| Name | Slaver's Exile Guide: Normal and Hard Mode Included |
| Category | Dungeon |
Slaver’s Exile Elite Dungeon
Table of Contents
1) What is Slaver’s Exile
2) Where it is and how you get there
3) Requirements to enter
4) Quests associated
5) Typical Builds for the dungeons
6) Justiciar Thommis and Rand Stormweaver (First sub dungeon)
7) Selvetarm (Second sub dungeon)
8) Forgewight (Third sub dungeon)
9) Duncan the Black (final dungeon)
1) Just what is Slaver’s Exile?
Slaver’s Exile is the one and only Elite Dungeon that you will find in the Eye of the North expansion. There are four areas that you can go through, one of which will remained blocked off to you until you complete the other three. At Slaver’s Exile you can also craft Destroyer weapons by talking to Balthor Coalforge (currently the only weapons that can be displayed in the Hall of Monuments) and where hero armor upgrades can be made. When you go through the dungeons of Slaver’s Exile you will find Deldrimor Armor Remnants during the quests, the armor of your heroes can be upgraded to Deldrimor Armor, and added to your Hall of Monuments.
2) Ok, where is it and how do I get there?
The starting area for Slaver’s Exile is a neutral encampment that can be found at the far bottom right of the Verdant Cascades explorable area on the Tarnished Coast, south east of Umbral Grotto.
3) What are the requirements to get in?
Obviously you need to have the Guild Wars: Eye of the North expansion pack. Aside from that at least one person in your party has to have completed the quest “A Time for Heroes” on that specific character. It does not have to be listed in their Hero’s Handbook at the time though.
4) Are there any quests for this dungeon?
Yes, there is a quest named “The Last Hierophant” that you obtain from Veth the Storyteller.
The goals for the quest are as follows:
1) Defeat Justiciar Thommis
2) Defeat Rand Stormweaver
3) Defeat Selvetarm
4) Defeat Forgewight
5) Destroy Duncan the Black
The rewards are:
15,000 Experience and 2,750 Gold
Luckily you don’t have to kill all of them in one go. It updates your quest every time one is killed so you can stagger the quest into different steps if you want. Of the first four bosses, you can kill them in any order that you like. You don’t have to follow this guide’s exact order if you don’t feel like it. This is just a general idea of what needs to be done.
4) What would be good build for my character or what I should look for from others?
Ultimately that depends on whether you are going to go at this on normal or hard difficulty. I will list a standard build for each. Keep in mind that you can use other professions; there is no reason to not try it with some one that has a build other than what I will list here. These are really just guidelines, not what is required.
Normal difficulty
Obsidian Flesh Tank
Warrior / Elementalist:
Attributes
12 Earth Magic, 11 + 1 + 1 Strength, 6 + 1 Tactics
Skills
Endure Pain, Glyph of Concentration, Obsidian Flesh (elite), Stoneflesh Aura, Signet of Stamina, Grasping Earth, Dolyak Signet
Alternate Obsidian Flesh Tank builds
Slaver’s Exile Dervish Obsidian Flesh Tank
Dervish / Elementalist
Attributes
12 Earth Magic
