archie-archivist

[archie-archivist]

The Archivist's Guide to The Nameless Anomaly

Want more general Raid information? View this guide instead.

The Nameless Anomaly is the fourth raid unlocked It is available to players level 103 or higher with a completion of A Journey Furthery on their account. It requires 1 Tol Rune and a party of four players to play.

For more detailed and technical information, including a list of enemies and available buffs, please view the wiki page linked.

First Challenge Room

The first challenge room can be one of two rooms: the Flooding Canyon or the Sunken Grotto.

Flooding Canyon

The goal of this room is to destroy all Malefic Void Rifts within two minutes.

One player must pick up the Berserker Berry from the platform by the entrance to the room. Several effects are applied to the berry holder: blindness, slowness, disabled spells, very slow attack speed, and incredibly high attack damage. Their name and glow colour also turns a dark red.

This player is the only one able to deal enough damage to the Malefic Void Rifts which have 100,000,000 hp. The various other effects however, make navigating the room very difficult.

The rest of the party needs to guide and protect the berry holder, usually by defeating the spawning mobs and standing beneath the Malefic Void Rifts in order to show them the way.

Once all of the Malefic Void Rifts are defeated, the room is complete.

If two minutes passes, the room is considered failed.

General Tips:

The Void Rifts die in three hits. They take a few seconds to register the last hit and properly die, but they can be reliably killed in three attacks. If you know your aim is right, you can move on to the next one after three hits.

There are purple patches beneath each rift. While the room is still tricky to navigate, standing on the purple area and looking straight up will let you hit a Malefic Void Rift with ease.

Sunken Grotto

The goal of this room is to hold the platform for one minute.

One player must stand on the purple platform on top of the tree stump, either by climbing up there or using the large void hole in front of it. While standing on this platform, a one minute timer will begin ticking down.

The player on this platform will be constantly bombarded by projectiles.

For the rest of the party, they goal is to destroy the Void Holes as they spawn. While this is not required to complete the room, after a short time they will dissipate and spawn the incredibly tough mob the Heart of Darkness.

After the minute is up, a rock at the back of the room is removed and the exit is opened and the room is complete.

There is no unique failure condition to this room.

General Tips:

Leave the platform to the player with the highest survivability. While it's possible to avoid the projectiles, those that hit you will hit hard and there's a lot of them.

Kill the Void Holes as quick as possible. I cannot state this enough, the Heart of Darkness is a pain to deal with. If you can avoid one spawning, do so.

Second Challenge Room

The second challenge room can be one of two rooms: the Dark Cave or the Weeping Soulroot.

Dark Cave

The goal of this room is to kill the three Shadowlings before defeating the miniboss - either the Chiropterror, or rarely the Lost Eye.

One player must gather light in the instruction room by standing underneath the sea lantern. This player will then have a trail of sea lanterns spawn above their head in the next room.

For the rest of the party, they must stay close to the light bearer. Otherwise, they'll take heavy damage from being in the darkness.

After the miniboss is defeated, the exit becomes available and the room is complete.

If there is only one person alive, the room is considered failed.

General Tips

Don't use fullbright. While in many other places in Wynncraft it's incredibly useful, here fullbright will only hinder you. The radius around the lightbearer is only shown by the light.

Keep an eye on your teammates as light bearer. You're holding their lives in your hands, so you should try and keep them alive. If someone's lagging behind, try and find a middle ground to keep everyone in the light.

Weeping Soulroot

The goal of this room is to recover two Isoptera Hearts from inside the tree and giving them to the altar.

The altar requires souls in order to open passages into and inside the tree. Each player begins the room with a soul and can recover one soul at a time by killing Soul Shrubs.

There are four Soul Shrubs positioned in the room and they only respawn once all others have been killed.

One player can enter the tree and must navigate its maze in order to find the Interdimensional Isoptera.

A message will appear on screen when you enter the room with the Isoptera inside it. Killing this drops the Isoptera Heart.

Only one Isoptera Heart can be obtained at a time and so must be delivered to the altar before getting a new one.

Once two Isoptera Hearts have been given to the altar, the room is complete and players may leave through it.

If there are less than two people alive, the room is considered failed.

General Tips:

The passages in the tree are coloured. There are shelf mushroom growths beside each passage, indicating the colour of grotto they lead to. The passages to the exit chamber are marked in dark prismarine.

Keep left or right in the tree. While it can be difficult to do so, entering the first passage you see on the left or right can keep you entering new grottos rather than looping round to old ones.

Keep the altar area clear. A lot of mobs spawn and the five seconds needed to give your soul can lead to death.

Third Challenge Room

The third challenge room can be one of two rooms: the Blueshift Wilds or the Twisted Jungle.

Blushift Wilds

The goal of this room is to deliver three Red Bulbs to the Blue Bulb while protecting it from Bulb Catchers.

Bulb Keepers will spawn near the centre of the room occasionally and will give a Red Bulb to the player who dealt the killing blow.

Players carrying a Red Bulb are debuffed until they deliver it to the Blue Bulb.

More commonly, however, Bulb Catchers will spawn and move towards the Blue Bulb.

If they're not killed before reaching the Blue Bulb, they will grab it and begin running away.

If they're not killed before a few seconds pass after grabbing the Bulb, they will despawn with the Blue Bulb.

Once three Red Bulbs are delivered to the Blue Bulb, the exit will open and the room will complete.

If the Blue Bulb is allowed to despawn, the room is considered failed.

General Tips:

Always make sure someone is there to protect the bulb. Even if the bulb is grabbed a couple of times, as long as it's retrieved quickly you can still progress. However, the time limit to kill a Bulb Catcher is pretty short.

Bulb Catchers with the Bulb become green name enemies. As such, abilities that rely on summons may not automatically target them.

Twisted Jungle

The goal of this room is to deliver five Void Matter to the Giant Void Hole while protecting it.

At the centre of the room is the Giant Void Hole. It has 10 integrity, or hp. Some enemies that spawn from waves will have blue names, these enemies will head towards the Void Hole and deal one damage to it upon reaching it.

There are four branching paths off of this centre area, each giving one Void Matter on completion.

Void Pedestals Path: The player mus tgo down the parkour to the left and right of the section, interacting with the pedestals at the end. After activating both, the closed void hole at the end of the middle path will become available. Jumping into this voild hole grants a Void Matter.

Crimson Neuron Path: At the end of the path is a miniboss named the Dendrite Drifter. Killing it will grant a Void Matter.

Hatchling Path: At the end of the parkour is another Void Matter. However, as the player jumps past Void Eggs, they will hatch into Destructive Void Matter.

Tangled Path: Two Malformed Void Hole minibosses spawn. The one at the far right when spawning grants a Void Matter when killed. When hit by either of them, the player is teleported to the other.

After the initial four Void Matter are delivered, the Void Holes opposite the Giant Void Hole will become killable.

All three must be killed a few times for the Despairing Crawler to spawn. Killing the Despairing Crawler grants the final Void Matter.

Once all five Void Matter are inserted into the Giant Void Hole, it will open and the room will be complete.

If the Giant Void Hole loses all of its integrity, the room is considered failed.

General Tips:

Split up. Having multiple people going down the same path will usually not speed things up.

Leave someone behind to defend. While it's tempting for everyone to run off and down a path, leaving the Giant Void Hole defenseless is not a smart idea.

Boss Fight

The Nameless Anomaly, also referred to as Greg, alters the arena as it leaps around, spawning many void holes beneath it that are detrimental to fall into. It's also unique in that the arena does not have solid walls, instead having Void Winds that throw the player around before dropping them back in the arena.

