Dunes of Despair (mission)

Monologues
Mission introduction:
 * Ghostly Hero: "Once my people came to the desert and built a great temple. But while we labored, we were set upon by the stewards of the desert, the Forgotten."
 * Ghostly Hero: "They killed my people, and now another ghost sits upon my throne. I beseech you, help me return to the temple.  Help me reclaim my throne and my passage into the Hall of Heroes."

At the temple:

Facing the generals:

Mission Objectives
Help the Ghostly Hero reclaim his throne.
 * Escort the Ghostly Hero to the Temple of Ascension.
 * Defeat the Enemy Ghostly Hero.
 * Hold out while the Ghostly Hero performs his ritual.
 * BONUS Gain more glory by defeating the three forgotten generals and their minions within their forts.

Walkthrough
The Ghostly Hero will follow the person who talks to him. To have him stop following, the same person must speak to him again. Follow the path and kill any Losaru you encounter. They come in groups of three (four groups in total: three groups of Losaru Bladehands and one group of Losaru Bowmasters). Near the Bowmasters, you will see a Siege Wurm firing at you from across the chasm (point A). Kill the group of Losaru Bowmasters first (keeping your ranged people back), then move the Ghostly Hero to the drawbridge to lower it.

Note: The ghostly hero can get stuck. If this happens before a cut scene and he's in a safe spot, you'll be able to continue the mission without him, and he'll appear with you after the cut scene. If he gets stuck after the cutscene with Goss Aleessh, but before successfully opening the bridge to the fort, you'll have to start the mission over again. Attempting to talk to the stuck hero will produce messages like "We are in battle" when no battle is actually taking place.

South after the bridge you will encounter the boss Goss Aleessh (point B). After defeating the boss and his minions a cutscene will take place. Afterwards, move the ghost towards the raised drawbridge to the south, but keep him at a distance. Have the person he is following speak to him and he will stay put. Have any ranged attackers kill the Enchanted Bows on the ledges beside the bridge. Once they are disposed of, bring the ghost to the bridge (have a party member talk to the ghost) and he will lower it. Do not go in past the door. Enemies will come out in pairs. Just wait for them under the arch. After the last wave (it's the group of three instead of two), defeat the ghost on the altar (point C).

Bring your ghost near the altar to start his ritual. You will have to defend him for 10 minutes. Four pairs of Forgotten Arcanists will appear: a pair from the east, then the west, then the south, then the east again. It is easier if you wait by the altar and let them come to you. This also saves time from running from one battle to another. After defeating them, rush to the south bridge and defeat the two incoming Enchanted Bows. Then head to the west bridge to defeat either a pair of Enchanted Hammers or a boss group. After defeating this group, run back to the altar, and simply wait it out. The last group to attack the altar will be the one you didn't fight at the west bridge. After that, no other groups will attack. The ghost will sometimes cry about incoming enemies, but there really aren't any more.

Tip: Before engaging the enemies at point B you could go to the west to point D. There is a group of Losaru guarding a Slow Totem there. The totem slows down enemies within the area where it is dropped. It is most useful for the bonus and can be quite helpful for the mission too if used correctly.

Tip: Do not to worry about the Siege Wurms which appear near the altar. They are a bother to kill, will distract you from your objective and their damage can be overcome with good healing. If you fight in the center, they will not attack you as they are out of range.

Bonus
This bonus is arguably the hardest bonus in Crystal Desert. Do exactly the same as above, but in the last part, after defeating the first set of enemies at the west bridge, head further west (towards point 2 on the map). Wait for and kill the incoming group of enemies, or they will attack the ghost while you are out attacking the generals. At this point, you should still have around 6 and a half minutes left.

Quickly head back into the fort (don't go around the outside or you will be beset by Jade Scarabs) and head south over the southern bridge. There you will see a small fort. The first general will be standing outside (point 1). Stick together and follow the path because there are Scarabs that pop out from the ground. After defeating the first boss and his group go south into the fortress. The other two bosses and their groups are found to the left and the right inside the fortress (marked with a 1). You need to defeat the bosses and their guards to complete the bonus. The Ghost needs to survive up to this point, but he can die afterwards as you have already completed the bonus. If you are also doing the mission, then run back to save the ghost.

Tip: Have your warriors equip degenerating skills, like Sever Artery and Gash, as such skills will help greatly when bringing down the generals. Likewise, the rest of the party should bring at least one skill that either causes Bleeding, Disease, or Poison.

A different approach is to split up the party. For example, a single "Bonding" Monk using Life Bond, Life Barrier, Mending and Watchful Spirit is able to keep the Ghostly Hero alive throughout the whole attack, so that the remaining five players can go for the bonus without having to worry about him.

Bonder Skills: Signet of Devotion, Mend Condition, Blessed Signet, Watchful Spirit, Mending, Life Bond, Life Barrier{Elite}.

Bonder Attribute Distribution: Max Divine Favor, Protection Prayers as high as it will go, rest in Smiting Prayers.