8 + 1 Earth Prayers
10 + 3 + 1 Mysticism
Skills
Stoneflesh Aura, Armor of Earth, Glyph of Concentration, Obsidian Flesh (elite), “I Am Unstoppable!”, Faithful Intervention, Mystic Regeneration, Grasping Earth
Slaver’s Exile Elementalist Obsidian Flesh Tank
Elementalist / Mesmer
Attributes
12 + 2 + 1 Earth Magic
9 Inspiration Magic
9 + 1 Energy Storage
Skills
Mantra of Earth, Stone Striker, Stoneflesh Aura, Armor of Earth, Glyph of Concentration, Obsidian Flesh (elite), “I am Unstoppable!”, Grasping Earth
Echo Savannah Heat Nuker x3
Elementalist / Mesmer
Attributes
12 + 3 + 1 Fire Magic
12 + 1 Energy Storage
Skills
Fire Attunement, Arcane Echo, Savannah Heat (elite), Teinai’s Heat, Searing Heat, “You Move Like a Dwarf!”, Glyph of Sacrifice, Meteor Shower
Barrage Ranger
Ranger / Ritualist
Attributes
9 + 2 Expertise
6 + 1 Wilderness Survival
10 + 3 + 1 Marksmanship
3 Restoration Magic
10 Channeling Magic
Skills
Barrage (elite), “I Am The Strongest!”, Splinter Weapon, Distracting Shot, “Finish Him!”, Flesh of My Flesh, Frozen Soil, Gaze of Fury
Note: The Gaze of Fury is put in there to kill your Frozen Soil
Life Bond Monk
Monk / Elementalist
Attributes
12 + 3 Divine Favor
12 + 3 + 1 Protection Prayers
Skills
Balthazar’s Spirit, Vital Blessing, Life Bond, Blessed Signet, Rebirth, Spirit Bond, Protective Spirit, Shield of Regeneration (elite)
Note: You can also change out Shield of Regeneration for Divert Hexes and you can also change up Vital Blessing for Life Attunement
Healer's Boon Monk
Monk / Mesmer
Attributes
12 + 1 Divine Favor
12 + 3 + 1 Healing Prayers
Skills
Resurrection Chant, Healer’s Boon (elite), Healing Seed, Cure Hex, Spotless Soul, Ethereal Light, Seed of Life, Dwayna’s Kiss
Note: One of the seeds should be for the tank, the other should be used only on the Bond Monk
Spiteful Spirit Necromancer
Necromancer / Mesmer
Attributes
2 + 1 Blood Magic
8 + 1 Death Magic
19 + 1 Soul Reaping
12 + 3 + 1 Curses
Skills
Auspicious Incantation, Arcane Echo, Spiteful Spirit (elite), Mark of Pain, Defile Flesh, Pain Inverter, Putrid Explosion, Blood Ritual
Note: With this build when something dies near you, you gain 11 Energy per creature, or 5 Energy per Spirit under your control, up to 3 times every 15 seconds
Alternate necromancer build for Duncan
Spoil Victor Signet of Sorrow Pain Inverter Necromancer
Necromancer / Assassin
Attributes
8 + 1 Death Magic
12 + 3 + 1 Blood Magic
10 + 1 Soul Reaping
Skills
Spoil Victor (elite), Awaken the Blood, Signet of Sorrow, Putrid Explosion, Life Siphon, Pain Inverter, Necrosis, Blood Ritual
Hard difficulty
Shadow Form Slaver’s Exile Tank
Assassin / Mesmer
Attributes
12 + 3 + 1 Shadow Arts
12 Illusion Magic
4 + 1 Deadly Arts
Skills
Arcane Echo, Shadow Form (elite), Deadly Paradox, Illusion of Weakness, Dark Escape, Caltrops, Shadow Refuge, “I Am Unstoppable!”
Note: This build requires the use of a weapon with a +20% Enchantment duration mod on it. Also you can change out other skills depending on what area of Slaver’s Exile you are in. Here are some recommendations: Mantra of Concentration, Swap, and Death’s Charge. Just be careful with the Mantra of Concentration and not override Deadly Paradox during Shadow Form cast.
