Herald of Balthazar

Herald of Balthazar

Race

Forged

Level

80

Rank

Champion

Location

Sparking the Flame
(The Sinking Ruins, Mekele Bluffs, Free City of Amnoon)
Night of Fires
(Sifuri Sand Sea, Mekele Bluffs, Elona Reach, Forged Foothold)
The Sacrifice
(Tomb of the Primeval Kings, Salt Flats, Brightwater Inlet, The Sunderlands, Diviner's Reach, Stampede Uplands, Auburn Hills, Lifeblood Ravine)

“

There's little I hold in higher regard than loyalty.

— Herald of Balthazar

The Herald of Balthazar is the champion of the Forged army. Her role in the Forged is to speak for Balthazar and to lead his campaign against the Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik, as well as to persuade the Pact Commander to join the ranks of Balthazar's army. Cold and calculating, the Herald of Balthazar will not hesitate to slaughter anyone standing in her and her master's way.

Biography

Early years

In life, the Herald of Balthazar was once Devona, born in Rin in the Kingdom of Ascalon. She was the daughter of Mordakai who fought in the Third Guild War and died in 1052 AE in the Battle of Khylo when Devona was five. Always inspired by her father, she became a captain of the Ascalon Army at the age of 22 prior to the Searing in 1070 AE. Like Mordakai, she joined the Ascalon's Chosen guild. During her service as captain, she was in charge of protecting the village of Ashford from threats, primarily dealing with grawl and bandits. She even spent time teaching Gwen, still a child, how to fight. Following the Searing, she became known for fighting off entire charr warbands with only a little support. During these times, she joined with Mhenlo, Cynn, Aidan in fighting against the charr. At one point, the group was being chased by charr through a graveyard, where they first encountered Eve who would then join them on their adventures.

When Prince Rurik was exiled from Ascalon by his father, King Adelbern, in 1072 AE, Devona and her friends, including the Hero of Ascalon, joined the prince and his like-minded followers in the Ascalonian migration to seek refuge in the Kingdom of Kryta. They had to deal with the hostile Stone Summit dwarves while uncertain of the Deldrimor dwarves' friendliness, and hunted down deserters from their own ranks who had stolen invaluable supplies which they needed to survive the long trek east. After arriving in Kryta, the group got involved with the White Mantle ruling the kingdom in King Jadon's absence. They aided the Mantle with protecting the Scepter of Orr and Temple of the Unseen from the undead and were tasked with performing the test of the Chosen with the Eye of Janthir on people with magical potential in Loamhurst When Markis betrayed the Shining Blade rebels who had been opposing the White Mantle, and the truth about the Mantle's tyrannical plans became evident, the group fled to the Crystal Desert seeking Ascension in order to face the treacherous White Mantle and its mursaat masters. After Ascending, they fought against the White Mantle, the mursaat, and eventually killed Vizier Khilbron atop the Bloodstone at the Ring of Fire alongside the Hero of Ascalon.

Later that year, Mhenlo received a letter from his old master Togo requesting assistance in Cantha. When asked if she would join, Devona replied that there was no question about it, as loyalty demanded she joined her friend. While in Cantha, she often butted heads with both Mhenlo and Togo due to her nature and experience in leading the group, despite being unfamiliar with Cantha, and she was often at odds with both Cynn and Lo Sha. She assisted Mhenlo and the Hero of Cantha in recruiting the Kurzicks to their aid, and helped in confronting and defeating Shiro Tagachi and saving Emperor Kisu's life from the treacherous assassin, though Master Togo died in the effort.

