Talk:Dunes of Despair (mission)

Possible Glitch
I have just taken my paragon into this mission 6 times in a row. With and without Heroes. The Ghostly Hero has glitched at the first seige worm and bridge everytime I have gone in. He actually just stands there and will not fight or lower the bridge to cross and kill the worm. Even if you go down further and cross the bridge and kill the boss. The cutscene starts and plays. when its done, the ghostly hero just turns and runs back toward the seige worm and gets stuck against the wall. Every single time. I have yet to try it with a human team.Has anyone else tried a Dervish or Paragon on this mission and had this problem? Or not had it? Any suggestions or Ideas? HungryArmadillo 00:45, 26 November 2006 (CST)


 * Went back a 7th time. He glitched again, but this time after the cut scene I talked to him and he followed once again. Used all henchies and failed. lol gonna try again with heroes.


 * 8 times the charm. Went back for another trip with heroes/henchie party. No glitching and everything went just fine. easily done like I remember. But I think the glitch is obviously still there. HungryArmadillo 01:44, 26 November 2006 (CST)


 * This happens without heros in the team if you attack the wurm before GH casts claim resources. At a guess the heros may be attacking and glitching the GH. --JP 01:55, 26 November 2006 (CST)


 * Have you tried going around and taking the suspension bridge? --Rainith 01:57, 26 November 2006 (CST)


 * I also came across this bug. I was with two heros.  Searing Flames Ele x2, Prot Monk, Prot Hench, Healer Hench.  The mission was a breeze.  Killed all mobs way before 3 minutes.  Decided to attempt the bonus.  After reaching the top area I noticed the health of the GH.  Had to run back and tell my prot hench to get healing.  For 3 minutes I watches as all hencies spammed healing on him and the whole team from the incoming attacks of the 4 wurms.  The game ended with me on about 20 health, the prot hero with about 50 and all others dead.  I have to redo this mission again at some stage, I will see if avoiding the first wurm helps. --SK [[Image:Warrior-icon-small.png]]  01:59, 18 December 2006 (CST)

I'm almost positve it is related to the jade scarabs that spawn near there. I would assume you have brought him into aggro range of them (but they don't spawn unless you're closer than that). Just kill all the scarabs in the area and try again, it should be fine.

Locations
I just did this and all 3 generals were near point 1 on the map and there wasn't even a boss at point 2. Is this random or did the original writer just get confused?--Cloak of Letters 12:36, 14 Aug 2005 (EST)
 * I just did the mission with a group last week and we killed all three at point 1 and we didn't get the bonus. Even thought the few times I did the bonus, we did find them all at position 1. I am not sure what is going on. --Karlos 17:37, 14 Aug 2005 (EST)
 * Did you get the nonbosses too?--Cloak of Letters 21:52, 14 Aug 2005 (EST)

Exploit
This is an exploit, not an alternative method, and recently, I went with two groups who tried it and both failed to find a single corpse (you can't use the Enchanteds for Necrotic Traversals and they seem to have moved the Jade Scarabs to the other side of the bridge). Are you sure this still works? Have you tried it recently? --Karlos 17:37, 14 Aug 2005 (EST)
 * I did it just before posting. I didn't see it come out of the ground but there was a scarab running around in range. I guess you just need to get lucky.--Cloak of Letters 21:52, 14 Aug 2005 (EST)
 * A couple of weeks ago, a group I was in tried the approach of not bringing ghost to the altar and trying to kill/lure monsters at the southern raised drawbridge. In a half dozen times, we could only find one within range of a caster or bowman once or twice, and they didn't 'pull', they only scurried off. User Queen of Spades 128.252.10.27 05:11, 11 Oct 2005 (EST)
 * I just tried this tonight with a group and couldn't find any spawns within range. This must just be a lucky spawn. - SilentVex
 * This was previously possible, but not anymore. It was changed a long time ago. Now they only rarely spawn in range and will run away if attacked. I'll update the artcile when I have the bosses explored. --Gem [[Image:Gem-icon-sm.png]] 09:10, 20 April 2006 (CDT)
 * Its now again possible to kill the first boss before lowering the bridge. Dunno when it was broken again. --Gem [[Image:Gem-icon-sm.png]] 10:17, 20 April 2006 (CDT)
 * I tried it today twice, both time this boss group behind the south gate was FAR outta range of my flat/longbow.... seems this got fixed some way :\ HJT 11:05, 14 May 2006 (CDT)
 * I also tried 2-3 times and met with the same results - the boss group was beyond the range of my longbow. However, the impression I get from reading some online forums is to look for a group of Jade Scarabs that may randomly spawn near the south door; it is suggested using PBAoE or PBAoEDD spells to bring them out. --DaveBaggins 18:35, May 14 2006 (CST)
 * I just did it a couple of days ago. An E/N in our group used necrotic traversal or consume corpse (not sure which) to get past the south draw gate and killed 2 bosses before starting the timer. --thecount June 22 06
 * Tried a couple of times to do the timer exploit but not a single monster in range, does anyone know how to uncover the map an do the bonus without running skills (I'm a necro)? Samael 14:55, 26 October 2006 (CDT)
 * Did it today on the first try ; boss was a forgotten, not an enchanted.Yves 16:32, 3 March 2007 (CST)
 * I was able to find some scarabs to kill from afar and actually sent Olias over with Necrotic Transversal, then gave me and my other heroes the vamp and had Olias rebirth us. This was about a week ago- so it works great! I did try the 'hurry up and kill stuff' methods before without success. So I want to note that contrary to some of the other claims later in this article, this mission AND bonus is totally possible with only heroes and henchmen. I used Reyna to kill the scarabs from afar since she seems to use a longbow, a hero monk so I could disable all healing spells until we were over, and flagged the henchmen far away so they wouldn't use their rez signet on us. --Jasminethetender 10:59, 26 March 2007 (CDT)


