Hall of Chains
“An influx of murderous undead relentlessly hunt innocent worshipers of Grenth. Infiltrate the Underworld and join the struggle for control over the fates of the living and the dead.
— In game description
Hall of Chains is a raid consisting of one single wing of the same name, it is the fifth raid wing added to the game and is commonly referred to as W5.
Vicious undead are murdering Grenth's followers in Tyria for unknown reasons. Following the evidence will lead players into the Underworld, where mysterious powers are clashing to determine the fates of the living and the dead.
Getting there[edit]
Players must own the Path of Fire expansion and be in a raid-mode (10 player) squad to join. The raid completion state is based on the player that loads into the instance first (not always the first player who generates the raid pop-up).
- Enter the
portal near 
Grenth's Door — in Lornar's Pass (south of 
Lamentation Waypoint — ). - Enter the respective portal in Lion's Arch Aerodrome ( Aerodrome Waypoint — ).
- Enter or be within Lion's Arch Aerodrome when the raid instance is opened.
|
|
Scholar Glenna Attacks from the Underworld <Character Name>, There's been a marked increase in creatures escaping the Realm of the Dead. Their behavior is mostly that of typical Underworld creatures - vile, murderous, and pretty uninteresting - but according to experts in necromancy, some of them seem to be targeting priests of Grenth. Creatures from Grenth's realm attacking Grenth's followers... Fascinating, right? And terrifying! The only way we're going to learn more is by going to the source. Head for Lornar's Pass. Find a way into the Underworld. —Glenna |
Locations[edit]
| Area | Area objectives |
|---|---|
| Death's Landing | |
| Ice Wastes | |
| Winter's Vigil |
Objectives[edit]
- Meet up with Glenna.
- Explore further into the ruins.
- Follow the strange spirit.
- Bear the runes and engage the Soulless Horror.
- Defeat the Soulless Horror.
- Soulless Horror
- Time remaining: 8:00
- Talk to Desmina.
- Traverse the River of Souls.
- Defend Desmina.
- Restore the three statues of Grenth.
- Restore the Statue of Ice.
- Broken King
- Time limit: 3:30
- Restore the Statue of Death and Resurrection.
- Spirit Energy Recovered
- Acquire a light orb.
- Restore the Statue of Darkness.
- Eye of Judgment
- Eye of Fate
- Return to Desmina at the Hall of Judgment.
- Enter the Hall of Judgment and confront Dhuum.
- Defeat Dhuum.
- Time remaining: 10:00
- Protect the reapers as they begin the ritual.
- Dhuum
- Chains active: x/7
Walkthrough[edit]
Soulless Horror[edit]
- Health: 35,391,600 (unchanged if the Challenge Mote is active)
- Enrage Timer: 8 minutes
- Enrage Effect:
Enraged - Increases damage dealt by 200%. - Fixation Mechanics: Player that activates Issue Challenge
In the first encounter, you have to defeat the Soulless Horror. After its defeat, it is revealed that it was the possessed body of Desmina, who quickly reclaims it.
- Overview
To start the fight, both the red and green runes must first be claimed. The two players that claim the runes will receive 
Exile's Embrace, which will grant them the special action skill Issue Challenge (default: -) (45s cooldown). The last player to use the special action skill will be 
Fixated, temporarily serving as the tank. Every 12 seconds (starting at 7:54), the current Fixated player will gain a stack of 
Necrosis, increasing all damage received by 40% per stack. Not receiving a stack for 30 seconds results in losing all stacks.
At 90%, 66% and 33% Boss HP, the outer circle of the arena will become orange and vanish 3 seconds later, reducing its size.
- Minions
- Elite Flesh Wurms
- Flesh wurms are present at the start of the fight all over the outer part of the platform that randomly spit projectiles at players for medium damage.
- Surging Souls
- These wall-like AoEs slowly move over the platform during the entire fight, starting in cardinal directions (a wall takes 20 seconds to cross the entire platform). Touching them will instantly kill a player and their damage cannot be avoided. They are indicated on the minimap as red horned skulls
. - They consist of segments, one segment having the width of 1/5 of the platform's diameter. Above 90% Boss HP, a wall will consist of 2 segments, below 90% it will consist of 3 segments and below 33% it will increase to 4 segments. The wall cannot cover the entire length of the platform, there will always be a gap to run through.
- The walls start to appear at 7:50 timer remaining. Above 66%, the walls will spawn every 18 seconds, below 66% they will spawn every 16 seconds and below 33%, every 13 seconds. The timer is however reset at certain HP thresholds: 90%, 66% and 33%. At those thresholds, the next wall will spawn 10 seconds after the respective HP is reached.
- Any currently active walls instantly disappear when the boss gains a breakbar.
- These wall-like AoEs slowly move over the platform during the entire fight, starting in cardinal directions (a wall takes 20 seconds to cross the entire platform). Touching them will instantly kill a player and their damage cannot be avoided. They are indicated on the minimap as red horned skulls
- Spinning Scythes
- These swirling scythes slowly traverse the platform throughout the fight atop a small red AoE circle. They travel in random directions but will always move in a straight line. Being hit by their AoE corrupts all the player's boons into conditions.
- Tormented Dead
- These creatures with the appearance of giant Flesh Golems aggro on the off-tank (the player with Exile's Embrace that is not currently Fixated). They slowly lose health but are also highly susceptible to damage and CC. Upon their death they spawn a red AoE field that applies many conditions. The Tormented Dead spawn every 20 seconds, starting when the next wall reaches the midway point after 90% HP. The red damaging field vanishes one minute after their death. They can be pushed further outside than the edge of the visible platform, resulting in less area covered by their AoE field.
