Blackmire Temple - Temple of Ixir Xi
Difficulty:
Survivable at the minimum, but requires at least half a fellowship
Level Restriction: 40-69, 70-99, 100+
Timer: 28 Days
Can be Solo'd? No
Rewards: Ancient Armored
Vestment and your choice of a weapon
During the 'Across the Vast Divide' quest, Nuhmudira's experimentation with evil Falatacot blood-magic awoke a long-forgotten power hidden beneath the Blackmire Swamp. A twisted vine grew out of the floor in what used to be Swamp Temple, providing access to Ixir Xi's temple. Inside, there are 3 level-specific sets of dungeons. You will need to come with a large group of people in the same level set.
Step 1 - Get into the Dungeon. The odd vine is located inside the Swamp Temple bunker at 21.7S, 47.7E. The fastest way to get there is by taking the Swamp Temple Place settlement portal out of Yanshi. The bunker itself is now heavily guarded by Burun. There are dozens of Burun in the surrounding area, but fortunately, they are all low level Burun Ruuk. You won't need to buff until you get inside the dungeon though, due to the low level of the Burun. Getting a large group inside can take some time. Whatever you do, do NOT attack any Burun inside the bunker, or you will draw every Burun within several hundred yards. Your group's best bet is to run toward the bunker and if the door is blocked, circle around the bunker in an attempt to lure them away. Once inside the bunker, don't go in the portal! Turn left and then head right through a false wall. Use the vine immediately!
Step 2 - Bloodstone Gem. As soon as you arrive inside the Temple, you will see a statue in front of you. The statue challenges you to give it the 'sacred gem', a Bloodstone. Pick 2 other people to help you pass the first test. One person will head to the southeast door and will be responsible for picking up the Bloodstone Gem to solve the quest. The second person will open the doors for person one. The last person will let person two out of the hallways. Person two will hit buttons at the end of the N, W, S, and E halls, in that order. It's unlikely that person two will be able to run in, hit the button at the end of the hall, and then get out before the door reseals itself, so that's why you'll need a third person. As soon as person two hits the east hall's button, person one will be able to reach the bloodstone gem. Pick up the gem, then jump down to rejoin your group. Give the gem to the Statue and you will be teleported into the next section.
Step 3 - Hall of the Temple Guardians. It's time to buff now. You will be fighting Sclavus Lords and Falatacot, so buff frost and fire weapons and protect and bane against all damage types. As soon as everyone is ready, use the appropriate statue for your level range - left for low, center for mid-level, right for high. You will be teleported into your level-specific dungeon. Chances are, you're doing the level 100+ version, but if you are doing a different level dungeon, consult the map. If you are doing the 100+ dungeon, make a right and fight your way to a jump down. From the jump, head west and you will change direction heading east and then enter a large room. There is a statue just past the large room - use it as soon as you get there. You will be teleported to the next section - the Hall of the Arbiter.
Step 4 - Hall of the Arbiter. There are three trials you must face to proceed to the next dungeon. Have one person (just one!) use the Statue immediately in front of you and your fellowship will be given its tasks.
Step 4a - Guardian of the Sacrificial Urns. This trial is immediately to your right as you enter the trial section. The Guardian asks you a riddle which you must solve by collecting bones. The correct answer to the riddle is 3, so you will need to gather 3 piles of bones, which you will place inside a satchel the Guardian gives you. To get the bones, you will need to use the three urns located in a room ahead of you. There will be flying dagger war spells, so your best bet is to hide behind a wall and use the [ and ] keys to select the urn and then the R key to pick up the bones at a distance. Once you have 3 bones, use the satchel on them to combine them. Then give the satchel to the Judge of the Sacrifice just beyond the urns - be careful! You will have now passed the test.