In 1075 AE, Devona was among the Tyrians to respond to Spearmarshal Kormir's call for assisstance after a group of torment demons invaded Lion's Arch. Upon learning that Kournans led by Warmarshal Varesh Ossa were planning treacherous actions that could threaten the fate of all of Elona and the world, they joined Kormir and the Order of the Sunspears to thwart Varesh's ambitions. However, after the failed assault on Gandara, the Moon Fortress which cost many Sunspears' lives and forced them on the run while the Kournan military's hold on Elona tightened, Devona assisted the Hero of Nightfall and the Sunspears in recruiting the Velderunner centaurs, the Order of Whispers, and Vabbian Princes to their cause as they attempted to stop Varesh from calling forth Nightfall and freeing the fallen god Abaddon. This conflict eventually led to the group allying with the returned lich Palawa Joko in order to catch up to Varesh and slay her. However, they were too late to stop Varesh's ritual and witnessed the beginning of Nightfall which would merge Tyria and the Realm of Torment, unleash countless demons across Elona and the rest of the world, and free Abaddon if the mad god was not stopped. The heroes rushed into the Realm of Torment and reached Abaddon's prison after facing many hardships, including a clash with the spirits of Vizier Khilbron and Shiro Tagachi who had pledged themselves to the fallen god. The final confrontation led to Abaddon's defeat, giving way to Kormir replacing the fallen god and ascending as a new Goddess of Truth and ending Nightfall.

When sudden earthquakes occurred across Kryta in 1078 AE, Devona and her friends investigated a crevasse that appeared outside Lion's Arch, where they encountered destroyers for the first time and fled to the Far Shiverpeaks. While the group assisted the Hero in recruiting the Ebon Vanguard, asura, and norn in fighting the destroyers, Devona partook in Magni the Bison's fighting tournament. Though allied with the rogue charr Pyre Fierceshot and his warband as allies against the destroyers and the Flame Legion who were using the worship of the destroyers to keep the charr loyal to the shaman caste, she could not forgive the charr for the war in Ascalon and the Searing. After The Great Destroyer's death, Devona had begun contemplating retiring, and a year later at Gwen and Kieran Thackeray's wedding, once more considered settling down. It is unknown if she ever did, or lived the rest of her life adventuring.

Following the end of her mortal life, Devona's spirit entered the Mists and ended up in the Fissure of Woe along with other worshippers of Balthazar, the God of War and Fire. She fought against the Shadow Army of Balthazar's half-brother Menzies during the Eternal Battle. Devona was inspired to join the Eternal Army by the leader of a battalion of Eternals in the Burning Forest of the Fissure of Woe.

Path of Fire

At an unknown point in time after Balthazar had broken free from the Mists where the other gods had left him imprisoned and depowered after his outburst, the disgraced God of War sought out his Eternals, including Devona. He drafted them into his new Forged army to aid him in his quest for revenge against the gods and to absorb the magic of the Elder Dragons to achieve his ends. Thanks to the knowledge he had gained with Palawa Joko in Kesho about how to use the Exalted creation process to forge his army for his crusade, Balthazar placed the souls of his spirit followers into special armor that allowed them to serve him as physical entities in the corporeal world. Those who did not join the former god's cause willingly were tortured into submission, and even Devona got to witness her master's wrath until she would follow his orders without question.

While the leader of the battalion who had inspired Devona to join the Eternal Army became a Forged general who would lead Balthazar's forces in the south of the Crystal Desert, Devona was chosen to become the Herald of Balthazar and aid in drafting more people into the Forged either by persuasion or force. She fulfilled her duties diligently and without mercy, killing anyone who tried to resist her master, thus increasing the number of souls Balthazar could harvest for his army. She named her hammer Mordakai in honor of her father.

In 1330 AE, the Pact Commander arrived to the Crystal Oasis and witnessed the Herald's raiding party attacking a nearby village. The Herald offered the Commander a chance to join Balthazar's army, but the two ended up fighting when the Commander refused her offer. She, in turn, ignored the Commander's suggestion to stop being Balthazar's puppet and eventually left, promising to meet with the Commander again.

The second encounter took place in the Temple of Kormir after the Herald had learned of the Commander's party raiding one of the Forged war camps. The Commander ignored the Herald's offers once more and fought against her to prevent her from killing the people in the temple. Facing fierce resistance from Dragon's Watch, Shadows Agent Kito and the locals, the Herald was forced to flee through a portal.