 * "this mission AND bonus is totally possible with only heroes and henchmen"
 * Yes, this mission and bonus are both able to be done with only heroes and henchmen. But, using the NT trick, not at the same time (finish Mission, come back for bonus next time, or vise versa).  Once you, as solo human in group, get rebirthed across the chasm, you no longer have the ability to finish the mission (no one to take Ghost to cap alter).  I believe the mission itself is still doable with just henchmen (no heroes), only much easier (less hard?) if you are a Monk primary.  I won't be testing it though, as I bought Nightfall to avoid using all hench ever again.
 * Yes, the NT exploit still works. Jades are now harder to come by than before, but still can be found if you look hard or last resort resign/restart mission.  The NT trick is the only way I know of to get that area 100% mapped, let alone in a single run.
 * I think the biggest complaint on this mission is that it used to be henchable to get mission + bonus in the same run. This is definitely not the case anymore, unless you have godlike speed in killing the 3 bonus bosses (you have 3 min at end to do it in, which includes getting there).
 * BTW, there is another AI "exploit" you can use to not have to kill off your heroes/hench once you are NT/rebirthed across the chasm. See below under Some sort of miracle, bug, or feature.  Queen Schmuck 11:33, 26 March 2007 (CDT)

"Could someone confirm this"
I just removed the "Could someone confirm this" note from the Bonus objective. I recently did the mission and I hereby confirm that the Bonus objective is right.

Goss Aleesh
The Bosses and Elite Skills section should be updated. Instead of Ayassah Hess, I found Goss Aleessh. --DaveBaggins 09:54, Feb 12 2006 (CST)

Staff of slow
not exactly sure where, but there is an object in this mission called the staff of slow You can pick it up and hold it (you get the drop item button)

when dropped, it radiates as slow area spell any mob entering the circle wil move very slow

We did the mission pretty easy that way :)
 * It's already in the article -- it's called the Slow Totem. --Bishop 19:05, 2 March 2006 (CST)

location of generals for bonus
The map is wrong: all 3 generals are in the southern fort. you only need to head south, not east and west --
 * The numbers on the map do not represent the locations of the generals. They are mearly reference points.  Read the walkthrough of the bonus, as it clarifies the information. --161.88.255.140 15:32, 18 April 2006 (CDT)
 * That clears it up! I always thought the generals were in the 3 forts.. didn't read the text that well. I still think the image is incorrect though because it suggests that the green path is the bonus path and the 3 points are the 3 generals. What do the points represent if they do not represent the generals? Only point 2 is referenced in the text. This is a hard mission and I think this image only confuses people... --82.73.178.173 05:55, 19 April 2006 (CDT)


 * The image should be updated. I uploaded the original (back then I thought the generals were there), I'll see if I can get around to uploading another, but don't hesitate to do your own one. --Karlos 06:00, 19 April 2006 (CDT)

Missing bosses
There are some bosses missing. There is atleast a warrior boss at the south fort. --Gem 04:43, 20 April 2006 (CDT)


 * The nature of the mission makes it hard to explore fully.. You can't go out and explore the bosses and leave the ghost with henchies, so you'll need to get other players with you. I agree there is a warrior boss, and judging by the other 2 desert missions, there has to be a ranger in the southeast fort. --Karlos 05:13, 20 April 2006 (CDT)


 * I am arranging an exploration group with Kalomeli and 2 other friends to reveal the mysteries of the bosses. This will need a few tries to get all of the bosses and SoC confirmations. (And to be sure of the spawn locations) I will create a new map for the mission at the same time. The current one is very misleading. --Gem [[Image:Gem-icon-sm.png]] 05:35, 20 April 2006 (CDT)


 * First try, everything went well. Killed the first mesmer boss ofcourse, then the elementalist which was too close to the centre before we took the hero to the altar, then the ranger which attacks to the Hero and then the warr and necro at the southern base. --Gem [[Image:Gem-icon-sm.png]] 10:17, 20 April 2006 (CDT)


 * Locations are rotating. The warrior boss often attacks in the missions I played while the ranger dude is found just outside the bonus fortress (where the exploit used to be). --Karlos 21:00, 20 April 2006 (CDT)


 * I kenw they rotated, but didn't know that the one attacking the fort changed. I have always had the ranger attack and I have done the mission many times. Are there some differences between the possible locations? Atleast some bosses are in some places more often. I have never seen the monk. --Gem [[Image:Gem-icon-sm.png]] 03:38, 21 April 2006 (CDT)


 * Ok, I found the monk atlast. Any bosses can spawn at the southern fort, but I have only seen the ranger, warrior and necromancer attack the fort. I assume that the others might rarely attack too.
 * I also have the area fully explored (There is a huge empty area in the east. I might have been the first man there ever :P ) Only a few square millimeters missing from the western fort, but I couldn't get in. I need to kill the Enchanteds in front of it first. I am not sure if there are bosses in the west and east forts, but I have to check it. After I get to the western fort I will submit a new better map. --Gem [[Image:Gem-icon-sm.png]] 04:50, 21 April 2006 (CDT)

Custscene Dialog
This is the first mission on which I've started to add cutscene dialog (original discussion). Please feel free to review, discuss, correct or improve what I have done so far. --IAmAI 06:57, 26 July 2006 (CDT)

Bonus Description Wrong?
I'm following the current bonus description, and appears as if the mission has perhaps been changed. After the rounds of arcanists, the westward charge to get the two groups leaves a group of enchanted bowmen to the south that move in to attack the hero. I'm going to try staying closer until the west group, south group, and boss group are dealt with and see if that yields better luck.--66.92.73.217 18:30, 12 September 2006 (CDT)


 * I'm having trouble understanding what issue you are having.- 18:53, 12 September 2006 (CDT)


 * There are 4 rounds of arcanists (east, south, west, then east again). According to the bonus description, you then take out the group of enchanted at the west bridge, and then head a little further ("towards point 2") to take out the boss group. There's also a group of enchanted bowmen to the south that show up at about the same time as that first group of enchanted on the bridge.  If you head further west to take the boss group, the ghostly hero gets wiped by the bowmen every time.  Killing the bowmen allowed me to proceed toward the fort, but didn't leave enough time to kill the generals.--66.92.73.217 19:44, 12 September 2006 (CDT)

