OMG Thunderhead Keep

This mission is unbelievably hard, or I just don’t know how to do it right. I have failed around 20 times now. The pick up groups I have been in could have made it if people hadn’t quit before we were done.

Henchmen don’t seem to work either, but they are at least dependable Naturally, they cannot run the catapults though….

Any strategy suggestions? I have been trying to keep the group in the middle of the fort at the end, but the numbers of enemies always overwhelm us.

I am getting tired of getting right up to the end and then going under....

Stand next to the king and wait for the mobs to come up the stairs. They typically target your party before they target the king. There will be quite a few enemies, it is tough. Getting a good group makes this manageable, but if you don't have a good group just go with henchies.

Please note, this mission has actually become easier (I think). There used to be a monk boss, "XXX the undying" or something like that. He was nuts hard in that the henchies often could not put out enough damage to kill him. Last time I played it I got hit by some necro boss instead that was much easier.

The catapults are helpful, but not necessary.

-Diomedes

That monk still comes.

Really? Wow I guess I just got lucky and he didn't when I did the mission last friday. Perhaps it's random now? I know my first... 8 or 9 times through the mission I only got that monk boss and never saw a different one until last friday. I figured it was updated with the patch.

-Diomedes

Personally I don't find any of the missions in & of themselves difficult. If you have a good team GW is easy cheesy. What makes GW difficult is all the non-teamplayers, the rambos, & the tards.

Find a water ele with maelstrom. Makes the ele and monk bosses SO much easier.

This mission is easy. Either get a group and hold both door ways or stand next to the king with henchies and nuke.

The first time I did this mission we got so board that 4 people left the fort and went exploring the map while the seige was going on. And we beat it.

That's the way to do it, did it first time with a PUG. First we ran together and covered each door, next when spilt up and helped with bosses came in.

Also people seem to forget about the catapolts!

Use them on incoming mobs so they damage before they attack.

Last time I did this I had to run outside, search about, cature a bear and open stuff, and the mission still got completed ok

I don't like the stand near the king. It gets crazy confusing and your casters get hit unless you block them perfectly.

I like to have 4 people manning the catapults until the assaults begin. You can kill almost all of the enemy if you time it well. After the first enemy actually is coming in the door then two pre-arranged catapult operators stay and the other two join the fight. Can't be war's or monks unless that's all you have but any other class.

One warrior assigned to each door, but make sure they stay inside. You can go outside if you have a great group but it's so easy it gets boring if they stay inside. If the enemy comes from the East everyone but the catapult operators go east. The west door warrior included, when the fight stabilizes the west warrrior should go back and cover the west door. He should go back as early as possible, once it's clear they'll win. If there are two monks it should be clear which will support the west warrior if it gets to that. If mobs come he shouldn't actually fight them, just attack them every time they try to come in then move them around until the rest can join him taking as little damage as possible.

If equally hard mobs are coming from both doors don't split equally. Everyone attack the side that doesn't have the monk first. One warrior and a monk fight and run around a lot just to hold the enemy at the other door from going upstairs until the other side is clear and they can join you.

If the monk boss comes don't try to kill him. Kill everyone around him. If you have a mes or secondary mes shut him down while you do. Only try to kill him if he's alone. Don't waste energy on him or you won't have any to fight.

I've done this over 20 times and it works really well. It's one mission that I find impossible to do with hench although I'm sure it's possible for someone. Just not me.

Good point, but if you're just doing it with henchies and you're not an ele that's not an option. He (the monk boss) also seems to knock hexes off of himself very quickly without using remove hex. I'm not sure if he's using a skill for that or what, but I notice things like backfire and migraine vanish off of him much more quickly than they should.

I'll agree that a good group makes the mission easy, but if you can't find a good group (and since he's running this for the 20th time I'm assuming that he can't) I'm just going for practical advice and using henchies.

