Worst Missions

The missions I dislike the most :-

Aurora Glade: A long run to the end that is easy, but you lose with the taking of pedestals. If the run in was shorter then the mission would be alright.

Thunderhead Keep: Another of those long running missions which you can fail at the last moment.

Gate of Madness: This is just an evil mission, excessively hard and long. Also one of those that you fail at the last moment. It is quite a lucrative mission though. Cannot seem to get my Ranger through this one.

Vizunah Square, because you are pretty dependant on a Canthan team joining, which isn't all that common. None are hard enough for me to bitch about.

GoM was tough on my Ranger. I used the hero flagging trick from Wiki and ran a conditions build. No bonus, but with constant burning, poison and bleeding on Shiro, he went down.

As for missions I hate, I'll go along with Aurora Glade, and I died twice at the end of Dasha Vestibule to the Searing Flames boss. Finally took a Broad Head Arrow hero to quiet that bugger.

The ones where you have to prevent some suicidal NPC from killing themselves are the worst imo. Getting pummeled by waves of monsters or whatever else, meanwhile Danika, or whoever you're protecting, runs off to go kill themselves. Mission over if they succeed.

Not that they're hard to do, but I've often wondered if those NPC's are infused, have max armor, or if they're possibly bugged sometimes. Plus, the whole "Save Me!" routine gets a little old sometimes.

And who's bright idea is it to keep A GHOST alive????

I agree with the OP on all Aurora Glade.

Thoughts on Aurora Glade:

I appreciate that the devs tried challenging us with this. But unless you’ve played through AG before, you have ZERO idea what’s going on when capturing the pedestals. This is problematic because you have to slog through the whole mission again just to retry strategies. Perhaps if there was some sort of briefing beforehand ("The enemy will use runners, deployed from the main camp, to capture the pedestals...")

Trial and error is fine, to a certain extent. But this mission is out of hand.

VIsnah Squae and Unwaking waters. Its tedious having to keep quitting and rejoining in order to get a hench team on the other side.

Dasha Vestibule FTL.... Worst mission. Especially with a suicidal Goren....

Arborstone, Gate of Pain, Gate of Madness, Gate of Fear. - Environmental effects in GW are simply lazy design. If they were truly GLOBAL, and not just always against he players, they might be interesting.

"Guard the NPC" missions- Annoying when the NPC AI sometimes does screwy things, sprinting ahead and aggroing multiple groups, then dying and the mission fails.

In order, though...
1: Arborstone. I can't say how much I hate this mission.

2: Gates of Madness: a close second, and the only mission ever to take me and my guildmate more than a dozen tries to get through. I seriously recommended against getting Nightfall to my brother and a few friends just because of this stupid mission.

3: Eternal Grove: I had enough of seeing how stupidly powerful Seige Turtles are in FA, thanks. I don't need to see them again and get slammed by them from nearly off the screen while trying to protect NPCs.

4: Vizunah Square (Foreign): Mhenloooooooo Jenkins!

5: Gyala Hatchery: Protect the little, easily-killed turtles. Great. This would be higher on the list, but I have NEVER gone through it the normal way, instead using the back way every time I have to deal with it.

I have no problems with Thunderhead Keep except when idiot players go off and do stupid things.

The simple tactic is this...once you are in the keep and you have to defend, the whole team stays upstairs and defends together. Rangers can even trap the stair cases.
You can have one or two people use the catapults from time to time but it's not really needed.
Just let the groups come and defend as one group. Always kill bosses last except if boss is a monk.
I never failed THK with this tactic unless some idiots go run downstairs and think they need to tank the gates and die or something. Splitting up here in 2 teams is risky, not impossible but very risky.