- Boss Attacks
- Vortex Slash
- The Soulless Horror casts a filling circle that deals damage once it is full followed quickly by a ring outside of that circle that immediately damages anyone in it. Not getting hit by this attack and finishing the encounter awards the Achievement Necro Dancer. Dodging inwards when the inner circle completes is the easiest way of avoiding this attack. The inner circle deals less damage than the outer ring.
- Quad Slash
- 4 cone shaped AoE starting from the boss that will cause damage after 3 seconds; this is always followed by the same pattern rotated by 45 degrees. This attack only becomes available after the the timer is at 7:30.
- Death Bloom
- 8 cones going outwards from the boss, starting at 66% HP. This attack seems to be on a cooldown slightly shorter than 30 seconds but she won't interrupt other attacks to cast it. The cones deal medium damage after 3 seconds and contrary to the cones known from Arkk it is not possible to stand between two of them unharmed if you are close to the boss. This attack is followed by a Defiance bar attack every other time (in which orange arcs swirl around her person) that will fear everyone off the platform if not broken.
- Slice/Corrupt the Living + Fingers of the Dead
- The Soulless Horror auto-attacks with one of these two skills. Both will spawn Fingers of the Dead in matching patterns.
- With Slice, the Soulless Horror charges up an overhead hammer smash in the direction of the tank, and brings it down in a frontal cone of green flame. As it charges up, small orange circles will appear within that cone; once the AoE reaches these circles, each will sprout as Fingers of the Dead.
- With Corrupt the Living, the Soulless Horror brings the hammer back over its right shoulder and swings counter-clockwise in a slicing arc about its body, applying
Torment and 
Poisoned. Small orange circles will spawn in a large ring outside the radius of the attack, which will sprout as Fingers of the Dead. - Fingers of the Dead will deal damage and corrupt one stack of boons on anyone standing in their AoE when they explode. The boon corrupted will be the boon most recently applied to the character.
- General Strategy
Jump or glide to the platform and land close to the initial set of flesh wurms to take out. Have the tank and group circle around together and eliminate all flesh wurms. You should be just about done clearing them by the time she hits 90% health, causing the first Tormented Dead golems to spawn 20 seconds later and from then on every 20 seconds. They spawn in the center and move towards the current off-tank. A couple players should have knockbacks or pulls available to move the Tormented away from the group before they die and explode. Ranger's Point-Blank Shot and Glyph of the Tides (Druid) are very good in this capacity, though other classes may have their own skills to bring. Those knocking the Tormented back should try and knock them towards the edge of the platform or past it. Continue moving to avoid walls. At 66%, be prepared to break her Defiance bar as she casts Howling Death. You have just shy of 7 seconds to break her bar before the attack finishes. If not you are given 
Unbridled Fear and Fear. Even if this doesn't cause you to fall off the edge you are killed shortly afterwards. Then be ready to break it about every minute afterwards (she gets a breakbar every second time after she uses her 8-cone attack "Death Bloom"). Continue moving, damaging, knocking back, and breaking as the platform slowly shrinks.
- Tips
- The two tanks will find their jobs easier if they can both communicate when to bounce fixation from each other, whether through voice programs or pinging the effect.
- Marking the cardinal directions with squad markers will allow tanks and others to give directional call-outs, as "move left" becomes rather arbitrary when everyone is moving in a circle.
- Try to explode golems away from the center, as the platform will continue to shrink, meaning that in order to avoid walls, you'll typically need some room in the center.
- Scourges can bring Sand Swell as a panic button, using it to avoid a wall if badly placed.
- Condition clear is a must in this fight. Druids can combo their Lunar Impact and Seed of Life to cause area condition clear.
- It's everyone's responsibility to be aware of golems and walls. If a golem explodes near the group, be ready to dodge away so you don't get corrupted.
- Challenge Mode
With the Challenge Mode activated, stacks on tanks will build up faster, the flesh wurms will respawn periodically throughout the fight, and the platform loses an additional ring at the start of the fight, resulting in less room to move.
River of Souls[edit]
- Overview
Players need to protect Desmina as she traverses the River of Souls – a path to the next encounter. Desmina herself receives damage from enemies and mechanics and can be healed. The River constantly deals substantial damage to players with 
Soul Siphon unless they are protected by Desmina's protective dome. Players will find they may have to periodically leave the bubble to clear various mechanics.
The following mechanics will occur at predefined sections of the path, often simultaneously:
- Mechanics
- Staying inside Desmina's protective dome grants
Desmina's Protection. - Throughout the whole encounter, venturing outside of Desmina's protective dome results in gaining Soul Siphon, which damages every second. It gets removed by returning to the dome.
- Spatial Rifts slowly pull players towards them. They have 10 stacks of
Rift Force. Hitting them removes a stack. Once the buff is gone the rifts stop pulling. After a while they refresh their stacks. Multi-hit attacks are very helpful to quickly remove these as a threat. - Players randomly receive "time bombs", small expanding AoEs with inner and outer borders. As the AoE reaches inner border, it detaches from the assigned player and stays on the path as a mine, expanding for another second. As the AoE reaches the outer border, the mine explodes, dealing moderate damage and stunning players for 2 seconds. Move behind or to the side of the group and dodge out right as AoE has passed inner border to avoid dropping these in the way of the group. This AoE can also be used to damage enemies.
- Wall-like AoEs, similar to the previous encounter, will move along and across the path. Instead of instantly killing players these "walls" only down them. Quickly destroy any Spatial Rifts if they appear and carefully walk around the "walls". Superspeed, teleports (shadowsteps) and portals can be used to simplify the task.
- Players get a chance for one "extra life" – their first death during the encounter turns them into a spirit. The player will be given a short time to gather enough purple orbs (similar to the end boss, Dhuum's mechanic) scattered along the path. If they succeed, they will be fully revived and receive the
Fractured Spirit effect.
- Foes
- Hollowed Bombers run towards Desmina, exploding near her. They gain a defiance bar during the short channeling, and breaking it cancels the explosion. If they successfully explode, they will die.
