Thirsty River (mission)

Objectives
Annihilate the opposing enemy teams.
 * Defeat Goss Aleessh's team.
 * Defeat Issah Sshay's team.
 * Defeat Hessper Sasso's team.
 * Defeat Josso Essher's team.
 * Defeat Lyssha Suss's team. (Note: The boss in this team is Custodian Phebus)
 * Defeat Kesskah Shissh's team. (Note: The boss in this team is Custodian Hulgar)
 * Bonus Cleanse the area before King Khimaar's spirit is driven away.

Overview
The primary mission succeeds when the aforementioned six teams in three arenas are defeated.

The Ghostly Hero will follow the player who talks to him while idle, and will stop following if that player talks to him again. He attacks with a bow and switches to melee when foes approach him. The party will fail the mission if the Ghostly Hero dies.

The Hero waits outside the first arena and will open the gate when talked to. He will open the gates to the second and third arenas when led to them. After defeating the foes in arena 1 and 2, the Hero will immediately run to and unlock the gate that exits the arena, and will then wait there until led to the next arena.

In the first arena you will meet one team, in the second arena you face two teams, and in the third you will fight three teams. Each opposing team has 3 groups of 3-4 foes of varied formation, but the last group will include one boss (the team's leader) and one Enemy Priest who will remain in a small alcove. The routes of the team's two patrol groups are short and predictable, never venturing far from that team's alcove. The routes of different patrols within an alcove may overlap each other, but will never cross another team's patrols.

A timer starts when the Hero starts opening the gate to an arena. While in an arena, each priest (if still alive) will resurrect all of his fallen teammates at every two minute mark (2:00, 4:00, so on). The restored foes appear at the priest's location at full health and energy. To end the timer, all enemies in an arena must be killed.

The usual set of tactics for defeating a team is to attack at the start of the arena or just before a two minute threshold. Kill the 2 patrol groups (one at a time), and with at least 30 seconds left charge in and focus your party's firepower on the priest; with any luck, he should fall before the resurrection. Once the priest has been dealt with, take care of the team's boss and any lingering enemies.

Details
There is a fairly long but obvious path to get to the arenas. There are five Sand Giants at locations marked A on the map who each provide a +2% morale boost when defeated. Four of the five of the Giants are near the obvious path. The fifth is at the end of a path populated by many Rockshot Devourers; some are visible, while others pop up with several traps. Normal caution will prevent aggroing more than one group of Devourers.

Continue on the path forward, heading mainly south towards a passage over a wrecked ship. A few devourers will be in the way; eventually, you will reach an oasis, marking the end of your travel to the arenas, which lay just beyond. When ready, press on.

There first arena requires no special caution, beyond dispatching the enemy priest in a timely manner.

The fight in the next arena is against two teams, so you must focus on one team at a time. When the door is opened and you enter the arena, enemies from both teams will approach you from both sides. Do not fight both teams at the same time. Hug the left wall and engage the team on that side (southeast, labeled E2 on the map); although it may look uncomfortably close, you will generally be very safe using this method. After finishing the first of the two teams, wait until the timer is near a two-minute interval before proceeding to the next team. Doing so will allow you time to defeat most of the enemy party before their priest can bring them back.

The last arena features three teams, and you will again need to focus on taking out one team at a time. You can go either left or right when you enter, but do not go in straight, as this will likely pull two teams or more. Kill the team at E6 first, then proceed to E4, and then to E5. Remember to time your engagements with the 2-minute resurrection in mind.

Tips

 * Remember to allow your party time to heal and recover their energy between arenas. It will make the mission go much more smoothly.
 * More than any other Tyrian mission, winning here is much more about party coordination, planning, and individual discipline than it is about specialty party or individual builds. Fight one team at a time and quickly defeat each group of a team one at a time. Care must be used when kiting, strafing or just avoiding patrols; If even one of your allies slips up, your party could be swamped with enemies. For this reason, a low firepower team of henchmen and heroes may actually fare better than a high firepower PUG, as a single loose cannon will likely cause failure of the mission, no matter how powerful that cannon is.


 * The Ghostly Hero has some offense and heavy defense. A party will have to decide between leaving him out of harm's way or taking him with them to hit a bit harder. Having the Hero follow a caster or other backline character will keep him reasonably safe while letting him assist you in combat.


 * If it seems likely that your party will fail to kill a priest before he resurrects all of his allies, retreat. If your party allows itself to be caught in the mass respawn, it will almost certainly wipe. By pulling out and regrouping, you merely have to repeat one step of the mission, rather than all of it.


 * Forgotten Arcanists cast Kinetic Armor and Ether Renewal, and are far more vulnerable if these enchantments are interrupted or removed. Try to take them down quickly, as their Earthquake spell can seriously disrupt a party.


 * The boss at E4 is Josso Essher, a monk. He is an exceptionally good healer and, when combined with the priest, provides massive healing.  The priest at this point needs to die first, since trying to kill Josso will likely take most of the two minute interval up, resulting in a swift resurrection.  While it is possible to kill the priest over the combined healing by focusing fire on the priest, it is sometimes easier to have one party member distract the boss with interrupts (like Cry of Frustration or Distracting Blow) while the others focus on the priest.  AoE damage is very effective at assisting the takedown, since it will spread the healing out further, reducing the priest's recovery.


 * Don't rush. Unless specifically going for the bonus, the total amount of time spent fighting is of little consequence, other than the two minute interval resurrection.


