Nolani Academy (mission)

Objectives
Return Prince Rurik south of the Wall to safety.
 * Sneak out and ambush the Charr forces besieging the academy.
 * Return to the Nolani Academy to rendezvous with the prince.
 * Defend Prince Rurik on the way back to the capital city of Rin.
 * BONUS Return the Tome of the Fallen.
 * ADDED Take Stormcaller to Horn Hill.
 * ADDED Save Rin.

Primary
The idea in the first part is to sneak out and attack the siege forces from the back. Just start going east, and then south, until you reach the wall. Upon descending from the wall, keep right and then left to get back to Rurik. While approaching the mobs in front of Rurik, a group of 3 archers will come down from the left/west, which can be a great help through the rest of the mission if you keep them alive. Kill all Charr at location B on the map and get Rurik at location C on the map. Basically, you then just keep up with Rurik and help him. Try not to get overwhelmed, as there are some large mobs.

Alternatively, the first part of the mission can be done by opening the doors of the academy and keeping Rurik alive while killing the Charr that rush in. Rurik can survive if healed, and area effect spells make the Charr easier to kill. Keeping near the walls of the academy can help, as the Charr will sometimes separate into smaller groups. Not all the Charr will come into the academy, so you will still have to go out and kill some groups. Once the Charr have been beaten, meet with Rurik and follow the mission as otherwise described. This method is potentially much faster but more difficult. It also bypasses the bonus, so you will have to fight your way backwards (in relation to the path above) through part of the mission to reach it.


 * WARNING: Sometimes in the mission the boss right outside the Academy will not spawn when you open the doors right away, so when you kill all the Charr your quest log will still not allow you to meet with the prince. The only thing to do is restart the mission.

Rurik will first take you to the horn Stormcaller and then lead you to Rin, where you will take on successive groups of Charr, culminating in a boss.

Alternatively, it is possible to complete the mission quicker if you decide to go the opposite way that Prince Rurik goes to Stormcaller, after which you will only have to defeat a few groups of Charr and the final boss, Bonfaaz Burntfur himself, one of the Charr responsible for the Searing, and the one who managed to launch the invasion that caused the Great Northern Wall's resistance to falter. Killing Bonfaaz will trigger the mission end cut scene.

Bonus
You get this bonus fairly near to the start by exploring east before reaching the wall (1 on the map). There is a "green dot" there (Watchman Pramas), who will give you the bonus and drop the "Tome of the Fallen". Get a caster to pick this up and carry it (casters make the best carriers of items because they don't rely on melee attacks to do damage).

Continue south and head towards the wall. Go down the stairs, do not cross the gate, but continue all the way west instead. Keep left and pass west up the hill. Here it can get very nasty, especially if you have a bad group where folks rush ahead. If someone rushes ahead, you will get mobbed and the group will probably wipe. First, explore the area surrounding the Spirits of the Fallen carefully, as there are a lot of groups of hidden level 8 Devourers there. Once cleared, you have somewhere safe to take on the Spirits of the Fallen. Lure out the warriors as few at a time as possible. Done badly, you will get 8-10 level 10 warriors, and it gets very nasty; done carefully, with luck you will only get 3-4 at a time. After 10 or so are dead, it is safe to get closer to the pedestal. Replace the tome on the pedestal, and talk to the ghost Old Ascalon Spirit (point 2 on the map). That will make the ghosts disappear and get you the bonus.

If you can, try heading up the left-hand entrance and sidle up against the wall there. Often it results in having to fight groups of only 2-3 at most.

Note: Placing the tome on the pedestal will not instantly make the ghosts disappear. Any that are already attacking your group will do so for long enough to cause serious trouble. So, make sure not to draw the attention of more ghosts when approaching the pedestal. Alternatively, have someone who has equipped a skill that allows faster movement (e.g., Sprint or Dodge) place the tome, and have them get out quickly once it's placed.

Note: Holy damage is very effective against the Spirits of the Fallen.

Note: A few pairs of the spirits will not move to attack you, even when in aggro range; they only attack if you are within melee range. Use this to your advantage and take them out with ranged attacks and spells. They will move if attacked by AoE spells but will then move back to their original location.