Healer’s Boon Monk
Monk / Mesmer
Attributes
13 Divine Favor
16 Healing Prayers
8 Inspiration Magic
Skills
Resurrection Chant, Healer’s Boon (elite), Inspired Hex, Cure Hex, Spotless Soul, Ethereal Light, Signet Rejuvenation, Dwayna’s Kiss
Light of Deliverance Monk
Monk / Mesmer
Attributes
13 Divine Favor
16 Healing Prayers
Skills
Rebirth, Arcane Mimicry, Protective Spirit, Cure Hex, Spotless Mind, Dwayna’s Kiss, Signet of Rejuvenation, Light of Deliverance (elite)
Echo Savannah Heat Nuker x3
Elementalist / Mesmer
Attributes
12 + 3 + 1 Fire Magic
12 + 1 Energy
Skills
Fire Attunement, Arcane Echo, “Savannah Heat”, Searing Heat, Teinai’s Heat, “You Move Like a Dwarf!”, Glyph of Sacrifice, Meteor Shower
Barrage Ranger
Ranger / Ritualist
Attributes
9 + 2 Expertise
6 + 1 Wilderness Survival
10 + 3 + 1 Marksmanship
3 Restoration Magic
10 Channeling Magic
Skills
Barrage (elite), “I Am The Strongest!”, Splinter Weapon, Distracting Shot, “Finish Him!”, Flesh of My Flesh, Frozen Soil, Gaze of Fury
Note: The Gaze of Fury is put in there to kill your Frozen Soil
Spiteful Spirit Necromancer
Necromancer / Mesmer
Attributes
2 + 1 Blood Magic
8 + 1 Death Magic
19 + 1 Soul Reaping
12 + 3 + 1 Curses
Skills
Auspicious Incantation, Arcane Echo, Spiteful Spirit (elite), Mark of Pain, Defile Flesh, Pain Inverter, Putrid Explosion, Blood Ritual
Note: With this build when something dies near you, you gain 11 Energy per creature, or 5 Energy per Spirit under your control, up to 3 times every 15 seconds
Alternate necromancer build for Duncan
Spoil Victor Signet of Sorrow Pain Inverter Necromancer
Necromancer / Assassin
Attributes
8 + 1 Death Magic
12 + 3 + 1 Blood Magic
10 + 1 Soul Reaping
Skills
Spoil Victor (elite), Awaken the Blood, Signet of Sorrow, Putrid Explosion, Life Siphon, Pain Inverter, Necrosis, Blood Ritual
Again, these are just recommended typical builds you will find. The dungeon is doable with any combination of classes if people know what they are doing and work together.
5) Justiciar Thommis and Rand Stormweaver - First Sub Dungeon
As mentioned before, you don’t have to do this dungeon first. The dungeons can be cleared independently of one another so there is no true order that you must follow so long as you clear all three of the sub dungeons I chose this as the first sub dungeon because there are two bosses here for the “The Last Hierophant” quest. So that makes this dungeon more efficient to clear first.
Each sub dungeon has random Ritualist Spirits that spawn in random locations through out the dungeon. They can be destroyed but they will eventually respawn. These spirits include Disenchantment, Pain, Recuperation, and Shadowsong. Get used to them because they will show up again later.
In this dungeon as with all of the rest here in Salver’s Exile the absolute most important thing to keep in mind is: You must time your pulls correctly. If you screw up one pull at the wrong place, you can easily be looking at a quick 60% death penalty. There are places where the groups will be close enough to the resurrection shrine that you will die, respawn, get slaughtered and continue the nasty cycle until you hit the 60% death penalty and get a major headache until you just exit the area.
All of the Stone Summit Dwarves in this dungeon have Resurrection Signets, which makes for fairly long fights. Also there are two types of monks that you will find. There are the Priests, which are set up like the Healer’s Boon template mentioned above. The others are the Defenders that are more like the Shield of Regeneration and Protection specialized monk. The groups have a large amount of interrupt abilities that will make some of the casters pull their hair out at times.
Your priority has to be the monks unless you like to fight the same group for half an hour and get no where. But, as I mentioned each Dwarf has a Resurrection Signet to burn so always keep an eye out for the monks to be brought back. This is where the Frozen Soil shines through. If you can get the monks down get the Frozen Soil out at the right time you don’t have nearly as much to worry about. The next problem to worry with would be the Dominators and Dreamers because the Dreamers have Resurrection Chant and the Dominators carry Renew Life. Also be cautious of the Summoners as they have the skills of the popular Explosive Creation Ritualist / Necromancer build. After that just burn the rest of the group down as fast as possible.
You will quickly find out that the corners, doorways and narrow passages in this dungeon are your friends. Especially if you have a Minion Master necromancer in your group because you can usually block off an area with the minions and have the groups run straight into them.
Rand Stormweaver
Once you get to Rand Stormweaver there isn’t a huge amount of strategy to worry with, which can be said for each of the sub dungeon bosses really.
Things to keep in mind during the fight:
He is a Modniir Ranger level 28.
He will use these skills in combat: Barrage (elite), Lightning Reflexes, Screaming Shot, Troll Unguent, and Whirling Defense.
Due to his use of Lightning Reflexes and Whirling Defense he can be hard to hit by melee’rs unless you come prepared with stance ending skills like Wild Blow.
Necromancers and Mesmers should use Spiteful Spirit or Empathy on him liberally since he uses Barrage and it has so many triggers that will make him and is group take damage.
