Thunderhead Keep frustration

I have now tried this mission 15 unsuccessful times. About half of the time I have been in a group that was never going to succeed; either no discipline, poor makeup or poor planning. The other times I am pretty pissed off about. I am playing a monk/mesmer that is wearing good armor, and has been infused. I am also seeing a whole lot of other folks not able to finish this mission.
I have seen the other posts about how this mission should be played and what should be done but I am having a great deal of trouble believing that this mission is not bugged. After following the suggestions and playing in the manner recommended the groups I am playing in always seem to get clobbered by the mursaat.
I am willing to listen to any advice I can get as to what I am doing wrong or what can be done to combat the mursaat and their spectral agony skill which just beats me & my teammates every time.
Suggestions?

When the spectral agony hits, how much damage are you taking anyhow?

I am hoping you are infused. If you need help look me up tonight IGN is Kwai Jane Kaine. I will help you through this one. It is tricky but can be done as long as everyone uses some strategy and works as a team.

Also look for Canus Major sometime after 9:00 Pacific, if you're on then and still need a hand. The PUG group I was in last night breezed through the mission, it's not terribly hard. I asked about the damage when agony hits becuase it sounds like you may not be as infused as you think... have you bought new armor since infusing?

i can help. just msg me in game.

pm'd u my IGN

Do this. Make your own group. The most ideal group I belive you can possibly have is 3 warriors, 2 elementalists, 2 monks and 1 either support necro or ranger. Call targets, and dont go in the battle unprepared. During thunderhead keep, keep your whole group in the center with the exception of 2 people; your nukers. they can man the catapults. Have them call targets when they see people off the horizon. If its too hard, make sure no one lights the 2 torches on the sides of the keep, because its the bonus and it attracts more enemies. Stick together and dont use res's that disable skills IE rebirth. make sure your 2 monks are either a necro or mesmer secondary at the least, with your build you can either fill in the support slot or a healer spot. And well... if you still cant do it. I'll come in and do it myself and help you out. Ill be home in 2 hours. Give it a try, if you dont reply, ill try and get a hold of you. Good luck and good murrsatt fraggin. =)

If you're fortunate, get a trapper ranger. Fun at the stairs/gates.

Definatly!! I did this one on my second or third char and we had 2 trappers with us they just trapped the crud out of the 2 entrances when we called a side. The poor saps that werent dead from ballistae fire just dropped at the gates.

Your salvation is right there. My elementalist took 15+ tries to beat this. My monk took one try. Monks are special because they can join any team they want. Wait until a group has about 6 members already. When you get an invite from them, scan their list of players and see if it is a balanced group. Then perhaps ask them their course of action and if they have any mission experience. If they don't, move on to the next team.

Anyone being seriously damaged by spectral agony is not infused. It should only take off 9 each time.

i beat this mission first try on my ranger dnt know why lol and know i am having trouble on my warrior i have also tried it 15+ times and if u are willing to help me through it plz pm me ~ivana smashu

Thunderhead, more than any other mission imo - takes a really bossy leader. Someone has to ORDER everyone around. Up until the Siege it's relatively simple apart from keeping King Kamikazi-hammer alive (Mending helps, but remember to stop it before you fight the Arcanists, they'll only Shatter it).

Once you're inside - there are 3 things you need to establish.

1. NO-ONE TOUCH THE TORCHES. From my experience, all they do is waste time.
2. 1 Caster on each set of Ballistae - only 1 on each, no more, no less. I find Necros/Elementalists best suited for this - they can still help with fights at the gates from above. These should shout "EAST" or "WEST" respectively when mobs make it past the ballista fire.
3. EVERYONE else stays in the middle near to where you kill Dagnar. Everyone moves as a group to take out the mobs that arrive (as determined by the Ballista crew calls) - but DO NOT move outside the fort. Ideally you should engage them at the base of the stairs - through the gate, meaning you can get to the other side of the fort quick enough.

Hope that helps - it's a bitch of a mission, quite possibly hardest in the game.

Also, agree on a emergency call for everyone to stop what they are doing and run to the King if necessary.

Hopefully it should never come to this. Chances are, if the Mursaat have reached the King - you're in deep trouble regardless of if everyone gets there or not.

Heh, i feel your pain. I failed this mission plenty [still failing] of times and i'm the monk. At least i've leveled my pet from 5 to 18 just repeating this mission. We've almost always failed it when the Jades/Mursaat arrived. I think this mission would've been alot more fun if it wasn't for the "easy-very-long-boring" initial part getting to the fort, i can practically do that with my eyes close by now. Nothing more annoying than cakewalking over everything and then loosing in the final minute becuase of one mob.

Either they wipe our team right there in the middle [one of those mobs, i think it's the jades do some sort of 150+ damage thing on me , on top of the -9 damage from spectral agony] or a Jade slips through and gets to the King before we notice..and sadly the King dies VERY fast against those guys.

But i'll get there i guess, meantime i'm using it as my personal farming ground :P

I'd disagree somewhat. While you shouldn't actually let the mobs pound on the king, standing next him and just killing things as they come up the stairs is one of the easier ways to beat the mission (it worked for my monk with henchmen, should be even easier for a team of humans).

the best way to do this is get a bunch of guild mates together and use some sort of internet chat thing. Theres free ones like skype. Thats how I did mine. My guild mates communicated with me and the other teamates and we did the mission quite simply. Like previous people said, make sure your group is FULLY infused, and make sure you have a good balance. You only need 2 Wars, 2 nukers, 2 monks, a mesmer and a ranger works well. Stay in the middle and have the people on the catapults yell east or west. Depending on where the mobs are coming, the other 6 ppl shift sides to attack. A domination mesmer is REALLY nice for shutting down those mursaat as people have problems with them mostly.

You're right, it is like 10X easier when you are the monk, because you control whether people live (if you are watchful and know what you're doing). I dread doing this mission with my mesmer =/

Perhaps it is the Jade that really do the damage but I DO know that I am infused because I went through the infusion mission twice just to make sure. I also am able to see the word infused on my armor when I place the cursor over it.
Thanks to you folks that have offered to help. I may look you up tonight.

Best way I've done it now, for many characters in my guild and in my and my wife's account:

All stay near the KING.

There are 4 ways to him, the two close stairs and the ways past the cats. If they get past the blast range of the cats, the caster on them just moves a short distance back to the main group. All paths lead to the king at the throne. It keeps him in range of the healers right away and at the later parts when you have two groups, one from each side, it's easier when they all come to the same spot to fight you at the middle, and top. Also on the stairs, they are lower then you, so for the rangers and that, you get the high ground bonus for your arrows and such.

Works like a charm.

Oh, and they're right... leave the bloody bonus alone, don't light the torches. Three times the mursaat is not fun.

I know the best way to do it.. First USE HENCHMEN : They listen better and stay together ( FF too ) - Find a Trapper ( Back-up ) .. After you take over the town and try to take over the fort kill the guys near the right cata's and then kill dagnar and the other guys in the middle then go to the left cata's and fire it at the groups outside the gate .. Much easier like that.. then attack the guys in the middle where jalis goes.. THEN .. Go to the middle ( all the henchmen follow you there ) - Dont do bonus - let the trapper set some traps and then as the small easy groups come kill them one by one.. Then as the bosses and Jade's start coming in really fast lure both groups coming from both sides towards the middle so they dont go straight for Jalis.. Keep repeating ( traps , lure , kill ) Until you beat the mission - I've had the same problem but my friend told me that he almost beat it with henchmen so i tried it with him and a trapper and beat it easily