Bonus and current AI?
With the current (Nov '06) AI most of the bonus strategies are unlikely to be successful. First, the seige wurms never break agro with the ghostly hero. Previously the would stop attacking him once you were out of their agro, now their agro appears to include the 'throne' the ghostly hero must hold for 10 minutes. Once the wurms spawn they will continue to attack him and if you leave him without a healer he will die long before the time runs out. The other change has to do with kiting. The forgotten generals kite like mad, unless you can pin them 100% they will agro a ton of the jade scarabs buried every couple of feet outside of the 'castle'. This makes going outside the 'castle' to kill the last incoming group highly inadvisable and it makes doing the secondary the "normal" way difficult at absolute best. Basically the necrotic traversal 'trick' has become the only way of getting the secondary with any degree of certainty. -- 127.0.0.0

...Moreover this bonus can no longer be done with henchmen. Period. As far as I know this is the only bonus in game which is 100% in need of human assistance. Not even Heroes would help out. Things that need to be done:

-Leave a healer behind to attend to the Ghostly Hero.

Problematic, as party size is only 6, and most PUGs can only grab one or two monks.

-Kill or interrrupt all 3 siege wurms.

Need 3 good Mesmers or Rangers; probably have to be humans. Can a party of three take out the Forgotten generals?

-Work fast.

Like most missions, this one got harder because monsters are smarter. The statement, "having over six minutes left" really doesn't apply anymore unless you're in a very good party that is well prepared. (Besides, you must wait for the last wave from the West, due to Jade Scarabs).

Even just the mission itself is hard with henchies; the siege wurms out-damage both healer henchmen in the final minutes, leading to near-wipe. It's sad really. Personally I think the change to Siege Wurm aggro has something to do with the new Wurms from Nightfall. I think it is an oversight and not intentional...the mission and bonus are just way too difficult now. Nearly the hardest in the game, period...harder than Glint, even. And that's just not right. Especially since this is a "required" mission to advance the storyline.

Perhaps there are some new countermeasures out there that have just not been discovered yet. Some new 'tricks' for this bonus and mission. That seems only fair... 24.6.147.36 02:26, 17 November 2006 (CST)(Entropy)


 * I have tried leaving Dunkoro with the Ghostly Hero, unfortunately there doesn't seem to be anywhere to leave him where the wurms won't eventually pound him into the sand before they move on to the Ghostly Hero. The best I've managed was to kill all of the generals and have only two of the enchanted left before the Ghostly Hero wiped. Mind you, I probably only got that far because the spawn was such that I could wipe the first general and his enchanted before the timer started. Dunkoro dies surprisingly quickly under wurm fire, the hero monks seem to place self-healing at a very low priority, so leaving Dunkoro behind only buys you a minute or so before the Ghostly Hero dies.


 * As for killing or interrupting the wurms, I just don't see it. Killing them would take too long, interrupting them would tie up half your team -- it'd be unlikely you'd have enough firepower left to take out the generals, their enchanted, and whatever scarabs joined the fun.


 * The only way I can see the secondary being halfway doable at the moment is either you have an excellent group and a lot of luck -- an unlikely combination in this game -- or you use the necrotic traversal trick. I think you could probably even do it using heroes. Kill something, necrotic traversal yourself over, switch your heroes to vampiric weapons, rebirth them. Alternatively, make all of your heroes a necro secondary and keep grabbing and killing scarabs so each of them can necrotic traversal over. It'd be a massive PITA, but it should be doable.


 * It appears to me that there was no real thought given to how the AI changes would effect missions in previous chapters. I suspect said changes have probably messed up a number of missions, especially any with a time component. It's hard to see how they could mess up a mission much more than this one, though. The secondary on this one was always a bit of a PITA, but it was doable even with henchies -- I've done it several times. Now you really have to stretch things to even call it doable, it's certainly not what I'd call reasonable. I hope they fix it, just fixing the wurm agro would make all the difference, but, frankly, I'm not going to hold my breath. -- 127.0.0.0


 * Well, the peculiar thing is that this is the only mission in Prophecies which has been messed up badly. I've recently played through every mission and bonus (through Hell's Precipice) and while monsters in general are harder due to improved AI...there are no disastrous changes like in this mission. So it seems to be an isolated case.


 * Also - I've found that if you kill the first wurm that pops up (after 4 waves of Forgotten Arcanist), things almost return to a doable state. I managed to defeat two generals (first one using longow method) and minions plus some Jade Scarabs. However, the Ghostly Hero was overwhelmed by the "mystery group" of foes that sometimes spawns as you head towards the fort. If not for them I would have been able to do the bonus. My theory is that they trigger (sometimes) after you clear the first General and all his minions. I still had maybe 1:30 left...I could have done the bonus! ...But, yes, it seems it is still doable. You've got to be fast though, and bring lots of armor-ignoring damage for that Wurm. And it really is very difficult overall...luck needs to be on your side.


 * Here's a tenative build for doing it with hench...Mesmer primary would work best, but an Energy Storage-oriented Elementalist/Mesmer works also. All points should go to Domination, Energy Storage or Fast Casting, and leftovers to Inspiration. Equip: Energy Surge (elite), Energy Burn, Wastrel's Worry, Power Spike, Cry of Frustration, Shatter Enchantment, Drain Enchantment, Inspired Enchantment. Versus Enchanted, Wurms, and Centaurs, use the first three for armor-ignoring damage. Use the two interrupts to stop Wurm Siege. Versus Forgotten Arcanists, remove as many enchantments as possible and save interrupts for Earthquake. Finally, for the Generals, use Wastrel's Worry since the duration needed is reduced to about 1 second. Bring Alesia, Lina, Orion, Little Thom, and Stefan. Cross your fingers...24.6.147.36 14:53, 18 November 2006 (CST)(Entropy)


 * Tested, works like a charm - wurms go down in less than 30 seconds. I would have gotten bonus except I was treated to the stupid Monk general, Dassk Arossyss, who kited like mad. Didn't even pull the first General with a Longbow, either. So I guess the bonus is still doable, but nevertheless needs a very specialized build and high coordination. Plus luck.


