Gate of Pain (mission)

Objectives
Dunkoro must be in your party before going on to the mission.

Find a way to release the tortured souls from the River of Souls.
 * ADDED Destroy the Emissary of Dhuum.
 * ADDED Kill Tortureweb Dryders to free the souls they captured from the River of Souls.
 * BONUS Kill the additional elite emissaries. 0...3 elite emissaries destroyed.

Primary
During this mission you will be under the Dreadful Pain environmental effect, which will inflict 20 damage every time you use a skill. This can put heavy pressure on the team if not properly planned for, and it may be useful to compensate by bringing more healing than you normally would. Builds that rely on spamming skills will find the mission considerably more difficult than others. It can be useful to bring skills that heal the entire party all at once, as all party members will frequently need healing.

Upon entering the mission, your party has a choice of several paths to take, all of which contain patrols of Terrorweb Dryders, similar to those found in The Underworld, and of Abaddon's Torment creatures. The paths all lead to the same area, but the shortest is the far left fork in the road. Be observant of the movement of these patrols while moving through this area as more than one group can easily overwhelm the party.

Lightbringer's Gaze is quite useful for finishing off Torment creatures when they use Call to the Torment, and also helpful against some other mobs in the mission. It is imperative to coordinate fire power to finish off mobs before they can replicate themselves with Call to the Torment.

Lightbringer's Gaze does not work on the Terrorweb Dryders. They will cast Meteor Shower, among other fire spells, and it is very useful to interrupt this. You may have to switch between them a bit to watch both, and then order an interrupt when you see one cast meteor shower. Maelstrom can also be useful for a flurry of interrupts to start the battle.

Once you have passed through the initial area, you will find yourself on the bank of the River of Souls. Your party will hear a conversation between the soul of the Undead Lich and an Emissary of Dhuum. While listening, feel free to eliminate all the various Terrorweb Dryders infesting the immediate area. Once the conversation is over, Dunkoro will instruct you to kill the Tortureweb Dryder and the Emissary of Dhuum that comes to rescue it. Note that Lightbringer's Gaze does work on the Tortureweb Dryders. Be careful not to get them confused!

Tortureweb Dryders can be devastating with their Liquid Flame and Fireball attacks, so it is crucial to bring skills to counter them. Probably the simplest counter is to daze them. Broad Head Arrow can be fired from out of combat, leaving the boss dazed as soon as it enters combat. Other shutdown skills such as Guilt or Mistrust can likewise help. You can also reduce the damage with Ward Against Harm or, at least briefly, Shelter. Protective Spirit can also be useful though it may be difficult to use it on the entire party. Most of the skills listed are not available in Nightfall, but even random interrupts can make a big difference.

The first Tortureweb Dryder is the hardest, due to awkward terrain that could block your shots. Groups of Torment creatures and pairs of Terrorweb Dryders patrol the loop and can wander by the other bosses, so it can be useful to wait a bit to see the patrol patterns, and pull away any other groups likely to interfere before aggroing a boss.

There is also an Emissary of Dhuum near the first Tortureweb Dryder. He talks a bit before attacking, but killing him shouldn't be difficult. Kill him and the six Tortureweb Dryders to complete the mission. Each Tortureweb Dryder releases one or two Lost Souls upon dying, which run to a fixed spot on the west end of the loop. Note that the mission does not end immediately upon killing the last boss, but only when the last Lost Soul reaches the gathering point.

Bonus
After crossing the first bridge, there should be a set of stairs leading up to a large structure which houses one of the three elite Emissaries of Dhuum. The remaining two are to be found on the far west of the mission map, one north of the structure and the other to the south. Three Terrorweb Dryders accompany each elite Emissary of Dhuum, all three of which must also be killed in order to get bonus objectives; be prepared to interrupt Meteor Shower.

Note that to get the bonus, you must complete it before finishing the last of the six Terrorweb Dryders. Do not leave a Dryder boss that blocks the way to one of the extra emissaries as the last one to kill Following the red path on the map will lead you to all of the Emissaries of Dhuum and 5 of the 6 Tortureweb Dryders. The last one is at the very end of the red path.

