Crucible of Eternity (explorable)

“

Even in victory there is danger inside the Crucible. The foulness at the heart of the structure is reaching critical mass, and the adventurers must go in to stop it. More importantly, they need to escape from the collapsing complex without losing their lives!

— In-game description

Dungeon Information

Objectives

All paths

• Speak with Agent Spire.
• Escort Agent Spire to the control panel.
  • Escort Agent Spire to the mainframe.
  • Protect Agent Spire.
  • 
  • Investigate the experiment reserve.
  • Find the exit.
  • Talk with Agent Spire about a new escape plan.

Players will be able to vote on how they wish to escape:

• Submarine.
• Experimental teleporter.
• Let's leave by the front door.

Submarine

• Escape the Inquest facility.
  • Navigate the facility.
  • Investigate the experiment reserve.
  • Find the exit.
  • Subject Alpha
  • 
  • Navigate the facility.
  • Navigate the facility.
  • Shut down the laser defense system.
  • Use the security stations to disable the defenses.
  • Shut down the advanced golem.
  • Mark T-B34RC3
  • 
  • Disable the alarm.
  • Security layers bypassed: : x/5[sic]
  • Deal with the remaining Inquest forces.
  • Defeat Subject Alpha.
  • Subject Alpha
  • 
  • Kill the dragon minion.
  • Bjarl the Rampager
  • 
  • Kill Subject Alpha
  • Subject Alpha
  • 
• Use the submarine to escape the facility.

Experimental teleporter

Front door

Reward

• 70% experience for next character level
• 12 - 26 
• 60 Knowledge Crystals (20 for subsequent completions of the same path each day)

Walkthrough

Preparation

Mobility and communication are the keys to survival in this dungeon. Crucible of Eternity is not forgiving to those who are used to standing around. The core of this dungeon tests the player's ability to utilize the dodge's invincibility frames in order to survive as well as teamwork and reflex. Evasion skills must be properly timed, and each path has at least one phase that requires multiple party members to perform simultaneous actions.

Dynamic Event

The dungeon cannot be accessed until the chain of required dynamic events have been completed. Players must assist the pact forces to assault the Infinity Coil in order to enter the dungeon. Players must take over four points of the Crucible before the commander will appear near the dungeon entrance. The battle with the commander takes place on a series of platforms connected by transparent bridges. The commander frequently teleports between platforms. If aggro is not established after he teleports, he will reset and gain back all of his health. The commander can knock players down to the waters below. While this attack is not dangerous, it is annoying and can prolong the battle. It is recommended to have players on different platforms to ensure that the party keeps aggro. Once the commander is defeated, the dungeon is accessible.

Gear

It is recommended to bring a set of melee and ranged weapons in this dungeon. It is possible to complete this dungeon with only melee characters for increased damage output; however, this can make certain paths very difficult.

Skills

Skills that allow a player to evade are very useful, skills that can teleport the player are immensely useful for dealing with Alpha's crystal prison attack (and getting past the lasers), and as well are skills that increase endurance regeneration.

Fighting Subject Alpha

In each path, you will fight Subject Alpha multiple times. Subject Alpha uses several devastating AoE attacks that can easily down a player in one hit. There is approximately a 3 second between the appearance of an AoE indicator and the spell taking effect. You must dodge toward the end of this 3-second window to be safe. There are subtle differences in the skills used by Alpha in the three paths; however, the proper timing of evasion is essential in every case. In addition Subject Alpha can be stunned by killing the Alpha Essences, when stunned he does nothing; this can be chained continuously if his Essences are consistently taken out when they appear.

The Path to the Control Chamber

You will meet up with Agent Spire to help her shut down the Crucible of Eternity once and for all. Escort her through the passage way so she can reach the controls and shut down the building. There will be a few ice elementals and icebrood wolves standing guard. The elementals will have an attack that has two lines of ice forming in a V formation in front of them, anybody caught in it will take massive damage. The wolves can summon more wolves and knock down and attack the players knocked down. It is recommended to have a stun breaker or another player to CC the wolf to prevent further damage. There is a champion icebrood wolf near the end of the passage way with two silver wolves, it is possible to simply run past the champion if the group does not wish to fight. Agent Spire will most likely be killed by the champion wolf if the group decides to skip, simply resurrect her when the wolves return to their position.

Once Agent Spire reached the controls, an ominous announcement will be broadcasted announcing Subject Alpha has escaped. Spire will then accidentally activate the Crucible's defense system which locks the group in. The players must then make a choice between three options trying to escape from the facility.