 * Aye, that mesmer build helped me too. I didn't take care of the worms though, the damage they did to the ghostly hero was minimal. I just ignored them. Went as dervish and took protter hero, interrupt+poison ranger hero with me + mesmer hero with that build above (rest: necro npc and Alesia npc). The monk boss is annoying, even with balthasar form active he's just as fast and still manages to run away >:( Whatever, got him anyway aswell as the rest. Bonus success, mission failure ;) The running after the chicken monk boss took too much time. Suppose a long lasting cripple skill like Pin Down would help there. (Lilly, 23. November 2006)


 * I managed to complete the bonus with heros/henchies. No specialized build.  I equipped Dunkoro with Heal Area and left him with the Ghostly Hero.  It works for the most part, but you do have to keep an eye on his skill bar to make sure he uses it.--66.215.48.110 01:37, 25 November 2006 (CST)


 * Not owning Nightfall, I have not been able to use Heroes; however, every single time I try the bonus the "old fashioned way", the Ghostly Hero gets annihlated by Wurm Siege. I don't understand why for some folks it doesn't deal much damage...
 * In any case I managed to complete the bonus with all henchmen! It's difficult though...Need to use Necrotic Traversal or Consume Corpse, then lure and kill all three Generals. Since they kite like mad it takes forever...plus, only the Archer henchman has the range to assist in the kills (usually). It took me at least an hour, thanks to two generals having healing skills (Orison, Aura of Restoration). But, it's possible. :) Still it seems unfair, because so far the consensus is that to get the bonus you need to do one of the following:


 * 1) You must have Nightfall, and thus Heroes.


 * 2) You must "cheat the clock" via the Necrotic Traversal trick.


 * 3) You must have at least two human players to deal with improved Siege Wurm range.


 * And this is not fair, because this is the only Prophecies mission/bonus that can't be done with all Henchmen. Even if you use the "trick" it's not fair; players shouldn't have to rely on exploits to complete something that used to be doable without exploits. Where is the "challenge" or "skill" in using the Necrotic Traversal + Rebirth trick? Lastly, the problem is that if you're not a Necromancer or Assassin primary or secondary, and you haven't Ascended/Weh No Su etc to change professions, you can't even use the Trick. Thus preventing you from getting the bonus without Heroes or human help. It's just unfair. *end rant*
 * ...And while I'm at it, you have to use Necrotic Traversal trick to explore the entire map; there is a huge section to the southeast that is not part of the mission. That's not fair either, since it counts towards the title. Entropy 22:35, 25 November 2006 (CST)


 * FWIW, you don't have to use the necrotic traversal trick to map the area, you can use the ~5 minutes or so you have left after protecting the Ghostly Hero to run around outside. It takes several runs and you can't really get inside the other forts that way, but you can get the vast bulk of it that way. I got Tyrian Grandmaster Cart on one of my characters using only henchies and that was the only way I could come up with to map that area since the nec-traversal trick is of little use if it's just you -- too many scarabs for one person to take on.


 * That aside, I believe the AI changes yesterday (12/15/06) fixed the perma-agro worm issue. Perhaps needs more testing, but I did the mission last night with a friend and it appeared the worms no longer lock on the Ghostly Hero and pound him to oblivion. They do, of course, lock on to you and try and pound you into oblivion (what did I ever do to them, anyway?), but that's always been the case. -- 127.0.0.0


 * I apparently was mistaken. Tried to do the secondary today with another character and watched as the wurms pounded the Ghostly Hero into the dust. I really, really wish they would fix this, not to mention the horribly broken AI all over. -- 127.0.0.0


 * Yes, the Ghostly still gets beaten to a pulp, it sucks. I was playing as a Monk and even with Two Hench monks it was a struggle to keep him alive! Grr.
 * Oh, Scarabs are easy to deal with actually - I can take out one to two solo with Ele, War, or Ranger. And remember that if you're ever in trouble, just run back to the hench, who you should set flag for at the cliff where you snipe that first boss. :) They'll help you out. Fairly easy solo mapping, but definitely easier with a party... Entropy 15:07, 28 December 2006 (CST)

Moved this text to Bonding for Bonus HOW-TO.

Some sort of miracle, bug, or feature.
Well, a very strange thing happened during the mission today...basically, I got a party of henchmen to break through walls, somehow, someway.

I was playing through with my Ranger, and I thought I'd use good old Necrotic Traversal to get the bonus by luring all the generals towards my henchies, who I've ordered to wait on top of the southern cliff (where you snipe the first boss with a longbow). Things went just fine and I took out the Mesmer and Monk generals, Ayassa Hess and Issah Sshay or whatnot. Now there was only one boss left: Custodian Kora, the Enchanted Bow Ranger boss. I lured and eliminated his minions, easy. But he refused to pull, so I was forced to tackle him alone.

The problem is that it's Ranger vs. Ranger; he has Troll Unguent and Throw Dirt, giving an obvious advantage. To counter, I drop the Slow Totem right on top of him and keep running around. Using Whirling Defense and Lightning Reflexes, it's pretty much neck and neck: both of us are spamming Penetrating Attack and it looks like we'll both die at the same time! I try to run, but just then my stance fails, and I die.

I think, Now what? Better start over...henchies obviously can't come and ress, because the bridges are still up, the Ghostly Hero has to be player-controlled to move, etc etc. But just for kicks, I decide to turn off my Hench order.

That's when the strangeness starts happening.

After a minute or two, I see something approaching on the radar. Could it be...? A green dot! And then two more after it! Soon, the whole hench party is standing beside me, and in no time I've been resurrected. The whole thing just blows my mind, because it's bloody impossible. How in the hell can henchies move in and out of the fort, when the bridges are up? Is there some sort of secret passageway that only they know about? It was the most amazing yet strange thing I've ever seen in Guild Wars. I thought I was hallucinating.

Just to make sure things were really real, I went ahead and attacked Custodian Kora. Sure enough, the henchies really were there. We easily beat the general and I acquired the bonus. Arriving back at the Dunes of Despair outpost, I was of course happy but more than a little perplexed. But it just goes to show, henchmen are better than they seem sometimes.