- Enervators will disable Desmina's protective dome as soon as she comes within their range, killing them restores protection. It is recommended to start damaging them ahead of time.
- Spirit Hordes are swarms of small ghosts chasing the group and damaging them. They spawn from open Spatial Rifts.
- General Strategy
The entire squad could stay within Desmina's dome and clear mechanics as they reach them. Most of the playerbase, however, takes an easier approach:
Two or three players stay with Desmina to grant her healing, 
Aegis and 
Superspeed (if not possible, 
Swiftness instead). Because Desmina has the lowest priority for recieving these buffs, there should not be equal or more players, pets or summons combined than the target cap of the support skills (usually 5). The rest of the squad should move together before the encounter starts by using 
Blink three times and then 
Pounce (with Bolster Allies) to grant 
Barrier. At this point the players who stay back with Desmina should talk to her to start the encounter.
The forward team should have multiple healers to outsustain the "aura damage" and some DPS to clear out the Enervators. They should always be ahead of Desmina's bubble to have enough time to clear the Enervators before they can reach her, which would make her stop and potentially take unnecessary damage.
The players who stay with Desmina have to take care of granting Aegis for the Hollowed Bombers' explosions, speeding her up with Superspeed (or Swiftness) and heal her if any mechanics were to hit her. These players should pay attention when placing the "time bombs" so they don't accidentally kill each other, especially when there are walls nearby. Since Spatial Rifts are usually not taken care of, gradually more and more Spirit Hordes will follow them, and could strip the Aegis from Desmina that is supposed to prevent the heavy damage from the Hollowed Bombers' explosions. To prevent this, they should place the time bombs on top of the ads to clear them out. Additionally, as a safety net they should save burst heals for the second half of the River.
Statues of Grenth[edit]
These 3 mini bosses must all be slain in the same instance to receive their corresponding reward.
Statue of Darkness[edit]
- Overview
This encounter consists of two bosses, the Eye of Judgment (north) and the Eye of Fate (south), that need to be killed within 15 seconds from one another. Both Eyes have the same behavior and each one has their own little labyrinth separated by a higher rock ledge that has Light Orbs spawning on top of it.
The Eyes are untargettable and invulnerable to damage unless they are 
Exposed by a light orb nearby lighting up the area. Once an Eye reaches 85% health, if either is left without a source of light for over 35 seconds, it will start pulsating a high damage aura on all the arena (it also reaches the other labyrinth). They can do two different projectile based attacks, one of which locks a beam of light onto a player and pulsates significant damage for 5 seconds unless line of sight is broken (behind a wall). They teleport within their respective labyrinths and 
Fear everyone within line of sight when they reach 85, 70, 55, 40, 25 or 10% of their total health. When an Eye reaches 70% health, it will summon a Minotaur in their labyrinth. If an Eye is killed but the other one doesn't die within 15 seconds, it will heal itself back up to 10%.
The Eyes are susceptible to "hard" control effects, so they will not attack, teleport or summon the minotaur if they are 
Stunned. Stunning an Eye while it's casting an attack will interrupt it, if it's stunned through its 70% health threshold it will not spawn a minotaur and if it stops being stunned after any of the health thresholds for the teleport, it will immediately teleport away. Stunning an Eye while it teleports will not stop it, it will just appear somewhere in the maze stunned.
On the middle ledge, there are 3 light orbs that respawn every 11 seconds after being picked up. Do note that the encounter will start once a light is grabbed. They function like a bundle, grant 
Light Carrier and have the following skills:
| # | Skill | 
|
|
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Throw Light | ½ | Throw the light orb to help your allies navigate in the darkness. | |
| 2 | Flare | ¾ | Flare the light orb to temporarily stun nearby enemies and illuminate your surroundings. |
The first skill, Throw Light, allows you to aim and throw the orb. The second skill, Flare, is a channeled explosion that stuns nearby enemies and creates a large blast of light. Using the stun will consume the orb and light the area for 7 seconds. A light orb lasts for 45 seconds after being picked up for the first time, and when it's close to expiring a clock timer will appear on it indicating the remaining seconds.
Light Thieves will periodically spawn near players and they will try to steal them. When they get to an orb they will channel the pick up animation, indicated with a clock timer above them. If they successfully manage to grab it, they are 
Empowered and will run around with it until the light expires. If killed they will drop the orb on the floor.
The minotaurs, when spawned, wander around the maze until they encounter players. The minotaur attacks the players and spawns AoEs that prevent all healing for several seconds. It will also steal light orbs, preventing players from hitting the Eye and making itself stronger, gaining Empowered. Killing it makes it respawn somewhere within the same maze, or it can be kited away until it doesn't aggro the light orbs or the players.
- General strategy
There are 2 main strategies to tackle this encounter.
- Split strat
The squad is split with 4 players on the north side, 4 on south and 2 on top of the ledge.
The 2 players in the middle throw orbs at the north and south groups. Usually each player is dedicated to throwing to one side only, aiming Throw Light so they drop it on the ground next to the Eye. They can kite and outsustain the light thieves, or cleave them down. Mobility skills are recommended.
The 4 players on each side should wait until they have 3 light orbs ready. It's recommended that each side marks their respective Eye using squad markers, as the markers do not disappear when the Eye becomes untargettable or teleports. The healers are generally the designated players to keep the Eye permanently stunned, preferably using traits and sigils that increase the duration of the control effects. They should keep an eye on the remaining stun time, and use Flare right before it runs out. The DPS players can burst the Eyes down, making sure they don't overwrite the stun and to time the kill so it happens at almost the same time as on the other Eye.
- Portal strat
This strategy requires high DPS and can easily fail if DPS players accidentally overwrite the stun.
