Minister Cho's Estate (mission)

Objectives

 * Find Minister Cho
 * Master Togo must survive to reach the Minister's Estate.
 * Yijo Tahn must survive to reach the Minister's Estate.
 * ADDED Defeat the Afflicted Minister

Primary
This mission is designed to be a walkthrough for many of the basic features of the game. Throughout the mission, Master Togo will instruct the players on common tactics used in battle. Both Togo and Yijo Tahn are high enough level to be pretty durable, but Yijo can get killed if you let him run off on his own, and this will cause mission failure.

The first half of the mission consists entirely of small fights against groups of 2 or 3 Sickened Guards. As players progress through the mission, they are frequently stopped at locked gates by Togo, who will dispense advice in the form of small conversations with Yijo Tahn. When Togo stops to drag the guards, if you run ahead, the guards won't attack you until Togo comes. Because you have the help of both Yijo and Togo, and because all these monsters use Frenzy unwisely, these skirmishes are all very easy. However, concentrated attacks from enemies, especially Sickened Guardsman Tahnjo (who appears in a group with two other guards) can overwhelm a low level player.

The first boss encountered is the Afflicted Horror, which appears midway through the mission. This Warrior serves mainly as an introduction to the idea of boss enemies, and it is very easy for the players to concentrate fire, as it is the only enemy in the area.

Afterwards, the players will meet two Minister's Guards being ambushed by Sickened Guards. After saving these guards (the mission will not be failed if they die), the players must make their way through Minister Cho's Menagerie, which is full of several sickened animals, including bears, moa birds, wolves, and lynxes. Although they are only Level 5 and all use Frenzy just like the Sickened Guards, they can defeat some low level players if allowed to completely surround someone.

From this point on the players will fight groups of 3 sickened humans. All of these groups will contain 2 Sickened Guards and either a Sickened Scribe or a Sickened Servant. These fights are only marginally harder than earlier, although lower levels should take care to avoid the Sickened Servants' skill Breath of Fire.

After fighting a few of these groups, the players will find Minister Cho. Upon talking to him, a short cutscene will play during which Minister Cho transforms into the Diseased Minister.

This battle is a fairly simple one. The Diseased Minister will start out by using Animate Vampiric Horror and follow up by using melee attacks and Bitter Chill. As with all Afflicted, defeating him will result in an Afflicted Soul Explosion. Players should beware, as if this explosion kills the last remaining party member, the mission will be failed despite finishing the final objective.

After defeating the Diseased Minister, the final cutscene will play.

Master's reward
Because Togo and Yijo run ahead, forcing you to keep up with them, it's pretty difficult not to get master's reward in this mission as long as you keep up.

Hard mode
The 20 minutes alloted for master's reward is still ample time for a typical group, but you can take too long if you dawdle.

During Hard Mode for this mission, all enemies are level 23. Yijo is now level 20 and the Afflicted Horror is at level 27. All skill lists for all creatures have been upgraded, as per the Hard Mode update.

Nearly all mobs are melee, and even those that aren't are typically one caster paired with a couple melee. As such, anti-melee defensive skills such as blinding, weakness, or blocking skills are highly effective. Minions can also be pretty useful, as there are some spare corpses lying around, as well as many mobs that die reasonably quickly. Mobs hit hard enough that relying on only one character for healing is dangerous; you don't need two dedicated healers, but one character with a few healing skills other than your main healer can help.

Note that in the Emperor's zoo, the large amount of creatures are also all level 23, and shouldn't be allowed to swarm as they can in normal mode, or a party wipe is likely.

NPCs

 * 20 Master Togo
 * 10 (20) Yijo Tahn
 * 10 (20) Minister's Guard
 * Lost Boy

Monsters
Humans:
 * 8 (23) Sickened Guard
 * 8 (23) Sickened Guardsman Tahnjo
 * 8 (23) Sickened Scribe
 * 8 (23) Sickened Servant

Sickened animals:
 * 5 (23) Sickened Bear
 * 5 (23) Sickened Lynx
 * 5 (23) Sickened Moa
 * 5 (23) Sickened Stalker
 * 5 (23) Sickened Wolf

Bosses

 * 9 (27) Afflicted Horror
 * 11 (27) Diseased Minister

Inside the mission
Master Togo: ''Yijo! ! Come with me! Minister Cho is in grave danger. We must find him before it is too late.''

Yijo Tahn: ''Yes, Master! Right away!''

''Come, ! The Master wishes us to fight by his side! We will die with great honor.''

When reaching the first group of enemies:

Master Togo: ''Sickened guards! We will have to destroy them. Let us focus our attacks on one foe at a time so that we can defeat them more quickly.''

Yijo Tahn: Master, isn't it true that we can call out our target by holding CTRL when we begin attacking?

Master Togo: ''Quite so. , you should be the one to call a target. The rest of us will attack your target. Hurry now,. Hold CTRL and double-click one of the Sickened Guards!''

