Gauntlet of Woe: the Illustrated Guide

[Christo Deathgiver]

UPDATED NOVEMBER 13,2011 - Level 9 information for updates - Prism as Traps/Pet Traps

This is a guide to the Level 50+ Grand Master Tower that is on Colossus Blvd, Briskbreeze Tower. For those that have not seen the update and tower levels while it was on the test realm, here are the 9 levels to this very challenging tower:



LEVEL 1
2x Crypt Crawler
Myth - Rank 7 Elite
1265 Health

2x Frost Phantom
Ice - Rank 6 Elite
1000 Health


LEVEL 2
2x Crypt Crawler
Myth - Rank 7 Elite
1265 Health

2x Viridian Specter
Balance - Rank 8 Elite
1395 Health


LEVEL 3
There are Health wisps on this level but they are on a timer... The sooner you can kill off the Viridian Specters and Fire Shriekers, the more wisps will be available to the group at the end of battle.

2x Viridian Specter
Balance - Rank 8 Elite
1395 Health

2x Fire Shrieker
Fire - Rank 7 Elite
1265 Health


LEVEL 4
You start off with the single boss, Angrus Hollowsoul, but once you do any damage to this boss, he will summon the Exploding Ember minion. This minion will keep respawning as you do damage to Angrus but fail to kill Angrus.

Recommendation - If it is possible I would also recommend a single hit kill on Angrus and you will only face the minion once during this duel. It is best served that you kill the minion as soon as possible because once it gains four pips, the minion will cast a meteor storm that will do 10,000 damage to all players. This is accomplished easier if one of your team is of the Ice school. You could also use Quench on the minion which will dispell the Meteor Strike. This will buy your team 3 turns for every quench that is cast since the dispel will take away the minions pips.

Angrus Hollowsoul
Fire - Rank 8 Boss
6000 Health

Exploding Ember
Fire - Rank 7 Elite
1320 Health


LEVEL 5
2x Crypt Crawler
Myth - Rank 7 Elite
1265 Health

2x Argent Clatterer
Life - Rank 7 Elite
1265 Health


LEVEL 6
2x Steel Sentinel
Storm - Rank 8 Elite
1395 Health

2x Fire Shrieker
Fire - Rank 7 Elite
1265 Health


LEVEL 7
There are green and blue wisps in this next room, if you can grab all of the blue wisps first the green wisps will turn into Blue wisps. You can then move on to the next level with out fighting any MOBs. (Thank you Zachary FireDust)

Recommendation - To access the blue wisps without hitting a green wisp, you should approach them from the outside of the center of the room. Turn to face the blue wisp and slowly push forward till the wisp is taken, then back out and repeat till all of the blue wisps have been taken.


If you should happen to grab any of the green wisps, these guys appear.

2x Viridian Specter
Balance - Rank 8 Elite
1395 Health


LEVEL 8
2x Crypt Crawler
Myth - Rank 7 Elite
1265 Health

2x Frost Phantom
Ice - Rank 6 Elite
1000 Health


FINAL LEVEL - UPDATED NOVEMBER 13, 2011
Orrick Nightglider
Death - Rank 8 Boss
6000 Health

3x Stomper (These minions are summoned once Orrick's health drops below 4,000)
Balance - Rank 8 Elite
1500 Health each

Level 9 - Orrick Nightglider is an interrupt boss similar to the interrupts that we had seen at the time of the Grizzleheim update. Here are some of things that you will experience in fighting Orrick:

• Orrick Nightglider has 6000 health
• September 2011 UPDATE - With the change in the status of the death prism being classified as a trap now, the options for Death wizards to complete this tower are very limited. The only way that you can cast a death prism in order to hit Orrick with a death attack is Vaporize (Myth Dispel). Vaporize will dispel the removal of the prism so you can attack as you would have. You can get Vaporize in a couple of ways.
  
  1. Visit Mildred Farseer on Colossus Blvd. and train Vaporize. It is a two pip slot spell, but in the long run, getting down the death prism is more important. I would have recommended buying a Treasure card 1 pip slot version, but I have not seen one of the Spirit dispels in the Bazaar. You could also wear the Myth Mastery Amulet to get the cost down for a single Gold pip, but that may not be your best option with all of the BalanceBlade/Bladestorm/Dark Pact amulets available.
  2. Purchase a Treasure card version of Vaporize from the Zafaria Library The TC version of this spell will cost you 1500 gold each but is well worth the cost since it will allow a Death wizard to cast the prism needed for only two pip slot cost.
  3. Purchase a Treasure card version of Spirit Defuse. This is a much more expensive spell to cast since it will take 5 pip slots for a Death Wizard that does not have a Balance Mastery amulet. The Myth dispel in that trio will suffice to getting down your Death prism.
  4. Don't run alone and take either a Balance or Myth friend that can cast one of the two above spells for you. If you do not have any Balance or Myth friends, you can find many Wizards that would be willing to help on either the The Assistance Specialists threads or in the general In Game Quest Help and Meet Ups section of W101Central.
• Orrick removes single traps & prism (Prisms, Hex, Curse, Feint, School Traps, etc..) as soon as the trap is placed on him. Spirit Trap and Elemental Trap will work, but Orrick will remove the last trap in each group.
  