At the start, there are 3 players on the ledge while the rest wait on one Eye (conventionally the north one), one of which has to be a mesmer with Portal Entre and Mimic. After the encounter starts the mesmer places the entrance of the portal on top of the ledge, towards the south Eye. If the entrance is placed too early, it will disappear and go on cooldown. Then, the mesmer and another player throw a light orb to the north side and glide towards the rest of the squad. The remaining player should stay up there, throwing the first orb to the north side and then to the south Eye.
The squad can DPS down the north Eye, and when it's about to die or fully dies the mesmer mimics the portal. The group takes the port up the ledge and glide towards the south Eye. The mesmer before gliding down with the rest of the squad should place another entrance up the rock ledge, towards the north side. The player in charge of throwing orbs should throw one to the north side wherever the Eye teleports to.
The squad kills the south Eye, take the second portal up the ledge, and go to the north Eye to finish it off.
- Tips
- Avoid using
Daze, Fear, or 
Knockdown, as these will override the stun from the light orb and likely cause the Eye to teleport.
- The duration of the light orb's stun can be extended with traits such as
Moment of Clarity or 
Stormsoul and/or weapons with 
Superior Sigil of Paralyzation.
Statue of Death[edit]
- Health: 1,720,425
- Fixation Mechanics: Highest toughness
- Overview
The Eater of Souls will target the player with the most 
Toughness and will heal itself after being "killed" unless all six torches above the Sand Portal are burning.
There are four rectangle-like shapes on the ground ("dominoes"). Each domino has five circles within. After 15 seconds into the fight a Twisted Spirit will spawn. Killing this spirit releases five golden orbs of light on the platform and queue the next Twisted Spirit to spawn 10 seconds later. Players can collect the light orbs to grant 
Reclaimed Energy for 10 seconds and the special action of the same name to throw them at the highlighted domino to charge it, which lights up the circles. While a player stands on a charged domino, they receive 
Empowered. Once all 5 circles are lit up, killing the Mouth on the fully charged domino will release 10 red orbs into the air and heal the Mouth.
Green circles will spawn on a Lost Spirit (marked with the icon .png){kind=small}
) 40 seconds after the start of the fight and then every approximately 50 seconds. One or more players must temporarily sacrifice their body by going into the green circles to collect red orbs from the sky. If no one takes a green (downed people cannot take it), it will release a shockwave that can be jumped over. Each player must collect five red orbs to get down safely within the 30 seconds time limit (tracked by 
Mortal Coil), otherwise the player will fully die. Moving too far from the arena or going into the boss hitbox will down the player on the platform. Upon taking a green the player has the effect Fractured Spirit for 90 seconds, which prevents them from taking two consecutive greens.
Movement when collecting the red orbs is a bit unconventional, and may require additional practice. All skills are disabled and the slots 1-3 are replaced with the following:
| # | Skill |
|
|
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ascend | ½ | Float up incrementally. | |
| 2 | Spirit Surge | 1¼ | ½ | Propel yourself forward. |
| 3 | Descend | ½ | Float down incrementally. |
The boss will have a CC bar shortly after a player takes a green circle, dealing damage to players on the platform and pulling in players in the air. This will last until the defiance bar is broken, a player is pulled from the air and downed, or after 11 seconds have passed.
Once a total of 20 red orbs have been picked up from the air, all the six torches will be lit up and the Eater of Souls will not be able to regenerate anymore. Getting his HP to 0 will defeat him.
- General strategy
At the start the squad can damage the boss until the first Twisted Spirit spawns, but without killing the Mouth. The majority of players should go kill the Twisted Spirit while the tank keeps the boss in safe distance from the crowd. A healer may be left to support the tank if necessary. The boss's most threatening attack is Hungering Miasma ("Puke"), for which he will face into the direction of the closest player (except the tank) and create a large cone of poison in front of him. It is recommended to make the boss stand between the highlighted domino and the squad, so this attack doesn't cover where he needs to be killed.
Once the spider dies, players collect the light orbs and throw them at the highlighted domino. If someone misses the domino the next Twisted Spirit must be killed and the missing circle(s) must be charged with the new light orbs. When all five circles of the domino are charged, the Mouth can be killed on top of it.
If orbs are not in the air and won't be released soon, a green circle can be skipped. Otherwise, the designated players should keep an eye on where the Lost Spirit spawns to take the green in time.
This has to be repeated until all six torches are burning. Then, the Mouth can be killed anywhere on the arena.
Assuming no orbs or timings are missed, there are two common strategies for doing greens:
- 0-5: This is the most common strategy among the playerbase. The first green is skipped, making sure to jump over the shockwave. Then, 5 people are sent to take the second green, one of which is called "sacrifice" (or "sac"). This player should go into the boss hitbox as soon as his defiance bar is up to interrupt him, and without taking any red orbs along the way.
- 2-2: Two players take the first green and collect 5 orbs each, and two other different players take the second green and collect 5 orbs each. The boss breakbar must be broken twice, once after each green, to allow the players in the air to move freely and collect the orbs in time.
- Tips
- Keep an eye on his defiance bar to break it as fast as possible.
- The group should largely stay close together, except when they must split to gather orbs of light or take greens.
- Collecting a 2nd light orb when you are holding one will destroy the 2nd orb.
Statue of Ice[edit]
This mini-boss is an ice elemental called "Broken King".
- Health: 9,831,000
- Enrage Timer: 3 minutes 30 seconds
- Enrage Effect: Defeats all players
- Fixation Mechanics: Highest toughness
The Broken King targets the player with the highest Toughness, he can rotate but not move. He will constantly fire a cone of ice shards towards the tank, which can be avoided by standing beyond its range, blocking, evading or with invulnerability. He will also occasionally create dark blue cracks on the ground, which deal constant heavy damage to anyone standing on them. These cracks can be jumped over, dodged or blocked, and will despawn after almost 30 seconds.