Note: The Devourer boss off in the Northeast corner by the cemetery can provide a recharge for Resurrection Signets. Be careful and try to lure him because several Carrion Devourers will appear when you attack.

Hard Mode
Hard Mode suggestions: Any mix of character types can be successful if they have a good monk. Consider doing the bonus separately from the mission with a team that has a lot of smite. For example, take a dervish with Avatar of Balthazar, and a warrior with Judge's Insight, Cyclone Axe, and Triple Chop. The undead are all Warriors and will lock on to a pulling Ranger; if the player then takes a step or two back the undead will bunch up making them obvious targets for Throw Dirt. AoE attacks (for example Searing Flames) can then dispatch the attackers with relative ease.

For the mission, consider collecting the mages inside the fort, the two groups of archers outside, and heal them all as often as you can. Someone in the group should have an area effect spell like Spiteful Spirit or Meteor Shower to eliminate Charr while you are above them on ledges. One member of the group should have Life Bond and Life Barrier - an adrenaline based warrior-monk with a healing signet is ideal for this role. The bonding will aid two party members before getting Prince Rurik, and then easily keep the prince alive later. After cutscene 1, Prince Rurik will run off to the left. If you follow him, your party will easily make it to cutscene 2. Unfortunately, shortly after the cinematic, the prince will charge down the hill and likely aggro enough Charr to brutally wipe the party. You may be able to eliminate one or two patrolls before the prince begins his run down the hill, but then ...

If you split your party, you should never see cutscene 2, and will instead finish the mission and see cutscene 3. Send one member with Prince Rurik to kill the boulder elementals (use the warrior-monk barrier-bonder if you have one). Be sure to keep the last elemental in each group alive as long as possible to give the rest of the party all the time they need to complete the mission. The other three members go to the right after cutscene 1 and quickly do this: follow the road under the archway on your left, kill the group of Charr that are fighting the mages at the base of the stairs, go up the stairs, go to the left and find the final boss, Bonfaaz Burntfur. Once he is slain, the mission is over. Consider running through this in regular mode, solo or with heroes/henchmen, to see exactly where you need to go after cutscene 1. If using only heroes in hard mode, experience has shown it is not necessary to split the party. Simply skip cutscene 1 and run straight for Bonfaaz.

NPCs

 * Ghost
 * 11 Old Ascalon Spirit
 * Human
 * 7 Ascalon Guard
 * 7 Ascalon Watchman
 * 10 Prince Rurik
 * 5 Ascalon Ranger
 * 5 Watchman Pramas
 * 7 Lost Soldier
 * 7 Warmaster Casana
 * 7 Ascalon Prisoner
 * 7 Flaming Scepter Mage

Monsters

 * Charr
 * 8 Charr Axe Fiend
 * 8 Charr Blade Storm
 * 8 Charr Hunter
 * 6 Charr Stalker
 * 7 Charr Shaman
 * 8 Charr Ashen Claw
 * 8 Charr Chaot
 * 8 Charr Flame Wielder
 * Devourer
 * 8 Carrion Devourer
 * 7 Whiptail Devourer
 * 8 Plague Devourer
 * Elemental
 * 7 Boulder Elemental
 * Gargoyle
 * 8 Shatter Gargoyle
 * 7 Flash Gargoyle
 * Ghost
 * 10 Spirit of the Fallen

Bosses

 * Devourer
 * 11 Stank Reekfoul
 * Elemental
 * 9 Crush Kill
 * 9 Rock Fist
 * Charr
 * 10 Brand the Brawler
 * 10 Felinam the Whip
 * 10 Blaze Bloodbane
 * 10 Red Eye the Unholy
 * 10 Ghast Ashpyre
 * 10 Bonfaaz Burntfur
 * 10 Jaw Smokeskin

Dialogues
Briefing from Flaming Scepter Mage Danan.

Follow-up

 * Players will be in Yak's Bend at the completion of this mission.
 * To continue the storyline, take on the following Primary Quest: The Way is Blocked from Captain Osric.

Trivia

 * The bonus to this mission may be a nod to the Sam Raimi film Army of Darkness which revolves around a very similar plot element.