Path 1: Escape Using the Submarine

The First Encounter

Head south of the control room, you will immediately face Subject Alpha fighting a group of Inquest, Alpha will quickly turn the inquest into thralls and attack the group. Alpha has three main attacks in this stage, first he will cast multiple dragon's tooth which will be marked by a red AoE circle on the group. Simply walk out of these. His second attack is a series of rock spikes shooting in a cone shape in front of him dealing damage. Alpha's third ability is an AoE flame blast that will deal a minor amount of damage but applies a burn condition to anybody hit.

The simplest way to deal with Alpha is for the entire group to get in melee range and bring him down to 50% health - where he will then disappear. As long as the group has the condition removals to remove the constant burn duration and have the ability to side step the dragon's tooth. Alpha will go down in no time.

Progress to the next room that has golems. They are not really difficult but squishies can die easily to some of them.

Lasers room

To pass through the lasers you need 3 people to make it to the end. It is recommended you take off your armor so you don't have to repair if you mess up. There are 2 sets of vertical lasers and a long row of horizontal ones that you have to jump over (these ones never move). The vertical ones stop for long enough for you to get in between the two sets then they go all the way to the other end. Once you get the hang of the speed they go at it really isn't difficult. Once you get 3 people to the other side, synchronize pressing the buttons (5 second window) and it will allow you to progress. Using teleportation skills (such as the thief skill Shadowstep or necromancer's Necrotic Traversal) can help get a head start on the vertical lasers - similarly, if a mesmer has Portal Entre and can make it to the other side, the other two team members can pass through with ease. Note that there are 2 panels on the side you start on that also need to be sync pressed, so you need your full team to progress. The two panels on the other side close to each other can be activated simultaneously by one player. This can be helpful when only two of the five players can get across safely.

Mark T-B34RC3

This Golem is in the next room. He has 4 turrets, Retaliation, Cleansing, Regeneration, and Protection. You can choose to kill them to make him weaker (they respawn every so often) or just focus him. He shoots AoE stun (much like Static Field and also shoots out purple projectiles that knock down and can down someone (though they are easy to dodge). He also "Stuns and Burns."

Exploding Golems

You move on to a big room with a control panel in the middle. Lots of normal golems will spawn. They put a red ring of explosion around them and self destruct. You will have to have one person channel the middle control panel for 10 or so seconds without getting exploded. Also elite golems spawn after each time you use the control panel. Kill all of them and then use the control panel again. As long as the person doing the control panel has support from the team it is easy to do this room. You must use the control panel 5 times. You finally get a chest after completing it.

Surviving Inquest

In the following room, there is a group of dragon minions surrounding Inquest protected by a forcefield. You will get the option to either save the Inquest members, or to explode the shield killing both Inquest and the dragon minions.

If you chose to save the Inquest, you can pull some of the dragon minions out to where the chest is and kill them in smaller groups. Subject Alpha comes back in this room after all hostiles are killed regardless of your choice. He still spawns the Risen (the Inquest becoming Risen if you killed them), and utilizes the attacks of the first encounter as well. He now can entomb you in a Prison Crystal as well, which deactivates all animation-causing skills (shouts and other instant skills can still be used) - to get out of this bring something like Judge's Intervention or Arcane Blast. He also summons Undead Tendrils around. He will disappear at 25% health this time. By saving the inquest, you get the option to manually explode the shield to damage Alpha. Doing this will automatically take down 50% of his health, meaning you only need to deal 25% to proceed to the next phase.

Bjarl the Rampager

He has Scales of Jormag, which makes him take very little damage from attacks. He charges people too. If he charges into a pillar he will lose Scales of Jormag for a time, so you can do full damage to him. To do this effectively, everyone can just stands on one side of him on stairs, so when he charges he always hits the pillar and keeps the Scales off. This is not always possible however, because he spawns frost AoE on the ground that can down not-tanky people. There is a chest after killing him.

Subject Alpha

Subject Alpha is the final boss. He does all of the same things as he previously did, except more frequently now (with the exception of spawning Risen, which are less frequent). He has a lot of life and occasionally spits out parts of him called Alpha's Essence, that will run back to him quickly and heal him. It is possible to target them and kill them before they go back to minimize the amount they heal. It is very important to make sure your stun breaking skill is always up. Frequently you can get entombed within 20 seconds of getting out. He is moderately difficult but with teamwork and efficient use of stun breaking it goes smoothly.