Every 2% of the Broken King's health, the boss spawns a green circle that has a floating ice shard that slowly descends, granting him a stack of 
Shield of Ice. A squad member must be standing in the green circle when the ice touches the ground or the entire squad will take a massive amount of damage. Successfully absorbing a shard will give the player a timed stack of 
Frozen Wind that lasts for 45 seconds. If the player reaches 3 stacks and takes yet another green, they will be frozen for 10 seconds (
Glaciate), unable to move nor attack and continuously take damage until it leads to instant defeat. It is however survivable if the player receives constant healing, and they will lose all stacks of Frozen Wind. If the squad's damage per second is too high, too many green circles may spawn all at once and all players may reach 3 stacks and be unable to take any more circles, leading to a wipe.
When the boss health reaches 1% the timer stops and he won't die nor spawn greens until all the green circles in the arena have been picked up, eliminating all stacks of Shield of Ice. After that, the Broken King can be defeated.
- General strategy
This boss has very little health and can be quite forgiving towards low damage team comps, but he does have an enrage timer, after which he will wipe the group. Having a few mid-to-long ranged DPS players as well as a couple melee DPS players can help everyone reach green circles without losing too much damage.
Conventionally, the tank will make the boss face north and generally stand far enough so his autoattacks don't reach him. Whenever someone plans on taking a green, they will go stand in it well in advance so the squadmates know it is being taken care of. If multiple greens overlap on top of each other, the player should stand on the overlap of as many greens as they are able to take, so others can know if they need help. If a player realizes they are about to take a green when they already have 3 stacks, spam pinging the effect or any ability on squadchat can alert the healers they will need healing.
- Tips
- If a crack covers a green circle, there is usually a small safe spot on the edge to stand on.
- It is everyone's responsibility to grab green circles. There are usually far too many to just be split among 3-4 people.
The Voice in the Void[edit]
As the final encounter, you have to defeat and imprison Dhuum. The goal is to defend the seven Reapers until they can complete their ritual to subdue Dhuum.
- Health: 32,000,000 (40,000,000 if the Challenge Mote is active)
- Enrage Timer: 100%-10%: 10 minutes
10-0%: 1:45 minutes - Enrage Effect: 100%-10%: Enraged - Deals 500% damage.
10-0%: Defeats all players. - Fixation Mechanics: Highest toughness
- Overview
- Throughout the fight, Enforcers spawn in the four corners of the room after a big red orb emanating from Dhuum's throne travels to that corner, slowly moving towards the reapers and attacking them for heavy damage. Their attack cleaves in a small cone in front of them and can easily down players if they are hit as well. The Enforcers are susceptible to any soft CC including blind but are immune to all hard CC. Collecting big red orbs while in the air prevents one Enforcer from spawning. The next enforcer will still spawn at the next point in clockwise order so no spawn point will be skipped.
- Similar to the Enforcers, Messengers with the appearance of flesh golems will spawn throughout the encounter. Below them is a small orange Aoe pulsing heavy damage to anyone touching it. They are also spawned by orbs coming from the throne and traveling to four designated spots in the room. Collecting medium sized orbs in the air prevents a Messenger from spawning but the rule for the Enforcers is applied here as well, no spawn point will be skipped. Their spawn time is a bit randomized due to different travel distance an speed (in the air above the players AND on the ground floor). Initially they spawn approximately every 10 seconds. As soon as Dhuum leaves his throne, new Messenger orbs are only spawned roughly every minute, leaving the throne at ~x:35 and spawning between 5 and 15 seconds later, usually at x:25 ± 5 seconds. The Messengers aggro on one of the reapers unless attacked by a player which makes them switch to the player instead. They die automatically 15 seconds after being attacked for the first time. Any Messenger alive at the 10% phase transition will be removed.
- Spawns are clockwise for both enemy types and the spawns points can be seen in the graphic.
- Reapers are also occasionally attacked by small spiders, Deathlings. Deathlings can eventually overwhelm and kill a Reaper given enough time, but they have relatively low health so they can be easily killed. Reapers can also easily be healed due to having a massive incoming healing modifier (x100).
- Mechanics
- Once the timer reaches 9 minutes, one player will be given a bomb-like mechanic (
Arcing Affliction), gain the special action key Expel Energy and a red filling circle (timer) above their head. Once the circle is full (13seconds) or they press the special action key, the bomb will detonate, harming players depending on their distance from the player. When you are affected by the affliction, you also gain the 
Residual Affliction effect, so you cannot be affected by it again for 40 seconds. When the bomb detonates, one non-debuffed player will be afflicted 3 seconds later. The bomb mechanic is paused when Dhuum steps down from his throne, and during the Greater Death Mark mechanic, but will continue again every 90 seconds (7:30, 6:00, 4:30, 3:00, 1:30). There can be a maximum of 4 bombs during the prephase, and 5 during each of the burn phases. Any afflictions will be removed by the Greater Death Mark mechanic.
- Every 30 seconds, Dhuum reaches for one of the Reapers and will cause the ritual to fail unless a player stands close to the reaper and sacrificing himself instead (referred to as the "green" mechanic). The player will be lifted up and has to collect five red orbs in order to get back down ("reunite their body and soul"). Failing to do so within the 15 second time limit results in death of that player. A big enforcer orb spawns clockwise relative to the sacrifice location. Collecting it will prevent the enforcer from spawning during main Dhuum fight. Nowadays in most group, all green go-ers are expected to collect the big enforcer orb to smoothen the fight. All other small orbs are random. During this mechanic, if the lifted player gets too close to the light pillar in the center of the room they instantly die. After their return, players cannot be harmed for a few seconds (no indicator on that though) and have a debuff for 80 seconds so you need at least 3 persons alternating this role. A similar orb collection phase happens during the 10% phase, but players have 30 seconds to collect orbs instead.
