Bloodstone Fen (mission)

Objectives
Seek the truth about the White Mantle.
 * Locate Blade Scout Ryder. He'll take you to the Bloodstone.
 * Use the vine bridges to traverse the jungle.
 * ADDED Travel on to the Bloodstone on your own.
 * BONUS Awaken the Druids while preserving their guardians.

Primary
To locate Blade Scout Ryder, follow the path until you get to point A on the map. Do the bonus as described below if you want to. Now pick up one of three Vine Seeds at point A. If solo, you must return back here for the other two seeds, after you build a bridge; thus a party of 3 seed carriers is recommended. Sometimes only one or two seeds spawn; more seeds can be found at point 2 on the map (on the bonus path), and at point C on the map. At the locations marked B on the map use the seed to create a bridge that enables you to traverse the jungle. Return to seed point to fetch another seed to build another bridge. After crossing the second bridge, talk to Blade Scout Ryder, who will send you on your own to defeat the White Mantle. You will need a fourth seed, which you can fetch from point C on map. In order to complete the mission, you need to defeat a large group of White Mantle and their boss Justiciar Hablion.

Note that while fighting near the Bloodstone you will be under influence of the environment effect Curse of the Bloodstone, which makes resurrection skills take 4 times as long to cast.

Note: It is possible to "waste" vine seeds by dropping them on a glowing circle of a bridge that has already been grown. The worst-case scenario would be using up all the remaining vine seeds and thus getting stuck, forcing a mission restart. (There are 3 max seeds at point A and another max 3 seeds at point C.) Before you give up on mission check the lower watery area for more seeds (added patch). You can find approximately 4-7 bonus seeds.

Bonus
Do the mission as normal until you reach point A on the map. Grab a seed and go back the way you came. After a short distance, to the south of the path - in the gray swamplike area - you should notice a path leading up to a gray platform with an orange rune on it. Drop one of the seeds on the platform (1 on the map).

A druid will appear and ask for your aid in awakening the Elder Druid. You will need to free three more druids by dropping seeds on their platforms. You get the seeds from position 2 on the map and drop them at the destinations marked 3 on the map. These druids and the original will then move up to a large platform and awaken the Elder Druid.

However, while doing this you will be attacked by Jungle Guardians, which the druid says you must not kill. If you do, you will anger the spirits of the jungle, causing several Ravagers to spawn and preventing the other druids from appearing when you attempt to activate their platforms (more Ravagers will spawn instead). This means you will be unable to complete the bonus, so you must follow the druid's instructions and avoid killing the Guardians; luckily, they don't follow very far, so they shouldn't be much more than a nuisance. If you have any henchmen in the party, use the compass flags to force them to move past the Guardians; if you have any heroes, you can simply set them to "Avoid Combat" mode. Due to the uncontrollability of animated minions, it is strongly recommended that you let any allied minions die off before entering the bonus area.

Once the Elder Druid is summoned (point 4), speak to him to complete the bonus. The Jungle Guardians will remain hostile, although they will now ignore you unless you attack them first.

If continuing on with the mission, you can either backtrack the way you came, or you can continue north past the guardians and follow an alternate route (blue path on the map) to return to the main mission path. There is one bridge you have to create. The seed for it is very close, in the water.

Tip: This bonus can be done solo. Most of the enemies on the way to the first druid can be run past with little trouble, and only the Wind Riders pose any real threat, due to health degeneration, enchantment removal, and interruption; however they are fragile. Bring running skills such as Sprint, Dodge, etc., as well as self-heals. Once you reach the Guardian area, the rest of the bonus is rather easy as long as you are careful.

Hard Mode
Consider splitting the bonus and mission into two separate attempts. Having a bonder in the group is useful for both the mission and the bonus. Equipping spells and skills that do direct damage will help against the Thorn Stalker's which use Mist Form, is a good tactic since attacks will do nothing. Running the mission through and knowing where the Moss Scarab pop-up's are is very helpful in pacing the mission as they can inflict a lot of damage quickly. This is especially true when doing the bonus. If attempting the bonus with henchmen or heroes make sure to flag and set to avoid combat and your pets to heel as suggested above. It works best to attempt to run your party past the first sets of jungle guardians over the vine bridge and to the druid meeting place, avoiding combat with the group of moss scarabs. Having a ranger, dervish or other character class adept at running is suggested. Its suggested to let a single party member deliver the vine seeds alone with the rest of the group out of aggro range, skills such as Vengeance and Rebirth work great in reviving and retrieving fallen party members. It is also helpful to have a bonder in the group as the jungle guardians can dish out a lot of damage and leave Barbed Traps which can slow party members down. Once you get to the druid meeting spot there are 3 groups of moss scarabs to take out, 2 groups pop-up at the platforms and the other pop's up after retrieving the 2nd or 3rd vine seed. If you should encounter multiple White Mantle Abbots, it may be best to bring skills that interrupt their healing spells because their dual/triple healing can waste an entire party's energy trying to bring them down. In this mission there are three groups of mantle at the very end, each containing an abbot. By pulling each group separately the mission is more easily accomplished.

NPCs

 * Human
 * 10 Chosen Villager
 * 15 Blade Scout Ryder
 * 20 Saidra
 * Spirit
 * 20 Druid
 * 20 Elder Druid (bonus only)

Monsters

 * Behemoth
 * 19 Root Behemoth
 * Centaur
 * 16 Maguuma Warrior
 * 16 Maguuma Protector
 * Devourer
 * 17 Thorn Devourer
 * 17 Fevered Devourer
 * Human
 * 16 White Mantle Knight
 * 16 White Mantle Seeker
 * 18 White Mantle Abbot
 * 20 Confessor Dorian (cutscene only)
 * 16 White Mantle Ritualist (cutscene only)
 * 16 White Mantle Savant (cutscene only)
 * Plant
 * 19 Jungle Guardian
 * 17 Thorn Stalker
 * Nightmare
 * 20 Ravager (failed bonus only)
 * Rider
 * 12 Wind Rider
 * Scarab
 * 12 Moss Scarab
 * Troll
 * 18 Jungle Troll

Bosses (Skill Captures)

 * Devourer
 * 20 Mossk Rottail &rarr; Deathly Chill (unavailable before Maguuma Stade or The Amnoon Oasis)
 * Plant
 * 20 Tree of Winds
 * 20 Tree of Life
 * Scourge Sacrifice (unavailable before Copperhammer Mines)
 * Watchful Spirit (unavailable before Maguuma Stade or The Amnoon Oasis)
 * 20 Thornwrath &rarr; Aftershock (unavailable before Marhan's Grotto)
 * Rider
 * 20 Hepp Bilespitter
 * White Mantle
 * 20 Justiciar Hablion
 * 20 Torr the Relentless &rarr; Dryder's Defenses (unavailable before Marhan's Grotto)
 * 20 Ramm the Benevolent
 * Convert Hexes (unavailable before Camp Rankor)
 * Divine Intervention (unavailable before Copperhammer Mines)
 * 20 Oswald the Amiable
 * Order of Pain (unavailable before Port Sledge)
 * Well of the Profane (unavailable before The Misplaced Sword at Heroes' Audience)
 * 20 Nyle the Compassionate &rarr; Guilt (unavailable before The Misplaced Sword at Heroes' Audience)
 * 20 Pleoh the Ugly &rarr; Searing Heat (unavailable before Copperhammer Mines)

Dialogues
Briefing from Blade Scout Braden.

Follow-up

 * Upon completion of the mission players will find themselves in: Quarrel Falls.
 * Where they continue the storyline with Primary Quest:White Mantle Wrath: Demagogue's Vanguard