Ring of Fire (mission)

Mission Objectives
Get into the Abaddon's Mouth, the entrance to the volcano where the Door of Komalie is located. Unlocking the Door of Komalie will supposedly yield the best tool for defeating the Mursaat.

Walkthrough
Brechnar Ironhammer, brother to the Dwarven king Jalis Ironhammer, will throw himself at a group of Mursaat as you enter this mission (point A on the map). Do not try to save him. He is supposed to die and trying to save him may wipe out your party; He will draw away a large group of Mursaat spellcasters. Let him go, and veer right. Once you've gone as far right as possible you should see two groups of three Mursaat spellcasters. A group of Jade Armors and a group of Jade Bows will slowly circle around the lava pit to attack you from behind, so you can either wait to take them out, or go after the Mursaat spellcasters first. Either way, when you are done, follow the purple path on the map until you come to point B.

This may be your first time facing an Ether Seal, and they are bad news for your party. Activated by your proximity, these seals will initiate an area effect that quickly drains away your energy. Additionally, they will cast Air spells. So, not only will you not have energy to hit them with spells and skills, but you will not have energy to heal your teammates as they get clobbered with Chain Lightning and Mind Shock! This is why you should try to lure away a seal's defenders first (at least to the point where your healers and spellcasters can operate outside the seal's light radius). The seal itself is much easier to destroy once its defenders are dead.

Tip: It may be a good idea for your Warriors to bring a few adrenaline-based attacks and not just energy-based ones.

Keep going on the purple path. You will engage various groups of Igneous Ettins, pass another seal, and then at point C, Vizier Khilbron will appear and note (quite shrewdly) that the main entrance is too tough to tackle head on. He advises you to take the back route into the Mursaat fortress to try and get into Abaddon's mouth. It is arguably as difficult, if not more so, to take the back route, but either an assault of the front gate or fighting your way to the back will satisfy your mission objectives. If you're taking the back route, just follow the purple path.

You will engage various groups of Lava Imps and the like (this part of the mission may not be plotted accurately on the map). Eventually, you will approach the Mursaat encampment coming from the West. Take out the groups of Jade Armors, Jade Bows and Mursaat carefully. You will be able to get to a bridge, but its end will be locked. The lever to open it is in the adjacent room (point D), guarded by a Mursaat boss. Luckily, you should be able to sneak into the room without triggering the host of enemies nearby guarding the front gate.

Pull the lever, and across the bridge (there's a lone boss halfway across the bridge). You will finally face a group of Mursaat spellcasters and then a Mursaat boss alone in the central chamber. Defeat him to win the mission.

Bonus
To get the bonus, you must first go to point 1 after destroying the first Ether Seal. There you will find some Ettins (with a boss) and a Seer. Speak to the Seer and she will mention an Eidolon (the squid like monster that you killed to infuse your armor in the Iron Mines of Moladune mission) and she will ask you to bring her (or him or it) the essence of that monster.

The Eidolon is located at point 3. You will have to destroy two Ether Seals in the courtyard and this will cause the Eidolon to spawn and engage you.

Note: Parties that have done this Bonus so far have all broken through the main gate to take down the two seals in the courtyard. When you do that, the Eidolon appears. If you come from the back road (purple path) and breaking the two seals does not work for you, try engaging the main gate.

Tip: Assaulting the main gate is easy with careful luring and timing of patrols. One trick is to have a party member with a long bow shoot at the seals, this will cause the patrol guarding it to rush out and meet you. This helps you avoid any surprises from patrols.

After killing the beast, take its Spectral Essence back to the Seer. You will get the bonus as well as a chance to infuse any part of your armor that is not already infused.

Bosses and Skills
The following bosses can be encountered during the Ring of Fire mission:
 * Cairn the Smug (Warrior): Devastating Hammer
 * Cairn the Troubling (Ranger): Oath Shot
 * Casses Flameweb (Ranger): Incendiary Arrows
 * Coventina the Matron (Monk): Aura of Faith
 * Eidolon (Elementalist): Mist Form
 * Ferk Mallet (Warrior): Backbreaker
 * Grun Galesurge (Monk): Shield of Deflection
 * Lyth Sprayburst (Elementalist): Ether Prodigy
 * Maida the Ill Tempered (Elementalist): Thunderclap
 * Melek the Virtuous (Mesmer): Energy Surge
 * Odelyn the Displeased (Necromancer): Life Transfer
 * Pytt Spitespew (Mesmer): Migraine
 * Sarlic the Judge (Necromancer): Life Transfer
 * Vulg Painbrain (Ranger): Spike Trap