- Every 30 seconds, starting at 60% HP, Shackle mechanic will occur. Two players (the closest and the second closest to Dhuum, and never the tank) will be selected to receive
Soul Shackle. Only the two shackled players will see a red text message – "Your Soul has been shackled to another!", hear a sound effect, and will have a bright chain animation between the players as well as Reaper's or Dhuum's short dialogue. When this happens, both players need to run away from each other to break the chain (~1200 range). Otherwise, after 4 seconds, the chain will start to tick continuously damage and down both players. This mechanic has a subtle sound effect and doesn't tell you who you are shackled to, so you will need to pay extra attention and call out when you get the shackle. If a shackled player downs or dies, the other player will still take damage until they move far enough away and break the shackle. Any shackles will be broken and removed by the Greater Death Mark mechanic.
- Boss Attacks
- Starting at 90% Boss HP, Dhuum turns around and slams his scythe towards the middle of the room occasionally (this attack seems to have a 30 second cooldown), creating an orange expanding AoE circle (that actually does not hurt) and having cracks emerging from the point of impact. These cracks explode after a few seconds, dealing heavy damage to players standing on top of them and applying fears to affected players if they survive the damage. The density of the cracks increases at 50% and 25% HP.
- Death Mark - Roughly every 80 seconds, starting at ~7:05 left on the timer, Dhuum disappears into the ground, targets one player and reappears underneath their feet at their current location with a circle AoE attack, centered around where he slams his scythe. If everyone is stacked, they can all run out immediately when Dhuum appears and avoid the Soul Splitting easily by double dodging. Players still within the AoE circle when it finishes expanding will have their boons ripped, their soul split from their body, applying
Hastened Demise, and be knocked back ~1000 range. If this happens, players will need to locate their souls within a few seconds (indicated by a large beam of light where their body was when they were hit) or else they will instantly be killed. This attack leaves behind a large green AoE field. The field is harmless for the first few seconds that it appears, with a fire spreading around the ring. After the fire completes the ring, the circle deals extremely heavy damage to any player that steps inside of it. The green AoE will remain for two minutes.
- Greater Death Mark - Every 80 seconds, starting at 6:25 Dhuum will disappear into the ground and teleport to the middle of the room. Dhuum will unleash an AoE attack that will soul-split everyone, applying Hastened Demise, and knocking them back relative to the direction their character was facing. If you put your back close to the wall, you will only be knocked back a certain distance and can easily get back to the the beam of light. As a result, it is recommended to face Dhuum with your back against the wall when the attack is about to happen. The attack deals 20% of the player's max HP and applies 6 stacks of Torment to everyone, which will deal heavy damage over time unless cleansed. A few seconds after this Soul-Split attack, Dhuum will start sucking people towards an orange AoE circle below him that pulses heavy damage. As long you are close to the wall and not near the center you should have enough distance to not get sucked in. Very rarely the Greater Death Mark can be delayed a bit due to Dhuum finishing up an animation. Protection helps mitigates the damage of the soul split since the boons are stripped after the damage happens, but condi cleanse is still needed to prevent people from dying afterwards. This attack will also steal all the boons from everyone so boonstrip is needed to remove boons from Dhuum.
- General Strategy
At 8:00 remaining time, Dhuum will stand up from his throne and walk towards the player with the highest toughness, starting to attack him with his scythe. With each swing of his scythe, he cleaves the area in front of him and creates a wide array of necro marks around him, which each explode and do damage. Dhuum does greatly decreased damage to the tank, but his scythe swing auto-attacks can easily down players.
Every 80 seconds starting roughly at 7:05, Dhuum dives into the ground, emerging at a random target and placing the Death Mark AoE on the ground that lasts 2 minutes. Being caught in the AoE seperates you from your soul similar to the Greater Death Mark attack. Dhuum will steal all boons if he hits someone with the dive attack. Starting after the green fire on its edges complete a ring around it, the AoE circle that remains deals extremely heavy damage to any players standing in it.
Every 80 seconds starting at 6:25 remaining time Dhuum performs an attack called Greater Death Mark. He sinks into the ground, subsequently emerging in the middle of the room and stripping all the players of their souls. This attack steals all boons, deals damage, applies 6 stacks of Torment, and knocks players backwards. Failing to reunite with your soul within the time limit results in death, displayed by the time left on Hastened Demise. After a short delay, Dhuum will pull all players towards the middle. During the pull he hovers above an orange AoE circle that pulses heavy damage to anyone touching it.
Starting at 60% HP, Dhuum gains the ability to use Soul Shackle, which links two players together every 30 seconds. Both players take heavy damage starting after 4 seconds until the bond is broken by moving far enough apart.
Starting at 30% HP, Dhuum will start using Slash, a cone shaped attack that slowly pulls in everyone caught, stripping their boons and dealing damage. The cone of this attack represents the area in which damage is applied, while the claws pull players in from a 1200 unit range.
At 10% HP, the fight timer will reset to 1m 45s. Dhuum will go invulnerable, ripping all player's souls and lifting them towards the ceiling of the room. While in this phase, all players will have to collect 5 orbs each, failing to do so in 30 seconds will result in that player's death. After collecting the orbs each player returns to their character's body, and will be placed in the center of room, inside a protective bubble created by Desmina, with an invulnerable Dhuum floating at the center. In order to make Dhuum vulnerable again, players have to coordinate themselves to spread out to the previous Reaper locations (called Seals) and interact with each of the seals. While outside the protective bubble players take heavy damage each second like during the River of Souls encounter. This damage can be blocked or mitigated by protection. In order to have a successful interaction with the seals, players have to wait for the interaction bar to fully charge. The interaction is sped up if the player is under the effect of Quickness. Upon the first interaction, players will have only 10 seconds to interact with all other seals, so it is advisable that seven players do this mechanic at the same time. After interacting with all seven seals, players have to quickly return to the protective bubble and will have 20 seconds to damage Dhuum until he goes invulnerable again. This process can be repeated until Dhuum dies or the timer runs out. If the timer expires before the boss is dead, all players will die instantly.
