Thunderhead Keep (mission)

Mission Objectives
Retake Thunderhead Keep.
 * Clear the city.
 * Clear the fort.
 * Kill Dagnar Stonepate.
 * ADDED Help King Jalis Ironhammer hold Thunderhead Keep
 * BONUS Light the beacons to draw additional Mursaat forces into Thunderhead Keep.

Note: The king must stay alive, otherwise you lose the mission. Make sure that the healers in your party give precedence to healing him.

''This mission requires good teamwork. A party that doesn't work together and communicate will not stand a chance.''

Primary
This mission requires two things: infused armor on all party members, and coordinated teamwork. The lack of teamwork is the primary cause of failure on this mission. Some decisions should be agreed on before a party heads out: (1) who will talk to King Jalis Ironhammer (see tips below), (2) which defense strategy will be used once the keep is reached, and (3) agree on the person(s) to lead the party between enemy groups and for calling Targets.

The first portion of this mission is very manageable if care is taken not to aggro multiple groups at once. Begin by speaking to King Jalis Ironhammer to have him follow your party (point A). You will first encounter a group of three Stone Summit Beastmasters patrolling directly ahead of where you enter the mission. Kill them and then head up to the right. Circle counter-clockwise around the peak with Ice Golems standing atop it and attack them, this will avoid having to fight the Stone Summit on the left rear side of the peak while Ice Golems are firing down on you. Kill the Stone Summit group next and then head across the bridge. At the other end of this bridge is stationary group. A second group patrols the ridge behind this group, and is usually heading towards the first group when the party approaches. It is not advisable to take on both groups at once, so at this point, you have two choices: wait until the patrol group comes down and then turns around and heads back up the hill or use someone to quickly pull the first group out onto the bridge to handle them there. The bridge itself provides a narrow chokepoint, an excellent place for rangers to lay traps. A random boss will spawn on the ridge too, providing an elite skill.

The path from the ridge leads down to the front gates of the city. Here is the first objective: clear out the eight groups of foes in the city. As with the previous section, this part is very doable if the party is careful not to aggro multiple groups.

After completing this objective, lead the king to the the right-hand side of the wall (point B). There is a gate here - lead him to it and he will open it for you. Three groups reside in various parts of this area behind the wall, one on the far battlements, one in the centre and one coming down off the hill on the far side. If you time this right without charging in you should only have to fight one group at a time. Note: If the party has a sufficient amount of ranged attackers, they can attack these groups from below the wall. Often, the enemies here will not stand close enough to the battlements to return fire, making it very easy to eliminate them. Either way, once you've cleared out this area, head up the path on the far side.

From here the path leads around to the right, and into the fort. Again, take your time. The next several groups contain Stone Summit Gnashers who will attempt to use any corpses to create minions. A good counter-strategy for a necro is to use quickly cast Well of Blood when a body drops, even if the party doesn't need it, as it can be cast quicker than the Gnasher's animate spells. All these groups are stationary and should be taken out one at a time.

Once you reach the East wall of the fort (where the 2 ballistas are) descend the steps to the courtyard, and hug the east wall. Leave Dagnar (for now) and instead wipe out the east stationary group. Then go up the other stairs on this side and continue killing off each group one at a time until the fort is clear, completing the 2nd objective. Then, fire the west wall's ballista at the group of giants foolishly standing out there, otherwise you'll have to fight them later. During all of this, the party member the King is following should make a special effort to stay far enough away from the fighting, as he has a tendency to run into the middle of the melee (see tips section). Finally, kill Dagnar.

Now for the hard(er) bit. During the cutscene; The Vizier Khilbron appears and gives you some Smoke Phantom aid (six, three per fort entrance) and the king settles down to his throne, leaving the fighting to you. You now must defend the fort against numerous random groups of Enslaved Frost Giants, White Mantle, Mursaat and Jade Bows/Armor. Make sure that both the east and west walls are manned by a party member, preferrably a ranger or caster. These players have 3 tasks: (1) watch their side of the wall and warn the party when the enemy groups start their approach, (2) operate the ballistas as needed, and (3) use their ranged attacks as the enemies get within range. The attacking forces will often pause at a ballista's firing spots, and can be killed or weakened before they get near the fort.

