Imperial Sanctum (mission)


 * This is a Mission entry. For information on the location Imperial Sanctum, see Imperial Sanctum (Location).

Mission Objectives

 * Destroy Shiro

Note: It is not stated explicity as a mission objective, but Mhenlo must survive.

Primary
The mission is very straightforward. Proceed to the small island up ahead and destroy Shiro.

Make sure all your human party members speak to Kuunavang to pick up their special skills from her before proceeding. If any party member gets to the end of the bridge, it will trigger the cutscene which will close off the way back to Kuunavang.

Shiro possesses many powerful skills, but the two that will most tip the scales to his favor are Echoing Banishment and Meditation of the Reaper.

With Echoing Banishment, Shiro will send off a party member into the Mists and he/she will be replaced by one of Shiro's bound spirits. This spirit will fight alongside Shiro until destroyed. The spirit will always be of the same profession as the banished player, but will use a fixed skillset, not the skills of the banished player. The player who was banished can run back to the fight through a round dark passage that ends with a glowing a portal.

It is best to destroy the bound spirit as soon as it spawns. This not only removes an ally of Shiro, but also return the banished player immediately as well as give the party a Morale Boost, which recharges all skills including Resurrection Signets and the skills obtained from Kuunavang. It is, however, also important to keep the pressure on Shiro, as he heals himself too quickly.

Shiro's other devastating skill, Meditation of the Reaper, makes him enter into a meditation and absorb the next 700 damage dealt to him. After this damage has been absorbed, he will come out of his stance and immediately steal 20 health from each party member for every second he was in his meditation. If he stays in meditation for over 20 seconds, he will all but kill the entire party. The only way to remove Shiro from his meditation is to cause a knockdown &mdash; the elementalist skill Celestial Storm obtained from Kuunavang works wonders.

The party thus needs to keep an eye on two events at the same time: a member getting banished, and Shiro entering his meditation. Banishment will show immediately as the party member's name will be greyed out. Meditation will show in the Effects Monitor.

The following are useful tactics:
 * Anti-warrior hexes work great against Shiro. This includes Clumsiness, Faintheartedness, Empathy, and Spiteful Spirit.
 * Knockdowns are very effective in preventing Shiro from using any of his skills. A warrior/elementalist should equip Gale, Shock and Whirlwind and bring every hammer knockdown skill he can. A ritualist should bring Wanderlust and Earthbind: as Shiro will often be the sole enemy, Wanderlust will always knock him down.
 * The elementalist special skill Celestial Storm is very effective in dealing huge amounts of damage to Shiro for a long time as well as quickly breaking his meditation.
 * Blinding, Ward Against Melee, and Aegis chaining are useful tactics in evading Shiro's attacks.
 * The party should designate a few members to apply constant damage and conditions to Shiro to prevent the fight from dragging on.

Additional Notes

 * Upon completion of this mission, players will be taken to the Divine Path area to celebrate their victory as well as get access to special items and crafters. See the area article for details.