The influence of Regulos is insidious, capable of overt displays such as zombies and ghouls, and subtle corruption such as befell the delve of Hammerknell and its adjacent garden now called Runic Descent, in Moonshade.
Hammerknell is sealed. The kings under the mountain built their city with runebinding, enslaving Death spirits and the souls of unfortunate mortals to power their wondrous magic. All was splendor until the rifts opened and the runes fueling Hammerknell overflowed with Death magic. Necrotic energies swept through the delve, possessing many Dwarves, killing many more. Only those few who made it out of the city survived, trapping the dead and damned behind doors as thick as a city boulevard. They hoped such measures would keep the Death magics from contaminating the world beyond their lost city.
They hoped in vain.
Quest Information
Tending the Garden
Quest Giver: Automatic
Location: Dungeon Entrance
Objective: Defeat all three bosses: Rictus, Wormwood and Warden Falidor
Delve into Runic Descent and brave the machinations that the dwarves created during their era of rune binding magic. Now the spirits have broken their bonds, and seek revenge for their millenia of servitude.
Sins of Stone
Quest Giver: Borrin Gammult
Location: Dungeon Entrance
Objective: Defeat Rune Cracked Spirits 0/3
When my people tampered with rune magic, we nearly destroyed ourselves like the Eth. Alsbeth and her brood seek this magic for their own ends.
I will not allow this to happen. The spirits that hold they key to rune magic must be wiped from the face of Telara.
Sprouting Hope
Quest Giver: Shyla Starhearth (Guardian Only)
Location: See Map Below; Near 2nd Boss
Objective: Use Life Bulb 0/3
I’ve always admired you, and now I have a task only you can do. Alsbeth is corrupting the fae within the garden so she can use them in Regulos’ army. Yet, I know a way you can upset her power with your ascended soul.
Runic Descent: I love Trash. Trash, Trash, Trash
Random Bind on Pickup Loot
Into the Descent
Runic Descent is smaller instance that hosts three boss encounters. It is geared for level 40 players. Any standard group configuration will work and there aren’t many healing intensive fights. The dungeon’s design is quite simple as there is only one path to follow. There are two quests initially, the autoquest and one given at the entrance. A third quest is given later on in the instance. This dungeon has a lot of trash throughout the dungeon, however there are some instances where you can skip a pack or two. None of the trash is incredibly difficult as there are no extremely difficult roaming mobs to take care of.
As you enter the dungeon your quest log should register the automatic quest entitled, “Tending the Garden” and you should see the first quest NPC at the beginning of the instance. On the Guardian side, though the quest objectives are similar for Defiant players, you will gain the quest called, “Sins of Stone“. Once you are finished collecting quests you are ready to proceed into Runic Descent.
Rune Cracked Spirits
Before getting into the meat of the guide, it will be easier to describe the quest objectives of “Sins of Stone“. There are three different sections of the dungeon where you will see a lantern shaped item on the ground you will have to activate to spawn the Rune Cracked Spirit. Each section has a different challenge to complete. When you defeat the challenge a Spirit will spawn allowing you to update your objective and ultimately finish the quest.
Each of the three spirits drops a usable item for inside the dungeon. You can use them more than once apparently, though that might be changed in a later patch. They drop in the order of Water, Fire then Wind.
The first section is immediately at the end of the walkway at the beginning of the dungeon. There are likely two trash pulls before it. You’ll see a fountain to your left, and the lantern item behind it. Immediately after walking into the fountain area, there will be damaging area affects appearing all over the ground. Your group will have to keep moving and one person will have to time time activating the lantern item without taking damage. Once activated it will spawn the Water Spirit (seen above).
The second section is after the first boss, marked on the map above. You will see two glowing orbs surround the lantern on the ground. You will have to have on person engage the orbs and run around as they chase him or her. Other players will then have to activate the lantern to summon the Fire Spirit (seen above).
The third and final spirit is near the final descent before the second boss. You’ll see a tall monument with the lantern in front of it. Once activated you will notice blue ground effects spawn all around it. The lantern will start popping up in any of these blue circles. Your group will have to catch it numerous times before the Air Spirit (seen Above) will appear.
We will reference these points as we make our way through the guide.
After collecting your quests, you will make your way down a ramped path. You will end up in a small circular courtyard with a few trash packs. To your left you will see the first fountain section that spawns the Rune Cracked Spirit. Clear the trash and defeat the first spirit and move on.