He can be bugged by hiding behind the boxes immediately to the left of the entrance and attacking him with 1200 range attacks. Stand right in the little crevice formed by boxes.

Path 2: Escape using the Experimental Teleporter

Like the path from Option 1, you will encounter Subject Alpha in the room after choosing the path. However, one of his attacks, the line of earth spikes, is replaced with a large AoE ice and earth spike attack. Similar to Option 1 path, simply walk out when he uses the Dragon's Tooth attack, and dodge when using the alternative attack as it deals higher damage. Other than this, the fight is exactly the same.

Similarly, you will encounter the lasers room and Mark T-B34RC3, which is completely the same as Option 1.

Towards Green Lab

After the fight with Mark T-B34RC3, you will head towards the center of the Crucible of Eternity, and head up stairs. There will be multiple Risen here, including a Champion Risen Abomination. This champion acts like most Abominations, though hits harder. It is best to keep a distance from him as the more times he hits something, the more frenzy builds up making him attack and move even faster.

After the stairs, you will encounter Subject Alpha again in a room with a bunch of crates. He will have all the attacks of the first encounter, plus the same additions as Option 1's second encounter - spawning regular mob risen, Undead Tendrils, and Prison Crystals. He'll disappear at 25% health.

Experimental Green Lab

After the second encounter with Subject Alpha, there will be various Nightmare Court husks and Nightmare Hounds. Fighting these are fairly straightforward, and the biggest obstacle is their knockdown. They will also be surrounded by Volatile Blossoms which spread poison.

Once within the Experimental Green Lab, you will fight a champion Evolved Husk. This creature is purely stationary, however has a very high health. It will use a PBAoE bramble like attack in melee, so it is advised to purely use ranged attacks. It will also spawn various vine objects that bleed when touched - these can be destroyed, but will respawn in time. During the fight there will be various gun environmental weapons around the room, and various exploding golemites. Use the guns to control the golemites towards the Evolved Husk to do strong damage. The best strategy would be to have three team mates using the guns on the golems, while the other two focus on ranged attacks on the spawned vines and Husk itself. Using healing or utility skills which remove bleeding is also helpful.

Avoid using the gun on golemites as they spawn, as the guns' effects to move the golemites towards the Evolved Husk is limited in time and after the initial use, the golemites are less responsive.

Subject Alpha Returns

After the Evolved Husk, Subject Alpha will spawn in the next - and last - room. He will have all the attacks as before, with the exception of spawning Risen, and will use the Prison Crystal skill more frequently (possibly the others as well). Similar to Option 1, he will spawn mulitple Alpha's Essences across the room which will run back to him and heal him. - though this is fairly rare. Unlike the first two encounters, his health must be brought down completely to be beaten.

Path 3: Escape through the Front Door

As in path 1 and 2, you will face Subject Alpha. Alpha does not use the "Dragon's Teeth" ability seen in other paths, but it uses the same earth, frost, and crystal prison attacks. The laser room and Mark T-B34RC3 phases are identical to Path 1.

Subject Alpha, Round 1

After choosing your dungeon path, you will fight Subject Alpha in a large room while Risen mobs constantly spawn. The fight ends when Alpha's health is at approximately 25%.

• Subject Alpha's AoE attacks are devastating and can easily down a player in one hit. Properly timing your dodges is essential.
• When AoE circles appear, dodge or use an evasion skill after a 1 second delay. If you are near the edge of an AoE circle, run to safety instead. This will save your endurance.
• Quickly try to revive players downed by AoE attacks. The next volley will usually finish them.
• Stack on Subject Alpha and unload everything you have.

Lasers room

To pass through the lasers you need 3 people to make it to the end. It is recommended you take off your armor so you don't have to repair if you mess up. There are 2 sets of vertical lasers and a long row of horizontal ones that you have to jump over (these ones never move). The vertical ones stop for long enough for you to get in between the two sets then they go all the way to the other end. Once you get the hang of the speed they go at it really isn't difficult. Once you get 3 people to the other side, synchronize pressing the buttons (5 second window) and it will allow you to progress. Using teleportation skills (such as the thief skill Shadowstep or necromancer's Necrotic Traversal) can help get a head start on the vertical lasers - similarly, if a mesmer has Portal Entre and can make it to the other side, the other two team members can pass through with ease. Note that there are 2 panels on the side you start on that also need to be sync pressed, so you need your full team to progress. The two panels on the other side close to each other can be activated simultaneously by one player. This can be helpful when only two of the five players can get across safely.

