Trouble with Thirsty River

I have been in about 4 different groups of all level 20 characters, and still cannot beat thirsty river. The group just ends up getting rolled rediculously fast on the last part, where you have to fight 3 teams at once. Anyone have any pointers or suggestions for this one? It is getting maddening.

Only charge between the 2 minute res markers. If you kill half of them and they get ressed, it can get to be a pain.

Actually, you don't have to fight three groups at once. They can be independently aggro'd.

That quest is all about time management and when to strike. Work around the 2 minute ressurection drill. Groups you have not engaged are still alive and therefore not ressurected every 2 minutes. Each group must be engaged and the priest dispatched before 2 minutes is up.

Like most of the game, an unfocused group is rather unsuccessful.

agreed - target 1 group at at a time / kill the initial mob as fast as you can and then target the priest immediately - once he's dead it doesn't matter bout the 2 mins cause those you've killed remain dead.
Then once you've taken out the rest of group one....check timer and engage 2nd group when the next 2min cycle begins so you have the full two minutes to take down that next priest. and so on for the 3rd

Try to get some enemies to attack the ghost King. He can take them down pretty quickly.

The last part with three groups is easy. Just follow the aforementioned timing advice, and take the groups in a counter-clockwise route, starting with the group to your right.

Dicey!! If the ghost dies, you fail the mission.

Thirsty River is actually very easy - if you are with a patient team that knows how to beat it. If you're in with a bunch of noobs - you're in trouble.

First area. Head directly left, and attack the two groups outside, focusing on the snake guys (due to their healing). When the timer gets to about 1:30, if you haven't killed everyone outside already, then everyone rush inside to kill the priest. once the priest is dead, mop up and move to second area.

Second area. Head directly ACROSS from the gate, keeping to the left to avoid aggroing the patrols on the right. Kill everything, but when the timer (again) reaches the 1:30 mark, make sure you head in to kill the priest. Clearing this part can easily be finished around the 2 min mark - if that's the case, then move to the 2nd priest area (to your left as you're exiting the 1st priest's hovel), kill the outside patrols, and make sure you get inside to kill the 2nd priest by the 3:30 mark, to keep him from rezzing at 4:00. After priest is dead, mop up the remaining monsters, clean up the area drops (if any), and move to the 3rd area.

Third Area. From the gate, head RIGHT, sticking to the right hand side, and move in directly to kill the priest. You should be able to do so easily, then simply make a stand inside the area and kill all of the patrols on the outside. Wait for the timer to move past the 2 min mark (either 2 min or 4 minute, however long it takes you to kill the patrols in this section. It usually takes longer than 2 minutes to kill everything, so have patience and wait until 3:45). Do NOT move towards any of the other areas, or kill any outside patrols not associated with the 1st priest until the 3:45 mark. Moving again to the right (as you exit the first priest area) and attack the 2nd priest group outside patrols at 3:50. Move inside and kill the priest, then anything else. Rest and wait for the7:45 mark.

Now, attack the final priest area. Take out the outside patrols, again concentrating on the snake guys. As soon as you can, move inside and EVERYONE hit the priest. It helps if you have a ranger or mesmer along in the group that can disrupt the boss healer (choking gas, distracting shot, backfire, etc) also in the area from healing the priest, but two warriors and an elementalist can kill the priest simply by doing massive damage in a few seconds. Once the priest is dead, mop up.

If you do this right, you can easily kill everything within 10 minutes, and get the bonus.

The key is timing. Always attack the priest no later than 30 seconds (perhaps even 20 in the early stages) before the ressurection timer goes off, and everyone attack the priest with their major damage spells at once.

A guild using TS can do it easily. With PUGs, you need to all follow ONE guy telling you what to do, and pay attention tot he clock - but don't rush anything..

Actually, one of the best ways I've seen this done is by everyone rushing inside the temples and killing the priests, then everyone else.

What happens is, by the time you make it 'into' the temple, most of the mobs are 'outside' the temple and can't attack you because their view is obstructed. This tactic scared the living crap out of me the first time I saw it, but since then, I've tested it 2 more times, and it worked every time.

Note: Still try to pull any stragglers you can before hitting the temple. If you see the whole group aggro'd, THEN rush the temple.

Jasso drops pretty fast if you have a mesmer on your team that can shut him down otherwise he is easily the meanest boss in the game ( I thought that the end-boss was a whole lot easier than that snake-monk). Follow the timing advice given by others. The counter-clockwise method is also crucial. If you have a backfire Mesmer with some mean energy draining abitilities and a few competant elementalists you should be able to drop him.

My biggest piece of advice is to try to LAN or use Teamspeak during Thirsty River. The reason teams get wiped so often in that mission is a lack of proper communication.

Also if somone in your team starts barking orders like Hitler my advice is to fall in line. Even a mediocre leader is better than conflict in that mission.

(Didnt mean to sound repetative in the time it took me post this others had pretty much summed up everything I was trying to say)

Not the ghost in your party, but the King that gives you the bonus mission. If you're not looking to do the bonus, just train some mobs onto him and he'll wipe them out really quickly.

A necro minion master really helps on this mission too. Those little guys can keep the masses busy while you take the priest down.

Killing the priest is actually as easy as having one nuker with two AEO spells.
As soon as the clock reaches 1:40 (or 3:40, 5:40 etc), the nuker moves to the wall of the hut / building that the priest is in.

Tab until you've targeted him, then cast Fire storm and Meteor Strike. One dead priest (provided your fire is at 11 or so).

Also, the one group I was in that succeeded in this mission (2 primary plus my ElMo) wasn't all that well organized, but the mission doesn't actually seem overly difficult. The damage you're getting from the mobs isn't all that great (although 3 monks may have helped with that ), it's just that the ress clock seems to panick people.

The Monk boss was very easy, we didn't even do him last, we killed the right group first ,then before the clock was reset, my group attack the monk boss group. I just rushed in, nuked the priest, and we mopped up from there.

Seriously, one nuker on clock watch / priest killing duty is all you need.

Creston