There is always only one direction to go. Work your way through the trash until you get to the first boss. Some trash packs have ranged mobs that you will have to line of site (LOS) pull unless you feel confident you don’t need to worry about adds. Some packs hold large numbers of non elite mobs that can potentially pull the shade mobs that will range attack you.
Rictus
Rictus is a proximity fight; you will have to be aware of who is around you and how far you are away from Rictus. He has three different abilities that will affect multiple targets. The first is called Furious Barrage where he will begin pounding on the ground which is a short ranged PBAOE attack. Everyone but the tank should move away during this attack. He has a second ability that pulls everyone out of melee range to him and casts Death Blow on them. This ability slows the targets. This usually precedes Furious Barrage. The last ability is called Rotting Flesh which Rictus casts on someone other than the tank. It puts a DOT on one person where it damages them and everyone around them.
The fight is pretty simple. If you get Rotting Flesh on you, then move away from everyone else. Melee need to especially be aware of this ability so they do not further damage the tank. Other than that, stay out of Furious Barrage when it’s cast. Move out of melee range after the pulling mechanic if you are a ranged dps or healer, use your instant heals as you move. Chloromancers and Wardens are great for this fight.
If you can manage your proximity and movement this fight should be over quickly.
Continuing on through the dungeon you will further keep descending. In the next clearing you will see the second section of the quest, “Sins of Stone“. Follow the instructions above and complete 2/3 steps of the quest and move on.
You will soon come to a bridge (point “A” on the map) that appears to be empty of mobs. Before crossing, make sure your tank goes first, as a small invasion force will come charging across. Guardians will see Defiant and vice versa. They are easily dispatched. Once across the bridge you will head south and at the bottom of the straight-away you will come across the third section for “Sins of Stone“. Finish the small event, once completed the quest NPC will appear for the turn-in and also have a chest waiting for you to open with an additional reward.
Once finished you will continue on down into a small lake area. You will see wandering faerie creatures wandering around, usually in packs of three. If you head to the east (see map above) you will find a second quest NPC which you can complete after the second boss.
Clear out all of the trash packs, you will need plenty of room for the second boss but be careful. There is at least one ranged caster in each group. Use the trees to LOS pull them.
Wormwood
Wormwood is a fun fight that requires a lot of movement. If you have a build that uses more instants than not, use it. Wormwood has only two abilities, Fierce Stomp, which is usually used on the tank, that does a knockback. The second is called Fungul Blossom. What this does is spawn a large Rotting Blossom on top of the target. It cast’s Unstable Spores which is a short ranged PBAOE damaging ability.
There are two phases, where the second phase triggers at 50% health. In the first phase Wormwood will randomly target someone and cast Fungul Blossom. Players will have to watch where they are standing. In the second phase, when Wormwood casts Fungul Blossom it is targeted on everyone so with five people five blossoms will appear. The Blossoms despawn quickly, but make sure you’re constantly aware of what is around you.
When Wormwood is at low health he gets a buff called Blood Frenzy, which can be purged, that increases damage.
If you can avoid the Blossoms, the fight is easy to win.
Continue north under the bridge. It’ll be more of the same, regarding trash packs. Keep an eye out for Life Bulbs easily seen marked on your map. Simply clicking on them is all you need to do to register a quest update. Once you complete all three the quest NPC will spawn and you can turn in your quest.
After completing the quest you’ll be very close to the final boss. Clear the trash and move on.
Warden Falidor
The Warden is the easiest boss in the dungeon. He has four abilities. The first is Necrotic Jey, which is a direct damage nuke which acts as his standard attack. The second is Glacial Shield which is a damage shield that can be purged. The third is called Cursed Wave. What this does is knocksback all players except for the tank. The tank suffers a debuff called “Vengeance from the Frozen Wastes” which increases the damage from the Warden’s spells and roots the tank. The last ability is Drowned where the Warden will randomly target someone and places a DOT on them and silences them as well.
There is really no movement on this fight. It’s almost tank and spank where the only hardships are when or if your healer gets silenced. Melee players will have to run back to the boss from time to time. Everything else is pretty straight forward.
That concludes the Dungeon Guide for Runic Descent. There after killing the Warden, a portal out of the dungeon will spawn nearby for your convenience.
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