 * When possible, pull teams away from the enemy priest before fighting them. The priest's healing can drag the battle on to dangerous lengths.


 * Minion Masters often do very poorly here. Even if they can deal with the relative scarcity of corpses, minions will often aggro things the party isn't quite ready to fight yet.


 * If using heroes, ensure that none of them are set to the "Fight" behavior. This can cause them to engage enemies well outside of your preferred area.

Bonus
The bonus objective is to clear all the enemy teams in the third arena before King Khimaar dies, and before he leaves (which takes precisely ten minutes). The bonus is still achievable as long as King Khimaar is standing in the central area of the third arena. You cannot complete the bonus without also completing the mission. After you defeat all the teams (in any order), you will receive the bonus reward right before the ending cutscene.

The King gets attacked by Custodian Hulgar's team (at E6 on the map toward the right of the entrance) about 10-20 seconds after the timer starts and will be killed in less than a minute if you do not heal him and kill the foes near him. Rush in to the King's position counter-clockwise to avoid aggroing the team on the left. The other two teams very rarely attack the King.

While he has some firepower, but it's generally not worth the time or risk to lure enemies to him, and it's never enough for him to defend himself against an entire enemy team.

Hard mode
Rockshot devourers have Barrage, so a group of five of them at a time can deal impressive damage if you don't spread out. The many traps that the devourers lay can even get heroes or henchmen killed when otherwise out of combat, as they can do massive damage in a hurry. You should proceed carefully in the initial area, having one human character leading by an aggro distance the rest of the team, so only one character sets off the traps and the minimum number of devourer's are engaged at once.

Enemy priests casting Word of Healing on themselves are very potent healers. It helps immensely to daze them, after which they will die fairly quickly. Interrupts with a short recharge are also very helpful. Be aware that the enemy rangers have Throw Dirt, which causes blindness and can make most skills that cause dazed miss if not removed.

If you wish to do the bonus, you must rush into the third arena quickly to save the king. If you get there immediately, mobs will attack you and leave the king alone, but if you dawdle, they can focus their fire on the king and kill him quickly.

Josso Essher healing his associated priest can also be a problem. Locking a mesmer hero with several interrupts onto the boss while the rest of the group kills the enemy priest can prevent the boss from causing too much trouble. Another player is unlikely to have the necessary reflexes to interrupt most of the spells the boss has.

One of the groups associated with Custodian Phebus at E5 won't come out of the small room with the boss and priest on its own. Casting a non-projectile spell on one of the foes through the wall will get it to come out. Pull the group well out of the room, or the enemy priest will step up to heal it. The group has two Forgotten Arcanists that can cause major trouble for your group if you try to ignore them to kill the enemy priest.

NPCs

 * Ghost
 * /20 Ghostly Hero
 * 24 King Khimaar

Monsters

 * Devourer
 * 20 Rockshot Devourer
 * Enchanted
 * 20 Enchanted Sword
 * 20 Forgotten Champion
 * 20 Enchanted Bow
 * 20 Forgotten Avenger
 * Forgotten
 * 20 Enemy Priest
 * 20 Forgotten Sage
 * 20 Forgotten Cursebearer
 * 20 Forgotten Illusionist
 * 20 Forgotten Arcanist
 * Giant
 * 22 Sand Giant

Bosses - elite skill captures

 * Enchanted
 * 24 Custodian Hulgar - Warrior's Endurance
 * 24 Custodian Phebus - Marksman's Wager
 * Forgotten
 * 24 Josso Essher - Word of Healing
 * 24 Hessper Sasso - Order of the Vampire
 * 24 Goss Aleessh - Mantra of Recovery
 * 24 Issah Sshay - Ether Renewal

Dialogues
Briefing from the Ghostly Hero.

Intermediate cutscene
Ghostly Hero: ''Before you can Ascend and enter the Rift, you must first be cleansed. Lead me safely to the Rune Circle at the end of this test, and I will cast the ritual to burn away your earthly imperfections. Your first challenge will be to defeat a single legion of Forgotten. Your opponents will be resurrected every two minutes unless you destroy the priest who tends their shrine. Once you have defeated your foes, lead me to the door, and I will usher you into the next challenge. The challenges will grow harder as you progress. If you defeat all of the foes along your path, we will claim the Rune Circle, and you will be cleansed. Prove yourselves worthy, and you will be one step closer to gaining entrance to the Rift.''

Ghostly Hero: ''Defeat the enemy priests to stop the other team from resurrecting. Once the enemy team is defeated, we will move on. Quickly! Through this door. We face much harder challenges ahead. This last battle will test us all. May Balthazar grant us strength and courage.''

Bonus objective:

King Khimaar: ''The Forgotten defile the resting place of my people. Have we not suffered enough...? I will never fully rest until the memory of my people is no longer taunted by these filthy creatures...My spirits have been weakened by such blasphemy. I must see the Forgotten removed from this place before I slip away...In a matter of moments, I shall leave this world for good, never to see my people's resting place cleansed...''

Ending cutscene
Ghostly Hero: ''Under the scrutiny of the gods, your souls will be pure, your bodies cleansed. You are ready for the next phase.''

Follow-up

 * Upon completion of the mission players will find themselves in: Augury Rock.
 * If you completed Dunes of Despair and Elona Reach you now must defeat the Doppelganger.