Valdhertz Crypts (mini-dungeon)

Valdhertz Crypts

Type

Mini-dungeon

Area

Quarry Forelands
(The Echovald Wilds)

Image(s)

Click to enlarge.

“

Five Forest Houses

Strong, the zu Heltzers, with faith as their shields. Their rivals, the Vasburgs, bright swords they do wield.

Brilliant, the Brauers, resplendent on stage. Dark are the Durheims, who scribble on page.

And then there's Lutgardis, who sing to the trees -- May Echovald bloom with stewards like these.

— A Selection of Children's Rhymes and Verses

Valdhertz Crypts is a mini-dungeon located in Quarry Forelands of The Echovald Wilds. It contains the Valdhertz Crypts point of interest.

Getting there

Path from waypoint to the dungeon entrance.

From  Mori Village Waypoint — head north through the swamp until reaching the road on the shoreline. Follow the road a short distance and to the right (north) you will find the entrance to the crypts. Examine the Ancient Lantern to enter. The lantern can only be used if you have completed the Cryptseeker achievement. When loading onto the map after completing the achievement, a red quest marker will BRIEFLY flash on the minimap and main map at its location.

Objectives

• Survive the assault in the Valdhertz entrance hall (80)
• Clear the crypt's makeshift armory (80)
• Solve the puzzle in the Hall of Tribute (80)
• Fully explore the Valdhertz living quarters (80)
• Survive the attack in the magic laboratory (80)
• Solve the puzzles in the Heads of Houses chamber (80)
• Defeat the two protectors of the Forest Ruler's Sepulcher (80)
• Shut down the Heart of Grenth (80)
• Valdhertz Crypts (80)

Walkthrough

The Guild Wars Wiki has an article on Great Kurzick Houses.

The crypts inter notable figures from the five Great Kurzick Houses. To pass through these tombs you must successfully complete a linear sequence of rooms. The exit door from each room will remain locked until you finish each room's challenge. The rooms contain both combat and puzzle challenges, culminating in a final boss battle.

Entrance Hall

The first area is a combat challenge. You will face waves of Kurzick and dredge ghost enemies whilst fighting through several barricades, spike traps and face barrages of arrow fire from two arrow carts.

Makeshift Armory

The second room is also a combat challenge, consisting mostly of Spectral Weapons.

Hall of Tribute

The Hall of Tribute puzzle room.

The third room contains a puzzle challenge. There are four levers that control a set of illuminated floor panels. The panels must all be lit blue in order to solve the puzzle and open the door to the next room. The floor panels can be reset by interacting with the Stone Scribbles. None of these levers can be used twice in a row.

Each floor color can be imagined as representing a numerical value: no color = 0 (the minimum), red = 1, blue = 2 (the maximum value). Each lever affects all tiles by a set value, per the image below. One activation sequence that works: Flaming Lever → Aqueous Lever → Flaming Lever → Aqueous Lever → Mistral Lever

Living Quarters

The fourth area is another combat challenge, consisting of mixed Dredge and Kurzick attackers.

Magic Laboratory

The fifth room contains a single veteran necromancer, Uwe Gorhopf. He will summon several creatures to attack you and then retreat to the far end of the room.

Heads of Houses

The Heads of Houses puzzle room.

The sixth room contains a further puzzle challenge. There are five statues and a set of five weapons; all five weapons must be placed at the base of the correct statue to unlock the next room. If a weapon is placed incorrectly, or if you interact with Weapon Display, you will receive the  Offender of Honor effect, which spawns a veteran spirit creature matching the statue. The effect also prevents you from placing a weapon on that same statue again. Defeating the spirit that spawns will remove the effect and allow you to try again.

The weapons and statues are all associated with one of the five Great Kurzick Houses. Behind each statue is a Weathered Plaque containing descriptions about its corresponding house. In previous rooms of the dungeon you will have encountered A Selection of Children's Rhymes and Verses and Luteka's Notes. The rhymes about the Five Forest Houses and the statue plaques contain all the information needed to solve the puzzle. Luteka's notes can help but are not necessary. House of Durheims with their spirit animal Crane and their weapon of choice Dagger. House of Vasburgs with their spirit animal White Tiger and their weapon of choice Sword. House of zu Heltzers with their spirit animal Wallow and their weapon of choice Shield. House of Lutgardis with their spirit animal Kirin and their weapon of choice Bow. House of Brauers with their spirit animal Phoenix and their weapon of choice Staff. Crane Statue representing the house of Durheims. White Tiger Statue representing the house of Vasburgs. Wallow Statue representing the house of zu Heltzers. Kirin Statue representing the house of Lutgardis. Phoenix Statue representing the house of Brauers.