Mark T-B34RC3

This Golem is in the next room. He has 4 turrets, Retaliation, Cleansing, Regeneration, and Protection. You can choose to kill them to make him weaker (they respawn every so often) or just focus him. He shoots AoE stun (much like Static Field and also shoots out purple projectiles that knock down and can down someone (though they are easy to dodge). He also "Stuns and Burns."

Cannon Fight

You will move into large room and be told to defend a cannon near the center of it. Small bomb golems (S-type) will spawn and run toward the cannon. Additional larger golems will spawn as the cannon's charge grows. Simply prevent the small golems from reaching the cannon while kiting the larger ones.

• Bomb golems dig into the ground and become immobile before detonating. Attacking or running near them can cause them to dig in prematurely.

Champion Risen Abomination

After the door and golems are destroyed, a Champion Risen Abomination and two Risen Putrifiers will spawn on the stairs beyond. The Putrifiers pull players toward them, while the champion frenzies and and regenerates HP.

• Kill the putrifiers first.
• Do not let the Abomination hit you and build frenzy. Its frenzy can be removed similar to the removal of frenzy on normal Risen Abominations found throughout Orr.
• The edge of the room is elevated, and there are four pillars at each corners. If you have aggro from the Abomination, run up the staircase, around a pillar, and then jump off the ledge back to the central area. The Abomination will backtrack and buy you time to escape.

The Stairs

Proceed up the ramps, you will be rushed by a large group of normal Risen Thralls and two Risen Plague Carriers. Moving up further there are three Risen Berserkers and one Risen Wraith that can be killed without much difficulty.

• AoE works nicely here.
• Risen plague carriers explode.

Subject Alpha, Round Two

This battle takes place in a more confined space than your first encounter with Subject Alpha. In addition to his previous attacks, Subject Alpha will imprison players in crystals and summon undead tendrils.

• Use the same strategy as in the first fight: equip evasion skills, stack on Subject Alpha, and time dodges when AoE warnings appear.
• Quickly kill crystals to free trapped teammates. AoE attacks work best.
• Do not focus on tendrils unless they start to congest the map. If you are downed, quickly target a tendril with low HP and attack it. The tendrils are weak and may give you a chance to rally before Alpha finishes you.

Destroyers

After you defeat Subject Alpha, you will move through several rooms and tunnels filled with destroyers and fire traps. The first room contains a swarm of destroyer crablings. The second room contains a veteran destroyer troll and a destroyer harpy. Kill the harpy first. As you continue through the tunnel, you will encounter a Champion destroyer crab.

• Avoid the fire traps. They deal direct damage and inflict a long-duration burning status.
• While the champion crab can usually be skipped without consequence, running past the other destroyers is not recommended. It is possible to skip all of the destroyers, but this requires multiple speed buffs and a bit of luck. Any player defeated in the Experimental Subject fight will be forced to run a gauntlet of enemies alone.

Experimental Subject

This fight takes place in a large room with a central lava lake. The boss stands on an island in the lava and is protected by a shield. The shield prevents damage and knocks back players attempting to enter. Floating red platforms lead down to the boss. Three cannons around the perimeter of the room are trained on the boss. These cannons must be used simultaneously to bring down the boss's shield, although precise timing is not required. Simply have one player on each cannon constantly firing until the shield goes down. Once the shield is down, the easiest way to dispose of the boss is have the entire party rush in and damage him as much as possible before the shield comes back up. Ranged classes can hit from the top, but melee classes will have to jump down using the floating platforms and be prepared to run through lava to get back up once the shield starts flickering. Alternately, there is a bit of space on the boss platform between the lava and the shield, but players standing here will still be targeted by Dragon's Teeth with no room to evade. The boss does not regenerate damage, so downed players can simply respawn and run back between attacks.

Subject Alpha, Round 3

This is the final fight. Subject Alpha retains all previous abilities and uses them more aggressively. Black "essences" will periodically spawn and attempt to run to Subject Alpha. If the essences reach Alpha, the boss will heal.