This guide does not cover the guild raid version of the boss fight.

Void Holes. Falling into the Void Holes spawned by The Nameless Anomaly will teleport the player up, often to the ceiling Void Hole near the arena spawn point. It also has a chance of spawning a Little One.

Skulls. Occasionally spawned in batches of four per living player. These skulls move in straight lines towards the targeted player three times before despawning. If they hit the player, they deal large damage and give a healing debuff.

Purple Circles. Occasionally spawned underneath the Nameless Anomaly, these circles will deal heavy damage to any player that walks on them before disappearing.

Floating Void Hole. Sometimes, the Nameless Anomaly will spawn a floating void hole that will hover above a player's head. After a short interval, this will spawn an arm that reaches down and deals damage to that player and to those nearby.

Little Ones. Small, fragile enemies spawned by players going into Void Holes. While weak on their own, when killed they turn into Greater Ones.

Greater Ones. Spawned from Little Ones, the main threat from these is the laser they can shoot out that deals damage very quickly.

The main gimmick of this boss is The Watched. At two health intervals - 50% and 25% - the Nameless Anomaly will enter an invulnerable, pointing state.

While in this state, it will charge lasers at regular intervals that deal 50% of a player's maximum hp.

The first two beams are white smoke, followed by fire particles. The fire particles are the ones that deal damage. These can be dodged by high walkspeed or well-timed movement spells.

Several lasers are fired before the Nameless Anomaly returns to a damageable state.

[archie-archivist]

Of course, the day after I finish the guide to Nexus of Light they announce changes to the boss fight.

At least I still have some time to complete The Nameless Anomaly guide before I need to update anything.

[archie-archivist]

The Archivist's Guide to The Canyon Colossus

Want more general Raid information? View this guide instead.

The Canyon Colossus is the third raid unlocked. It is available to players level 95 or higher with a completion of Breaking Point on their account. It requires 1 Tol Rune and a party of four players to play.

For more detailed and technical information, including a list of enemies and available buffs, please view the wiki page linked.

First Challenge Room

The first challenge room can be one of two rooms: the Two Platforms room or the Lava Lake room.

Two Platforms Room

The goal of this room is to hold two platforms for one minute each.

Initially, only the upper platform is accessible via a path to the left of the cave. However, standing on the Upper Platform opens the door to the Lower Platform.

Only one player may stand on a platform at a time, all others are thrown off with a message in chat.

Occasionally, the platform will smoke and emit fire particles. Players should step off the platforms if this occurs, as it precedes spikes appearing on the platform that heavily damage any players that come into contact with them as well as throwing them off the platform. The spikes recede after a few seconds.

Once the upper platform is held for a full minute, the door to the lower platform is permanently opened.

Once the lower platform is held for a full minute, a door accessible from the lower platform's chamber is opened that allows access to the upper platform.

Once both platforms are held for the full minute, the exit opens in the back passage behin the upper door.

There is no special failure condition for this room.

General Tips:

Don't leave fragile people alone. The mobs that spawn around the platforms hit hard and can have some nasty knockback. If a player relies on mobility to stay alive, they will have a tough time holding a platform.

Split up into pairs. If there's already two people on a platform, go to the other. It's easier to hold a platform with someone watching your back.

Keep an eye out for the spikes. While mentioned above, it shouldn't be left unsaid that sometimes the spike's warning particles are difficult to spot.

Lava Lake Room

The goal of this room is to raise and hold platforms to make a bridge to the exit.

Falling in the lava lake teleports the player into a space with water before placing them back in the room.

At the far end of the starting area is a pool that players can collect water buckets from. These are used to cool overflowing lava. Only one bucket can be held at any time.

An overflowing lava flow will have fire particles and sound effects indicating which it is. If successfully extinguished, time will be removed from bar at the top of the screen and the lava flow will briefly be replaced by black blocks.

If not extinguished in time, the lava will be replaced by netherrack and one is added to the fail counter. A Living Magma will also spawn and attack players.

A minute timer is at the top of the screen that ticks down on its own and also when lava is extinguished. When it reaches zero, a new platform spawns.

A player must stand on a platform to keep the timer ticking. Minibosses spawn on each platform that decrease the length of time available to extinguish lava.

Once three platforms have been raised, the challenge is completed.

If lava is failed five times, the room is considered failed.

General Tips:

Let the person with the most survivability hold the platforms. You can assist with the minibosses from the main area, but really the main focus should be on stopping the lava.

Spread yourselves out. Keeping it so there's people monitoring different lava flows will help save time on getting to them. While it's difficult to do this without communicating, try staying in an area no one is actively in and keeping an eye on those flows.

Second Challenge Room

The second challenge room can be one of two rooms: the Labyrinth or the Golem Room

Labyrinth

The goal of this room is to have all players within the particle circle that spawns somewhere in the maze.

The maze has a central area with four coloured paths leading off of it. Each of these paths branches and winds in its own way.

A few seconds after starting the room, a pair of wings becomes available. The player who takes the wings is teleported high above the maze and are put in a spectator-like state.

The rest of the party has to fight through the maze itself. At many points along each path, the way is blocked by a golem that must be destroyed in order to continue.

Either the player with the wings or the players in the maze will find the exit ring and must guide the other to where it is.

There is no special failure condition for this room.

General Tips:

Be thorough. While it might seem like that side path has nothing, it's always better to check. It's far too easy to get turned around in the maze.

Keep track of the party while guiding. While telling them general directions can be helpful, giving them specific instructions as they go can be better.

Use coordinates. Most players use Wynntils which allows the sharing of location with the party. If you find the exit, you can open the map and right click the blue share arrow at the bottom. If someone's shared coordinates, click them in chat to set your compass there.

Take different colours. The maze players can be scarily efficient, so it's often best to take a different colour to what they've started on. It's usually best to say in chat, too.

Golem Room

The goal of this room is to guide two golems to the end of the room.

Initially, the room starts with only one golem available. However, later on in the room there is a split path that has the other golem.

There are two types of switch in the room:

Blue levers. These require a player to activate.

Blue/Green platforms. These will activate once the golem goes over them.

Molten Monsters will prioritise attacking the golem, while other enemies will only attack the player.

Once both golems have reached the final platforms, the exit door will open.

If either golem dies, the room is considered failed.

General Tips:

Split into pairs. Sometimes the mobs get overwhelming, sticking with two people per path can help alleviate that. However, there are places where you can quickly hop over to help, so if you see the others struggling, don't feel afraid to!

The path with the second golem is easier. If you're worried about dying, go down the off shoot path. You have less to worry about as the golem isn't stationary for very long compared to the main path.

Third Challenge Room

The third challenge is always the same: protecting Elder Astal as he completes the ritual.

The goal of the room is to activate four Binding Seals while protecting Elder Astal.

To protect Elder Astal, a player must stand on the defending spot and shoot down incoming rocks using the laser provided, which is activated by sneaking (Default Shift).

Elder Astal has five hp and being hit by a rock reduces his hp by one.

A player can stop defending at any time by jumping.

Each Binding Seal has its own task needing completion. Two are minibosses, one is parkour, and one is more akin to a puzzle.

Primeval Machine

Accessed through the path opposite the boulders, the Primeval Machine is a miniboss that spawns when a player approaches the Binding Seal sat there.

The Seal disappears and only reappears upon the Machine's defeat.

Agate Axon

Accessed opposite the parkour start point, players must attack the inactive Axon in order to be pulled to the first phase of the fight.

