Twilight Arbor (story)

Map of Twilight Arbor

“

The Nightmare Court consists of sylvari who turned their backs on the Pale Tree and sought their own cruel purposes in life. Their leader, Grand Duchess Faolain, makes her lair in the Twilight Arbor, surrounded by loyal minions. They have been kidnapping Sylvari for their own nefarious purposes.

— In-game description

The players are met at the entrance of Twilight Arbor, a twisted maze of rocks and roots in the Caledon Forest. This has become the main base for Grand Duchess Faolain, who was once close to Caithe back in the early days of the sylvari.

But Caithe has another relationship to worry about. She is attempting to mend the gap between Logan Thackeray and Rytlock Brimstone. She has invited both to help her, but told neither that the other is coming.

Dungeon information

Your Herald

Aiding Caithe in Twilight Arbor

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Hail, mighty hero!
The stories of you accomplishments have spread far and wide. I have heard from Caithe, who is looking for help in the Twilight Arbor, a nest of Nightmare Court followers north of the Grove. My understanding is that she is going there because another of the Sylvari firstborn, Faolain, has established herself as the Nightmare Court leader, and she feels it is her responsibility. Caithe has always been a loner, first after losing Faolain to the Court and later with the breakup of Destiny's Edge, and I think she is trying to mobilize some new friends against her former oldest ally.

—As always,
Your Herald

Rewards

• 16-26
• 34,580 - 177,000 Experience

Walkthrough

Initial

There are flowers with trapped Sylvari in them throughout the dungeon. More often than not, if you open one you'll get a powerful boon for 2 minutes that will heal you once right before you die. Sometimes, though, you'll have to fight a member of the Nightmare Court. They're easy alone, but make sure you don't open any flowers in the middle of a battle. Try to save them for right before a boss or other hard fight.

Sariel

Sariel has only one dangerous attack: her knockdown combo. She knocks you down so you can't escape, then finishes the combo with enough damage to down most classes. Dodge the knockdown, have someone else crowd control her off you when you get knocked down, or bring a skill that lets you escape knockdown. However, she's not dangerous outside of that combo, so if you get downed just have someone get you up again.

Brangoire

Brangoire is, by a large margin, the hardest fight in the dungeon. He doesn't do much damage by himself, but he summons an endless stream of Living Nightmares. These translucent spiders will chase after you. If they get close enough to a player, they will pause for a moment and then explode, creating a cloud that poisons anyone who walks through it. The poison will do thousands of damage if allowed to run its course. It's essential to keep moving so that the exploding spiders don't damage you. Every player should use a ranged weapon for this fight so that they have freedom to move, and you should avoid relying on abilities that require you to stand still. Essentially, every player will be running around the boss with a train of spiders chasing them and exploding behind them, so the challenge is to keep moving while not running in to another player's spiders or the poison clouds the spiders leave behind. Unfortunately, Brangoire will periodically fear characters, preventing them from dodging and often send them running into poison clouds, so a skill that breaks fear or grants invulnerability is very useful, as are skills that cure conditions. If a player is downed then do not attempt to revive them, because staying still for that long will just get you killed with them (resurrection skills you can use on the move are fine, and a good idea because the nearest waypoint to this fight is a long way away). Thankfully, Brangoire has quite low HP for a boss.

Watch out for the pack of Nightmare Hounds after Brangoire. They do high damage and are enough to wipe an unprepared team. They're melee only, so keep them immobilized, crippled, or otherwise distracted. Don't be too proud to run if you lose control of the battle.

Cadeyrn

Cadeyrn is a chance to relax after the string of hard fights earlier. Just pound on him until he dies. If you get turned into a kitten, kill one of the Nightmare Puppies to return to normal.

In the next area, make sure that you only open flower at a time. Don't put down the essence if you pick it up (it will disapear). Most importantly, there's a pack of spiders down a corridor across from the boss. Try not to aggro them while you're fighting something else, and consider walking down the corridor so you can kill them first. You need 4 essence thrown at him at once to shrink him. Once he's normal sized you can fight him.

Bug:

Moa Transformation is bugged on this boss. The boss reverts to its initial, invulnerable state when the moa form expires.

Faolain

There are four nightmare champions: Logan, Eir, Rytlock and Zojja. Faolain is invulnerable for most of the fight. When a nightmare champion falls, Faolin will attempt to resurrect the fallen champion, but if you deal enough damage to Faolain she will stop. If you fail to stop Faolian she will bring back the fallen champion at full health. Once you stop Faolain from ressing a champion she will not res that champion again, even if you wipe.

