Aurora Glade Mission (Hard Mode) with Hench and Heros
After a few initial attempts at the Aurora Glade mission in Hard Mode failed to produce success, I decided to work diligently on working to create Hero builds that (in combination with henchmen) could effectively take on all of the enemies in this mission and defeat them. Of course, since there is a 6 member limit for this mission, there is only room for 1 person, 3 heros and 2 henchmen. Thankfully, after multiple team configurations I was finally able to get the mission and bonus with H/H. Since I believe that others may want to do this mission with the bonus in HM and may not be able to group up with other real people, I thought I would post my builds, as well as some screen shots from this successful run. SCREENS FROM THE SUCCESSFUL RUN: SKILLS: The Party consisted of my ranger, as well as a hero necro, rit and monk. Also in the party were the hench monk and hench ele. While I can’t post the hench builds, the builds of my character and the heros were as follows: It should be noted that almost any running build could be used in place of my ranger build. Since there were very few times that I took damage during the crystal running portion of the mission (the only time I was not near the monks) you could even create a build using only running skills from a secondary profession and still make this work. The healer build is similar to a prot build I use for my monk hero, with a couple modifications. The rit build is similar to a build that I got from Rod for our 3 man UW runs (with a couple minor modifications). The necro build however is a rather unique creation that tries to use the necro as both an anti-caster and an MM. The anti-caster skills were VERY important in making this a success as it is very difficult for a small party to contend with the enemy monks and casters. STRATEGY: The strategy for this mission is hugely important. The basic run up to the crystal carrying duties is simple - just follow the path. Then, when you get to a left turn which you will take to circle around to go meet (and save) Les Longbow from the two mantle warriors, the map will ping repeatedly, drawing your attention that Les is being attacked. Despite the pinging - DO NOT rush to help Les. Instead, if you stay at distance (on the other side of the hill from Les) once this pinging starts he will attack the mantle, but they will NOT attack him. This means that the mantle will sit there and get killed off by Les without ever attacking or healing themselves. Rushing to help Les can often result in his being killed before you get to him, so while the mission and bonus can be completed in other ways, by far the easiest way to ensure that you are able to trigger the bonus is to just wait for Les to dispose of the two mantle warriors on his own while you remain at a distance. Then, once they are gone, proceed through the enemy and talk to Les to trigger the bonus. Once the bonus is triggered, simply proceed slowly to the area where you attune the two pedestals to allow you access to the crystal running portion of the mission. As with any other mission/quest, being careful to lure patrols separate and apart from other enemies can significantly increase your chances of survival. When you attune the two pedestals that give you access to the crystal running portion of the mission, the real fun begins. There are 3 crystal pedestals to attune in this area, which I will refer to as Pedestal #1 (closest to your crystal spawning station), Pedestal #2 (on the left side) and Pedestal #3 (on the right side, rather far away from the other two). There is also a circular stone area in the middle of these 3 pedestals (there is no crystal pedestal in the circular stone area). COMPLETELY IGNORE Pedestal #3 until after you have completed the bonus! Instead, focus your efforts solely on Pedestal #1 and Pedestal #2. Begin this portion of the mission by planting your hench and heros between Pedestal #1 and the crystal station (slightly out of the range of fire, but close enough to pull the enemy a little off the main path. Then, run a crystal to Pedestal #1, followed by Pedestal #2 which will turn these two pedestals blue. As the runner, you should NOT engage the enemy - so do your best to only place crystals in the pedestal stands when the enemy is not nearby to attack you. With crystals in both Pedestal #1 and Pedestal #2, the enemy will first focus on Pedestal #2. DO NOT make any special effort to stop the enemy from placing their crystals, just let your heros weed out the enemy gradually when they run to Pedestal #1. While not absolutely crucial, it makes things a bit easier to periodically direct the rit hero to generate spirits shortly before the enemy rushes in to where they are planted. Otherwise, after you have attuned Pedestal #1 and Pedestal #2, your efforts should consist of the following routine: (A) Let the enemy capture Pedestal #2. (B) Get a crystal and wait nearby Pedestal #2 until AFTER the enemy passes the center circular stone area on their way to Pedestal #1. Immediately after the enemy runner passes the center stone area, put a crystal into Pedestal #2. (NOTE: If the enemy captures all 3 pedestals it is game over, so be sure to attune Pedestal #2 right after the enemy runner passes the center stone circle. The reason you wait for the enemy runner to pass the center stone circle is that if you attune Pedestal #2 before the enemy has passed the center stone circle, they will turn and run toward Pedestal #2 instead of continuing to Pedestal #1.) (C) Run back to your crystal spawning station while your party takes on any enemies that are still around Pedestal #1. Then run a crystal back to Pedestal #1 so that it is re-attuned to blue. After you attune Pedestal #1 you will now have about 10 seconds of breathing room, so you can manually target your heros on the enemy monk and/or casters before running off again if you like (not crucial - just speeds the process a bit). It is important that you not focus on fighting the enemy for more than a few seconds, as it is easy to mess up your rhythm, so just let your heros/henchmen take care of the battle on their own. (D) Repeat steps A, B and C. Once the runners and their groupies are all dead, proceed on to the Demagogue and dispose of him (this should be relatively easy). The bonus completion animation will then trigger, confirming that you have obtained the bonus. You can then run back and attune Pedestal #3. A cinematic will then play for your final battle with the Henge Guardian. After the cinematic, proceed slowly down the path and dispose of the enemies along the way. Pulling is highly encouraged to ensure that you don’t meet a last minute failure. Then, in the final battle against the Henge Guardian and his two companions, take out the guardian’s companions first, and then dispose of the guardian (this is not a very tough battle). You will then have completed the mission, with the bonus in hand. :D

Very nice... GJ