• Use the same strategy as in the first fight: equip evasion skills, stack on Subject Alpha, and time dodges when AoE warnings appear.
• Use immobilization and AoE to destroy the essences

NPCs

Allies

• Agent Spire
• Corrupted Quaggan

Foes

• Alpha's Essence
• Bjarl the Rampager
• Champion Destroyer Crab
• Champion Icebrood Wolf
• Champion Undead Abomination
• Destroyer Crabling
• Destroyer Harpy
• Destroyer Troll
• Evolved Destroyer
• Evolved Husk
• Flametouched Husk
• Icebrood Colossus
• Icebrood Elemental
• Icebrood Troll
• Icebrood Wolf
• Mark J Assault Golem
• Mark K Assault Golem
• Mark K Battle Golem
• Mark T-B34RC3
• Mark P Support Golem
• Mark S Bomb Golem
• Mark XXX Juggernaut
• Nightmare Hound
• Nightmare Husk
• Orrian Gorilla
• Risen Devastator
• Risen Thrall
• Subject Alpha
• Torrential Husk

Objects

• Volatie Blossom

Dialogue

Initial dialogue

Agent Spire: "Who are-great. The Pact sent bodyguards. I already told them it's as simple as pressing a button."

Sodou: "Not anymore. Something has gone wrong with the security system. Your superiors sent us to protect you."

Agent Spire: "Charming. If you can keep up, you're welcome to come along, but nothing's stopping this place from getting locked down."

Agent Spire: "A few minutes worth of work, and we'll be laughing about this over drinks in Lion's Arch."

Agent Spire: "All right, let's go. Sooner we lock this place down, the better."

Intercom: "Attention!"

Intercom: "Subject Alpha has escaped!"

Agent Spire: "Keep moving. I don't want to be buried here."

Intercom: "Quarantine in effect."

Agent Spire: "Stand back. Watch me push a button. Oooh, maybe I'll flip a lever."

Intercom: "Attention!"

Intercom: "Secuity protocols engaged. Lockdown measures are now in effect."

Agent Spire: "Well, there goes my exit plan. Listen: there are three contingency plans for escaping this site."

Agent Spire: "We can fight our way to the front door and seal it behind us."

Agent Spire: "I can radio in for a submarine. I know a weak point that'll make a great exit."

Agent Spire: "There's an Inquest teleportation lab. Get me there and I'll wire up a way out of this funhouse."

Agent Spire: "Decision time. Which one can you handle?"

Submarine path

Agent Spire: "Submarine, huh? Someone likes the smell of engine grease."

Agent Spire: "It's weakening! Pour it on!"

Intercom: "Attention!"

Intercom: "Quarantine is now lifted."

Agent Spire: "That's the second ugliest thing I've ever seen."

Approaching the laser defense system

Intercom: "Attention!"

Intercom: "Lethal defense measures online."

Agent Spire: "Don't worry. It's just basic security measures."

After passing laser defense system

Intercom: "Attention!"

Intercom: "Security measures offline."

Agent Spire: "Did they pay her by the word?"

Intercom: "Attention!"

Intercom: "The cafeteria is now closed."

Approaching Golem Control Console

Intercom: "Attention!"

Intercom: "Intruders detected!"

Intercom: "Security golems now activated."

Intercom: "Security Protocol Two activated."

Intercom: "Attention!"

Intercom: "Security measures offline."

Intercom: "Attention!"

Intercom: "Biological anomaly detected."

Inquest Emergency Specialist: "Don't let them get through!"

Agent Spire: "Look who got caught in their own trap. (laugh)"

Overloading shield generators

Agent Spire: "Stay back! It's gonna blow!"

Inquest Emergency Specialist: "No. No! Nooo!"

Second Subject Alpha encounter

Agent Spire: "Watch out!"

Intercom: "Attention!"

Intercom: "Anyone failing to locate to a safe zone risks dismemberment, death, immolation, electrocution, demotion, and more."

Upon defeating Bjarl

Agent Spire: "We're almost there!"

Third Subject Alpha encounter

Agent Spire: "It's back!"

Agent Spire: "Get it before it gets away again."

Upon defeating Subject Alpha for the third time

Agent Spire: "The sub's coming. Or if you'd like, you could treat yourself to a very long swim."

Agent Spire: "I should have remembered there's nothing easy about an Inquest base."

Agent Spire: "Heh. It'll be fitting if the sharks inherit this place after we flood it."

Agent Spire: "All right, get ready. We're all going for a boat ride."

Agent Spire: "Get to the submarine! Hurry!"

Front door path

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Dungeons

Ascalonian Catacombs	(story • explorable)	Caudecus's Manor	(story • explorable)
Twilight Arbor	(story • explorable)	Sorrow's Embrace	(story • explorable)
Citadel of Flame	(story • explorable)	Honor of the Waves	(story • explorable)
Crucible of Eternity	(story • explorable)	The Ruined City of Arah	(story • explorable)
Fractals of the Mists