Aurora Glade with the pedestals is easy too. MAke sure you have one player with at least one running skill like sprint. There are 3 pedestals: bottom, left and right. The whole team except the guy with running skill defends the left one and STAYS there....the attackting teams will always attack the left one as long as it has a white crystal in it.
The guy with the running skill is the runner. He puts a crystal in the bottom pedestal right away and then keeps going back and forth to maintain the left one...the enemy may capture it from time to time even when you defend it but your runner will be faster than theirs and you will keep putting a crystal back.
After a little while their forces will be depleted...go kill the Demagogue who is left on his own and then do the right pedestal.....easy peasy

Gate of Madness is actually tough. However a good team against him has an MM, SS, Domination Mesmer and as much blinding as you can find and ca n do it. It's easy enough to do the bonus then anyway.
Kill the lich first and leave Shiro alone....he will attack the weakest first, which means the minions. In capping the shrines for the bonus your M can create new minions and they will keep shiro busy till you have all shrines.
Then fight shiro...SS works great together with insidious parasite and empathy from the mesmer...Keep stacking the hexes because when Shiro uses a specific power he loses a hex too. But you will see loads of damage being done by those 3 skills on him. Conditions help too...Then keep blinding him as much as you can. He still takes damage from the hexes but hardly ever hits and so you stay alive. Melee players should have wild blow to kill his stances.
It's still a tough fight but like this you can win it.

Arborstone is not that hard but mostly annoying. The constant knock overs are a pain. Take an MM and 2 monks and go through the middle or the left...leave the right alone.

Eternal Grove....easy actually. A party should be 2 teams of four. Each group should have 1 monk, 1 MM one with interrupts and one other.
First part you go out and take out the luxons and turtles...turtle siege is easily interrupted as it is a skill with long casting times. There will be 1 turtle in the middle, 2 on each side and one in the middle again. So keep an eye on your side and on the middle. After movie stay upstairs...do not leave the gates. Keep MMs back a bit so they will not aggro with minions too quickly. Defend the 2 gates untill all groups are destroyed. With this team build it's easy.

Vizunah, like Unwaking waters have the 2 team issue...noobs on the other team can kill it...not a good plan. A Henchie team is better...again take an MM.

Gyala is a pain and the best way to do this, especially with bonus is the circle around to the back of where you need to go and start killing all the kurzicks before you talk to the guy to take turtles with you. So stay clear of the turtle group initially. Work your way back carefully and you wil lonly have a couple of pop up groups to kill ot bring in the turtles.

Wellll.. Up until last week I would've said Eternal Grove and Viz Square, having to rely on the other team not consisting of leavers was always a pain. But over the last two days I've gone in with just myself and my hubby + full hero team and made mincemeat of both of them.

Viz - we got hench on the local side so no probs there, plus we took two MM heroes.

Eternal Grove ... Planted Olias on one side and Master of Whispers on the other (both with Flesh Golem), monks in the middle.... not one afflicted got close to the gate without being fried or shredded. Got masters on both with ease.

Aurora Glade was a pain when we first did it, but pin down + running works. Protect the one crystal as someone's already pointed out and just wait for everything else to come and get pummelled.

Currently trying to get my Necro through the Crystal Desert missions, she walked Thirsty River but Dunes of Despair is seriously getting on my nerves. I don't remember the siege wurms being able to cover every last inch of the 'courtyard' map before.

The most annoying mission I found was Divinity Coast. It's not a hard mission. It's not really a hard bonus. Except for that one Chosen who stands right in the middle of an Ettin patrol, and gets killed too quickly for you to save him (at least, this is what happened to me). The only way I got this bonus was when, for some reason, the patrol didn't spawn, or spawned in a different spot. I don't remember.

However, this was way before heroes and hench control. I wanna try it again sometime, since it should be a lot easier just ordering the henches and heroes to the spot well before you get there, so the monsters spawn too late to reach him before my heroes do.

I agree - all those missions with easy and long way there and only challenging end are quite anoying. If you have to repeat em, easy and long way becomes boring and pointless.

Thunderhead is fine example, Dunes of Despair (only if you do bonus, otherwise its boring all the way till end),to some extent Aurora and Sanctum if you are newbie.

At NF got some too (Drought, Dashas, Madness ...) but they at least got some missions where its allright (Grand Count, Morah, Abadon) - they challenge you right away and if you fail them you are ready to redo fast without "geeez, i wasted hour on it already" feeling.

Factions missions, even thou they had lame bonuses, got dificulty right - there is never easy & boring part in it.