Step 4b - Guardian of the Appeasement. This trial is directly ahead of you as you enter. The Guardian asks you to collect 4 gems and place them on a platter to appease the angry spirits inside the temple. This trial is my least favorite because the Offering Tables have a nasty habit of draining massive amounts your health and hitting you with a nasty health debuff called Death's Vice, which reduces your total health by half. Your goal is to collect 4 gems from the first table on the left. When you use the table, you will either be drained, debuffed, or you will pick up a gem. Heal if you are drained. Repeat until you either have 4 gems or the table casts Death's Vice on you. If that happens, stop and wait for it to expire or you will likely die. After you have your 4 gems and have added them to your platter, run to the end of the hall and give the platter to the Judge of Appeasement. You will now have completed the second trial.
Step 4c - Guardian of Fury. The last trial is to your left as you enter. The Guardian of Fury gives you a gem called the Heart of the Temple and requires you to give give it to the true visage of the Matron's Arbiter. If only it were that simple! There are dozens of statues that launch dagger war spells at you. Before entering, make sure you've dispelled any Slash and Pierce vulns you might have, or you will assuredly die. Consult the map before you start - there are several false Matron Arbiter statues. You won't have time to check your route as you run, either. There are several safe spots where you can avoid the war spells, so take your time. If you do get hit, you will need to take a step back to unstick yourself and then keep moving. Once you reach the true Arbiter, give it your gem.
Step 4d - Finish the Trial. After you hand in your gem to the True Matron statue, have one person the antechamber speak to the Arbiter statue in the main hall again. Your group will now be teleported into the last rooms.
Step 5 - Crypt of Kixkti Xri. After completing the trials, you will arrive in a small room with a single statue in front of you. If your buffs are running low, rebuff now. If you have 20 minutes or more, you should be alright. Use the statue and you will enter the boss's room. Fortunately, she won't have spawned yet. You will see 4 'Eyes' - two on each side. Time to set up your team. You will need one Sacrificial Lamb and one Healer armed with a Healer's Heart. The Sacrificial Lamb will be responsible for activating the Eyes and should be the Melee or Archer with the highest health. Your Lamb should also have a Healer's Heart at his disposal for when the battle starts. The Healer's job is to heal the Eye person until the Matron is dead. Everyone else (including the Healer) will form an arc in a corner to protect the Lamb. The Eye person will then use the 2 eyes on the far side of the room from your arc and the far eye on the near side while the Healer continuously spams Healer's Heart heals. Each eye activated hits the Eye person with massive debuffs - reducing his stats by 99% and causing recurring harms of around 35 points for quite some time. Make sure everyone is ready and then hit the final eye. The Lamb will have a couple seconds to get inside the meat shield before the Matriarch spawns.
If you can say one thing about the Matriarch, it's that she hits very very hard. She is also very determined - once she picks a target, she will stick to that target until one of the two dies. For the first minute, the Lamb is absolutely useless, but once the most potent debuffs expire, the Lamb can start healing the group. Because of the persistent harms, the Lamb really can't add much to the battle, so he might as well spam heal whoever the Matriarch is attacking. Everyone else will need to attack her. When she dies, everyone in the fellow needs to use the far statue in the room - not any of the eyes! You will be teleported into the treasure room! There is a small clutch of Ruuk Burun on the other side, but if you have made it this far, they shouldn't pose any real threat to your group.
Rewards: Everyone gets two rewards per trip. The rewards have different stats for each level group, but the names are the same. Make sure you are at full health and then use the Sarcophagus in the middle of the room (it hits you with a strong Harm spell) and you will find an Ancient Armored Vestment - a very nice piece of armor that covers your abdomen and upper arms. The 100+ version is base AL is 440 and casts the equivalent of Impen VII and Armor VII (actually, it adds 230 to your natural armor, so it's slightly stronger). Additionally, you get to choose one of the other treasures. The stats for the 100+ section are:
Crimson Brace of Pain (Atlatl)
Portal to Kivik Lir's Temple - A Hookable Portal! Only works on Mansions. Drops at 37.6S, 46.7W in the East Dires Swamps.