Some timings and positions are shown in the graphic.
- Challenge Mode
While the Challenge Mode is active, a smaller version of Dhuum called the Ender's Echo will be an ever present threat. This Echo does not attack, but instead charges directly at players in a straight line. When it hits a wall it turns around, adjusts its path (determined by player positions as it turns) and resumes charging. Players caught inside its hitbox will be captured by the Echo, dragging them along and dealing rapid damage to them. These players can be rescued by breaking the Echo's defiance bar before they reach 0 health, at which point the players will instantly be defeated instead of going into downed state. For every Greater Death Mark, Echo will teleport back to its original position (right side of Dhuum's throne), dropping any players that got picked up and resumes charging. Players must be aware where it is charging before collecting one's souls, sometimes avoiding Echo first before collecting soul.
Additionally, the bonus to incoming healing on the Reapers is removed, and Dhuum's health is increased by 25% to 40 million.
NPCs[edit]
Allies[edit]
- Reaper of the Bone Pits
- Reaper of the Chaos Planes
- Reaper of the Forgotten Vale
- Reaper of the Ice Wastes
- Reaper of the Labyrinth
- Reaper of the Spawning Pools
- Reaper of the Twin Serpent Mountains
- Desmina/Mysterious Spirit
- Fresh Corpse (dead)
- Priestess Corpse (dead)
Foes[edit]
- Avatars
- Ender's Echo
- Soulless Horror (boss)
- Eater of Souls (mini-boss)
- Eye of Fate (mini-boss)
- Eye of Judgment (mini-boss)
- Broken King (mini-boss)
- Dhuum (boss)
Objects[edit]
- Chest of Souls
- Desmina's Chest
- Dhuum's Chest
- Grenth's Chest
- Hidden chest (Hall of Chains)
- Ley Rift
- Light Orb
- Log
- Repair Anvil
- Sand Portal
- Spatial Rift
Dialogue[edit]
Upon approaching Glenna:
- If asura:
- <Character name>: Glad to see you made it. I'm also pleased we won't be coming back here when we die.
- Scholar Glenna: Agreed. The Eternal Alchemy must be more impressive than this frozen dirt hole.
- If charr:
- <Character name>: Glad to see you made it. Also glad I'm not coming here when I die.
- Scholar Glenna: Agreed. The Eternal Alchemy must be more impressive than this frozen dirt hole.
- If human:
- <Character name>: Glad to see you made it. It's not impressive, but I really hope this isn't my final visit here.
- Scholar Glenna: Oh, right. Assuming we make it out alive, you'll have to return to this frozen dirt hole someday. Lucky you.
- If norn:
- <Character name>: Glad to see you made it. Well, it's cold here. And that's the only good thing I can say about it.
- Scholar Glenna: Agreed. The Eternal Alchemy must be more impressive than this frozen dirt hole.
- If sylvari:
- <Character name>: Glad to see you made it. This place is...well, it's awful, honestly.
- Scholar Glenna: Agreed. The Eternal Alchemy must be more impressive than this frozen dirt hole.
- <Character name>: Do you know anything about the situation down here?
- Scholar Glenna: Not yet. You're the muscle! I've been waiting for you before investigating those ruins. And now you're here. Let's go!
Upon approaching the Mysterious Spirit:
- Scholar Glenna: Look! What is that...orb...thing?
- Mysterious Spirit: My faith is rewarded—you followed the signs. Return me to my body. Death will not wait.
- <Character name>: What?
- Mysterious Spirit: You're going to help me prevent humanity's destruction, and I'm going to need you to get my body back to do it.
- Mysterious Spirit: Now follow me.
- Scholar Glenna: Well, you heard the orb thing. Let's go!
Upon reaching the runes:
- Mysterious Spirit: Devoid of my spirit, that vessel acts only on anger and instinct. You'll need my blessing to stand against it.
- Mysterious Spirit: Choose two of your best to stand on the runes. I will imbue them with my power. Otherwise you will fail.
- Mysterious Spirit: Time is short, and I need to maintain the barrier. Break it. I'll deal with the consequences later.
- Scholar Glenna: Uh, you go ahead. I'll search the fort and talk to the ghosts. If you find out who she is, come find me! And uh...don't die!
Talking with the Mysterious Spirit:
- Mysterious Spirit: I told you, mortal. I cannot maintain this form indefinitely. Reunite me with my body. Answers will come later.
Fine, but I need to know what's happening here.
While traversing the ruins:
- Stranded Ghost (1): Are we safe? Will her defense hold?
- Stranded Ghost (2): Safe? No! That...thing...is feral. The attacks will never stop!
- Stranded Ghost (1): The lady is clever. She'll keep us safe.
- Stranded Ghost (2): She can't defend us forever. Not against him.
- Champion Stranded Ghost: We must not be consumed.
- Champion Stranded Ghost: The forces at work here...they're too powerful.
- Champion Stranded Ghost: Have faith! The Dark One left us in good hands.
Upon encountering the Soulless Horror:
- Soulless Horror: You dare draw breath in the Realm of the Dead?
Wipe when entering the fight without interacting with the runes:
- Soulless Horror: Flee my wrath, cowards.
While fighting the Soulless Horror:[verification requested]
- Soulless Horror: Crush these abominations.
- Mysterious Spirit: Beware—their claws will spill your guts.
- Mysterious Spirit: Volatile spirits. Stand clear before they explode!
- Soulless Horror: The dead hunger.
- Soulless Horror: Your rotten soul is mine!
- Soulless Horror: Sweep these insects from sight.
After defeating the Soulless Horror:
- <Character name>: We did our part. Now who are you? What's happening down here?
- Desmina: You may call me Desmina.
- <Character name>: Desmina?