1) Nahpui quarter- A long mission, you get to the end and then get pwned by all the esscences+star tengu things ><
2) Thunderhead Keep- Again, long mission, everything seems to be going ok and then the annoying bit where you defend the fort and it all messes up
3) Arborstone- Long, boring+hard. Enough said v.v

Huh? eh? *has small heart attack*

no no, don't get up I'll be ok soon....

*5 mins later*

HOW can you not like THK? It's the greatest mission ever! It's great to do for fun now and again. I'm also a fan of the Gate of Madness too.

Personally, my most loathed mission is Jennur's Horde. *shudders*...doing just the mission os tolerable, but when I needed the bonus for Protector...that was SO frustrating.

Ok, since nobody else has mentioned it yet, I'll nominate The Wilds for the worst mission. Especially after the weekend I just spent there!!!

This is not a difficult mission. The fighting is pretty easy all the way thru. However I've just spent an entire weekend pugging this mission with IDIOTS. All I need is the bonus here and no matter how many times you repeat "do not kill the centaurs", "do not kill the centaurs", "do not kill the centaurs"
"Do NOT kill the centaurs!", some jerk will inevitably kill the centaurs.

This is one mission that you are way better off just henching.

Oh, I'll also nominate Ruins of Surmia for the same reason.

Oh god yes. I never played GW until Factions was released...what I want to know is how on earth people worked out how to do some of these bonuses in the first place...for example, WHEN did someone decide to stop and wait at those two centaurs to see if something would happen? There have been a lot of occaisions when some stupid wammo runs in and kills what you're supposed to leave alone...then has the audacity to not understand what he's gone and done...and starts to spam "We do bonus?" several hundred times.

Hmm, i've got two ones that i spent some time with.

Jennur's Horde & Grand Court of Sebelkeh - While both arent technically very difficult but very unforgiving, easy to wipe at. I disliked the capture & hold mission more than the other and those little balls of destruction can quickly overwhelm everyone X). Jennur's HORDE was really that, i think i killed 1000's of margonites before i beat it, wiped alot too. Felt really good when it was done.

Realm of Torment missions didn't make similar expressions, they weren't very bad. Slight offtopic, of all Torment areas Domain of Pain is my least favourite..yes i like getting ganked by Shadows after coming out of portal :O

I found pretty much all of the Factions missions to be rather frustrating, almost every one of them involves protecting someone. I've said this before but, I don't mind failing a mission due to lack of foresight or because I screwed something up, but failing because an NPC got stuck on something and was killed just gets depressing, especially those missions which are quite long and difficult.

I just done the Ring of Fire with my Warrior yesterday too, and although it's a fairly straight forward mission it is so hard to find a decent team there. I guess up to that point it's very easy for new players to just get some help and run right through the game, but once you get to that point, the people who don't really know what they're doing really stick out. Almost everyone there is a Whammo, and it took me three attempts just to find a Ranger that actually knew how to lure out the enemies. I try not to get frustrated at beginers, but geez.. Some of these people need to go back and start again.

I did however really enjoy pretty much all of the Nightfall missions, even the ones that were really hard. Unlike Factions, they weren't frustratingly difficult, but instead made you think about what you were doing, requiring good timing and tactics. I hope the next chapter manages to keep that up.

Ventra Cemetary..just find it extremely boring, can never be bothered 2 do it

We completed Jennur's Horde and the sister Mission Nundu Bay first time. I can get past the 5 Portals in Gate of Madness in record time, kill the Lich no problem, get Shiro down to about 5% and have everybody die due to Impossible Odds. I have a ritualist and a necro through here, but I cannot get the ranger through. I hate this mission as it is an absolute pain. I do not normally study the Wiki to get through missions as I like discovery. I have tried to do this mission so many times that I have got a Black Dye and a Rune of Major Vigor out of it, but as in the words of Golem. "We Hates it."

The mission isn't so tough as long as you bring along a good Necromancer and Mesmer. Spiteful Spirit + Empathy slaughter Shiro.

I would have to totally agree and add that if you do the bonus it makes it so much...So Much easier to kill Shiro with no problem. It would be practically a waste of the mission not to do the bonus because it makes the mission easier.