The first phase takes place on a tiny rock. Upon defeat, the Axon pulls players to a more open area for the more difficult second phase.

After being defeated a second time, the Axon pulls players to where the Binding Seal is.

Parkour

The parkour is accessible opposite the inactive Axon and requires players to pick up an Invigorating Flame to complete.

While holding the Invigorating Flame, a player is unable to cast spells. Jump Height and Walk Speed identifications are meant to be negated as well, but sometimes aren't.

The parkour includes bright orange vertical launch pads in sections and has a checkpoint part way up.

A player can leave the area at any time to remove the effects of the Flame and will be returned to the checkpoint when possible after reacquiring the Flame.

The Binding Seal is found at the end of the parkour.

Boulders

The boulders section is accessible on the path opposite the Primeval Machine's entrance. It requires players to pick up the Sprightly Flame to complete.

Boulders spawn near the end of the path and roll towards the beginning. Being hit by one sends the player back to the beginning.

The Binding Sigil is at the end of the path.

Once all four sigils are active, the room is complete.

If Elder Astal reaches zero hp, the room is considered failed.

Boss Fight

The Canyon Colossus is a unique boss fight in that the boss itself is stationary. Therefore, most of its attacks rely on changing the platforms players can stand on rather than moving itself.

I do not have any specific advice for surviving this fight, as I do not have much experience with this raid as a whole.

This guide does not cover the guild raid version of this boss fight.

The Canyon Colossus

It should be noted that intervals between abilities decrease as the Colossus loses health, leading to the final part of the fight being a desperate struggle to deal damage while being bounced around the arena.

Colossal Sweep. Indicated by most platforms in the arena turning red, after a short period the Colossus will swing its sword across the area dealing heavy damage to any it hits. Some platforms at the far back of the arena are safe.

Blue Fire. Indicated by the Colossus pointing its sword up and blue rings appearing underneath players, beams of blue light will appear from the rings after a short delay. These damage players.

Floating Sword. When the Colossus is below half health, it will call its other sword into the fight. This sword floats around and slams down on the arena, indicated by a red symbol on the ground. It also causes a damaging shockwave that knocks payers back.

Platform Destruction. Sometimes the Colossus will temporarily destroy some of the platforms players can stand on, dropping anyone remaining on them downwards.

Meteors. The Colossus throws meteors that target and damage players.

Pesky Peridotites. These will heal the Colossus while alive.

[archie-archivist]

The Archivist's Guide to The Canyon Colossus

Want more general Raid information? View this guide instead.

The Canyon Colossus is the third raid unlocked. It is available to players level 95 or higher with a completion of Breaking Point on their account. It requires 1 Tol Rune and a party of four players to play.

For more detailed and technical information, including a list of enemies and available buffs, please view the wiki page linked.

First Challenge Room

The first challenge room can be one of two rooms: the Two Platforms room or the Lava Lake room.

Two Platforms Room

The goal of this room is to hold two platforms for one minute each.

Initially, only the upper platform is accessible via a path to the left of the cave. However, standing on the Upper Platform opens the door to the Lower Platform.

Only one player may stand on a platform at a time, all others are thrown off with a message in chat.

Occasionally, the platform will smoke and emit fire particles. Players should step off the platforms if this occurs, as it precedes spikes appearing on the platform that heavily damage any players that come into contact with them as well as throwing them off the platform. The spikes recede after a few seconds.

Once the upper platform is held for a full minute, the door to the lower platform is permanently opened.

Once the lower platform is held for a full minute, a door accessible from the lower platform's chamber is opened that allows access to the upper platform.

Once both platforms are held for the full minute, the exit opens in the back passage behin the upper door.

There is no special failure condition for this room.

General Tips:

Don't leave fragile people alone. The mobs that spawn around the platforms hit hard and can have some nasty knockback. If a player relies on mobility to stay alive, they will have a tough time holding a platform.

Split up into pairs. If there's already two people on a platform, go to the other. It's easier to hold a platform with someone watching your back.

Keep an eye out for the spikes. While mentioned above, it shouldn't be left unsaid that sometimes the spike's warning particles are difficult to spot.

Lava Lake Room

The goal of this room is to raise and hold platforms to make a bridge to the exit.

Falling in the lava lake teleports the player into a space with water before placing them back in the room.

At the far end of the starting area is a pool that players can collect water buckets from. These are used to cool overflowing lava. Only one bucket can be held at any time.

An overflowing lava flow will have fire particles and sound effects indicating which it is. If successfully extinguished, time will be removed from bar at the top of the screen and the lava flow will briefly be replaced by black blocks.

If not extinguished in time, the lava will be replaced by netherrack and one is added to the fail counter. A Living Magma will also spawn and attack players.

A minute timer is at the top of the screen that ticks down on its own and also when lava is extinguished. When it reaches zero, a new platform spawns.

A player must stand on a platform to keep the timer ticking. Minibosses spawn on each platform that decrease the length of time available to extinguish lava.

Once three platforms have been raised, the challenge is completed.

If lava is failed five times, the room is considered failed.

General Tips:

Let the person with the most survivability hold the platforms. You can assist with the minibosses from the main area, but really the main focus should be on stopping the lava.

Spread yourselves out. Keeping it so there's people monitoring different lava flows will help save time on getting to them. While it's difficult to do this without communicating, try staying in an area no one is actively in and keeping an eye on those flows.

Second Challenge Room

The second challenge room can be one of two rooms: the Labyrinth or the Golem Room

Labyrinth

The goal of this room is to have all players within the particle circle that spawns somewhere in the maze.

The maze has a central area with four coloured paths leading off of it. Each of these paths branches and winds in its own way.

A few seconds after starting the room, a pair of wings becomes available. The player who takes the wings is teleported high above the maze and are put in a spectator-like state.

The rest of the party has to fight through the maze itself. At many points along each path, the way is blocked by a golem that must be destroyed in order to continue.

Either the player with the wings or the players in the maze will find the exit ring and must guide the other to where it is.

There is no special failure condition for this room.

General Tips:

Be thorough. While it might seem like that side path has nothing, it's always better to check. It's far too easy to get turned around in the maze.

Keep track of the party while guiding. While telling them general directions can be helpful, giving them specific instructions as they go can be better.

Use coordinates. Most players use Wynntils which allows the sharing of location with the party. If you find the exit, you can open the map and right click the blue share arrow at the bottom. If someone's shared coordinates, click them in chat to set your compass there.

Take different colours. The maze players can be scarily efficient, so it's often best to take a different colour to what they've started on. It's usually best to say in chat, too.

Golem Room

The goal of this room is to guide two golems to the end of the room.

Initially, the room starts with only one golem available. However, later on in the room there is a split path that has the other golem.

There are two types of switch in the room:

Blue levers. These require a player to activate.

Blue/Green platforms. These will activate once the golem goes over them.

Molten Monsters will prioritise attacking the golem, while other enemies will only attack the player.

Once both golems have reached the final platforms, the exit door will open.

If either golem dies, the room is considered failed.

General Tips:

Split into pairs. Sometimes the mobs get overwhelming, sticking with two people per path can help alleviate that. However, there are places where you can quickly hop over to help, so if you see the others struggling, don't feel afraid to!

The path with the second golem is easier. If you're worried about dying, go down the off shoot path. You have less to worry about as the golem isn't stationary for very long compared to the main path.

Third Challenge Room

The third challenge is always the same: protecting Elder Astal as he completes the ritual.

The goal of the room is to activate four Binding Seals while protecting Elder Astal.

