Temple of Balthazar
Temple of Balthazar
- Location
- Straits of Devastation
(Ruins of Orr) - Event type
- Meta event
- Level
- 75-75
- Total events
- 7
Temple of Balthazar is a meta event that takes place in Straits of Devastation. Upon completion you can access Tactician Deathstrider, an exotic armor karma merchant. This event involves escorting three paths of troops along three quest chains to the rally point at Triumph Plaza. You can start the rally point moving forward with one, two or all three of the troops there. Each set of troops makes it easier to move the Pact troops along the path to the final encounter.
Dynamic events[edit]
The event begins with this status in the zone:
- Leaders at the Pact rally point are awaiting reinforcements from the central, northern, and southern invasions before the assault on Temple of Balthazar can begin.
Once the event is ready to progress, this status appears:
- Pact forces have begun preparing for the assault on the Temple of Balthazar
At this point, three distinct Pact invasion paths open up to complete and can be progressed simultaneously:
- Northern Invasion of Orr
Capture Stentor Cannonade from the Risen (71)
Defend Stentor Cannonade while ballistic technicians repair the golem cannons (71)- Sink the Risen armada blocking Pact submarines off the coast of Stentor Cannonade (72)
Destroy the Risen bone ships blocking passage to Brassclaw Landing (73)- Capture Brassclaw Landing from the Risen (74)
- Protect the Pact as they defend Brassclaw Landing from the Risen (74)
- Failure: Defend Pact forces until all reinforcements have arrived (73)
- Failure:
- [Group Event] Escort the northern invasion Pact squad to the Pact rally point at Triumph Plaza (75) (Begins at Brassclaw Waypoint.)
- Central Invasion of Orr
- Defend Scholar Keemka and BNDL-2 until Pact megalasers can be built (71)
- Defend the Pact Megalasers and destroy the Orrian bone ship (71)
- Destroy the Risen krait harpoons before the Pact are forced to turn back (72)
- Defend Stygian Deeps from the Risen krait (72)
- Destroy the Risen minefield for the assault vessels before the Risen regroup (73)
- Drive the Risen from Conquest Marina (74)
- Defend Conquest Marina against the Risen (74)
- [Group Event] Escort the central invasion Pact squad to the Pact rally point at Triumph Plaza (75) (Begins at Conquest Marina Waypoint.)
- Southern Invasion of Orr
- Protect the Pact Siege Team as it sets up trebuchets (71)
- Defend the Pact trebuchets from the undead (71)
- Optional: Escort the supplies to Siegemaster Denbi (71)
- Optional:
- Defend Agent Carver as she attempts to capture Izz-al-Din Sarayi (72)
- Defend Agent Carver from Risen attackers (72)
- Escort the weapons transport to Lasciate Gate on Orr (73)
- Use Pact weaponry from the weapons transport to break through Lasciate Gate (74)
- Defend the Lone Post from the Risen hordes (74)
- [Group Event] Escort the southern invasion Pact squad to the Pact rally point at Triumph Plaza (75) (Begins at Lone Post Waypoint.)
If at any point one of the quests in any of the chains fail, wait a moment and a Defend-type event will trigger. Defend the point from the Risen and the next step in the chain will restart. If you fail to defend, the Pact will be pushed back up the chain until the event succeeds.
The status at Triumph Plaza will be one of the following, which will indicate which paths have been completed and which paths need to be completed:
- Reinforcements from the northern invasion have arrived at the Pact rally point. Pact forces are awaiting additional reinforcements from the southern invasion.
- Reinforcements from the central invasion have arrived at the Pact rally point. Pact forces are awaiting additional reinforcements from the northern invasion.
- Reinforcements from the central and northern invasions have arrived at the Pact rally point. Pact forces are awaiting additional reinforcements from the southern invasion.
- Reinforcements from the northern and southern invasion have arrived at the Pact rally point. Pact forces are awaiting additional reinforcements from the central invasion.
The Assault on the Temple of Balthazar[edit]
The final event chain can be started when at least one of the invasion forces reaches Triumph Plaza. For each invasion force (North, Central, South) that reaches Rally point, the Pact's morale increases by 33%.
- Pact forces have begun their assault on the Temple of Balthazar. They march towards the Altar of Betrayal.
- [Group Event] Help the Pact reach the Altar of Betrayal before their morale is depleted (75)
- Pact forces have reached the Altar of Betrayal. They're fighting to seize control of the temple from the Risen.
- [Group Event] Seize the Altar of Betrayal before Pact morale can be broken (75)
- The Pact has claimed the Altar of Betrayal from the Risen. A powerful Risen Priest of Balthazar stands in their way.
[Group Event] Defeat the Risen Priest of Balthazar before it can summon a horde of Risen (75)
- The Risen Priest of Balthazar has been defeated! The flow of corruption to the statues of Balthazar has been disabled. The Pact holds the Temple of Balthazar but remains alert.
- Defending the Temple of Balthazar
After gaining the temple, it remains friendly for about 1:45 hours after which an event spawns to defend it. If successful, it will remain open for about one more hour after which a much more difficult defend event triggers - with victory conditions such that failure is essentially certain.