Comments, questions...shared experiences? Is this an isolated occurrance or have others seen something like this happen before too?

Entropy 02:06, 3 December 2006 (CST)


 * While I have not experimented with Dunes of Despair in some time (the elonian equivalent is so ridiculously easy, I just do it), I HAVE seen odd AI for heroes and henchmen after dying. Even being just 3/4 of a radar away, I've seen odd things.  I died once because I ran into the fray like usual... only to realize that my heroes and henchies were still standing at the flag I had placed in the last battle.  (splat).  So I turned off the flag, and I expected them to be either lost, or come after me.  Logical, right?  There were no barriers in the way, but I didn't know if they were smart enough to find the way to me.  Get this:  they went two different ways!  Hereos went one way, away from me, the henchies appeared to come toward me.  It appears they use different AI algorithms for how they try to reach and follow you.  One thing to try with these henchies and the AI glitch that you noticed, is to A) try it again, does the same thing happen and B) select one of them and watch them, what do they do?  Or c) does it only work if you aren't watching them :DCyrogenic 14:51, 18 December 2006 (CST)


 * (A)It happened again! I died, I unset the flag...and the henchmen just teleported outside the fort! I have no clue what's going on now :D. I've noticed the same thing you have, sometimes the AI makes em split in funny ways.
 * I suppose I can try and watch them, that never occurred to me. Bu I doubt it would reveal anything. I'm just happy because now I have a haxxor way to do the bonus. :) Entropy 15:09, 28 December 2006 (CST)


 * Wow, hilarious. This worked for me, also -- traveled over after drawing the first general and killing him, drew off as many Enchanted and Jade Scarabs as I could before dying, and then recalled the calvary.  Silly AI walked up to the nearby cliff and then suddenly appeared below on the ground to come to my aid.  Hilarious.  - unregistered user :) 19:23 EST, January 9, 2k7


 * Yup, same thing on me. Did the Necrotic trick with heroes, and obviously turned the flagging off to make them follow me, and suddently(after a few minutes) i've noticed my two henchies joining the fray o_O Funny thing...(EDIT: I think that this "bug" is worth mentioning on the mission's page. Adding). --80.3.64.13 07:44, 10 January 2007 (CST)

This doesnt relate to the mission in general, but I have noticed similar things elsewhere. Once actually, in dunes, my friend had his hero's flagged back some, and when he unflagged them, they ran away from us even though they were still on the radar. I assume this is similar to what others have noticed, instead of waiting we just moved towards them and they changed direction.

Another instance, I went to powerlevel 2 hero's outside Lair of the Forgotten, I set a flag right by the zone as I went to hop in a wurm and clear the way for the hero's. After I cleared the way, I canceled the flag and they ran at the portal, and teleported to me.

Another(and last) instance I had this occur, I was skill capping and I set henchies/hero's to sit by the zone while I checked the boss spawn(this was in prophecies), it was the right boss, so I canceled the flag(hench/hero's dont trigger monsters till they are within radar, so they are 100% safe out of radar range, unless its a mission with certain spawns related to objectives), and they suddenly started to just appear next to me, much like sending them through a zone does, yet I just canceled the flag, I didnt send them through the portal. Anyway, thats what I have to add, so I think this is somewhat how the control system was designed, allowing hench/hero's to reach their master even if the normal way is impossible. --Mwpeck 21:59, 11 January 2007 (CST)


 * ok, just tried it on dunes, had them up on the ledge(flagged), and I took out the first boss, moved JUST outside the aggro of the 2nd and 3rd bosses. Unflagged and they teleported to about where the first boss spawned at. --Mwpeck 14:21, 12 January 2007 (CST)
 * I think it's just a easy fix that prevent them to get lost. Way easier to make them appear there then write an AI that can find you all the way on the others side of the maps.&mdash; ├ A ratak ┤  14:24, 12 January 2007 (CST)

Changes to bonus ability
Before the January 11, 2007 update, I was able to put monk hero with standard solo bond build on ghost (Life Barrier, Life Bond, Mending, Watchful Spirit, in that order of casting so bonding monk never takes damage), then park the hero monk at the bridge near the throne. This would keep the hero alive forever, and his health would never get below 50%. As a bonus bug, once the rest of the party (sans bonding hero monk) were outside of radar rage of the ghost, the ghost would quit taking damage (I'll admit that part was a bug, and needed fixed).

After the January 11, 2007 update, you are lucky if the ghost lives to 7 minutes, and is usually near death at 6:30. This happens even if I am clear on the Southeastern side of the map (WAY out of radar range, so they did fix out-of-radar-no-damage bug). Wurms also never stop attacking, and appear to do more % damage to ghost than they do to your party (his health appears to go down farther than my heroes' health, so maybe he now has less HP?).

Also of intersting note when the ghost is bonded: once the ghost gets to about 20% health, he instantly dies (right around 7 min into mission). Literally, his health goes straight from 20% to dead. The only thing I can think of that would do this is a pair of jade scarabs found him and instantly removed his 4 enchantments (could be possible and I don't know of any other enchantment removal creatures in this mission).

Before Jan 11, 2007 After Jan 11, 2007
 * Mission + Bonus at same time was guarenteed with a bonding hero monk, and did not require traversal exploit to accomplish this.
 * Bonus can be done, but you have to:
 * kill south bosses in under 7 min after hero takes alter
 * use traversal exploit (if you do this, might as well map too)
 * using above method, have someone baby sit ghost (see below)
 * Mission and Bonus now appears to be impossible to get at same time with heroes and henchies
 * Mission and Bonus now appears to be possible to get at same time
 * if another human babysits ghost (before him taking throne) while rest of party traversal/rebirths to bonus area, then you come back in to fight normal mission

Did something change? Oh yes.

An unrelated note, the bonus in Thirsty River now appears to be VERY hard to get, as the King ghost gets attacked as soon as you enter the last fighting area, which throws most game plans out the window if you want to keep him alive. This is only related because this also changed on Jan 11, 2007 (I did Thirsty River on the 10th and the 13th, Thirsty River has definitely changed).