To protect Elder Astal, a player must stand on the defending spot and shoot down incoming rocks using the laser provided, which is activated by sneaking (Default Shift).

Elder Astal has five hp and being hit by a rock reduces his hp by one.

A player can stop defending at any time by jumping.

Each Binding Seal has its own task needing completion. Two are minibosses, one is parkour, and one is more akin to a puzzle.

Primeval Machine

Accessed through the path opposite the boulders, the Primeval Machine is a miniboss that spawns when a player approaches the Binding Seal sat there.

The Seal disappears and only reappears upon the Machine's defeat.

Agate Axon

Accessed opposite the parkour start point, players must attack the inactive Axon in order to be pulled to the first phase of the fight.

The first phase takes place on a tiny rock. Upon defeat, the Axon pulls players to a more open area for the more difficult second phase.

After being defeated a second time, the Axon pulls players to where the Binding Seal is.

Parkour

The parkour is accessible opposite the inactive Axon and requires players to pick up an Invigorating Flame to complete.

While holding the Invigorating Flame, a player is unable to cast spells. Jump Height and Walk Speed identifications are meant to be negated as well, but sometimes aren't.

The parkour includes bright orange vertical launch pads in sections and has a checkpoint part way up.

A player can leave the area at any time to remove the effects of the Flame and will be returned to the checkpoint when possible after reacquiring the Flame.

The Binding Seal is found at the end of the parkour.

Boulders

The boulders section is accessible on the path opposite the Primeval Machine's entrance. It requires players to pick up the Sprightly Flame to complete.

Boulders spawn near the end of the path and roll towards the beginning. Being hit by one sends the player back to the beginning.

The Binding Sigil is at the end of the path.

Once all four sigils are active, the room is complete.

If Elder Astal reaches zero hp, the room is considered failed.

Boss Fight

The Canyon Colossus is a unique boss fight in that the boss itself is stationary. Therefore, most of its attacks rely on changing the platforms players can stand on rather than moving itself.

I do not have any specific advice for surviving this fight, as I do not have much experience with this raid as a whole.

This guide does not cover the guild raid version of this boss fight.

The Canyon Colossus

It should be noted that intervals between abilities decrease as the Colossus loses health, leading to the final part of the fight being a desperate struggle to deal damage while being bounced around the arena.

Colossal Sweep. Indicated by most platforms in the arena turning red, after a short period the Colossus will swing its sword across the area dealing heavy damage to any it hits. Some platforms at the far back of the arena are safe.

Blue Fire. Indicated by the Colossus pointing its sword up and blue rings appearing underneath players, beams of blue light will appear from the rings after a short delay. These damage players.

Floating Sword. When the Colossus is below half health, it will call its other sword into the fight. This sword floats around and slams down on the arena, indicated by a red symbol on the ground. It also causes a damaging shockwave that knocks payers back.

Platform Destruction. Sometimes the Colossus will temporarily destroy some of the platforms players can stand on, dropping anyone remaining on them downwards.

Meteors. The Colossus throws meteors that target and damage players.

Pesky Peridotites. These will heal the Colossus while alive.

[archie-archivist]

The Archivist's Guide to Orphion's Nexus of Light

Want more general Raid information? View this guide instead.

Orphion's Nexus of Light is the second raid unlocked. It is available to players level 79 or higher with a completion of Realm of Light V - The Realm of Light on their account. It requires 1 Uth rune and a party of four players to play.

For more detailed and technical information, including a list of enemies and available buffs, please view the wiki page linked.

This Raid has a unique mechanic where some cutscenes are skippable. All players must press the swap hands key (Default F) in order to skip.

First Challenge Room

The first challenge room is always the Hold Room.

One player must stand on the blue platform on top of the central tower, accessed through either movement spells or the gold pressure plate launchpads that spawn around the room. The other players remain on the ground where six crystals are evenly spaced around the edge of the room.

While a player holds the tower, a one minute timer ticks down. Only one player may remain on the platform at a time, others are knocked off with a message in chat.

Roughly every ten seconds, two crystals will spawn Decaying Parasites beneath them. Usually, these crystals turn black as well. There is a short timer for killing the parasites, if they are not killed in time the room decays and the platform cannot be help for a few seconds.

There is no unique failure condition to this room.

General Tips:

You are able to stand on the tower while it's decayed. If you avoid the 3x3 hold platform, you can still stand on the surrounding blocks. This makes resuming the timer much easier once the room returns to normal.

Avoid going for the same parasite as everyone else. If everyone is focussed on killing one of the two parasites, who's getting the other one?

Second Challenge Room

The second challenge room can be one of two rooms: the Cloud Decay room, or the Resource Room.

Cloud Decay Room

In this room, several cloud-like platforms are spread out at varying heights across a void. Falling into the void does not kill the player and instead returns them to the start after five seconds.

Players are given +10 Jump Height to help navigate the room.

Three clouds are marked with large, purple beams and will spawn Crystalline Decays after a few seconds.

Players have 30 seconds to kill all three Crystalline Decays after they spawn. This process must be successfully completed three times before the room is considered complete.

If the thirty seconds elapses and one or more Crystalline Decay is left alive, the process restarts but no overall progress is lost.

There is no unique failure condition for this room.

General Tips:

If you're fragile, stick with others. There's no order to which needs killing first and the enemies can hit hard in this room. The only thing that matters is speed.

Use movement spells. While you do have the jump height boost, that can't change the fact that not all clouds are accessible from each other with it.

Don't worry if you fall off. It happens to everyone eventually.

Resource Room

The goal of the room is to deliver 10 Light Crystals to the centre. Once all 10 have been delivered, the room is considered complete and players are warped out.

There are three side paths with different challenges: Puzzle, Parkour, and Miniboss.

The Puzzle requires the player to sneak (Default Shift) to fire a light ray to destroy Decaying Atriums. They come from above. Completing this rewards 2 Light Crystals.

The Parkour is invisible, with the path shown as gold blocks above the player. It resets every time a player falls off. You cannot use movement spells while in the Parkour. Completing this rewards 1 Light Crystal.

The Miniboss is a custom modeled entity called the Athantic Witness. Defeating it grants one contributing player 2 Light Crystals.

Players can only hold one lot of Light Crystals at a time, requiring several trips back to the centre.

There is no unique failure condition for this room.

General Tips:

If someone's on the parkour, do something else. Unless you're incredibly confident in your skills, trying the parkour will likely cause both of you to fall and will frustrate anyone else trying.

Jump Height and Walk Speed are preserved in the Parkour. This can help or hinder you, depending on your experience with your build.

Third Challenge Room

The third challenge room can be one of two rooms: the Tower Room or the Maze Room.

Tower Room

The goal of this room is to guide the player carrying the Darkness Crystal to the constantly moving Light Pillar to fill up a progress bar three times.

The player with the Darkness Crystal gains a purple name and glow. However, they are unable to see the Light Pillar and must rely on other players.

The rest of the party have white names and glow that turn yellow when within the Light Pillar's radius. By following the Light Pillar, they can guide the holder to it.

Each time the bar is filled, the party is launched up another floor.

If the holder of the Darkness Crystal dies, it will have to be picked up again.

The room fails if less than two people are left alive.

General Tips:

Use third person. While it can be tricky, using the perspective third person gives can help find the light pillar or your yellow team members.

Don't all group up. Because of the changing glow colours, it's not required for everyone to follow the pillar. Some should work on clearing mobs that spawn.

Let the player with the highest survivability pick up the crystal. While death doesn't reset the room these days, the mobs will try and knock you around. If you're having too many close calls, that can really slow the room down.

