Fort Ranik (mission)

''For information on the Pre-Searing location, see Fort Ranik (Pre-Searing).

Objectives
Retake the Great Northern Wall.
 * Push back the invading Charr army.
 * Locate the Restraining Bolt and return it to Siegemaster Lormar.
 * Locate the Arming Crank and return it to Siegemaster Lormar.
 * Locate the Release Lever and return it to Siegemaster Lormar.
 * BONUS Rescue Deeter Saberlin from his Charr imprisonment.

Primary
This mission is straightforward until you reach the trebuchet. Near the trebuchet (and conveniently within range of its fire) are large groups of Charr; rushing in and aggroing them would be suicide. Talk to Siegemaster Lormar (B on the map). He will tell you that that the trebuchet is broken, but he can fix it if you bring him three working parts. Gather these parts from the wreckages (marked C on the map). After all three parts are returned and the trebuchet restored, fire it and watch destruction rain upon the fifteen-strong group of Charr right below the ledge you are standing on. Note that Lormar will not speak to you until all the Charr surrounding him are killed.

The second trebuchet is working (point D on the map). If you fire it quickly, you may be lucky and kill the final boss, completing the mission. Otherwise, it's a case of luring out the Charr into the blast pit of the trebuchet. If you approach cautiously, staying out of aggro range, the groups will come to the blast pit and stay there long enough to eat fiery death. This is actually made easier since the October 25th 2006 Nightfall features update, as you now can attract the Charr into the area by ordering your henchmen there, and then firing the trebuchet. You will need to resurrect them afterwards, of course...

Once you have a clear path to the wall, go marching in and kill both the Charr and the Charr boss to end the mission. Enjoy the ending cut scene.

Bonus
You get the bonus objective from Master Armin Saberlin after you clear the initial Charr platoon (including a boss). If Saberlin does not survive, you will not see the bonus objective in your quest log, though you can still get the reward. The bonus objective is to rescue Trooper Deeter Saberlin from his cage at point 2 on the map. His cage is guarded by two Charr Overseers who use Heal Area to keep each other alive. There are many strategies for defeating them – fight them up close to benefit from their heals, hex them with Backfire to neutralize the healing effect, interrupt their heals with knockdown attacks or Power Leak (which you can obtain from Vassar in an early post-searing mesmer quest), or improvise your own strategy.

NPCs

 * Human
 * 4 Ascalon Engineer
 * 4 Siegemaster Lormar
 * 4 Captive Soldier
 * 4 Trooper Deeter Saberlin
 * 5 Master Armin Saberlin
 * 5 Ascalon Warrior
 * 5 Gurn Blanston
 * 5 Ascalon Militia
 * 5 Ascalon Ranger

Monsters

 * Charr
 * 6 Charr Axe Warrior
 * 6 Charr Blade Warrior
 * 6 Charr Warrior
 * 6 Charr Stalker
 * 5 Charr Martyr
 * 6 Charr Overseer
 * 6 Charr Ash Walker
 * 8 Charr Ashen Claw
 * 6 Charr Mind Spark
 * 6 Charr Fire Caller
 * Devourer
 * 4 Carrion Devourer
 * 3 Plague Devourer

Bosses

 * Charr
 * 8 Spar the Ravager
 * 8 Klaww FeatherStorm
 * 8 Rrrack Whitefire
 * 8 Roarst One Eye
 * 8 Craze the Unforgiving
 * 8 Torch Spitfur

Dialogues
Briefing from Lord Darrin.

Follow-up

 * Upon completion of the mission players will find themselves in Frontier Gate.
 * To continue the storyline, take the quest Ruins of Surmia from Warmaster Riga

Hard Mode Tips

 * Have monks carry Holy Veil, and have others carry some form of interrupt, so that the Charr Ash Walker's hexes can be more easily interrupted and removed. Expel Hexes is very easy to use for this purpose.
 * Dis-enchantment spells are heavily advised for the bonus, as Shield of Judgment will make out damaging the Overseer's Infuse Health/Heal Area combo nearly impossible. Heroes are particularly suited at interrupting them.
 * Protective Spirit, Arcane Echo, and Shield of Absorption are recommended for a monk to carry. This will make life much easier as far as healing is concerened, as damage will be capped at a certain point. This will also help negate the effects of the Charr Martyr's Shield of Judgment.
 * Hex removal is a must. Lingering Curse used by the Charr Ash Walkers will make it nearly impossible to keep the party healed effectively.
 * Nature's Renewal helps immensely against both Shield of Judgement and the Curse Necromancers however it will require some coordination between team members.
 * Watch the patrol routes, as they can be complicated, however after you know them the first part especially becomes relatively easy.
 * The whole mission (with bonus) can be done as a Minion Master with Stefan, Alesia, and Orion, but make sure you bring Rebirth in case things go wrong, you don't want to trust Alesia when it comes to ressing.