 * As far as I know there has never been any evidence that the seige wurms were acting other than as intended when they stopped attacking once your party was out of their agro, certainly the secondary makes absolutely no sense if the seige wurms were meant to continuously pound the ghostly hero into the sand. Regardless, the introduction of Nightfall changed the seige wurm behavior drastically, things have gotten worse ever since. I don't think this was intentional as far as this mission is concerned, just as a side effect of changing the seige wurm AI, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to be fixed. Basically at this point the Necrotic Traversal/Rebirth 'trick' is the only reasonable option if you want the secondary, albeit with teleport being modified I wouldn't count on that one working forever. It can be done without nec traversal if you have a good team and a little luck, but both can be hard to come by. I feel really sorry for new players trying this now, it must be hugely frustrating.


 * As for Thirsty River, the last time I did it was maybe a week and a half ago or so, but at that point everything seemed fine -- or, at least, I got the primary and secondary easily enough. In my experience, if you go right when you enter the last area there's always been a good chance the ghost would get attacked, but it didn't matter. I've always gotten the secondary as long as he hadn't left -- whether because he was 'dead' ('redead'?) or the timer hadn't run out didn't matter which. -- 127.0.0.0


 * I did Dunes on Jan 14, with a party of 4 humans and 2 heroes. We fought at the ghost until there were no more Forgotten spawns (at about 3 min left on the timer), then parked the monk hero with the ghost and rushed for the bonus. It was quite a close fight, but the monk hero was doing fine with healing the ghost.  We also previously went in twice with the intent of doing the traversal trick, but not once did the boss spawn close enough nor were we able to get the scarabs to pop up.  &mdash; [[Image:Fin_sig.gif|User:Kyrasantae]] kyrasantae   16:51, 17 January 2007 (CST)


 * I concur, you now need either Elonians heroes or two human monks to complete the bonus without using one of the tricks: one to keep hero alive under worm pounding, another to support the team assaulting the enemy generals. With pure Prophecies characters, solo bonus has gone up to a whole new level of difficulty. 83.159.9.78 04:42, 4 February 2007 (CST)

Current mission (no bonus)
Well, the actual mission, if you totally ignore the bonus, is not too hard anymore now that Heroes are out. Wurm Siege can strike for up to 100 damage dead-center now, and the two Monk henchmen (Alesia, Lina) were never designed to deal with that sort of thing. However I find that the easiest, most pain-free way to do things, even just using the Prophecies henchmen, is to go and eliminate the Siege Wurms whenever possible. It requires a fairly strong offense, because you don't want enemies attacking the Ghostly while you're busy with the Wurm; but that's not too hard to do. Anyways, I'll go edit the Strategy section now. Entropy 11:19, 28 January 2007 (CST)

Copyright stuff for new wiki.guildwars.com
I'm the author of "approach 6" bonus guide and relinquish any copyright I have on that text and allow it to be published in full and unmodified on wiki.guildwars.com in a similar article on this mission.
 * You did that when you wrote it on Guild Wiki. It's part of wiki policy.

Mission with bonus : glitch
The necrotic traversal trick still works as of today (march 2007). I found (probably not the first, though) an interesting glitch that allows you to visit the outside castles for which the drawbridges are closed : you can just walk on plain air.



Also note that the party is heroes/henchmen only (Tahikora having the required necro skill), and that the henchmen are present (the trick for "calling" henchmen using the green flag thus still works).

Note that it does not appear possible to reenter the mission area using this method.Yves 17:13, 3 March 2007 (CST)
 * Made your image a thumbnail on this page, click for full size. Queen Schmuck 17:56, 3 March 2007 (CST)

Bonus alt method 3
The map is too big for the page. Either resize it, or make it a thumbnail. At full size it distracts from the text, not enhances it. I wasn't sure what was being said until I saw the map, especially when the north/south was reversed. :P Queen Schmuck 17:10, 13 March 2007 (CDT)

Bonding for Bonus HOW-TO
I added some information under Bonus option #2. I have tested this many times, helping many people get bonus for this mission, and it works very good. The only problems you may encounter (as the bonding monk) are:
 * Arcanists that turn aggro to you as you cast Healing Seed
 * Mending and Watchful Spirit on yourself negates most of the damage potential, and they are usually easy to shake off of aggro
 * The necro boss spawning to attack the Ghostly Hero
 * The extra damage from Deathly Chill, along with health degeneration, will require more healing to keep the Ghost alive

From my experience (+25 times bonding the Ghost), when the party is using a human bonding monk on the Ghost (me), the only problem in killing the bosses in under 5 minutes is, to be blunt, party organization. As in people yelling "Wurms are the bonus!" and not helping the party heading to the bosses, or "Leave the area to the east, it's faster." only to be wiped by scarabs. LOL, one particular person I remember, after 2 attack party wipes (with Ghost at near 100% HP at 10 minutes), decided henchmen would work better for him, and they killed the bosses in the south in under 4 minutes, with only 1 or 2 deaths. The people I have helped that had 3 heroes and 1 hench haven't had any problems either.

EDIT: Skills used (in case they disappear from main page):

If anyone needs or wants to see how to keep the Ghost alive for bonus (and high possibility of mission too), contact me in game (Character names on my user page). I will be happy to show or help, if I am not currently doing something else when you ask. Queen Schmuck 15:05, 14 February 2007 (CST)


 * I've helped well over 60 parties get bonus on this mission now. Once at the alter, I can easily solo bond keep the ghost alive the full 10 minutes 90% of the time.  3% of the time, an Enchanted X will get aggro on me while casting Healing Seed, which usually happens if you go to cast HS just as the Enchanteds come to attack ghost (not locked on him yet).  2% of the time the Elementalist boss will spawn by ghost and get aggro on me (usually easy to kite from it though).  The other 5% of the time I can't live full 10 minutes is when the Mesmer boss spawns to ghost location, and gets aggro on me.  That boss will track me to the end of the world if I were to keep running (ooh, lookie at all that energy for energy burn/feast!).  All above percentages are from seat of the pants and not actual figures, but I feel they are realistic.