Maze Room

The goal of this room is to get to the other side of the room.

One player must pick up the Light Crystal, which allows them to see the path as they walk over it. The path is made of Purple Stained Glass.

The rest of the party cannot see the path, but can walk on it as it is made of barrier blocks.

The crystal holder must guide the rest of the party to the checkpoint, a 4x4 gold block platform at the end of the path. Once all living players are on the platform, the path becomes visible to all while the crystal holder stands on the checkpoint platform.

Two 4x4 iron platforms appear along the path. Only one spawns if only 2 people are left alive. These must be stood on simultaneously to progress.

Once this has been done twice, the path extends and the crystal holder must proceed to the next checkpoint.

There are three checkpoints in total, the last one is always right in front of the overseer and the exit.

If the crystal holder dies, the Light Crystal must be collected from the start of the room.

If there are less than two players alive, the room fails.

General Tips:

Use & Remember movement spells. Following other players can be tricky, especially on the relatively narrow path. If you're good with your movement spell, you can choose not to follow along and just cross the room when the holder reaches the checkpoint.

Kill Wrathful Storms. One spawns over the checkpoint and each of the first iron platforms for that checkpoint. They can strike players with lightning that gives a powerful slowness effect.

Let players with weaker mobility take the crystal. This way you can fly across the room and the player with the weaker mobility doesn't feel like they're slowing everyone down.

The Boss

The boss of this raid has two distinct phases. The first is Orphion, Fading Light, and the second is The Parasite.

Together, they make this the longest boss fight currently implemented. It is also perhaps the boss fight with the most happening at any one time.

Most of the following will be on how to recognise the various attacks and tips on surviving them. Unfortunately, Orphion's boss fight takes practice and repeated attempts to get reliable success in. Or, of course, a highly defensive build.

This guide does not cover the guild raid version of the boss fight.

Orphion, Fading Light

Charge. Indicated by Orphion looking over his shoulder and the Parasite around him chittering, Orphion will proceed to charge several times in straight lines and stopping only when he hits a wall. Behind him, evenly spaced beams of light are left behind and ground-height projectiles are fired off from them.

Keeping your distance from Orphion while he charges will given you time to get out of the way of his newest direction and dodge the projectiles. If he hits you, he can do large amounts of damage so it's best to steer clear of him.

Roar. Indicated by Orphion shaking his head and an inhale like sound playing, Orphion will proceed to emit a large damaging cone in the direction he is facing, originating from his mouth.

If you hear him start to charge up for a roar, get behind him. This attack provides a great opportunity to hit him while he's stood still, though getting caught in the cone will repeatedly damage and knock back the player until they're out. Running towards the sides of the cone is the quickest way out - movement spells also work.

Floating Suns. Orphion will release 2 floating yellow orbs that create an area of constant, small light beams.

These usually spawn far enough back from him that anyone hitting him isn't caught in their area initially. The orbs themselves as well as the light beams deal damage to any players caught in them.

Lightning Strike. Orphion will throw out a small horde of Parasitic Mites and began walking around with head and tail held high. A large circle will be on the floor beneath him and smaller ones beneath each mite. An on screen warning reading 'CHAIN' will appear to all players within one of the circles. After some time, lightning will strike Orphion and chain between each mite.

The timing of this is long enough to get some good hits in before it goes off. However, you do not want to be caught in Orphion's circle. Being struck while in Orphion's circle imposes incredibly high penalties to mana regen and attack speed that decays slowly. Being struck in the smaller circles briefly stalls the player.

Crystallines. Twice during the fight (once before and once after the 'sun phase') Orphion will release 4 circular Crystallines into the arena. They circle around the edges and occasionally heal him. Killing one of the Crystalline will cause a player to start being Crystallised - slowing the player down. After some time, the player will be completely frozen in place for 15 seconds or until the crystallising remains around them are destroyed. All of these effects end if all four Crystalline are killed.

Getting the Crystalline dead fast is key to a successful fight. Sometimes a fight goes quick enough it isn't necessary, however those times are rare. If a player is crystallised, focus on helping them as they are unable to do anything than drink potions. If the 15 seconds pass while crystallised, they are released but also take heavy damage.

The Sun & Black Hole. At 50% health, Orphion becomes invulnerable and walks to the centre of the arena. He creates a large sun above him that fires projectiles outwards. After some time, it turns into a black hole that drops down and begins sucking players towards the centre. Being inside the black hole damages the player. Projectiles also fly in from the outside, knocking any hit player closer to the black hole. When the Black Hole is finished, a final wave of projectiles is fired outwards from the centre.

The best place to be in this phase of the fight is in one of the corners. While it limits your ability to dodge the Sun's projectiles a bit (something that can be remedied by walking forwards slightly), it gives you just a little more room to work with while the Black Hole is up.

The longer it goes on, the more powerful the suction is. Movement spells are your best friend here, though do mind your mana.

Final Tantrum. Upon reaching 0 health, Orphion roars and releases three non-damaging shockwaves before beginning to charge around the room. He eventually stops in the centre and strikes himself with lightning several times - this lightning cannot harm the player.

While the shockwaves and lightning cannot hurt the player, everything else here still can. Your only job here is to survive.

The Parasite

While a much simpler fight, the Parasite employs tactics that make it a tricky opponent. It is almost constantly backing away from the player and its attacks all have a decent amount of knockback.

The main mechanic of the fight is Overtaken.

The Parasite leaps towards a player and wraps around them. While in this state, it can attempt to use the player's spells as its own. At the top of the screen is a purple bar that slowly depletes as the Parasite takes damage.

The overtaken player can resist by inputting the relevant spell combo when prompted. Clicking the correct combo fast enough will reduce the overtaken bar as well.

If there's only one player left in the fight, the clicking mechanic changes.

Instead of being a spell combo the depletes a bar, it is replaced by a five long chain of right and left clicks. The player only needs to complete one successfully to escape the overtake.

While Overtaken, the player also needs to dodge projectiles that come flying towards them.

At the end of the fight, the Parasite jumps to the centre to try and reinfect Orphion, only to be blasted backwards. To finish, a player has to hit the Parasite once to properly kill it.

Post-Boss

After the boss fight and before being warped to the reward room, the player is placed in another version of the battle arena with Orphion, Light Incarnate.

The player can right click to talk to him, prompting dialogue from him. If he is clicked a second time after initiating the dialogue, the player will pet him.

He can be pet up to three times, before the player is sent to the rewards room.

[archie-archivist]

The Archivist's Guide to Nest of the Grootslangs

Want more general Raid information? View this guide instead.

Nest of the Grootslangs is the first raid unlocked. It is available to level 55 or higher players with at least one completion of Realm of Light I - Worm Holes on their account. It requires 1 Az Rune and a party of four players to play.

For more detailed and technical information, including a list of enemies and available buffs, please view the wiki page linked.

First Challenge Room

The first challenge room can be either of two rooms: the Tower Room or the Slimey Platform.

Tower Room

Several coloured patches are on the ground in this room, one of which will have a particle circle on it. A tower will spawn in this space.

At least one player must be on top of the tower, otherwise it will disappear. A one minute timer ticks down while a player is on a tower.

A tower will naturally decay after about 30 seconds and will be destroyed by Grootslang Whelps if they're not killed in time. A

Various ground mobs as well as some aerial mobs are also present in the room.

This room has no unique failure condition and only requires one player alive to complete.

General Tips:

The person with the most survivability should stay on the tower, though unlike most similar rooms there is no maximum number of players allowed up there.