I have found throughout my exploits collecting all of the protector titles that every mission has its hardships, but the most common problem I seem to have with a large number of them is an ignorant pick-up group. If I'm lucky enough to get in one of those groups we might be lucky enough to get through a quarter of the mission, when henchies would've beat it with masters.
Now I by no means am saying every pick up group is horrible because I've been in groups that can do missions so fluently they are on the level of guild members helping you. But seriously its just the ignorant ones that make any mission harder than it seems to be.

I believe that blinding also works quite well. My Rt is a Spirit Bomber and even though it has no elite spells in the build it is one of my most successful chars. The necro is totally awesome though. (ss, sv, reapers)

I love all the current missions in Gw except 1: Arborstone. The constant Knockdowns really REALLY get on my nerves. The mission itself isnt hard but its just generally annoying, i avoid it whenever possible.

OMG Thunderkeep, i love Thunderhead Keep. Its great Fun and oh so simple and easy, yes it drags a bit near to the end but thats when u can chat to ur teammates or Guildies.

And Aurora is great fun too, Its a mission where Water Eles and mesmers come into there own, pity most partys still prefer to still leave them behind at camp.

Did you just invite yourself to help me edge-walk the Ascalon mission areas?

They're not knock-downs - just interrupts. Mantra of Resolve / Glyph of Concentration ftw..

Great minds..

I went with a random PuG for this once as mesmer...there was a stunned silence when the wammo who told me there was no way I'd be able to solo the demagogue watched as the Bonus Sword went into the shield... Ahh...good times.

But yea, in addition to Jennur's Horde. Any mission town before Borlis Pass I also hate...more because of the "landscape" and depressing background music more than anything.

I'd have to say that almost none of the missions bother me now since I can always find a group (heros). However, here's a list anyways:

Arborstone - When I had first gotten to it, the healer hench could not heal Danika. Loss after loss. I don't remember how I had finally beaten it.

Thunder Head Keep - It's easy sauce now, but I had been in 7 failed pugs when I first got to it. Finally beat it once with henchman.

Sanctum Cay - When I went to finish the bonus the other day, I returned to the Vizer and found that around 25 White Mantle had somehow camped right next to him. Got the bonus, failed the mission. Irritating. If there's a way to avoid this, please tell me. *EDIT: Looking at the posts below, nice people have. Thank you!

Vizunah Square - This mission can be irritating when you're starting on the Foreign side, as you may end up with a PUGed Local team with 15-17 leveled characters, and this ends up making the mission very hard. They need to put a level requirement for this one.

Aurora Glade (bonus) used to be one of the harder missions before nightfall but now it is a cinch when you solo. Just flag your heroes and hench to one of the crystal points while you cap 2/3 crystal points.

I find that I had to try Grand Court of Sebelkeh 3-4 times before I get masters. Then again, 6 minutes for masters I shouldn't be complaining.

The 2 missions that I had a bad time doing masters is raisu palace. I don't know how people can do raisu palace in less than 20 minutes.

Monking masters PUGs at Nahpui Quarter and Grand Court of Sebelkeh, where no one has a plan (or it goes to hell) , and at Gyala Hatchery, where at least one baby turtle usually bites the dust.

Aurora Glade is easy if you're not going for the bonus. The Mantle runners wont fight unless you hit them first, so just put on a run buff (or not, but it takes longer) and go for it.

Well i told u to just gimme a call if u wanted some help or company

Yeah ur probally right, my bad, its been a while since i last did it (mainly cause i dislike it with a fiery Passion)

Post Ascalon is kinda depressing but Pre-Searing memories more than make up for it . As for Jennur's well its not so bad atleast u get plenty of XP from killing all those Margonites

Get the ghost with you.
Get near the deck, and slaughter all White Mantles.
Do not get on the Boat !!!
Bring the ghost to his grave.
Get on the boat.

Done


Otherwise, do bonus first, then get to the vizir who is ganked.
Cast shield of absorption and prot spirit on him as soon as you get close enough to him.
Nuke the WM with Spiteful Spirit.

Works faster, but you need human and preparation.