After the group is defeated:

Master Togo: ''Stay close, students. Danger lurks where you least expect it.''

Yijo Tahn: ''Yes, Master. We must keep our eyes open and stay with the group.''

When reaching the closed gate past the first groups of enemies:

Master Togo: ''Now, students, we will regroup at that tree, there. Do you see how I have indicated the location on your mini-map? To do this, simply left-click the mini-map.''

You can also give more advanced instructions by holding down the left mouse button and drawing on the mini-map.

Yijo Tahn: ''I see! If I click once, a marker appears temporarily. If I click and hold, I can draw on the map. How very useful!''

At the tree:

Minister's Guard There is something evil at work here....

Master Togo: ''Did you see that boy up there? Perhaps it is Guardsman Zui's lost son?''

''Child, please stop! We wish you no harm!''

When engaging the next group:

Master Togo: ''We must stay together. We are much more effective as a group.''

''Remember, our strength comes in numbers. A lone hero is often a dead hero.''

Yijo Tahn: ''Yes, Master. There is safety in our numbers.''

When reaching the bridge:

Minister's Guard:' Please.... No! Tahnjo! It is me, your brother! You know me! Wait! Tahnjo!''

''Help me...please!!! Something is wrong with the other guards; they have gone mad!''

After Tahnjo's group is defeated:

Minister's Guard: ''I cannot thank you enough for your help. Those guards...they were not the people I once knew. Something changed them. Be careful, there are more of them about!''

When reaching the closed gate past the bridge:

Yijo Tahn: ''See, there: a large group of enemies waits just ahead. This battle will be glorious!''

Master Togo: ''Yijo, stop! With such a large group [sic] is best to keep your distance and see if they will separate, giving you a better opportunity to strike.''

''Wait here, students, and I will lure them back to you. If you are patient, the battle will be much easier for us.''

After the lured group is defeated:

Master Togo: ''Keep up, students. It is imperative that we find Minister Cho quickly and learn what has been happening here.''

When reaching the closed gate before the Afflicted Horror:

Yijo Tahn: ''That creature is no normal foe. I can see a glowing aura of power around it!''

Master Togo: ''When you defeat such an opponent, its death will provide you with a morale boost. This will recharge all of your skills and temporarily increase your Health and Energy.''

Yijo Tahn: ''This will even allow us to recharge our Resurrection Signets! We should not hesitate to use them in a battle with such an enemy for if it is defeated, the signet will recharge afterward!''

After leaving the room with the Afflicted Horror:

Minister's Guard: ''I tried to approach the estate, but the other guards...my own friends...they attacked me! I do not understand what is happening!''

When entering the menagerie:

Yijo Tahn: ''What is that? Some sort of feathered demon?!''

Master Togo: ''I believe it is a moa bird, Yijo. It is from a land far across the Great Sea.''

''The minister is fond of collecting exotic animals. It seems some of them have gotten loose. This one looks to be quite ill, does it not?''

Yijo Tahn: It looks quite dangerous to me, Master!

After leaving the menagerie:

Master Togo: ''There is that child again. It can only be Guardsman Zui's son.''

''Your father, Guardsman Zui, sent us to find you, child! Come back!''

''The Minister's estate is up ahead. We must hurry! I fear this...situation...is far worse than I expected.''

Ending cutscene
Master Togo: May the envoys carry you swiftly on to the gates of everlasting paradise.

Rest easy in the Mists, my old friend.

''Come out little one. It is alright. You are safe now.''

Do you know who I am?

Lost Boy: You are Master Togo.

Master Togo: ''Ah, I can see you are a very smart little boy. But tell me, what brings you tears.''

Lost Boy: I had a bad dream.

Master Togo: ''A bad dream? Tell me what sort of dream could cause such tears.''

Lost Boy: The wind blew the leaves from the trees, and the animals in the zoo all became scared.

''The animals. They were...they were always very tame, but something in my dream made them angry.''

And they started hurting everyone."

Then the people got angry too, and they started to hurt each other.

Minister Cho...he was the most angry of all, and...and he turned into a big angry monster.

Master Togo: Where are your parents, little one?

Lost Boy: ''My mother died when I was very little. I do not remember her much.''

Master Togo: And your father?

Lost Boy: He is guarding the gate.

Master Togo, you do not think he will be angry like Minister Cho, do you?

Master Togo: ''No, little one. I do not think he will be angry at all.''

In fact, I think he will be very happy when he sees you.

I will see that our little friend here makes it back to his father.

Go find Ang the Ephemeral and tell him what we have found here.

He will be most interested.

Follow-up

 * Upon completion of the mission players will find themselves in: Ran Musu Gardens
 * To continue the storyline, take on the following Primary Quest: Warning the Tengu
 * Completion of this mission will make available the quests Study Buddy, Togo's Ultimatum, Cash Crops, and The Naga Source