Focus on killing the Grootslang Whelps. On the ground, the other mobs are not usually a problem as they're often dealt with while killing the Whelps.

If you don't have a good way to deal with aerial mobs, don't go up the tower.

Slimey Platform

A green platform surrounded by slime blocks sits in the centre of the room with several egg structures around the edges.

Only one player may be on the platform at any one time, any others are knocked back and given a message in chat. A one minute timer ticks down while the platform is held.

Roughly every 10 seconds, a message in chat will say a Toxic Slime is causing an egg to crack. You must kill the Toxic Slime (outlined with the glow effect) before it hatches.

If the egg hatches, the platform will be unable to be held for a few seconds.

There is no unique failure condition and only one player needs to be alive to complete.

General Tips:

Stick near the centre. This is mostly to avoid the occasional issue where you can get stuck inside the egg structures around the edge of the room.

Kill everything in sight. The room itself is pretty simple. If it's not a player and has a health bar? It needs to die.

Second Challenge Room

The second challenge room is always the same Resource Room.

The goal of the room is to deliver 10 Slimy Goo to the central area. This builds a climable tower and allows you to pregress.

There are three side paths with different challenges: Puzzle, Parkour, and Battle.

The Puzzle requires you to shoot down blocks following the pattern on the wall to the left. This rewards you with 2 Slimy Goo.

The Parkour involves slime blocks as well as slime launchers like those found in Undergrowth Ruins. You cannot use movement spells while doing the Parkour. Completing it lets you collect 1 Slimy Goo.

The Battle is against a single enemy - the Encroaching Tunneler. Killing it rewards 1 Slimy Goo to one contributing player.

Players can only hold one lot of Slimy Goo at a time, requiring several trips back to the centre.

Once the tower is complete, you climb the vines on the leaf blocks in order to reach the exit.

There is no unique failure condition and only needs one player alive to complete.

General Tips:

If you're unsure of your survivability, avoid the Battle section. The Encroaching Tunneler can hit hard, especially on Agility-based builds.

Jump Height and Walk Speed are preserved in the Parkour. This can help or hinder you, depending on your experience with your build.

Third Challenge Room

The third challenge room can be one of two rooms: the Hammer Room and the Minibosses Room.

Hammer Room

The goal of the room is to reach the end of the tunnel. One player must pick up the Heavy Hammer in order to be able to smash the rocks in the way.

The player with the Heavy Hammer is slowed, debuffed and unable to cast spells. However, they can hit the cracks on the large rocks in order to break them. One successful hit increases the 'Rock Destroyed' count by 20%.

Shelled Grubs also spawn and must be hit with the hammer before being able to be killed. One spawns per rock.

Not counting the initial rock blocking the tunnel, there are 3 rocks that must be destroyed. The rest of the party must deal with the various mobs that spawn to protect the player with the hammer.

If the player with the hammer dies, the hammer respawns at the beginning of the room.

There is no unique failure condition and only two players need to be alive to complete.

General Tips:

If you have low damage, you should pick up the hammer. A large amount of mobs can spawn in the tunnel, which can overwhelm without the damage to combat them as a party.

You do not have to hit the grubs. While it is helpful to your party's survivability, it is not necessary to complete the room.

Avoid standing or placing abilities in front of the current rock. Abilities such as a shaman's totems will block the view of the hammer wielder, making progress trickier and will frustrate them. Keep some distance!

Minibosses Room

The room is split into two levels and the party must split into two teams of two.

Players on the lower level will have platforms spawn. These platforms hold minibosses that must be killed. Various mobs spawn on the ground between the platforms.

Killing a miniboss sends the platform to the upper level, where the other pair must kill the same miniboss. There are short parkour sections between platforms.

There are four minibosses in total.

If both players on a level die, the raid fails. Otherwise, only two people need to be alive to complete.

General Tips:

If you can't deal with a horde, stay on the upper level. While there are places to sit in safety on the lower level, the mobs down there can crowd you pretty easily between platforms.

You cannot switch sides after the room begins, so make sure you're comfortable with your choice of level. In truth, other players may rush to descend before you can even react. Thankfully, the upper level's parkour is pretty simple.

The Boss

The boss of Nest of the Grootslangs is a large Grootslang Wyrmling. It is made up of many segments that can be damaged and destroyed along with a head and tail section that cannot be.

It has several different attacks that can be survived or avoided, though this guide does not cover the guild raid version of the fight. The following are not all actual attacks but rather mechanics to watch out for.

Segments: Segments are destroyed when enough damage is done to them, but are regained if the wyrmling eats one of the whelps in the arena.

Shockwaves: Several of the wyrmling's abilities cause shockwaves. These are bright white polygonal rings that radiate from the impact point. They deal high damage and knockback if they hit the player, but can be jumped over. They appear when the wyrmling uses some of its abilities to emerge from or enter the ground.

Green Globs: Green globs of presumably slime appear in the arena. These will damage the player and are best avoided. They're most prevalent near the centre.

Spikes: These spawn as small green circles on the ground and are only triggered when a shockwave goes over them. When triggered, a spike emerges from the spot that deals damage to players hit by them.

Falling Blocks: Sometimes, the wyrmling will ascend into the sky and start raining blocks down before plummeting into the ground again. If this happens, get towards the edges of the arena as both the blocks and the coming shockwave can deal huge damage.

Player Eating: Sometimes a larger green ring will appear around a player, showing that the wyrmling is targeting them to eat. While eaten, the player takes large amounts of damage and is locked in place. Being eaten can be avoided by movement spells.

Charging: The wyrmling will charge in straight lines, crashing into the walls of the arena. Its direction is indicated by a quickly adjusting line of particles from its last impact point.

Overall, AOE damage is your friend in this fight. Getting cornered isn't.

[archie-archivist]

The Archivist's Guide to Raids

Raids are repeatable, multiplayer content that initially become available in the mid-game but are still replayed by end-game players. To play, you need the raid's associated rune in your inventory and a party of four players. If you don't have more players, you can queue to fill the numbers on the Party Finder.

You have to complete certain quests in order to unlock access to a specific raid, however you do not need to do them on every class. The single exception to this is for The Nameless Anomaly, which requires completion of its unlock quest on every class.

The list of raids and their unlocks are as follows, click the links to be taken to a guide for that specific raid:

Nest of the Grootslangs [NotG] (Realm of Light I - Worm Holes)

Orphion's Nexus of Light [NoL] (Realm of Light V - The Realm of Light)

The Canyon Colossus [TCC] (Breaking Point)

The Nameless Anomaly [TNA] (A Journey Further)

Joining a Raid

To join a raid, you need the right rune in your inventory and to either speak to the Raid Keeper or queue up via the Party Finder.

If you are level 65 or higher, you also need to join the Raiding Syndicate. This can be done at the Silverbull Headquarters in the Cinfras County region and southeast of Cinfras City and Letvus Airbase. While you're there, and if you haven't already, you should sign up for the Lootrunning Syndicate as well to save yourself a future trip.

The following are the required runes:

Nest of the Grootslands requires Az Runes (light blue symbol)

Orphion's Nexus of Light requires Uth Runes (darker blue symbol)

The Canyon Colossus requires Tol Runes (green symbol)

The Nameless Anomaly requires Tol Runes (green symbol)

Please note that Nii Runes (pink symbol) are currently unused for Raids and only have purpose in making Corrupted Dungeon keys or turning in for more Tol Runes. This may change in future.

Runes are consumed upon entering the Raid itself, not upon being matched with a party. If you encounter a bug or issue that doesn't place you in the raid after finding a party, your rune should not be taken.