 * During this time, I have found it better to use Vital Blessing instead of Succor on the Ghostly Hero, as the +211 HP he gets from VB is more than the +1 HP regen Succor gives him while HS recharges (25 sec recharge + 2 sec cast = +54 HP from Succor vs. additional 211 HP from VB). As a bonus, you can also cast Vital Blessing on yourself, which will more than make up for using more than one superior rune at same time (say, you have Superior Divine on other than +1 Divine head armor, which is the way I do it).

Best skills I have found to use to bond ghost

 * The attribute points I use are 9 +1 +3 Healing, 12 +1 +3 Protection, 9 +1 +3 Divine. I switch out head armor to the attribute I need to cast my next spell.  At 13 Divine, you will get +21 energy every time you use Blessed Signet, which allows you to have 9 maintained enchantments up while nothing is attacking the party (you get more energy from Blessed Signet than the 20 energy you lose from net -5 energy regen between uses).  You could get away with not using a Divine +1 head armor (and putting Superior Divine on other armor piece), but you have to be very quick to used Blessed Signet as soon as it is recharged, or you lose energy (if nothing is attacking anyone with Life Bond on them).

Notes for Bonding Monk

 * This build with Balthazar's Spirit along with Vital Blessing, Mending, and Watchful Spirit on yourself, allows for nearly worry-free killing (by wand between Healing Seed casts) of any Forgotten Cursebearers that may spawn (if they spawn, there will be 3, and they help kill themselves by casting Order of the Vampire). Once you kill the first Cursebearer, the next one will come to that spot via Consume Corpse, allowing you to kill all three from the relative safety of the walkway by the bridge (first Cursebearer uses Consume Corpse on Enemy Ghostly Hero corpse, bringing him closer to you).  Killing the Cursebearers significantly reduces the damage dealt to the Ghostly Hero (bonds do not affect life stealing skills), so this is highly advised, but not necessarily a must do.  Attacking Byssha Hisst (necro boss) if he spawns by the ghost is not suggested, as it is pointless as he will heal faster than you can damage him (natural boss healing along with Life Siphon).  Byssha Hisst will cause the Ghostly Hero to take much more damage, so if he is around your only option is to heal him every time and as soon as Healing Seed recharges.


 * Since I and not making money for doing this (though I do accept tips, but I never ask for any), I want to make sure the party gets to the alter with 0% DP, since I will (but don't like to) help a group more than once (IE, they wipe getting to bonus area). By casting Life Barrier, Life Bond, and Watchful Spirit on the ghost, Balthazar's Spirit on myself, and then Life Bond on entire party (sometimes switch low armor level ppl to Life Barrier), I can keep entire party bonded up to the alter with -9 energy regen, and never lose any bonds due to Blessed Signet.  Life Barrier on the ghost before the alter is not really needed, and could be dropped in favor of another maintained skill used before alter (I suggest VB cast on yourself, more HP seems to mean much less chance of aggro on you).

Skip Cut Scene

 * It is highly suggested that the entire party skips the cutscene, to keep you from losing energy if the cutscene lasts it's entire duration (and likely dropping of enchantments).


 * If you feel you must watch the cutscene, press SKIP once you see a wurm growl at the camera (very close to end). The best option if you haven't seen the cutscene, and wish to, is to watch it after you finish getting bonus.  Bring heroes/henchmen along for new mission and watch it then, as they don't mind waiting for the cutscene to end, and won't be losing energy and possibly maintained enchantments.  After you watch the cutscene, you can then quit mission.

Capture the Alter, let Bonding Monk do it

 * It is highly suggested that the bonding monk take control of the Ghostly Hero once the gate to the alter has been opened, or at least before he takes the alter. This allows the bonus boss attacking party to go to the south bridge after killing the Enemy Ghostly Hero.  Once they are there, they can try to range attack first bonus boss (if possible).  Once first bonus boss is dead, or can't be killed from ledge by bridge, the attacking party can signal the bonding monk to have the ghost take the alter.  This helps in 3 ways:
 * 1. It allows the bonding monk to switch, at leisure, the bonds from the entire party to just the Ghostly Hero (along with casting enchantments on him/her self).
 * 2. It allows the attacking party to be next to the south bridge when it comes down, giving them about 30 seconds more time to kill bonus bosses (I've seen parties need between 2:30 min and 9:50 min to get bonus).
 * 3. It keeps the Siege Wurms from ever getting aggro on the Ghostly Hero, which significantly reduces the damage to him.

Cutscene BUG

 * There appears to be a "bug" in this mission during the cutscene (maybe all cutscenes, never tested it during others). Life Barrier and Life Bond maintained through the cutscene are MUCH LESS effective than if you drop them and recast them after the cutscene.  I have seen this many times, so it isn't just a fluke.  Just before or just after the cutscene, drop the Life Barrier/Bond bonds on the ghost, and recast them as energy allows, with Life Barrier always being cast first (to make sure you take 0 damage from all attacks to ghost).  One possibility is that GuildWars "reapplies" the bonds with the current Prot Prayers level you are at when the cutscene ends.  Since I usually have my Divine Favor +1 head armor on at this time, this means my Prot level would be 12.

Slow Totem

 * This is not needed by the bonding monk, but if bonding monk is not experianced with kiting, it can help. If you decide to get it, do not ask bonding monk to carry it (loss of energy from weapons = much higher chance of losing bonds from zero energy).  If the party decides to get the slow totem, do so, as it helps when killing the kiting bosses (along with every other kiting thing too).  The best party member to carry the totem is someone who fights in melee.  Casters and ranged attackers will (hopefully) not get close enough to mobs to use the totem with any great effect.  Melee fighters, by nature, do.

Get a Healing Monk, you will need it!

 * I have seen many people question the need for a second monk in the group. You will need a healing monk in the attacking party.  No party I have tried to help has succeeded with bonus if they did not have a healing monk with them.  Take a healing monk with the attacking party, be it human/hero/hench.  If you don't, you are wasting your party's time.