After you kill him and his group there will be a small group of random Stone Summit Dwarves and / or a Wretched Wolf plus a chest spawn that will drop one item for each person. This item will either be a gold weapon, a unique item, an Onyx Gemstone or a Diamond.
Justiciar Thommis
When you make it to this boss there really isn’t a great deal to worry about.
He is a Human Warrior level 28.
He is a swordsmanship warrior so they only real threat here are the bleed attacks he uses and when he uses Hundred Blades. So just don’t stand too near the tank unless you absolutely have to.
The skills he uses during the fight are as follows: Sever Artery, Sun and Moon Slash, Disarm, Healing Signet and Hundred Blades.
As with Rand Stormweaver when you kill him and his group there will be a small group of random Stone Summit Dwarves and / or a Wretched Wolf plus a chest spawn that will drop one item for each person. This item will either be a gold weapon, a unique item, an Onyx Gemstone or a Diamond.
6) Selvetarm - Sub Dungeon Two
This is much like the Justiciar Thommis sub dungeon as far as the Stone Summit Dwarves are concerned. Apply the same tactics here as you did in the first sub dungeon and you should be good.
The main thing to keep a watchful eye out for in here are the Restless Dead mobs. These are undead that are “ghosts” but they are fleshy, so you can still land bleeding and poison attacks on them. But strangely they do not take the double damage they should from Holy damage or Light damage, being undead. The main problem with these guys is that they have a massive energy pool so that some of them continuously use Vampiric Bite and Vamprirc Touch. There are two types of them in the dungeon and they each have a different skill layout. As well as having different skills on hard mod verses normal.
Here is what to expect:
Skills they share: Deathly Swarm, Vile Touch and on hard mode Tainted Flesh (elite).
Type One: Parasitic Bond, Spiteful Spirit (elite), Suffering, Ulcerous Lungs.
Type Two: Shadow Prison (elite), Vampiric Bite, Vampiric Touch.
The best strategy for these is have everyone focus on them one at a time then burn them down as fast as possible.
Selvetarm
As mentioned before, most of these bosses aren’t as hard as the fights leading up to them. There really isn’t anything major of note about this fight. Here is what to know:
Selvetarm is a level 28 Dryder Necromancer.
The skills to expect to see are: Defile Enchantments, Desecrate Enchantments, Feast of Corruption (elite), Gaze Contempt, Insidious Parasite, Suffering, Ulcerous Lungs
The biggest thing that happens in this fight is when he chains Feast of Corruption then Suffering on someone. Fortunately it doesn’t happen that often so it is fairly easy to get through this fight.
As with Rand Stormweaver and Justiciar Thommis when you kill him and his group there will be a small group of Restless Dead plus a chest spawn that will drop one item for each person. This item will either be a gold weapon, a unique item, an Onyx Gemstone or a Diamond
7) Forgewight – Third Sub Dungeon
In this area you still have the standard Stone Summit Dwarves to deal with but now you also get some Elementals thrown in the mix. There is a chance that you will immediately agro a patrol of 5 to 6 elementals as soon as you get in the dungeon.
The elementals can be a tough fight due to their mass amounts of damage, but the best solution is to bring in a lot of interrupt skills, whether it be from rangers or mesmers.
You will also occasionally run into groups of Enchanted in here as well. There is really nothing more than usual to worry with on them though.
Other than the corners and doorways as with the other dungeons there is another handy trick in this one. Once you get in the big room with a lava pit and grating at the end, just before the Forgewight boss room, you can actually skill a lot of it. Make a run for the next resurrection shrine. If you make it close enough to the shrine you can get the entire party resurrected and you will only have to deal with one of the groups of Stone Summits as opposed to roughly seven groups of Stone Summits and Elementals.
Forgewight
On a scale of difficulty for the sub dungeon bosses by them selves most people rate Forgewight as one of the most difficult. Since he is an Elementalist he can dish out a lot of hurt in spikes. Things to know about Forgewight:
Forgewight is a level 29 Dijinn Elementalist.
His skill set is as follows: Deep Freeze, Fire Attunement, Glowing Gaze, Meteor Shower, Searing Flames (elite), Steam.