Gambits

Gambits are optional challenges enabled in the ready up menu. They are the small diamonds at the top. They rotate out daily and more gambit slots are unlocked with a higher Raiding Syndicate rank. Up to three gambits may be active at a time, though there are four available in total.

A full list of gambits can be found here.

The Structure of a Raid

All raids follow the same basic structure: three sets of Instruction Room, Challenge Room, and Buff Room followed by the Boss Fight. While all raids have some room variety, some rooms will always occur. The specifics of these rooms are covered in the raid specific guides.

If you die during a room, you will be brought back in the next one but will receive fewer rewards from its completion. If you disconnect, you can rejoin but will be returned as a spectator until the next room. If you reconnect in a Buff Room, you can usually still choose a buff.

There is a timer for the length of a Raid, which will cause the Raid to fail if it runs out of time. I have personally never seen a Raid run out of time like this, so it is not something to stress about. Time does not tick down outside of challenge rooms or the boss, but that does not mean you can sit forever in one of the other rooms. After around five minutes of waiting, you will be moved onto the next room regardless of if everyone is ready.

Completion and Failure

A Raid is won once all phases of its boss are defeated. After this, text will appear on screen saying Raid Completed and all players will be returned to a playable state. Most raids will then warp you to the rewards room, however you may have to pass through a doorway to reach it in some cases.

A Raid is considered failed if too many players die, or a room's specific challenge is failed. The amount of deaths necessary to be considered 'too many' varies from room to room, however only one person needs to be alive to defeat the boss. Different rooms also have different failure conditions, with some having none at all. Please see raid specific guides for details.

General Raid Etiquette

The following are some tips for handling random parties and potential interactions with strangers, based on personal experience:

You do not need to speak in chat. Sometimes the most interaction between a party is a 'hello' or 'o/' in chat during the initial cutscene and a 'gg' or 'nt' at the end. Other times, there's none at all.

If someone complains about your build or playstyle, simply ignore them. You can also add them to your ignore list by using /ignore. I recommend using this function as liberally as the block button on social sites.

You are allowed to stop and read the instruction rooms. Others may be running on ahead or you may have someone walking you through it, but you don't have to follow their lead.

You are allowed to die, you are allowed to 'be useless'. There is no requirement to be good to join Raids.

The only 'requirement' is to try your best. If someone complains about that, that's their problem and not yours.

[archie-archivist]

I think the Eyeball Forest is made out of flesh.

[archie-archivist]

With the Realm of Light and the Light Forest, I'm personally of the opinion that they're so different from each other because Orphion, and by extension the Light itself, doesn't see a need to influence the world so heavily. The heaviest influence Light has on the material plane is found in the Portal to Light and in the remnants of the Guardian that the Aldorei Elves keep hidden away.

When not weakened by the parasite, Orphion could absolutely exert more influence on the realm and twist it into looking more like the Realm of Light we see. He doesn't, however, likely because the Light's optimal state is with the world in balance and by twisting the material plane into his domain, that would be breaking that.

With the Realms of War and Darkness, however, there is no such worry. While the Realms themselves are likely still 'more concentrated' versions of what we've seen, places that did not have to convert what matter already existed and thus are free of their influence, they are probably similar to what we've already seen.

The Dern Beast in particular wants to twist our world to its will and turning it into an extension of Darkness seems to be a part of that. The Realm will be incredibly alien to the player, but so was the Realm of Light.

In the case of War, however, I cannot say. Despite how prevalent its influence is in the story we're a part of, we know very little about War or its embodiment. The most we know is that it is a Realm that corrupts the minds of those who enter incredibly quickly, that it is a Realm where creatures like Annihilation are created, and that it is a Realm where a hatred for the life of the material plane is common.

The corruption of Bak'al's and later Theorick's minds could also have been because they were not invited through the portal. Both Orphion and the Dern Beast can control who enters their Realm, the mental corruption may simply be War's way to handle such a thing.

Dern will likely be similar to what we've see, but I cannot make a confident guess as to what we'd find in War.

Damn, tonight I'm on a row.

Anyway, what do you guys think the realm of darkness will be like?

Cuz with the forest of light and the realm of light we already saw how diferent the realm is, compared to the area affected by it's influence.

So what the fuck is Dern like, if it's influence makes people who wish to live in a lie (Lutho) lose their eyes which will GROW ON TREES. The toxic wastes, the mosquito things. Like or Dern is absolute eldritch horror coded, or Just Darkness coded.

And what about the Realm of War? I don't think it's endless war, but the strife to survive in a hostile world. Rivers of blood, burnt wastelands, no food, only the strongest survive.

Do you think the monsters become stronger for each monster they killed to eat, or to survive? An entire realm that renders your being apart, no more sentience, only instinct and survival.

[archie-archivist]

On A Hunter's Calling

As this post does refer to the final quest of the game as of writing, it will predictably contain spoilers for it. So for this post in particular, the 'keep reading' button I include for length shall serve the extra purpose of hiding spoilers.

A Hunter's Calling is a level 103 quest that requires the completion of A Journey Further and the Eldritch Outlook quest to begin. As it's main reward for completion, it unlocks the Hunted gamemode that you can toggle on the class that completed the quest and enable permanently on future classes at character creation. Hunted mode is Wynncraft's current form of PVP combat, allowing players in Hunted to kill and loot each other.

As a quest, however, it's quite the outlier in its structure and content. While all of the Silent Expanse quests are odd - most notably The Olmic Rune, a quest that feels more like a secret discovery at times - A Hunter's Calling is a confusing end to this section of the story, especially for players going through it for the first time.

For the first time, you're not acting as yourself. You are an undead, a villager, a dwarf, or a mech depending on the scenario. You see events surrounding familiar faces that are set in time periods ranging from several centuries ago to perhaps a few months from now.

There is also the fact that everything you witness is a hypothetical scenario. An 'end' as the quest giving entity calls it. Nothing is real, though they tend to be entirely possible scenarios. What ifs and what could have beens. Possibilities with no real tie in to what's happening and what the player character's goal is.

And therein lies the problem - the clear lack of connection to everything else. Like I said, it's an outlier. It looks at first glance to be a quest with no purpose other than to unlock the Hunted gamemode.

Which, in a way, that is its purpose, but to get the full picture we can break it down into three questions:

1) Who is the one giving the quest to the player?

2) Why is the quest structured as it is?

3) What is the possible narrative purpose of Hunted mode?

Let's take them one at a time, starting at the top: Who is giving the player the quest?

The obvious answer is, of course, the mysterious entity that stands outside the Portal to Dark. However, that doesn't tell us much of anything about who that is. Its location is the most important factor in truly answering this - it's right outside the Portal to Dark.

It is the only living creature we see on the road to the portal at that point. Of course, there are creatures in the places around and beneath, but if you don't stray off the path you can avoid running into anything at all from the spike wall to the portal. Yet, ??? as the entity is so named, is stood there even after you finish the quest.

This suggests to me that it stands there for a reason, perhaps directed to by a higher force - namely, the Dark Beast itself. It is, also, the only entity like itself that we see in the current state of the game and the only creature other than the Eye, its puppets, and the Omnispective Wanderers (through telepathy) that can talk to the player.

The second question is a little more nebulous: Why is the quest structured like that?

??? speaks in short, cryptic sentences except when providing the riddle to the next city and scenario. It repeatedly offers the player 'an end' which take the form of those scenarios. It also questions the players reactions to the scenarios with 'To what end?' - essentially saying 'what's the point?'.