- Risen are attacking the Altar of Betrayal. Pact forces are fighting to retain control.
- [Group Event] Help the Pact hold the Altar of Betrayal from the Risen (75)
Walkthrough[edit]
The assault on the temple of Balthazar is a multi-stage meta event, with some portions that are optional. There are three invasion paths that bring reinforcements to a central rally point, which then makes a final push to the temple. This final push can happen with reinforcements from any combination of invasion paths, using just a single reinforcement, or all three. The meta event has different scaling requirements at different stages, requiring from two to twenty players for reliable success of individual events.
Balthazar's meta events can actually be slow to start, and there's a merchant near the start point for two of the invasion paths, if you are bringing a full zerg directly to this event, bring full bags of loot to burn some time sorting/merching while waiting for the events to kick off.
Generally, the first decision to make is to split your available manpower appropriately for the invasions.
The Invasions[edit]
There are three invasion paths:
- Northern Invasion of Orr - Start solo, scales to needing 10+
- Central Invasion of Orr - Needs 5 players (start surplus manpower here)
- Southern Invasion of Orr - Needs 3 players
Assuming there is no progress on any invasion path and only the Northern invasion is active, and regardless of actually intending to complete the Northern Invasion path, send a single player to work Northern's first two events, and have the rest park in Fort Trinity. It's not unusual for a single event's completion at the Northern Invasion to be followed by South or Central starting up - Whether this is coincidence or actual implementation is moot, sending a single player North just to try kicking off the other paths gives waiting players one more thing to focus on while waiting for the other event chains to kick off.
Each invasion path has notes for how to best handle it. While only one is necessary to open the temple, more invasion paths give you an added margin for error later in the event chain. Generally, the advice is to stall (when possible and necessary) any well-advanced invasions to allow other invasions you are bringing a chance to catch up.
When bringing all 3 invasions, keep at least 3 players on South, and few players on North, keep the surplus on Central through Stygian Deeps. After clearing Stygian Deeps, keep at least 6 players on Central, and send the rest to North, to speed it along and to assist North with the Beachhead.
Each path can be started independently and advanced forward to where it takes a beachhead. Once an Invasion has a beachhead, reinforcements for that beachhead spawn almost immediately and proceed to the Rally Point
The Reinforcements[edit]
Players new to Balthazar and surplus players should find their way to the Central Reinforcement escort. There are several reasons for this: It is the most difficult, between spawns that sometimes trigger together instead of in series, and Veteran Risen Subjugators. This is also a good chance to introduce players to the Veteran Risen Subjugators - while they are not a serious threat to the reinforcement stage of the event chain, they are serious later in the chain. Now is a good chance to educate players without having the entire meta at risk.
Once one set of reinforcements reaches the Rally point, the Rally point will first wait for any remaining reinforcements to arrive, or fail. Once all the reinforcement events have resolved, the main attack on the temple begins.
The Escort[edit]
The main escort faces various threats, and players need to balance many tasks. There are more specific notes under the escort event, but the general guidelines are:
- Players will face many targets in tight groups. AoE skills are a must-have for being effective through here.
- Players will need to mitigate damage to the Pact NPCs. AoE Crowd Control skills can help with that, by moving threats clear of the Pact, and by interrupting, slowing, or otherwise preventing their attacks from working.
- Players will want to have AoE heal skills. The Pact has weak heals and the Risen are many. It will be important to bring skills that can heal them. Water fields are a good choice as Blast Finishers can multiply the healing effect.
- Pre-spot 2 players at each potential Veteran Risen Subjugator spawn point - each spawn point can produce one or two Subjugators, you need at least one player per to hold them for more than a few seconds.
Altar of Betrayal[edit]
Once the NPCs reach the Altar, a ring-cap event starts, followed by the priest fight. Capping the ring is rarely an issue, as long as the players get inside it. Depending on scaling, the Priest Fight may spawn a Champion Risen Abomination. The summary advice for the Priest Fight:
- Use AoE skills - There will be adds to burn down. Some of those adds will heal the priest, so use attacks that can hit them in addition to the priest.
- Keep out of red circles. They kill here.
Related achievements[edit]
The Juggernaut I: The Experimental Hammer: 
Ponder the Cleansed Balthazar Temple — Ponder the statue of Balthazar after cleansing the Cathedral of Glorious Victory.- Meteorlogicus III: Storm:
Pact Supremacy — Aid the Pact in gaining control over the Temple of Balthazar in Straits of Devastation. - The Dreamer III: The Lover:
Dream of Balthazar — Found in the chest after cleansing the Cathedral of Glorious Victory in Straits of Devastation. - The Moot III: The Energizer:
Dancing for Balthazar — Dance for Balthazar at the Altar of Balthazar in his Temple in Orr. 
Coalescence II: The Gift: 
Bottle of Rage (Empty)
The Tyrian Service Medal: 
Mark of Glorious Victory — Assist in retaking the Cathedral of Glorious Victory.