Notes for healing monks in this bonus

 * 1. The healing monk should be just that, along with a condition removal.  This means, no smiting/fire/blood/etc. monking, just max healing points, then put most of the rest into Divine, and the remainder into Prot (for condition removal).  Seriously, don't try to do damage.  In fact, don't even attack (less chance of aggro/daze on you)!
 * 2. Do not depend on Heal Other and Healing Breeze as your only healing skills. Laugh if you want, but I have seen too many "healing" monks have only these 2 healing skills (they are same monks that also try to use their precious energy to deal damage).  Bring many 5 energy skills, and try not to bring any 10 energy ones.  Light of Deliverance is a great replacement for Heal Party, if you have capped it in Nightfall (easy cap btw).  If you do not have NF, use Word of Healing, as it has been buffed by a recent update, and people will be below 50% health when you hit Jade Scarabs.  If you do not have monk elite Healing skills, fill the bar with various 5 energy heals.  Healing touch is a great self heal.
 * 3. Do not bring an enchantment heavy build. In fact, bring few if any.  The Jade Scarabs eat enchantments for lunch, and keep asking for more.  In fact, using enchantments around jades is just asking for someone in your party to get poisoned (Chilblains/Plague Touch), along with losing the enchantment you just put on them.
 * 4. Bring a hex removal or two. I suggest changing to Me secondary and putting 3 points into level 2 Inspiration, then bring Inspired and Revealed Hex.

I'd also suggest putting points into inspiration magic or another good energy management tree--Devils Apprentice 23:37, 2 April 2007 (CDT)

Notes for entire attacking party

 * 1. Everyone needs to bring a rez sig (or Sunspear Rebirth Sig). Don't bring rez spells, as they are too slow.  You need your full attacking party alive to to kill the bonus bosses in a reasonable amount of time, and specifically, to not fail.  Since you will be killing 4 bosses to get bonus (1 + 3 bonus bosses), the signets will recharge often.
 * 2. Kill the Enemy Ghostly Hero at the alter before heading to the south bridge. Seriously, I have had people expect me to kill him!  LOL, nope, not happening.  Attacking party needs to kill the enemy ghostly hero.  If the bonding monk gets close enough for the friendly Ghostly hero to attack the enemy Ghost, the bonding monk will be the one attacked.
 * 3. Listen to and follow orders of what the Bonding Monk says to do, up until you leave the south bridge after the alter. Once you leave the south bridge, the bonding monk pretty much has no more say in what you do (besides general idea to kill 3 bosses in south fort), but up to that point the bonding monk is in charge.  If the bonding monk doesn't know what they are doing, you will fail anyway, so always believe they do know what they are doing.
 * 4. Jade Scarabs are the party's #1 threat. Repeating, Jade Scarabs are the party's #1 threat.  Kill them when they pop up, switching targets to them ASAP.
 * 5. Have one person call targets. Everyone attack the same called target (hit "T" to switch to that target).  Yeah, this is a simple and very general rule of how to win, but it is rarely used in PUGs.

Notes for Dervish

 * 1. DO NOT REMOVE LIFE BOND if it is cast on you. Geesh, some people see that enchantment as a free Twin Moon Sweep opportunity!  If you remove Life Bond from yourself, do not cry later if the bonding monk refuses put it back on you (which they shouldn't, as you'll just remove it again).
 * 2. See Dervish Note #1.
 * 3. If you made it to #3, you should read how Life Bond on you is good, and then re-read your attack skill descriptions. Go back to Dervish Note #1.
 * 4. If you make it to this note, please do not enter party when bonding monks are present. Ever.  You will experience many Rage Quit episodes until you understand Dervish Note #3, and then Dervish Note #1.


 * If your build relies on heavy enchantment removal (Mystic Sandstorm, Winds of Disenchantment, etc.) and Life Bond is thus likely to get removed anyway, don't assume the above advice doesn't apply to you. Let the bonder know in advance what skills you have equipped so they know not to waste their energy on you. Or just change your build to something more enchantment-friendly. --Bonjela 12:56, 3 April 2007 (CDT)

HOW-TO fail bonus

 * As I said before, as a Bonding for Bonus bonding monk, I have helped over 60 groups get bonus at the Dunes now. I have helped at that mission many many more times, guessing around 100.  Yes, people often fail bonus here, and it is always one of the below things that wipes them, in order of how parties fail:
 * 1. No healing monk in attacking party. From what I have seen, this is a guarenteed way to fail.  Period.
 * 2. One or two party members going their own way (and usually wrong way), thinking they don't need to help the attacking party group.
 * 3. Parties that do not coordinate their attacks.
 * 4. A Healing Monk that thinks they should do damage with spells/signets, therefore not being a good healing monk (or being distracted/busy with damage spells).
 * 5. Leechers. Sadly, this does happen.  I specifically remember one time when a party member said they would be AFK for dinner for awhile, then, after attacking party wiped, I said in party chat, "Well, no chance of Bonus now." and the "AFK" leecher instantly left mission.  If you suspect a leecher (person not moving from starting area, or not attacking/casting spells while in combat), have entire party suicide (leaving only leecher alive), all resign, or just quit.  You are better off this way.  Not only will you -not- help leecher get bonus, once mission is restarted with full active party members, you will also have a much higher chance of success.


 * That's the most erroneous advice ever. It applies to every form of play in GW. Sirocco 13:10, 3 April 2007 (CDT)
 * See reply on your user page. Queen Schmuck 18:04, 3 April 2007 (CDT)

Hope this helps

 * Dunes of Despair. Fitting mission name considering how many people thank me many times for helping them with group chat of "TY TY TY!  I finally get bonus!  This is the last one I need for Prot of Tyria and I have been trying for 2 weeks to get it!".  One person even gave me a 10k tip!


 * This page is huge, and mostly because of me. I hope this HOW-TO helps any aspiring Bonding Monks, along with helping people that won't be bonding the ghost to know what is going on ahead of time if entering a Bonding for Bonus group at the Dunes of Despair.


 * The preceding novel has been written for you by Queen Schmuck 02:24, 26 March 2007 (CDT)