However, the key to answering this question lies in the scenarios themselves and the similarities they share. They all have the role of the player character following orders that lead to terrible outcomes. You kill citizens and help Ragni fall; you kill the mayor of Almuj and let WynnExcavation run wild; you kill Theorick Twain and cause the corruption of Nesaak; you release the Corrupter of Worlds and destroy Troms; you trick people into Dr. Urelix's lab to become more iron golems; you blow up the Rodoroc slums; you begin a civil war in Corkus and kill Maxie; and finally, you kill Aledar and Tasim in order to take Detlas for the corruption.

It is also important to remember that the events of the Realm of Light questline were spurred on by you following the orders of Orphion, to sometimes painful outcomes. Excluding the events of Realm of Light III where you honestly just go and give Dullahan a terrible day. It should also be noted that Orphion himself states, in his dialogue at the end of the Nexus of Light raid, that he underestimated your power.

This questline is the biggest blow the forces of darkness have faced in quite some time - they lost the parasite and their influence over Orphion. You then follow this up with killing the Eye, the overseer of Wynn and a key minion of the Dark Beast. You are now standing right outside the portal to its realm which is an extension of itself, pretty much.

The Dark Beast does not want to underestimate the player character and does not believe that it can win in a confrontation between them.

So the next best thing is to get the player to deal with themselves: cause them to doubt their actions. Cause them to doubt the fact that they follow orders so blindly. Cause them to hesitate when it really matters.

Everything in A Hunter's Calling outside of the scenarios is presented as a choice. ??? offers an end. You are not required to continue the quest, it is always your own choice to go out there and witness these horrors. And because of this, there's a small sliver of a side effect that it presents the forces of Darkness as granting more freedom than that of Light. 'Look, we offer you choices!' 'You can always say no!' 'Do you really want to lose more people by following orders?'

The Dark Beast cannot win a fight against the player at full power with complete conviction in what they're doing, so it must first weaken them.

Given that, the third question has a neat answer: What is the narrative purpose of Hunted mode?

It is another way for the player to deal with themselves, to get themselves out of the picture. Frankly, the player's ability to dodge death is unique and likely unexpected by everything except Death himself.

So, with the assumption that the player has one, single life? Letting them go out and fight people just as strong as them is a great way to let the problem handle itself. The victor of the scuffle that kills the player wouldn't be Orphion's Pulse, after all.

'Hunted' is also an interesting name to give to a PVP mode. Predators hunt while prey is hunted. The player, no matter how many victories they achieve, is always the prey and this comes with the usual fear and paranoia - constantly looking over their shoulder, checking their gear, can you trust that other person who's also in Hunted? - of their life being constantly under threat.

The player may also take to the gift like a duck to water - diving right in and relishing their new ability to fight and kill those just as strong as them. Which if witnessed and unprovoked will land them in trouble with the law - murder is, after all, quite illegal. And murdering powerful soldiers protecting the province? Well, that's probably an even worse crime but even better for the Dark Beast.

Hunted exists to weaken the player: to make them fear; to drive a wedge between them and their allies; to kill them; or just to get them locked away and out of harms way.

All in all, A Hunter's Calling boils down to quite the sinister gambit pulled by the Dark Beast. But, given your strength and all you have accomplished, it likely feels like that is the only choice it has.

[archie-archivist]

On Killing the Undead

The undead of the Wynn province usually share the same origin - that of being raised by the power of the Corruption. This link is not always direct as some undead are specifically raised or otherwise created by the singularly powerful creatures under its influence. The most notable being Charon and, of course, Bak'al.

However, this does leave each undead with similar methods of destruction when compared ot others of the same 'type'. These types being the general categories of undead: Zombies, Skeletons, and Spirits.

In truth, the method of destruction is ultimately the same in each, though the physical or spiritual form affects the methods able to be used. This method can either be complete destruction of the physical form, or severing the undeads connection with the Corruption or its master.

Zombies

Zombies are characterised by still keeping hold of (most of) their flesh, even as it rots off their bodies. As such, they're the easiest type to deal with as you can 'kill' them like a person quite easily. Their connection to the corruption is usually located in the skull and as such, destroying the head is the most effective way of killing them.

What often catches new soldiers out, however, is their complete lack of response to pain. A zombie will keep going until it is physically unable to. This means that destroying joints and severing tendons is a great way to slow down a particularly large or otherwise unusual one, giving combatants a greater chance of proper destruction.

Skeletons

Skeletons are, as the name suggests, the category of physical undead that do not retain enough flesh to remain physically mobile. As such, their connection to the corruption is used to puppet their body into the mobile state often seen from them. Often, crushing the skeleton entirely is the only way to ensure it does not rise again, however a number of soldiers have discovered or developed abilities or tools that can sever the connection to corruption without going through the hassle.

These types of undead, due to their inherent reliance on the corrupted magic that raised them, are the most common type to be sorcerers, summoners, or other types of spellcasters. However, even skeletons with magical abilities are still just skeletons at the end of the day. If you crush them, they will not rise up again.

Spirits

The most generalised category that contains anything raised by the corruption without a physical form and requires magical means to be dealt with properly. Putting a creature into this category tells you less about its capabilities than if it were categorised as a skeleton or zombie. However, if we tried to divide them based on individual abilities, even less would end up communicated.

Spirits are not inherently the most dangerous. Some are even weaker than a completely rotten zombie and many are outclassed by a skeleton mage. However, the necessity of specialised tools makes them the trickiest to deal with. Wynn soldiers are almost always equipped with the means to fend them off, though smaller volunteer based groups will likely not. Curiously, guard golems are always able to hit and destroy spirit type undead.

[archie-archivist]

On Rot in the Silent Expanse

First noted in the quest A Journey Beyond as the soldier and their companions explore the Abandoned Mines at the entrance to the Silent Expanse, things do not seem to decay within the Expanse.

It is likely a safe assumption that bodies decay as they would anywhere else, there is - to my knowledge - only one corpse in the entirety of the expanse. And that would be the skeleton still clinging to the pickaxe, likely yet another victim of the Darkness' warping influence.

When it comes to wooden structures, however, it's a different story. Given that the only known peeople to venture into the Expanse since it was initially discovered has been the soldier and the hro Bob, it is unlikely that anyone surviving there had access to the standard woods used for building.

Of course, the trees in the Eyeball Forest can be cut down and used as material, but the wood they produce is quite distinctly purple - not a colour seen in any of the structures.

There is also the case of the cloth canopies that appear in several places, mostly in Lutho. These should also have decayed in the hundreds of years since the miners went missing, yet still hang just as well as they presumably did when they were first hung.

This leaves a few possibilities:

The environment of the Expanse does not have the means or need to cause the wood and cloth to rot.

Time is somehow slower within the Expanse than it is outside.

The citizens of Lutho still have a currently unknown source of wood and repair the variosu structures when they break.

I believe number one is most likely, while number two and number three are too outlandish to truly work.

As it stands, the only bugs we see that are not willing to immediately try and eat the soldier are purple fireflies and butterflies (notably not consumers of wood) and a small number of roach-like bugs that live in whatever grass remains around the Monolith in Lutho.

This would also make sense as, prior to the minors, all known structures within the Expanse are Olmicin origin and, naturally, made of grey stone. It would be reasonable for no creature that has evolved to survive the hazards of the area to have no need or idea how to consume wood.

It will be, however, interesting to see if and how creatures of Wynn that do fill that niche creep into the Expanse. It would be a short lived existence, at least in the terms of a mortal lifespan, though there is always the chance that the influence of Darkness warps them, too.