Known Strategy
Requirements:

A Monk/Necromancer with the Necrotic Traversal & Rebirth skills equipped. Other party members must have vampiric weapons to equip. A Ranger with a Long Bow. Ranger can be secondary profession of course.

When the party brings the Ghostly Hero on the altar, the timer starts, the drawbridges drop, and the enemies come running in. However, instead of bringing the hero to the altar, he can be commanded to wait outside the fort (by running up to him and talking to him), and head to the south bridge across the fort interior (the party may kill the enemy Ghost Hero if it pleases them, just keep the allied Ghost Hero off the alter so as to not trigger the timer). The drawbridges will remain upright so long as the Ghost Hero does not begin his ritual upon the throne. Therefore, the next part will be dependant wholly upon whether or not any member of your party can aggro any hidden Jade Scarabs waiting across the trenches that lie between you and the bonus objectives. Speculation suggests that the spawning points of the Scarabs vary from attempt to attempt, meaning you may have to restart if your party seems unable to get any enemy attention. The work will be worth the benefits, however, when you have all the time in the world to kill the Forgotten Generals.

When a Jade Scarab is finally aggroed, lured, and killed from afar, get the Monk/Necromancer in the group to use Necrotic Traversal to jump across to the bonus area via the fresh corpse. Note that you can sometimes lure the first boss and his group with a long bow and exploit their corpses instead or as well. Once this feat has been accomplished, have the rest of the party members equip weapons with vampiric attributes. The point of this is to actually have the rest of the party members die, so do not have them fret or start healing themselves. Once they are dead, the Monk/Necromancer can use Rebirth to transport them across to where he or she is.

It is absolutely necessary that some of the tougher party members have vampiric weapons (that is, if the some of the party members didn't bring vampiric weapons). If just a few warriors or rangers can be Rebirthed across the barrier, they can lure other groups of Scarabs to the vicinity of the left-behind members. The Scarabs will, by nature, start casting Parasitic Bond on all of the party members (so don't kill them, let them attack). The Monk will have to concentrate on healing those already across, including him/herself, and leaving the rest to slowly die. Eventually, if the Monk/Necromancer stays alive and the Scarabs get to do their work long enough, the rest of the party will die, allowing the Monk to Rebirth them across to the bonus area. You are then able to easily kill all the generals at your leisure.

Note: If you do not have a vampiric weapon, you can also open a trade window with a player with a vampiric weapon equipped. After they die, and are rebirthed across, they can unequip the weapon, place it in the trade window, and trade it to you. Just make sure you give back their weapon.

Note: It is not necessary to kill the Enemy Ghostly Hero to start the bonus; the killing of the Generals will complete the bonus regardless, so there is no need to leave one player inside the fort, unless you want to do the mission as well, in which case that player must go back and bring the ghost to the altar.

Note: Jade Scarabs are melee attackers, so they will flee out of range if repeatedly attacked from the ledge. It is best to lure them in with a single shot, if needed, and then finish them off quickly with spells.

Note: If you're lucky, the boss standing outside the base can be lured in. If you're really lucky, the boss won't be the warrior boss, who will flee once you attack, and instead be a spellcaster or ranger, who will attempt to fight back, or just stand still. All bosses leave corpses behind, so Necrotic Trasversal will work.

Bosses and Elite Skills

 * Custodian Fidius (Warrior's Endurance)
 * Custodian Kora (Marksman's Wager)
 * Cyss Gresshla (Ether Renewal)
 * Dassk Arossyss (Word of Healing)
 * Ayassah Hess (Mantra of Recovery)
 * Goss Aleessh (Mantra of Recovery), location B
 * Byssha Hisst (Order of the Vampire)

The bosses, excluding Goss Aleessh, spawn randomly. One of the bosses attacks the center with a monster wave and three others spawn at the fort in the south. No bosses spawn at points 2 and 3.

Skill Capture

 * Consume Corpse from Byssha Hisst (not available before Camp Rankor).

Additional Notes
The players will be in Augury Rock at the completion of this mission. If they did Thirsty River and Elona Reach they must now defeat Doppelganger

Players looking for a cartographer title can uncover large areas of the map on the southern and southeastern parts of this map. To uncover all areas, the player must enter several towers along the southern edge that have their drawbridges up. This is an illusion as the player can simply walk across the gap and enter the towers. There is a large section towards the southeast that is not part of any mission path and is easily missed.

Cutscene Dialog

 * Ghostly Hero: Up ahead, inside the Temple of Ascension, is the Throne of Pellentia.
 * Ghostly Hero: The gods gaze down from the Hall of Heroes, granting their favor to those who control the throne.
 * Ghostly Hero: But there is another spirit who sits upon the hallowed throne.
 * Ghostly Hero: The temple is well guarded.
 * Ghostly Hero: Get me inside so that we may supplant the usurper. He must be destroyed before I can take the throne.
 * Ghostly Hero: Keep me safe while I cast the ritual to open the door.
 * Ghostly Hero: We have drawn the attention of the gods. Let us hope they are pleased.