  1. Recommendation - Before you start the duel with Orrick, I would remove ALL single traps from your deck completely. This will lower your deck count and will help you draw cards that you will actually need.
  2. When you cast Spirit Trap - you will lose the Life Trap from the group every time.
  3. When you cast Elemental Trap - you will lose the Storm Trap from the group every time.
  4. November 2011 UPDATE - Pet manifested traps go undetected by Orrick. These can be cast and will not be removed. Here is a quick list of these Pet manifested trap talents:
     
     1. "May Cast" Talents for School Traps, Curse or Hex
     2. Curse-Giver (Provides Curse Card)
     3. Hexter (Provides Hex Card)
     4. Feinting spell (Provides 70/30 Feint Card)
• During the interrupt in round 3, Orrick Nightglider will cast a Heck Hound at a single target that does 560 base damage per round for three rounds (1,680 total base damage) and will not hesitate to case multiples of this spell at a single target.
  
  1. I did notice that with the last update, that the interrupt that was used to cast the Heck Hound is replaced if Orrick is dealt damage and has to places a tower shield.
  2. Recommendation -Quench will dispell this attack and should be your first option in stopping this attack. You can buy 1 pip version in the Bazaar or 2 pip version from the Library and/or the Bazaar
  3. Stack your deck with any and all type of Fire shields. Make sure that the team member in the first spot (sun) has at least two fire shields of the same type (-80% Fire shield, the -70% twin shields, elemental shield and all treasure versions are all different types of fire shields and will get absorbed in a single fire attack).
• During a second interrupt in round 4, this boss will cast a Meteor Strike that hits each player for 750 base damage each.
  
  1. Recommendation - Quench will dispell this attack and should be your first option in stopping this attack. We have also noted that there is a glitch in this level that will show the animation of the meteor strike but no one will take damage.
  2. If quench is unavailable, then each team member should have some sort of fire or tower shield on them by round 4 to lower the damage from this meteor strike.
• As soon as his health drops below 4000, he will summon the three Stomper minions to help
• While his health is between 4000 and 2000 - He will interrupt right after ANY attack and cast a 90% Tower shield. This will occur between players turns so be fore-warned. He does not cast tower shield after a hit as long as his health remains above 4000 or drops below 2000.
• March 18, 2010 UPDATE - Life Steal spells (Wraith, Scarecrow, Vampire and Ghoul) are not classified as an attack so these WILL NOT trigger the tower shield.
• *Note* - Multiple Attack spells like Orthrus, Minotaur, Chimera & Hydra will trigger a tower shield for EACH attack (2 Tower shields for Orthrus and Minotaur and 3 Tower shields for Chimera & Hydra). Would recommend that these attacks not be used unless it is a final shot.
• Recommendation - February 2, 2010 UPDATE - Melt will prevent Orrick from casting a single Tower Shield. Would recommend that 2 or 3 of these be placed on him sometime before he reaches the required health level to start casting the Tower shields.
• Once you drop his health below 2000, he stops casting tower shield, but at this stage, he removes a trap every round.Even if you don't add a new trap or hit him, "Cleanse Ward" is cast, removing any stray traps left on him.
• Also, once Orrick's health is below 2000, he will start casting the Earthquakes doing 750 Base Damage (must calculate any resistance to this). Although shields and blades are not removed by these earthquake attacks.

Orrick Nightglider follows the same rules as most mob's in that this boss will focus his attacks on the person in the first spot (Sun) of the battle circle, but will change his target to the person doing the most damage or the person Healing.
Recommendation - Deal Big damage to Orrick as quickly as possible with at least two of the team members, BUT not in the same turn. If the first attack does more than 2000 damage, the second attack will run into a Tower Shield. Also do not wait for him to summon the minions since they will not come out until his health falls below 4000. In one of my attempts, our team made the mistake of waiting for Orrick to summon the minions and ended up eating too many Heck Hounds and Meteor Storm to finish off this attempt.