- Desmina: Now be silent.
- <Character name>: But...
- Desmina: My body is too damaged to fight. I'll grant you what protection I can, but be ready.
- Desmina: The consequence of mortals falling on the River of Souls is unclear. Death may not result in the expected.
Speaking with Desmina upon beginning the River of Souls escort:
- Desmina: Are you ready to go?
Yes, let's go.- Not yet.
During the River of Souls escort:
- Desmina: Grenth fled, and we failed to keep the Ender in his chains.
- Desmina: The spirits of the newly dead now flow up the River of Souls directly to the Hall of Judgment. To Dhuum.
- Desmina: He feeds. He's sealed himself in the hall while he gathers strength and works to reclaim the Underworld.
- Desmina: Soon Dhuum's power will be great enough for him to invade the mortal realm.
If Desmina is hit during the escort:
- Desmina: I can't protect you if you don't protect me.
- Desmina: I told you I'm weak. Beat them back.
- Desmina: Crush this rabble.
- Desmina: Death must not prevail.
- Desmina: Yielding is not an option. [verification requested]
If stalling during the escort:
- Desmina: Dhuum won't wait for us. Move.
Upon reaching the destination:
- Desmina: It is safe here. I'll wait for you. You have work to do.
- <Character name>: What work?
- Desmina: If we can take back the three Grenth statues from Dhuum, we can break the seal on the hall.
- Desmina: I need to recover if I'm going to fight Dhuum. If our allies arrive, I'll be here to greet them. Now go.
One of the following when a Lost Spirit spawns while fighting the Eater of Souls:
- Lost Spirit: It'll devour us all!
- Lost Spirit: Help! They'll stop at nothing!
- Lost Spirit: Please!
- Lost Spirit: Don't let them take me!
If the Lost Spirit is saved:
- Lost Spirit: Thank you.
During the Broken King encounter:
- Broken King: Dhuum awakens...fueled by dark powers... (start)
- Broken King: Dhuum remains... Eager to reclaim his seat... (at 75%)
- Broken King: The Ender of All...is powerful... (at 50%)
- Broken King: Dhuum's reign... Brutal...uncompromising... (at 25%)
After defeating all the guardians of the Grenth Statues:
- Desmina: The way to death is open. Return! Dhuum must fall.
- Desmina: The influence of the statues overcome Dhuum's corruption. The gates are unlocked. Our allies are here.
- Reaper of the Labyrinth: We will do what must be done, red witch.
- Reaper of the Forgotten Vale: We've returned to silence the Voice in the Void.
- Reaper of the Ice Wastes: Defend us to the death! If one of us falls before the ritual begins, Dhuum's escape is assured.
- Desmina: Do not let them fail the ritual. I'll help as my strength allows.
Upon encountering Dhuum:
- Dhuum: Mortals. You believe yourselves saviors, naturally.
- Dhuum: You seek to write the conclusion of your legend.
- Dhuum: There is no conclusion more natural than death.
When Dhuum's hand reaches out to kill a Reaper:
- <Reaper>: Dhuum's gaze falls on me!
When Arcing Affliction is applied to a player:
- Reaper of the Ice Wastes: You're overloaded. Get away before you explode!
When Dhuum gets up from his throne:
- Reaper of the Ice Wastes: The ritual is begun. What is set in motion can only be undone if we falter!
- Reaper of the Ice Wastes: Keep us all alive, or Tyria will fall to Dhuum!
- Dhuum: I am your end.
As Dhuum uses Cull:
- Reaper of the Labyrinth: Beware the faults. Watch your footing.
When Dhuum uses Greater Death Mark:
- Dhuum: Struggle. Submit. Flee. No matter. Your life is mine.
When Dhuum uses Soul Shackle:
- Dhuum: Join one another in sacrifice.
- Reaper of the Chaos Planes: Your souls are linked! Separate!
One of the following when a player dies during the River of Souls escort, Statues of Grenth, or Dhuum fight:
- Dhuum: Breathe your last.
- Dhuum: Struggle no more.
- Dhuum: I am your end.
- Dhuum: All must end.
- Dhuum: Surrender, in body and spirit.
Uttered by allies throughout the battle:[verification requested]
- Desmina: Use this orb of energy to your advantage.
When Dhuum reaches 10% health:
- Reaper of the Ice Wastes: We've done it! The ritual is complete!
- Dhuum: YOU CANNOT VANQUISH DEATH ITSELF.
- Desmina: Return to your bodies at once!
- Desmina: Stand in for the reapers! Buy us time. Dhuum must never escape!
During the last phase when Dhuum becomes vulnerable:
- Desmina: Hold nothing back now! The fate of Tyria hangs in the balance!
After resealing Dhuum:
- Desmina: The Voice in the Void is silenced again.
- <Character name>: The reapers paid a heavy price.
- Desmina: They did as they were meant to do. As you did.
- <Character name>: And what happens now? There's no one left to rule the Underworld.
- Desmina: Isn't there?
- Desmina: Now leave me.
After resealing Dhuum, at Winter's Vigil
- Stranded Ghost (1): We're safe!
- Stranded Ghost (2): Thank Desmina! We will not be consumed!
- Stranded Ghost: Dhuum's pull... it's gone! She's done it!
- Champion Stranded Ghost: Desmina and her champions have done it—Dhuum is rechained. Our spirits can finally be judged and move on.
Notes[edit]
- Although this area is in The Mists, events count as Crystal Desert for Hero of the Desert.
- Hall of Chains was released alongside the Living World Season 4 chapter Daybreak on November 28th, 2017.
Trivia[edit]
- Dhuum's line about "You believe yourselves saviors" is likely a reference to the title Silent Savior from the previous raid wing.
See also[edit]
External links[edit]
- Meet Your Dhuum, GuildWars2.com
- Guild Chat Episode 58 - The Hall of Chains
