Thugs

Difficulty:  Minimum to survive
Level Restriction:  130+
Timer:  13 Days
Can be Solo'd?  No, too hard
Rewards:  Gear Shield, piece of Armor of Darkness, XP, Mana Forge Keys, Title

Over several months, Thugs raided Baishi and attacked a particular family.  What were they after?

Step 1:  Preparation.  This quest requires someone with lockpick, so make sure whatever team you have assembled includes at least one picker.  You will also need to make several trips, so your best bet is to buy some portal gems to save you a little time and effort.  You will need 4 Xarabydun portal gems, 1 Holtburg gem, and ties to Subway, the Hall of Metos near Graveyard, and Umbral Halls.  Additionally, you will need 2 M notes and 2 MMD notes (just in case).  If you are doing this with a fellowship, it will take you at least 2 hours, but it's a fun quest and worth the effort.  Begin your quest in Xarabydun and find Nurino.  He's atop the smithy building.  Talk to him to get your quest.  You are to investigate the Thug hideout for traces of mechanical parts rumored to be stored there.  *Note that this step is NOT optional!  If you don't talk to Nurino, you will not be able to pick up the first item!*  Once you are flagged, head to Baishi.  Easiest way is Subway to Mayoi and then into the Foundry portal.  The surface portal goes to Baishi.  Once you are there, buff up.  You will want acid weapons for this part.  Note that the Thugs use hollow weapons!  When everyone is buffed, go to the bar and talk to Ries Woron.  When you do, you will be portalled into the Thug Hideout. 

Step 2:  Thug Investigation.  Getting through this dungeon requires you to kill every single Thug you encounter, so you cannot run it.  The lever to the first door is obvious, but as you move north, you will need to find 2 keys.  The first one spawns randomly on the corpses of Thug Bosses and the second one is inside the only locked chest in a side chamber filled with chests and beds.  Use the keys to move northwards.  There is one particular room where there does not appear to be a floor - there is a pressure plate that activates the floor right in the middle of the room.  Be careful about it - if the floor falls away from someone hitting the plate while you are on it, you can get stuck in a loop.  As the leader, you should go last to hit the plate and get people unstuck if this happens.  After you pass through a throne room.  Take a left and jump through the (hopefully) opened secret passage.  If it isn't open, you didn't kill all of the thugs.  From here, you will move through a series of corridors into a large gallery-style prison room.  There are a lot of thugs in this room and you need to dispatch every single one of them to move on.  Start at the higher levels and work your way down.  While you are killing Thugs, your lockpicker may want to free some of the prisoners by using the lock on their cages.  If you succeed, the lock falls off and the prisoner steps out.  Talking to the prisoner will give you the title "No Cage Can Hold Me".  On a side note, there is also an imprisoned Thrungus.  Freeing him gives a particularly amusing message.  Once all the Thugs are dead, the door at the very bottom of the gallery will open (sometimes not immediately).  Go through it and you will find yourself in a laboratory with a few more Thugs to dispatch.  Kill them and then have everyone hold up.  In a cage at the top of the room is Fiona Woton (which is odd because she is also back at the bar in Baishi).  Ignore her for now.  Go down to the right side of the room where you will find some potions.  Grab the ones marked A, C, and D.  To save her, you need to make a black potion.  To do this, give A and then C to the mixing bowl on the table - you will get a green one back.  Then give C and then D to the bowl to get a Purple potion.  Now hand both bottles (order doesn't matter) to the big mixing vats next to the table.  You should get a black one in return.  Go up to Fiona and have your lockpicker release her like the other prisoners.  Give her the black potion.  This should cure her.  Now have everyone talk to her for a Mana Forge Key!  Once you are done with Fiona, have everyone move to the south side of the room while you go to the NW.  Use the bookcase there to open a passageway on the S wall.  You should wait outside while your team goes in and grabs the pile of parts from the alter a short way past the wall.  There is no way out except for the bookcase door, so make sure at least one person is outside to let people out.  You also need the parts, so once most people are out, go in yourself and grab.  When everyone has their parts, line everyone up at the N side of the room and use the bookcase on the SW wall.  No need to wait on this - go with the team.  Follow this path and you will reach a room with another fall-away bridge.  At the center of the room is the Unknown Warrior.  Time to dispatch him!  Make sure everyone is on the middle part of the platform and then begin the fight.  He's no pushover, so you may want to debuff his sword and shield.  When you are about to win, he teleports away and the fall-away bridge will return (not always immediately - be patient!).  Move through the now-opened lever door at the far side of the room and you will be in the Unknown Warrior's chambers.  Grab a piece of his armor, which is now no longer attuned and then head back to Xarabydun.

Step 3:  Rytheran's Private Sanctum.  Back in Xarabydun, give your parts to Nurino for an amusing bit of dialog.  He will ask you for some help repairing his pet project.  This will require you to visit Rytheran's Private Sanctum.  To do this, you will need to find Rytheran's Master Seal from the Graveyard.  This is located in a bunker just south of the Smith's bunker, at 65.6S, 43.9W.  Use your Metos portal and run to this bunker.  Whatever you do, DO NOT fight anything inside the bunker.  If you do, every single rat or skeleton or whatever within a kilometer will race to the bunker and lag everyone out.  It's just not worth it!  Once inside, grab the seal from the chest.  Note that if you have ever done Rytheran's Sanctum before, there is no need to get the seal again, but as the quest leader, it's probably best to play it safe and have everyone grab it.  If anyone is on a timer, that's good, actually - they can definitely get in.  Once everyone has their seals, pop your Holtburg gem and herd everyone into the Neydisa castle portal.  From here, run to 74.7N, 18.4E, which is pretty much due N of the drop.  When you get there, give your seal to the statue outside.  DO NOT go in any of the portals!  If you have previously done this quest before, just talk to the statue to gain entrance.  Once inside, your goal is to make a Cloister key and then reach the chest containing a Strange Mana Shard.  Head east to the third large chamber you reach.  Have your team fan out to the north and south to keep everything dead.  Your job as leader is to grab a key from the two Majordomos to the north and south and then run through their respective wings of the dungeon.  At the end is a piece of the Cloister key.  When you have both, combine then and get your team back together in that third open room.  Open the door to the east and you will see a jump.  DO NOT jump until the monster on the far side is dead.  It is entirely possible to bounce off of the monster if he runs into the pit as you jump.  This door also closes fast, so make sure everyone is paying attention.  The jump is straightforward - a standard full power jump.  The mana shard is just past the jump in a cluster of small rooms.  Everyone needs one, so line up and grab.  Once everyone has the gem, go back to Xarabydun and turn it in.

Step 4:  Knorr.  Once you have turned in your mana shard, Nurino will ask you to get an item from Knorr.  This will be your final, yet rather annoying step.  This is also where you needed those two M and MMD notes.  To get the book Nurino wants, you are basically going to do the Collegium Occultus quest, so check the guide out for that.  The book spawns in the final room inside a small internal room.  Once you have the book, return to Xarabydun for your reward.

Step 5:  Rewards.  Turning in the book will complete the quest for you.  You will receive a Gear Shield and a good chunk of XP.  The Gear Shield is a magic absorber with AL, so you might have some use for it if you're a melee.  If you aren't, it is giveable or you can turn it in for XP.