Highly Recommended -

1. Training or Treasure card version of Quench or having a Fire wizard along for the ride. Be aware that the two different versions of treasure card quench and the regular spell are ALL DIFFERENT. If one or more of these are applied at the same time, they will all get used in a single fire spell cast by Orrick. Be sure to cast one extra if possible to over compensate. Orrick has a tendancy to cast a fire spell on his regular turn and this will exhaust a quench allowing for the Heck hound or Meteor Stike to fall through the crack.
2. Training or Treasure card version of Melt or having an Ice Wizard along for the ride. Be aware that the treasure card melt and the regular spell are DIFFERENT. If one or more of these are applied at the same time, they will all get used in a single Ice spell cast by Orrick. Be sure to cast one extra if possible to over compensate. Orrick has a tendancy to cast an Ice spell on his regular turn and this will exhaust a Melt allowing for the Tower shield to be cast.
3. If #2 is not available - Treasure card versions of either Pierce or Steal Ward or having a Myth Wizard along for the ride. If a tower shield is cast, these are just great options to have rather than just trying to over power the 50% defense that Tower shield provides.

If you would like to schedule your run on this Tower today, you can find The Assistance Specialists by clicking on the link provided or on my Signature Picture


Here is the Culpepper Report - (submitted by Johnist):


Here are the rewarded rings that can possibly be dropped to the Victors (Thank you Zachary FireDust)

[Zachary FireDust]

In reguards to Level 7:

If you collect the blue wisps first, the green wisps will turn blue, allowing you to collect all the wisps.

You will then be able to move to the 8th Level, without fighting any mobs on Level 7.

Hope this helps.

[Loremaster Johnist]

Can't wait to get to level 50 to complete this tower in Live.

[Scrunch444]

Thanks for the glimpse into the rarefied worlds of the GRANDMASTERS! <j/k> Nice guide. Thanks for the time you put in on it!

[Darkness and Light]

Thanks! I have never went into yet cause I'm a chicken I plan on going in it though

[Luis693]

May i ask, how do they "Cheat"?

[Christo Death]

May i ask, how do they "Cheat"?

I will be updating this as I pull in the information from the live realm including adding the mob types/school, but here are the ones I know now:

Level 4 - You start off with the single boss Angrus Hollowsoul, but once you do any damage to this boss, he will summon the Exploding Ember minion. This minion will keep respawning as you do damage to Angrus but fail to kill Angrus.
Recommendation - It is best served that you kill the minion as soon as possible because once it gains four pips, the minion will cast a meteor storm that will do 10,000 damage to all players. This is accomplished easier if one of your team is of the Ice school. If it is possible I would also recommend a single hit kill on Angrus and you will only face the minion once during this duel.


Level 9 - Orrick Nightglider is an interrupt boss similar to the interrupts that we had seen at the time of the Grizzleheim update. Here are some of things that you will experience in fighting Orrick:

• This boss removes a single trap placed on him at any time during the that round, but usually as soon as the first trap is placed. This does not include prism spells that may be necessary if you are a death student.
• During the interrupt, this boss will cast a Heck Hound at a single target that does 560 damage per round for three rounds (1,680 total damage) and will not hesitate to case multiples of this spell at a single target.

Orrick Nightglider follows the same rules as most mob's in that this boss will focus his attacks on the person in the first spot (Sun) of the battle circle, but will change his target to the person doing the most damage.
Recommendation - If you want to use traps best advice is to overload the boss with multiples of the same trap (this will have to come from all duelers) and then cast elemental or spirit traps. He will remove that last trap placed and will need to work his way through the triple traps before getting to the ones you actually plan on using.

Example -

• Wizard 1 will cast feint trap, this trap will be removed by Orrick as soon as it is placed on him.
• Wizard 2 will cast feint trap, trap stays.
• Wizard 3 will cast feint trap, the trap stays.
• Wizard 4 will cast elemental trap, the trap stays.
• Next round Orrick will remove traps in the reverse order they were cast, starting with the storm trap from the elemental triple trap and keep working his way till he gets to the feint.
• Any new traps added in a round will be the first removed, but he will only remove one trap a rouond.

[Andrew Wildflame]

I am very much looking forward to running through THE GAUNTLET! Thanks Christo for the guide. One issue - for some reason the pics on the original post aren't coming through. Maybe since the thread got moved from test to here, it messed something up?

[Chris Legend]

the pictures arent showing for me D:

[GPhoo]

Thx so much, every time i went in, i collected ALL the wisps :P