The Jade Quarry (mission)


 * This is a Competitive Mission entry. For information about the locations, see The Jade Quarry (Luxon) or The Jade Quarry (Kurzick). For information on the quests, see The Jade Quarry (Luxon quest) or The Jade Quarry (Kurzick quest).

The Jade Quarry is a Competitive Mission where the Luxons and Kurzicks fight to gain control of three jade quarries and be the first to return ten slabs of Jade to their base.

General Mechanics
The Jade Quarry is a resource control mission between the Luxons and Kurzicks. Each side fights to be the first to obtain ten slabs of jade from the jade quarries on the map. When a side wrests control of a jade quarry, a NPC jade carrier is spawned who takes Jade to the base. If the carrier is able to reach the center of their side's base, the jade slab is added to the total for that side.

Each side is a team of eight players randomly assembled from those waiting in the The Jade Quarry (Kurzick) and The Jade Quarry (Luxon) staging areas.

The map is balanced so that neither side has an advantage over the other. There are three quarries. Purple is closest to the Kurzicks, Green is closest to the Luxon, Yellow is equal distance from each side. There are a number of guard posts on the map which may be taken to assist or hinder the passage of players and jade carriers.

Both quarries and guard posts can belong to either side, and change sides when all NPCs for the location have been eliminated. This causes new NPCs for the opposite side to spawn. At the start of play the quarries are unclaimed, and must be taken by a player by standing on the stone platform of the mine. Each quarry has five NPCs; a ranger, two mesmers and two air elementalists. Each guard post can have two to four rangers.

The sides spawn on opposite sides of the map. All players resurrect automatically in the base and receive no death penalty. The base has three one way teleporters, labelled for each quarry. They take you out of the base to a location somewhat closer to their respective quarry.

At the end of the mission faction is awarded to the respective alliance. Each team receives 20 faction for each jade slab they collected, and the winning team earns an additional 750 faction.

Preparation
While the teams are randomly assembled, there are several things you can do to prepare for this mission:
 * Talk with others waiting to enter the mission, get an idea of what people are/aren't doing.
 * Choose your skills to be able to fill a role in the mission.
 * Don't bring a Signet of Capture or resurrection skills, as they are useless in this mission.

Strategy

 * Consider death to be a good form of energy management and a good way to step back and allow you to reassess where you can be of most use and travel there quickly.
 * Mobility is important so personal speed buffs are useful.
 * The quarry furthest from your base and closest to the opposition is the most difficult to hold and the slowest to obtain jade from. The yellow quarry and your closest quarry are the most important to obtain and hold.

Attack
Killing a point's NPCs or killing a jade carrier is your most important priority. In attack, it is best not to attack opposition players unless they are directly impeding your ability to take a point or kill a carrier (such as a healer or ritualist).


 * Taking Points
 * It is important to be able to quickly turn quarries and guard posts to your side. Area of Effect spells and attacks and Epidemic on health degeneration conditions are particularly effective here. The NPCs cannot self heal and do not stray far from the point to effectively avoid any area of effect.
 * The mesmers at the quarries use spell and attack interrupts, so come prepared.
 * Each member of a point can be attacked and killed individually. The other NPCs will not attack unless they're also attacked or aggro-ed.
 * If you are unable to take a point due to the number of opposition players there, consider leaving and going to another point which they aren't defending and coming back when they've moved on.
 * A longbow or flatbow can be used to attack the mine NPCs from high ground while leaving them unable to counterattack. This is particularly effective with Barrage.
 * Kurzick Far Shots and Luxon Longbows appear to have fairly low health totals compared to other creatures of the same level and have no healing capabilities, making it fairly easy to capture guard posts with the right skills.


 * Killing Jade Carriers
 * Once an NPC carrier has left a quarry with a jade slab, if the quarry is taken, the carrier continues taking the slab to their respective base. Killing the carrier is still an important part of keeping the opposition's tally low.
 * If the quarry is taken by your side and the opposition's carrier is still in the map not carrying jade do not kill it. It will return to the base and when the opposition takes the point again, it will have to walk to the point to collect the jade. If it is killed, it will spawn at the point with the other NPCs allowing the opposition an advantage.
 * If the quarry is still held by the opposition and their jade carrier is killed the carrier will respawn at the quarry with another jade slab after a short period of time.
 * Slowing the carrier is important. Use slowing hexes or crippling attacks.
 * Taking guard posts on the carrier's route to the base can assist in impairing and killing the carrier.
 * Take care when near the carrier as it can activate Carrier's Defense.

Defense
It is said that offense is the best form of defense, but there are some things which players can do to impede the opposition in taking points and defend the jade carriers.

Defending a point which is already taken, or defending a jade carrier is the best time to impede and take out opposition players. It can be better to impede a player rather than killing them; taking their energy, or using slowdowns prevents them from contributing in any way to the fight whereas if you killed them you give them full health, energy and a way to easily start over on a new task.


 * Keeping Points
 * Area of effect heals can effectively counter-act area of effect attacks. Also, selecting a single NPC to bond or heal can prevent a quarry from changing sides. Remember there are two other quarries you can't defend so this is best considered as a delaying tactic.
 * Binding Rituals used in the center of the map can affect a large portion of the game area, reducing the opposition's effectiveness.


 * Helping Jade Carriers
 * Ensure that the guard posts on the route of the jade carrier are held by your team's NPCs.
 * Use condition and hex removal on the jade carrier so it can move without being impeded.
 * Speed boosts which can target allies can also be used on the jade carriers. "Charge!" and Windborne Speed are two examples.

Exploit
There is an exploit in this mission that allows access to the arena during the pre-match countdown. As soon as you load, head to the (right for Kurzicks, left for Luxons). There is a guard point held by the enemy just outside the base. Attack the archers there with ranged attacks, and then use Consume Corpse or Necrotic Traversal to teleport to their corpses, thus gaining access to the arena before the gates open and the teleporters begin functioning. Mines can be claimed before the match starts, and the turtle/juggernaut will immediately spawn and start to carry its jade home.

Due to a recent update, this has been partially fixed; Luxons cannot use this exploit because the nearest guard point is now pre-owned to the Luxon side.

Defensive NPCs
The following NPCs spawn to protect the quarries and defensive points:
 * Luxon NPCs
 * Luxon Longbow
 * Luxon Wizard
 * Luxon Storm Caller
 * Kurzick NPCs
 * Kurzick Far Shot
 * Kurzick Illusionist
 * Kurzick Thunder