Dunes of Despair (mission)

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 within their forts.

Walkthrough
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.

Continue south, and you will encounter a boss (point B). After defeating the boss and its minions, a cutscene will take place. Afterwards, move the ghost back out of range of the raised drawbridge to the south. Once he is out of range, have the person he is following speak to him and he will stay put. Have any ranged attackers kill the 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. You should be able to do this in a little over 2 minutes.

Tip: Past the bridge (point A), to the west there is a group of Losaru guarding a Slow Totem. The totem slows down enemies within the area where it is dropped. It is most useful for the bonus.

Tip: Make sure not to worry about the Siege Wurms near the altar. They are a bother to kill, will distract you from your objective and their damage can be overcome with good healing.

Bonus
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.

Quickly head back into the fort (don't go around the outside or you will be beset by Jade Scarabs), and head south using the south bridge. There should be a small fort; the first general will be standing outside. Stick together because there are bugs that pop out from the ground. Go south into the fortress (point 1); the other two bosses and their groups are found to the left and the right inside the fortress. You need to defeat the bosses and their entire groups to complete the bonus. The Ghost needs only to survive up to this point.

If you are also doing the mission, then run back to save the ghost.

A different approach is to split up the party. For example, one single 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.

Known Exploit / Helpful Hint: When you put the Ghostly Hero on the altar, the timer starts, the drawbridges drop, and the enemies come running in. Before putting the hero on the altar, you can head to the south bridge and try to kill a few Jade Scarabs or Enchanted for a head start, even though the bridge is up (you can lure a group to the south with a long bow). If you have a necromancer in your group, take out a scarab and use a teleport skill (Consume Corpse or Necrotic Traversal) to get outside of the fort and get even more easy kills. Furthermore, a necro monk or monk necro can train a scarab or Enchanted Bow on the rest of the party, wait for them to die, and Rebirth the entire party outside of the fort without the Ghostly Hero being in danger. You are then able to easily kill all the generals at your leisure.

An easier way to kill your party members is to have each of them bring a Vampiric weapon and let the degen kill them, allowing your N/Mo or Mo/N to Rebirth them outside.

Bosses and Elite Skills

 * Cyss Gresshla (Ether Renewal)
 * Dassk Arossyss (Word of Healing)
 * Ayassah Hess (Mantra of Recovery), location B and 1-3
 * Goss Aleessh (Mantra of Recovery), location B
 * Rysaa Hisst (Order of the Vampire), location B and 1-3

Skill Capture

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

Additional Notes
The players will be in Augury Rock at the completion of this mission.