As is the common theme of the dungeon, bring a lot of interrupts to this fight. Other wise be prepared to get spammed with Searing Flames and Glowing Gaze. If you have evasion skills, bring those as well just incase a few too many spells don’t get interrupted. As with all Elementalists it is a great idea to throw Backfire on him at every opportunity.
As with the other three sub dungeon bosses when you kill him and his group there will be a chest spawn that will drop one item for each person. Unlike the other sub dungeons there is no random group of mobs that spawn with the chest. This item will either be a gold weapon, a unique item, an Onyx Gemstone or a Diamond.
9) Duncan the Black – Final Dungeon
This can be an absolute nightmare if you aren’t prepared. It can also be bad if you decide to walk into the dungeon at just the wrong time and someone in your party is slow to load into the dungeon. Mainly because you can draw a wall of hate on you that if you aren’t careful with can take you down to 60% Death Penalty quick. Other than that the best advice is to hug the wall near the spawn. The large group of Stone Summit Dwarves you run into will eventually split into two separate groups, one will remain in there while the other goes off to patrol. Be patient and wait for the patrol group to get far enough away so you can pull the stationary group. This is the fight that if you pull both groups then you will get camped at the Resurrection Shrine until you want to commit suicide.
Quite a few Restless Dead guard the Area Map for this dungeon, so it can be a bit painful to retrieve.
As you get deeper into the dungeon there will be groups of Restless Dead that will spawn. The best thing to do with this is to have one person go and spawn these mobs before getting tagged by the Stone Summit patrol. No one likes to be in the middle of a hard fight only to get hit by Spiteful Spirit. These Restless Dead are very much like the ones you find in the Justiciar Thommis sub dungeon. The type two Restless Dead have an insane amount of energy to spam Vampiric Bite and Vampiric Touch with.
Duncan the Black
The fight with Duncan can be grueling or it can be done pretty easily. It all depends on what Ritualist Spirits spawn for you and what your group consists of.
Duncan the Black is a level 29 Dwarf Ritualist.
He uses the following skills: Duncan’s Defense (monster skill), Lamentation, Spirit Boon Strike, Spirit Burn and Spirit Rift.
Be very aware of the skill Duncan’s Defense. The skill reads that 100% of the damage dealt to Duncan is dealt to the source of the damage. In reality it is anywhere between 75-200%. Luckily Backfire, Spiteful Spirit and Spoil Victor are not reflected because the damage isn’t caused directly by a player.
As soon as you begin your assault on Duncan there will be two groups of 6 to 7 Ritualist Spirits that will spawn in the room. There are usually two Spirits of Recuperation in each group; the others tend to be more randomized. There are a couple of different ways to handle this fight. I am just going to list the most common and efficient way.
The first thing that you will want to do is to have your tank go within melee range of Duncan and die. Do not have him resurrected. This is so that the Spoil Victor Necromancer can use the corpse to blast Duncan with Signet of Sarrows.
Everyone else should stand right at the corner by the stairs.
Also have the monks maintain Protective Spirit on the Spoil Victor Necromancer while he takes Duncan out.
The Echo Savannah Heat Nukers can help kill off some of the Ritualist Spirits on the left side of Duncan to help slightly. Keep in mind, they will spawn back, and much faster than in the previous sub dungeons.
Following this you should be able to get Duncan down relatively easily. I know people that do it with Heroes and Henchmen and maybe one other actual player.
Once you beat Duncan down there will be a Hierophant’s Chest spawn. This chest will drop three items for each person. Two of them will always be a Deldrimor Armor Remnant and an Onyx Gemstone. The last item is like the one from the sub dungeons, a random gold weapon, a unique item, another Onyx Gemstone or a Diamond.
Differences in Hard Mode
There will be a lot more random Restless Dead spawn through out the dungeon.
There will be another two groups of the Ritualist Spirits spawn in Duncan’s chamber. Both will have two Spirits of Disenchantment and the rest are random. You cannot avoid having to fight one of the groups.
Instead of the 5,000 Norn reputation points you get 7,500.
The Hierophant’s Chest will drop another random item for each player.
Some tips here would be to use Consume Soul to instantly destroy these Ritualist Spirits, especially the Disenchantment ones at Duncan. You might also want to think about using the skill Swap to pull the Spirits of Disenchantment.
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