The general plan is to focus fire on one champion at a time while controlling or dodging damage from the others. When Faolain attempts to resurrect, focus fire her to stop her. Continue until all champions are dead.

Specific tips:

• Eir
  • Eir's ranged damage is massive and with spread shot she is easily the deadliest. She is also surprisingly squishy, so is a good choice for first target. Any ability that deflects projectiles completely nullifies her.

• Zojja
  • She starts the fight summoning Mr. Sparkles. Mr. Sparkles is more of an annoyance than a threat, but falls quite easily and won't be revived once dead, so you may as well get rid of him quickly. Zojja deals major damage with her only attack which is a slow, easily avoidable Lightning Orb. Simply stay moving and she can't touch you with the orb. Keep in mind when the orb lands, it explodes.

• Rytlock and Logan
  • These guys are handled similarly. They both hit hard, but are melee only, so can be controlled with snares and wards. Rytlock will leap in to melee so is a little more difficult to control than Logan, so is a good choice for second target.

If you have trouble, remember eliminated champions stay eliminated after you wipe. Blow your cooldowns and focus on getting rid of one champion and the fight will get considerably easier, even if you wipe.

NPCs

Allies

Charr

• Rytlock Brimstone

Human

• Logan Thackeray

Sylvari

• Caithe

Foes

Nightmare Court

• Brangoire
• Cadeyrn
• Faolain
• Nightmare Hound
• Nightmare Spider
• Sariel
• Unstable Nightmare Husk

Dialogue

Introduction

Caithe: "Good to see you Logan. Now we can begin"

Rytlock: "Conniving vegetable! You never said anything about HIM being here!"

Caithe: "I asked him to attend. I need all of your help to deal with Faolain."

Player character: "It sounds like this Faolain and you have history."

Caithe: "Faolain is firstborn like me. She's powerful and dangerous, but she wasn't always that way."

Caithe: "When our race was new, we travelled together, her and I. We became close."

Caithe: "We found a great darkness. I pulled back from it. Faolain embraced it."

Caithe: "She seduces others to unspeakable acts. I cannot stop her alone. That is why I need you, and Rytlock, and Logan."

Rytlock: "I will not work with this human. He'll desert us again."

Logan: "I did what I had to do!"

Rytlock: "Then you can do this without me."

Rytlock: "If I see you again, Logan, I will carve you."

Faolain: "Ha ha ha. Hello dearheart! I see your friends have already abandoned you. How does it feel?"

Caithe: "Faolain, it is time to end this madness."

Faolain: "The madness is yours. You rely on others when you know you belong here. With me."

Caithe: "I've moved on."

Faolain: "We shall see, dearheart. We shall see."

Faolain: "Three of my champions are here. I look forward to seeing how you and your remaining allies fare against them."

Faolain: "Caithe, meet my first champion, Sariel."

Sariel: "We've met. She is not worthy of you."

Caithe: "Oh Faolain. What have you done to this poor girl?"

Sariel: "I'm no girl. I am Faolain's chosen."

Faolain: "See how easily you were replaced, dearheart? But say the word and you can be my favorite again."

Sariel: "No! I am your favorite and I always will be. Nothing will ever change that."

Sariel: "I'll kill you Caithe. Slowly and painfully."

Faolain: "You've done well against poor little Sariel, my pet. How will you fare against Sir Brangoire, Knight of the Court?"

Caithe: "I am not some rat in your maze. We were entwined."

Brangoire: "I sense fear in her, Lady Faolain. How delightful. But can she harness it? Are you sure she is worthy?"

Faolain: "Feel free to test her mettle. She'll be up to the challenge."'

Cadeyrn: "So, the firstborn continues her futile quest. Ha ha ha ha."'

Faolain: "Face the truth, dearheart. The Dream is a nightmare. See the world for what it is-episodes of pain ending in untimely death."

Caithe: "Our paths diverged long ago. I chose the Dream of our people. You, a twisted phantasm."

Caithe: "The love I once knew...has died. I won't let you continue like this."

Cadeyrn: "You will regret speaking to the mistress that way."

Faolain: "Here at last, dearheart. Are you prepared to join me?"

Caithe: "I will never be with you."

Faolain: "Not even to be with your friends? Well, they've already made their choice."

Eir: "Join us, Caithe."

Zojja: "This is the only rational choice."

Logan: "We can all be together again."

Rytlock: "Faolain has brought us together. Be with us."

Caithe: "Everyone stands against me. I have no one left."

Player character: "This can't be real. Rytlock and Logan can't stomach each other."

Caithe: "Real or not, we have to deal with them."

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Dungeons