The Herald accompanied a battalion of Forged troops to the Desert Highlands where they and Balthazar fought against Vlast, one of the scions of the dragon Glint whose power Balthazar needed to take down Vlast's grandsire, the Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik. Although Vlast initially defended himself against the Forged, Balthazar and the Herald eventually cornered him at Godfall Tower and struck him down. While the God of War faced the dragon, the Herald confronted the Commander's party who had arrived on the scene. The Commander ultimately prevailed in the ensuing battle. The fatally wounded Herald, who was already struggling with the atrocities she had committed in the name of Balthazar, realized the strength and dedication of her opposition and that the Commander might be able to end Balthazar's bloody campaign. With her dying breath the Herald urged the Commander to prove that they were stronger than Balthazar and kill the rogue God of War.

Story involvement

Path of Fire story

• Act 1
  • Sparking the Flame
  • Night of Fires
  • The Sacrifice

Combat abilities

Abilities

• Resilient
• Explosive Strikes
• Flame Shield

Effects

- Only during The Sacrifice

•  Mantle of Flame
•  Swiftness - When retreating.

Skills

• Fiery Swing - Default melee attack. Is followed up by a Fiery Slash.
• Fiery Slash - Melee attack.
• Herald's Doom - Very high damaging hammer attack with a cone-shaped area of effect and a long activation time.

Additional skills during The Sacrifice

• Fiery Bolt - Ranged fireball attack that inflicts  Burning.
• Fire Storm - Channels a circular spinning wall of flame.
• Firewave - Small explosion. Most of the combat area will be covered in Firewaves while Fire Storm is channeled.
• Flame Wreath - Creates a circular trap that knocks down when crossing it's boundary.

Stolen skills

•   Rusty Scrap Strike
•   Throw Net
•   Use Scepter
•   Use Staff
•   Whirling Axe

Related achievements

• Path of Fire: Act 1: Hammer and Tongs — Survive your encounter with the Herald of Balthazar without succumbing to her Herald's Doom attack. (2)
• Path of Fire: Act 1: Hidden and Dishonored — Discover clues about the Herald of Balthazar's past. (1)
• Path of Fire: Act 1: Shield of Kormir — Save all twenty of the Elonian refugees from the Herald of Balthazar. (3)
• Path of Fire: Act 1: Down in Flames — Defeat the Herald of Balthazar without taking damage from her Flame Wall. (2)

Trivia

• The text of the Strange Burning Scrolls during the Night of Fires instance, and the weapon of choice, led many players to believe the Herald was Devona. In Guild Chat Episode 56, Bobby Stein confirmed that the Herald was a character met in Guild Wars and that one of her lines is near verbatim from Guild Wars. This line is "There's little I hold in higher regard than loyalty." which is part of what Devona says as a henchman in Guild Wars Prophecies towns and outposts, the full dialogue being "When I was young, my father was a member of Ascalon's Chosen. Now I too am a member of that same guild. There is nothing I won't do for my comrades, no risk I won't take for a friend. There is little I hold in higher regard than loyalty."
• In Guild Chat Episode 59, Path of Fire Story Design Lead Matthew Medina confirmed that the Herald of Balthazar was indeed Devona from Guild Wars although the Herald's ultimate identity was not finalized until later stages of the development of Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire.
• The Herald's hammer is named Mordakai after her father. Originally the final battle with the Herald involved her dropping her hammer and the player picking it up and hitting her with it, but the battle underwent changes, and the idea was dropped.

In an earlier Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire design document draft, the Herald of Balthazar would have survived the battle against the player's party in The Sacrifice and retreated to Balthazar to beg for his forgiveness for failing, and asking for him to grant her the power she needed to defeat the player. Balthazar would have then turned to the Herald, and in answer, drained the essence that gave her life, devouring her soul and dropping the Herald to the sand, broken and empty.

See also

The Guild Wars Wiki has an article on Devona.

Associated items

• Devona's armor
• Mini Herald