Ruins of Morah (mission)

Objectives
Horde of Darkness must be completed in order to enter the mission.

General Morgahn must be in your party to enter this mission.


 * Kill Varesh.

Primary
The mission consists of 2 parts where you must kill Varesh in two different forms. Both forms have a very large aggro radius, but if your entire party moves out of Varesh's aggro radius, she will de-aggro and return to her initial location.

Prophet Varesh
Varesh's first form is level 29, and she will appear in the center of the area with three Margonite Clerics. Varesh uses three skills in this form, each of which is bugged:


 * Attack. For 30 seconds, all foes in this area are struck for 15 earth damage every second. Any foe using a Skill when struck is knocked down.


 * Attack. For 30 seconds, all foes in this area are struck for 50 cold damage every 3 seconds. Any foe moving when struck is slowed by 90% for 10 seconds.


 * Hex Spell. The next time target foe loses an Enchantment, that foe loses all Enchantments.

The first two skills are easy enough to counter: simply get out of the way when Varesh uses them. The third skill can be countered with Inspired Hex or Revealed Hex, though neither of them are available in Nightfall.

Kill the Margonite Clerics first, then take down Varesh. Although it is possible to pull Varesh without aggroing the Margonite Clerics, it is not recommended, as Varesh will respawn and bring many other foes with her. Once the Margonites are dead, it can be useful to pull Varesh to where you want to be when she respawns (typically either near where you enter the mission, or on the far opposite side), and then kill her there.

Varesh hits very hard, so it can be useful to use hexes or conditions to hamper her damage output. The Margonites will remove conditions with Dismiss Condition, however.

Commander Varesh
Varesh will respawn as a level 30. Many pairs of Torment creatures will also spawn at this time and begin patrolling around the area in a counterclockwise direction. More demons will spawn as you kill off the initial groups, although they will stop after a while.

Varesh's skills in this form are:


 * Hex Spell. For 20 seconds or until target is at less than 20% Health, target foe loses 20 Health each second.


 * Shout. All mobs target one player.

The former skill is also easily removed with inspired or revealed hex. The latter skill is inconsequential.

The biggest problem is that Varesh hits extremely hard in this form, sometimes killing characters in as few as two hits of her plain attack. The easiest counter to this is to weaken her, which is most easily done with Enfeeble. While this is not a Nightfall skill, other skills that cause weakness can also substitute. Note that hexes and conditions have a greatly reduced duration on Varesh, so whatever you use to reduce her damage will need to be recast often. If relying on a hero to use hexes or conditions to hamper Varesh, be sure that your hero will have adequate energy to use them throughout the battle. This may require disabling skills or equipping the hero mostly with skills such as signets that cannot consume very much energy.

While the Torment creatures in this portion of the mission patrol in a circle, Varesh's spawn location is not in the center of that circle. Rather, it is shifted toward where you begin the mission. If you fight on the side opposite where you enter the mission, it is easy to pull Torment creatures as they come without pulling Varesh. If you fight on the side where you begin, you can keep Varesh with you and taking damage, while only stopping intermittently to kill Torment creatures, and without having to move far into the circle that the Torment creatures patrol.

If you wish only to complete the mission, and do not care about master's reward, it is easier to go to the opposite side and kill Torment creatures as they come until they are all dead. Varesh is much easier without her allies.

Bonus
The bonus is to kill Varesh in under eight minutes. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is to fight on the side of the mission where you begin. Move up just enough to make Varesh come. Lock a necromancer hero with Enfeeble and Spoil Victor on Varesh to keep her from causing too much trouble, while the rest of the party kills Torment creatures as they come. The necromancer hero may use Awaken the Blood and a corpse exploit, but should otherwise avoid skills that use energy. This will keep Varesh taking considerable damage even while the party mostly ignores her. If you get too many Torment creatures on you at once, you can back up slightly to make Varesh run away; it is easier to do this if your party has no melee, or at least, only melee players who are smart enough to back up when appropriate.

Unfortunately, spoil victor is not available in Nightfall, nor are most of the skills that could plausibly substitute for it. Odurra carries Empathy, which is the only plausible substitute skill available in Nightfall.

Another riskier approach is to put your entire party in the middle of the mission, and try to avoid aggroing Torment creatures when Varesh respawns. If you only pull one or two pairs, you may be able to take down Varesh before you get overwhelmed. This can lead to some spectacular wipes, however.

Hard mode
Prophet Varesh is now the hard part. She hits harder than before, and the Margonite Clerics will remove any conditions you use on Varesh with Dismiss Condition. They cannot remove hexes, however, so attack speed slowing hexes or miss chance hexes can be useful, as can various defensive wards. As before, kill the Margonites first.

Once the Margonites are dead, pull Varesh to the opposite side of the mission from where you started and kill her there. When she respawns as Commander Varesh, you can easily pull and kill the Torment creatures without bringing Varesh, and only pull Varesh once the Torment creatures are cleared. Due to mobs moving faster in hard mode and the time limit being increased, this will leave you plenty of time for master's reward.

Monsters

 * Margonites
 * 24 Margonite Cleric
 * 29 Prophet Varesh
 * 30 Commander Varesh
 * Torment creatures
 * 28 Arm of Insanity
 * 28 Shadow of Fear
 * 28 Herald of Nightmares
 * 28 Spear of Torment
 * 28 Rain of Terror

Inside the mission
Prophet Varesh: Abaddon reclaims his possessions, soon his true power will be revealed and the door to his prison opened.

Commander Varesh: ''I have returned! Abaddon's sword has been drawn, and he sends me back to you with tokens of his renewed power!''

Ending cutscene
Morgahn: ''I am sorry, Varesh. Both for you and for Elona.''

We stopped the ritual. Does it end with Varesh's death?''

Morgahn: ''I don't know. Each part of the ritual, at Gandara, at the Temple of Lyssa, and now here, was to weaken the walls of Abaddon's prison.''

From the Realm of Torment itself?''

Morgahn: ''I don't know. . .''

Out of the area! Now!''

Narrator: Night has fallen on Elona.

Narrator: ''The heroes must confront the dark god Abaddon. . .''

Narrator: In the Realm of Torment itself.

Follow-up

 * Upon completion of the mission players will find themselves in: Gate of Torment.
 * To continue the storyline, take on the following Primary Quest: Uncharted Territory from Pehai in Gate of Torment.