entropy Sig 2.jpg]] (C) 08:10, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

The Video
This Video: * There is also a Youtube guide for this mission: Gate of Madness run/guide -- ◄mendel► 13:24, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

I'm going to start banning anyone who re-adds that horrible video again. Not only on the grounds of (extended) GW:1RV violations, but also because it is obviously the same person(s)/socking/spamming links to external sites/inserting terribad advice/what have you. (You may note that the exact same words were used in each posting of the video.)

Alternatively, I could protect the page from anon edits, but that seems excessive. (T/C) 12:20, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

Titans on the Bridge
Is it worth noting that it is incredibly easy to just run past both groups of Titan Abominations on the bridge and to avoid one of the patrolling groups on the far side (eg. move far enough forwards to run into the Margonite group)? Saves on alot of time/effort and is doable without any extra healing power (above what you would normally take considering the enviromental effect that is). arual 13:03, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

Gate of SPARTAAAAAAAAAA!
^ A F K When Needed 08:17, 17 June 2009 (UTC)
 * This is madness! Entropy [[Image:Entropy Sig 2.jpg]] (C) 10:59, 17 June 2009 (UTC)
 * yarr A_F_K_sig_2.jpg A F K When Needed 11:02, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

still can't get HM bonus?
an easy way to do the bonus in HM is to use an air ele with blinding flash and a necro with enfeeble locked onto Shiro with all other skills disabled while the other 6 group members take care of the shrines. This way if one of the two locked on him die, there is a backup which will minimize shiro's effectiveness until the other can be res'd. Don't flag your team, rather let them follow you at their own pace as a flagged hero/hench will stop using skills until they are at their destination. doing this can result in shiro becoming effective again and your monks running instead of healing. I did this solo on HM without much trouble. Obviously, I killed the litch before starting the bonus capping. I did this hero/hench while playing a dagger stance ranger (don't knock it) so its totally doable. I recommend either going as capable tank yourself or bringing koss loaded with stances to battle swith shiro once you are done. Remember, this is easier with only one melee character in the group. Once you are done capping just run back up to the archway where shiros aggro range runs out in order that he will only attack you or your stance tank hero which should be flagged just within his range while the rest of the group attacks from outside. Disable any high power spike attacks on your heros and watch his life drop. &mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by The Alice (contribs).
 * Weakness? Eh okay man. A_F_K_sig_2.jpg A F K When Needed 19:07, 18 June 2009 (UTC)


 * That's why you call other targets to ensure that no one does much damage to Shiro while you're doing the bonus, as the article says. Blinding flash spam may not be terribly effective against Shiro due to the greatly shorted duration of hexes on him.  Quizzical 19:12, 18 June 2009 (UTC)


 * While playing through this on my Ritualist, I found that leaving behind a Shadowsong is sufficient to distract Shiro for up to 30 seconds, making it very easy to cap the shrines even in hardmode. If you've got multiple humans in the party and that Ritualist also has Ritual Lord, Soul Twisting, or Reclaim Essence, they can even keep Shiro out of commission by themselves for the entire capping time...Shadowsong doesn't deal enough damage that Shiro would ever use Impossible Odds, nor does it make Battle Scars very dangerous should he hit someone. Entropy [[Image:Entropy Sig 2.jpg]] (C) 20:49, 18 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Sometimes shadowsong works really nicely, and sometimes Shiro is able to quickly kill the spirit. Anyway, I put a note in the notes section about shadowsong last summer.  It's an interesting quirk, but not reliable enough to recommend as a standard strategy.  Quizzical 21:12, 18 June 2009 (UTC)


 * I'm just saying that this worked, and was easy. It required very little micromanagement and worked extremely well (no deaths in the party after the litch went down at all) Blinding flash if left as the the only option other than attunements kept shiro blind pretty much the entire time.