-Diomedes

Definitely use the Catapults as most mobs will take at least some splash dmg before coming into the fort, other wise just stick up close to the king (as previously stated). The mobs will come to you and you shouldn't have any problems other than the amount of time it takes.
I'd even go so far as to say "don't light the beacons" right off as it now states "to attract more Mursaat, light beacons" where before you lit them to minimize the mobs.

You forgot to tell us you did it while level 2.
Yeah, we're all terribly impressed with your manliness.

oh, if you actually want to BEAT the mission, catch the incoming invaders at the gates. Elementalist AoE will reduce most of them to scrap, and your warriors and rangers take down the ones that make it inside. Traps are great too.

Is there a need to show off and then repeat what I said? No, I was level 20 when I did it. And then I did it as a level 12 E/me. Am I saying this to show off?

I'm highlighting how easy the mission is.

Why do so many whiny, egotistical little punks play this game? (Myself included)

Weird, passed this mission twice now, not that hard, although I wish I got a gold mursaat hammer -_-

It's all a matter of how organized your team is. If you can get 2 people on the ballistas and the other 6 camping the king, it shouldn't be hard. But so few will listen to instructions from people with more experience (like knowing the mission, not XP).

This mission has quickly become a litmus test of teamwork. I have been helping guild mates run this one so often I can close my eyes and picture it. I give a money back guantee this will work. Have to have minimum three human players for the greatest ease....

Have the one player the king is attached to to stay up on the battlement between the stairs in the middle. The other two humans split up run to each side firing both catapults until any of the remaining enemies come thru the gates then you both retreat to the center battlement and wait until the mobs come up to get you. the tighter stairwells make AOE effective and the mobs tend not to use many AOE themsleves so bunching up isnt a real problem for your team. After the remaining enmies are eliminated rinse and repeat with the catapults.

The mission should go like this:

1)Get to the keep (if you cannot even get there, I am so sorry )
2)Clear the keep. This is relatively easy if you only aggro 1 group at a time
3)Have fun with the catapults while the enemy is hanging in the impact area. They wait there for a good while sometimes, and you can get them down to 1/2 or 1/4 health with simply the catapults.
4)When they come to the gate, head them off. If they are coming for both gates, 4 people at each is generally enough to dispel them
5)If one of the gates gets breached, everyone should fall immediately back to the King, and then push the way back out to the gates

If you have a rangers trapping at the gates, that works fairly well. Also, to avoid fire, casters can get up on the battlements directly above the gate. This way, the attacks of jade bows, etc. cannot hit them. In fact, if they try, they are wasting their time and firepower shooting at a wall

On the defense part, there is one key way to win easily: DO NOT LIGHT THE TORCHES!!! Lighting the torches will kill 95% of groupson Thunderhead Keep. However, if you don't light them it is easy.

In fact, when you don't light the torches, you can kill all but 2 enemies using the catapults (I have done so. It requires 0 actual fighting).

actually the torches are vital

they confuse the enemy so you actually get dribbles of 3 max at a time instead of 6

that's been my experience

I'm gonna have to say don't light the torches as well. Not worth the bonus, you get flooded and lose. The strat that worked for me was one mage on each of the catapult stations and a Warrior and a Monk on each of the gates, and the odds and ends divided evenly between the gates. The Catapults can get most of it while the the Warriors clean up what gets through. Communication is key as some gate may be getting pounded while the other doesn't have a single Jade there.

Sorry, but the mission itself states the exact opposite. You are told (for the bonus) to light the torches to lure the enemies away from your stranded dwarf allies. Lighting the torches always increases the enemy numbers significantly and makes Thunderhead Keep nearly impossible to beat without a very good team.

Aye. It says on the quest log "Light the torches to draw more mursaat reinforcements to your position"

my group couldn't light the torches because of a bug. they've might have fixed that by now.
just split your group in half. one monk on each side of course. and yes when people drop your chances of survival is dramatically decreased(not a hyperbole) but still posiible. one guy dropped and we were still able to beat it. GOOD LUCK AND DON'T GIVE UP.

it's weird, but I've never been able to beat thunderhead keep with the torches UNLIT

but when we light the torches my group always wins

My first 3 attempts were failures - due rushers and dead king but the next time we managed to complete it with only helaer - Mhenlo.

