Essence Invasion

Difficulty:  Minimum to Survive, 150+ recommended
Level Restriction:  100+ for the very last part (Ancient Masonry)
Timer:  13 Days
Can be Solo'd?  No, too hard
Rewards:  Prismatic Oil for Greater Shadowhunter armor or 6.5M XP

Remember trekking out to the middle of nowhere, scrolls in hand, to learn your VII spells?  Back when Gaerlan appeared, those Essences were destroyed by his machinations.  They're back and with a vengeance!  Ciandra of the Arcanum would like you to destroy the essences and recover a sample so she can understand what's going on.

Step 1:  Preparation.  You will absolutely need a group to do this quest - the Essences and their protectors are rough customers.  You should also bring along your best armor and a wide variety of weaponry - you'll need each of the four elements.  Mages - you should consider using a Prismatic Isparian weapon, as a good number of your enemies are Elementals.  You will also need to find a Harbinger item if you have never done the Harbinger quest before.  If you have done the quest, you won't need another.  This quest is now a royal pain to complete and since the Life Essence can one-hit you, I recommend against bothering with it.  The reward just isn't worth it.

Step 2:  Decanters.  Begin your quest in Al Jalima and run to 5.8N 6.3E, where you will find the Arcanum Research Facility.  You will need to grab at least 4 decanters while you are here.  There are four Decanter rooms in this dungeon, all located north of the drop.  Fan out and grab your 4.  When you have all the decanters, you can get started with the Essences.  If you have a smaller group, you might consider getting 8 decanters instead of 4.  Read on to find out why...

Step 3:  Harbinger Tunnels.  Once you have your decanters, head to the ruins of Old Yanshi and look for the Virindi Vincadi.  Buff up - you will need to buff extensively.  Ideally, you should buff all four elemental weapons and bane and protect against everything.  If you've never done the Harbinger quest before, hand him your Harby item to be flagged.  When you are ready, doubleclick the portal by Vincadi to enter the Harbinger Tunnels.  There are actually two versions of the Harbinger Tunnels now - the original one (which is the one the map I've provided represents) and the new version.  The map is not entirely correct, but it's close enough.  The major difference is that the pit labelled B on the map has a large opening to the north (right as you jump down).  Instead of running south out of the damage, you run north to a section free of elemental damage, where you will find a pair of portals.  You will want to enter the Elemental Sanctum, again by doubleclicking.  If you need specifics on how to make it through the dungeon, consult my guide to the Harbinger Quest itself. 

Step 4:  Essences.  The Elemental Sanctum portal drops you in a cross-shaped chamber.  At the end of each end of the cross is a large open room where you will find one of the four essences.  Be absolutely sure to get your entire team into the large room, as the other Essences will sometimes wander about if you annoy their friends.  You should fight the Life Essence first, as you will need as many capable people alive for this one as possible.  Imperil and Vuln the Essence, then start beating on it.  When the Essence reaches half health, it will summon a pair of Hands to help it.  Unfortunately, you can't take out the Hands without more spawning, so keep focused on the Essence.  The Essences themselves are quite dangerous foes.  They cast very potent elemental war magic and can melee you very hard if you aren't careful.  Each Essence also casts very powerful spells in their school.  They also have a habit of dispelling whatever negative spells you cast on them and some of them can even dispel you!  Be sure that you revuln the Essence if it dispels and make sure you run away if you take a dispel yourself.  Because of how strong the magical abilities of each Essence are and because the Essences have a habit of using powerful ring spells, Melee characters may wish to hang back and act as healers instead, especially against the Life Essence.  The Life Essence can also cast a smite life spell.  For that reason, melees should not fight this one at all.  Mages and archers should constantly strafe when under attack to avoid the smite.  When each essence dies, it will drop lots of essence shards on the ground.  You can only pick one up every 2 weeks.  If you picked up 8 decanters instead of 4, you will have to use your decanter on the essence shards on the ground to bypass the pick-up timer.  Unfortunately, the developers have changed this quest so that anyone who dies is basically out of luck.  It would be wise to dispel frequently when fighting these guys, but since the Life Essence is capable of one-hitting anyone, this quest can be exceedingly frustrating.  If you die, you will have to fight your way back through the Harbinger Tunnels, which can be too difficult for lower level characters and melees in general.

Step 5:  Xarabydun.  Take your decanters to Xarabydun and look for Talar the Apprentice.  Hand him one of each essence - if you have more than one of each, be sure to only give him one set of four at a time.  If you give him two fires before you give him one of each of the other three, you will lose that fire essence.  After giving him all four essences, he will return you a vial of Prismatic Oil.  You may apply this oil directly to a piece of Greater Shadow Amuli if you wish, but if you want another type of Prismatic Shadow Armor, you will need to take a couple more steps.  If you gathered 2 or more sets of essence, you will need to wait two weeks before giving him your second set.

Step 6:  Ancient Masonry.  The last step involves a new dungeon on Aerlinthe.  Buff up at the Aerlinthe drop - you'll want to buff a fire and bludge weapon and make sure you're baned against bludgeoning damage.  When you're ready, run to the NE side of the harbor at 88.1N 47.6E.  Your goal is to find a glyph hidden the dungeon.  The dungeon itself is partially a lever maze and is broken down into four large lever areas and short connecting hallways between them.  From the drop, kill the Masonry Golem in front of you and then hit the lever behind him.  It will open the door directly in front of you, revealing another lever.  Hit it and the other doors in the small room will open, as well as a door far to the east.  Run east and hit that lever and then run the whole way to the west, past the first levers.  Hit the lever in the west rooms to open the north door.  Each of the lever areas work similarly, although the order in which the doors open is slightly different.  After you get through the fourth lever area, you will reach a pair of doors, one locked.  If you have lockpick, open the door and grab the glyphs on the ground.  If not, you have a little bit of work to do.  Continue north and you will come to another lever zone.  Once you open the final door, you'll find the Steward Key.  Head back to the locked door, open it, and grab your Glyph.  Once you have it, use it on a Mote of Pyreal and then use that Pyreal Glyph on your Prismatic Oil to make your final Prismatic Glyph. 

Step 6:  Rewards.  Your reward is Prismatic Shadow Armor.  If you didn't want Amuli, you will need to use your Prismatic Glyph on an unaltered piece of armor to imbue it.  Regardless of what type you choose, the whole set will cast each of the Major Elemental Wards (Fire, Frost, Acid, Lightning).  Celdon casts one spell per piece, as do the top parts of Koujia.  Alduressa and the Koujia leggings cast two spells each, just like the Amuli version.  Have a look at the Amuli version, the Alduressa Version, and the Celdon suit (BP, Sleeves, Girth and Leggings).