Forest Ruler's Sepulcher

The seventh and final room is the boss room of the dungeon. It contains a pair of veteran enemies to fight; one Dredge and one Kurzick. After downing both of these enemies, The Heart of Grenth artifact will be revealed and must be destroyed. Once destroyed, the door to the treasury will be opened where you can find your reward as well as Exit from the Valdhertz Crypts lantern.

Reward

• Chest of Grand Valdhertz Riches - only after participating in every room. It can be looted once per account per day
• Chest of Valdhertz Riches (7) - one for each room the player participated in. Each chest can be looted once per account per day.

NPCs

Allies

Human

• Dead Speaker Ritualist
• Terrified Speaker Ritualist

Foes

Ghosts

• Dredge Defender
• Dredge Disaggregator
• Dredge Oscillator
• Dredge Thrasher
• Kurzick Defender
• Kurzick Guard
• Kurzick Mesmer
• Kurzick Monk
• Kurzick Necromancer
• Kurzick Ranger
• Kurzick Warrior
• Necromancer Uwe Gorhopf
• Spectral Weapon
• Veteran Commissar Ignat
• Veteran Countess Lavinia Durheim

Minion

• Jagged Horror
• Shadow Fiend
• Veteran Flesh Golem

Ooze

• Blue Ooze
• Gold Ooze
• Translucent Ooze

Spirit

• Crane Spirit
• Kirin Spirit
• Phoenix Spirit
• Wallow Spirit
• White Tiger Spirit

Objects

• Ancient Lantern
• Doors to the Valdhertz Crypts
• Barricade (Valdhertz Crypts)
• Spike Trap (Valdhertz Crypts)
• Ancient Arrow Cart
• On the Fauna of the Echovald
• Scattered Notes
• Aqueous Lever
• Flaming Lever
• Earthy Lever
• Mistral Lever
• Stone Scribbles
• A Selection of Children's Rhymes and Verses
• Weathered Journal
• Weathered Plaque
• Weapon Display
• Crane Statue
• White Tiger Statue
• Wallow Statue
• Kirin Statue
• Phoenix Statue
• Ancient Dagger
• Ancient Sword
• Ancient Shield
• Ancient Staff
• Ancient Bow
• The Heart of Grenth
• Exit from the Valdhertz Crypts

Related achievements

• The Echovald Wilds: Valdhertz Victor — Complete all the rooms of Valdhertz in a single run. (1)
• The Echovald Wilds: Both Hale and Hearty — Defeat the Valdhertz bosses without getting struck by their attacks more than 10 times. (3)
• The Echovald Wilds: For the Living, Not the Dead — Loot chests in Valdhertz Crypts to avenge its fallen. (5)
• The Echovald Wilds: Resting Heart — Clear every room in the Valdhertz Crypts. (3)

Notes

• It’s not possible to enter the mini-dungeon without completing the Cryptseeker achievement. When attempting other means to enter, e.g. using a mesmer portal, player will get kicked out immediately.
• Both puzzles are independent from other players, allowing individual completion. For example, in the Heads of Houses puzzle, a player placing a weapon will not place it for other players in the room.
• If every single player exits the mini-dungeon, it will instantly reset. Allowing to try again if it stalled due to a bug.

Bugs:

• There may be no Weapon Display object at the Head of Houses. In which case dropping a bundle weapon will enable the interact. Cancelling the channel immediately will enable the Weapon Display interaction from then on.
• May not be able to loot the Chest of Grand Valdhertz Riches despite participating in all rooms and be the one that solved the puzzles, more prone to happening when doing rooms with other players.
• May not be able to loot all the chest or the Grand chest despite doing all the events from the start Solo.
• The timer to reset the mini-dungeon after the chests room is opened may not start, which freezes the mini-dungeon.
• The following bugs will stall the mini-dungeon, halting players from progressing entirely until it is reset:
  • The event in the entrance hall can sometimes stop spawning enemies.
  • Uwe Gorhopf may be invincible and not spawn any mobs.
  • There may be no Weapons at the Head of Houses. If you are not solo, someone else can do the puzzle.
  • If the Heads of Houses puzzle is finished by multiple people with a small interval, the next room may not spawn any enemies.
  • Killing one of the last veterans, Veteran Commissar Ignat or Veteran Countess Lavinia Durheim, outside of the final room will force the event timer to be stuck at 0:00.
  • Defeating both final veterans may not make the Heart of Grenth interactive.Redoing the mini-dungeon (solo if possible) should let you get the missing rooms.

Anomalies:

• Logging out with a character in the final "room" of the cave south of  Qinkai Stream — (the one that has a Grand Chest (The Echovald Wilds) inside) will place the character outside of the Crypt, as if they had been inside of it before logging out.