I strangely have henched mostly all my missions to avoid morons, but there are those times that I'd love to have players on my team just for the heck of it. (Then suddenly I ask myself, "What did I get myself into?" lol).

I believe the missions I hate the most is everything in Nightfall that starts with the two words "Gate of," In Factions, Gyala Hatchery, It just takes too long. I've henched it before but eh, I just wanna get done and get over it. and in Prophecies, "Hells Precipe," because all that time in the final mission and you get nothing. No end game green or end game armor.

But no mission is bad as Urgoz Warren for the fact it takes 5 hours long and the Alliance that owns it at the moment (Seven Deadly Sins) has kept the place dead to the point finding an elite team is impossible. It's usually dead.

Well, the ghost that you need to return to his tomb normally follows the leader of the party in the last part of the mission. He should be able to sneak to the grave site drawing the ghost with him, while the rest is defending the vizier...also you can do the mission and not get on the boat...it will take a while before all the mantle are dead but then you can wait with getting on boat and do bonus first.

First option is preferable as it takes a lot less time.

I actually found the Eternal Grove easy and I completed it with just henchies using my W/Mes. As for the most annoying missions, I absolutely hated the Gates of Madness, because it is so long and you absolutely have to lure every group around the rifts one-by-one, or you just get owned.
The mission in Factions where you have to destroy eight or nine different Construct bosses is just plain irritating, in fact, I found all the Factions missions irritating except the very last one.
Although not a mission, I bought Factions very late (a month or so ago) and I couldn't gain the required 10,000 Faction to proceed from AB, because it was almost empty 90% of the time, so I had to do numerous tedious quests in the Echovald Forest, as I wanted to get Kurzick 1.5k. I'm sure the Luxon quests would have been just as time-consuming.

Uhmm...that must be your interpretation. Did it occur to you that might have something to do with the fact that there rarely is anybody in House zu Heltzer at all anymore, or most any location for that matter. If we have more than a million players I sure wonder where the hell they all are...

Actually, the ghost seems to follow every player that moves like henchmen used do. If there are mostly humans in the team, those who stay defending the dock should try not to move until the ghost is out of range. It's easier playing with henches and heroes, just flag 3-4 of them to defend while you finish the bonus.


None of the missions bother me these days, but I admit that before heroes and flagging it was tough to hench masters in Tahnnakai Temple and Eternal Grove. Hell, it was actually easier to pug them! And Vizunah Square was annoying thanks to the other team. I once messed up too, accidentally killed everyone with an EoE bomb. Was damn funny, thought.

Two very simple words: Sanctum Cay

This is still the only mission that if you do either bonus or mission, the other is immediately F&^$ed beyond belief. I have only successfully completed both in one run on my monk... I was infusing from across the bridge...

At least in Dunes of Despair you can glitch with the transversal/rebirth combination, factions just requires people more then henchmen, I personally hate Raisu Palace but that's because henchmen just still like to aggro more then they can handle... just another problem when your not the warrior.

Actually the ghost stays in a mathematical medium compared to the other NPC allied AI works. This means that if someone is AFK near where the Vizier is handed the scepter, and your defending the docks, he is sitting in the damn smack middle of things. I have sent this in to Anet.. would be great if they fixed it.

All missions including "protect AI player X". There are bad ones and worse ones. I'd nominate Divinity Coast bonus for the most horrible one. No matter how fast you run, every now and then a choosen one is already dead once you get into casting range.

- Xeeron

It's funny how many players kisses up to an alliance, even if they did wrong. Even before Sins took over Urgoz Warren has been always dead, but it's never been even way more dead til Sins took over. Just remember for having as man people as we do in Guild Wars Factions, it's still a small community.

A lot of people stopped going because no one in the alliance that owns House Zu Helzer can care less to be around to ferry the players to Urgoz or/and have a real life, but would rather repeat the Scoutmaster Arne quest 24/7 to keep up an unimportant town.

It's not just an interpretation, it's a known fact either you wish to believe it or not. Urgoz has now become a waste of time thanks to these limited possibilities unless we are having one of them special elite mission events.

Atleast the people who run Cavalon can get the Deep running way better.