There are two primary strategies for holding the fort:

Alternate Strategy A: The rest of the party should split into two groups guarding each gate. Ideally, 1 monk will be in each of these groups, to provide healing and maintain enchantments. Heal the phantoms as well, if possible. As tempting as it may be, don't stray too far from the fort to attack a group that has stopped outside. If you become too divided, the enemies will overwhelm you.

The enemy groups will usually assault alternating sides, but not always, if one side is starting to get overwhelmed, the group covering the other side should be able to run over there for support and have time to get back. The most challenging groups are those led by the Mursaat Bosses, flanked with Jade Armor/Bows. These mobs require a significant amount of damage to defeat, and unless everyone is attacking in unison, they will stack up and overpower your group. Warriors should consider using Charge! or Sprint to run quickly from one side of the courtyard to the other as needed. Make sure no Mursaat break through to King Ironhammer! He doesn't have infused armor and will die almost instantly if they attack him.

The last group to attack is Confessor Dorian's White Mantle pack. When this group is spotted, everyone can leave the their assignments and engage the group together. After he is defeated, talk to the King.

Alternate Strategy B: The whole party stands in the area at the top of the stairs close to the king and waits for the enemy to come to them, rather than splitting into two groups and protecting the gates. This alternate strategy is arguably easier, as it can be pulled off with just two to three humans and a group of henchies (runners from the mission start point frequently charge persons to take them through using this strategy). To guard near the king's pedestal, one person mans a catapult on each side until an enemy group makes it inside the gate, then everyone gathers near the pedestal areas. Attacking the groups while they are on the stairs or catwalks that connect to the pedestal area works best. Whenever there is a lull in battle, i.e. you are currently not fighting any groups, heal the party and send the assigned persons back to manning the siege weapons so your enemies are weakened before they get to you.

Tip: King Jalis Ironhammer starts off following whoever first talks to him, but will run off into the fray if he gets too close to an enemy. It is imperative to keep him alive during the trip to the keep, so have a caster talk to him, and make sure that person (and thus the King) stays well away from the fighting. Also, sometimes the King decides to start following a different person. Be aware of who he is following!

Tip: This mission has a lot of the Beastmasters and Giants using knockdown skills, so carrying a skill like Balanced Stance helps. Also, interrupt skills are very helpful in the later, more difficult part of the mission.

Note that completing this mission is the ONLY way for you to reach Ember Light Camp in the Ring of Fire island chain. As there's now a trainer which sells all non-elite skills in that outpost, completing this mission is a boon if you want to unlock skills for your PvP characters.

Bonus
After clearing the fort, killing Dagnar, and watching the cutscene (right before the siege), the king will ask you to light the beacons to save the Dwarves trapped outside the walls. There are two Storm Beacons that you have to light, one on the East wall, and one on the West wall. (Point 1 on the map) Enchanted torches appear at the base of each, so it is just a matter of running to each beacon, picking up the torch there and clicking the beacon. You have only a few seconds after the cutscene to do this, so designate one person on the team to light each beacon.

Lighting the beacons will essentially draw more Mursaat packs to the fort, meaning that you will have to fight an additional Mursaat boss pack or two. Once you kill Confessor Dorian's group at the end of the mission, you should receive the bonus credit.

Bosses and Skills
The following bosses can be encountered during the Thunderhead Keep mission:
 * The Judge: Water Trident, location E2
 * Chrysos The Magnetic: Thunderclap (Mursaat Elementalist, siege only), location C
 * Fuury Stonewrath: Crippling Anguish
 * Bolis Hillshaker: Mark of Protection
 * Demetrios The Enduring: Aura of Faith (Mursaat Monk, siege only), location C
 * Riine Windrot: Offering of Blood
 * Agyrus The Scoundrel: Life Transfer (Mursaat Necromancer, siege only), location C
 * Ulhar Stonehound: Melandru's Arrows, location E1-2 and C
 * Perfected Cloak: Oath Shot (Jade Bow, siege only), location C
 * Gornar Bellybreaker: Cleave, location E1-2 and C
 * Perfected Armor: Devastating Hammer (Jade Armor, siege only), location C