The emissary in the center of the map also has a group of Torment creatures and a pair of Terrorweb Dryders that patrol near it. It may sometimes be easier to pull and clear one or both groups before pulling the emissary's group. Pulling any of the three groups to the top of the stairs will get it safely out of the way of the other groups while you fight.

NPCs

 * 20 Lost Soul
 * 20 Kormir

Monsters
Demons Dryders
 * Torment creatures
 * 28 Blade of Corruption
 * 28 Emissary of Dhuum
 * 28 Arm of Insanity
 * 28 Word of Madness
 * 28 Herald of Nightmares
 * 28 Shadow of Fear
 * 28 Rain of Terror
 * 28 Spear of Torment
 * 28 Scythe of Chaos
 * 28 Terrorweb Dryder

Bosses
Dryders
 * 28 Tortureweb Dryder1 &rarr; Ether Prism
 * 30 Undead Lich (Seen only briefly)
 * 1) Subject to Lightbringer's Gaze

Inside the mission
Dunkoro: There must be a way to save the souls of all those trapped here.

Kormir: ''The River of Souls has been blocked by Abaddon's minions. If we remove the blockade, the souls will be freed.''

Dunkoro: ''We must destroy the blockade, then. I will not leave my son to Abaddon!''

Dunkoro: ''Look at that abomination! It must have something to do with this madness. Come, let's get closer, we might be able to discover something useful.''

Undead Lich: Where are the souls you promised to Abaddon?

Emissary of Dhuum: ''My torturewebs are collecting them from the river now. Their work is slow, and they do not hurry for anyone, let alone you.''

Undead Lich: ''Abaddon will not be pleased by your lack of progress. When I return, you will give me the souls I require or you will face Abaddon's wrath.''

Emissary of Dhuum: ''Save your threats. The soulweir's power is tied to the torturewebs. Without the torturewebs, you have nothing, and they only respond to my commands.''

Dunkoro: ''The torturewebs are collecting souls from the river? We must find the torturewebs and destroy them!''

Undead Lich: ''Intruders! You stay and protect the soulweir, I must finish the preparations. Do not fail Abaddon!''

Kormir: ''Any souls we free from the torturewebs will help us destroy the soulweir. Quickly! Find the torturewebs and eliminate them!''

Ending cutscene
Dunkoro's Son: ''Thank you, Father. We shall meet again, in the Mists.''

Are you all right?

Dunkoro: ''Yes. Yes. I suppose I owe you an explanation.''

Dunkoro: Years ago, I sent my son to the Crystal Desert.

Dunkoro: ''There were reports of strange things in the Tombs of the Primeval Kings. Tentacles bursting through the stone.''

Kormir: Abaddon.

Dunkoro: ''Yes. My son was reported missing and presumed dead. I blamed myself, for sending him off without enough forethought.''



Dunkoro: I never knew what happened to him, until now.

Kormir: But you have freed him, and the other innocents trapped here by Abaddon's touch.

Are you an innocent as well?

Dunkoro: ''What? Kormir is the most honorable of the Sunspears.''

Kormir: ''No. You are right. I am far from innocent, and my crimes are the greatest of all.''

Kormir: It was I that found the inscriptions in Istan, and I that awakened the Apocrypha of Abaddon.

Dunkoro: ''It is not your fault, Kormir, how could you have known?

Kormir: ''Tales of the forbidden ruins are part of our history. My curiosity and concern made me ignore those warnings.''



Kormir: ''I did, and worse. I read the words of the Apocrypha. I felt his spirit. I was drawn into his web.''

Kormir: ''Now my body withers, and my spirit walks in Torment. That is why I serve as your guide.''



Kormir: ''He abides at the heart of his Realm. He is still chained, but his power grows, and the walls around him grow weak.''

Kormir: I fear that without the aid of the Five Gods themselves, we cannot hope to contain him.



Follow-up

 * Upon completion of the mission players will find themselves in the Gate of Fear.
 * To continue the storyline, take on the Primary Quest: Kormir's Crusade from Rahmor.