I think you should have 2 persons opperating the 4 catapults. That already takes a lot of preassure of the remaining 6 people, and then the bonus shouldn't be too hard.

Those 2 persons should also have non-weapon-damage skills so they can, if necessary, attack from the top without having to leave the catapult.

o_o

Last time I did this it was with my War/Nec (who is now a War/Mes...)

I went with a PUG, 6 people and the healer and protector henchie. Seems like it'll be hard already, right?

We get up to the fort, then two people drop or leave or whatever. So now we're down to 4 people and 2 henchies.

Couldn't get any worse? We get to the final stage where all the mursaat come attacking. Then another person drops. It is 3 people and 2 henchies.

Now, me being the idiot I am, thought that the bonus said something to the extent of "Light the torches to distract the Mursaat." Naturally I thought, hey anything to help us do this mission.

So we keep slugging our way through wave after wave. Almost completely got pwnd by the Giants that appeared. We somehow recovered, then the rest was somewhat simple. Just kept slaughtering wave after wave of Mursaat, but then I thought... "This is taking longer and is harder than I last remember." So at that time I re-read the bonus. Much to my horror and dismay I learned that it made the mission harder.

We did not really use the catapults. We did not use any special tricks. We just killed anything and everything that came our way. And we still beat it.

The point is, the mission isn't really that hard. My friends have complained about it being hard, but I have never had trouble with this mission. Maybe I'm just lucky and got a really nice group, but I don't know.

But since many people are having trouble with this, I will assume that the only reason why people have truoble with this mission is teamwork.

Just make sure someone is calling a target, and everyone is attacking that target. Prioritize targets as well. Take down the biggest threats to your group. Stay close to the king and wait for them to come to you and kill them as they come.

Now I'm not trying to say that the mission is a breeze and everyone who has tried and failed just sucks. I'm saying this is probably the point at which everyone has to learn how to operate as a team (though many get by without ever learning). If you are a warrior, don't bring skills that only benefit you. Bring skills that benefit your party.

Since I was a War/Nec I was using Blood is Power and Healing Signet to make sure the henchies and the other two members in my party had enough energy.

All of you Warrior/Monks out there learn to use Mending not on yourself, but your Monks. They are soft and squishy. You are not. I have made two primary monks. I ascended both and I can't tell you how many times I've seen Warrior/Monks cast that so completely lame spell Mending on themselves. It doesn't do much for them. The monk should be able to keep you alive anyways. Your armor is enough to protect you in PvE. A monk's armor is not enough to protect them. And the few times the Warrior/Monk actually cast Mending on me... I don't know how to thank them enough. Also Warriors, once again you may not be squishy, but monks are. Keep an eye on them. If you see that Jade Armor pwning your monk, stop attacking what you are and switch to that Jade Armor and get it to aggro you instead.

As well as Necromancers casting Blood is Power / Blood Ritual on me. I love you guys! <3 And all their other great buffs!

And Elementalists with wards, much love to you guys too!

And there are lots of other things other classes can do but too many to list!

Just remember, this isn't a single player game. It's a team game and requires team work.

The hardest thing about this mission is finding monks to take along.

lol... I just did it yesterday in 1 try, its easy if u hav 3 warriors, 2 monks (henchies) 1 elem, 1 support healer 4 king and whatever else... all I did.

Well this mission is making me want to quit the damn game.. I've tried 107 times.. the one boss that comes will not die and you can't do damage to it.. I hate this game..

You either need more interruption skills (Yes, maybe even a mesmer! ;O) or bring more damaging skills.

And you don't need to kill the boss right away. When I did it, we saved the Boss till last 'cause he is obviously harder to kill. Take out softer targets first.

Just my input: I did this with bots in the end... I just sat by the king and waited for the enemies to come to me, didn't even use the catapults once.

Did this mission first try with both of my charaters