Raid Dungeons

Overview

Dead Man’s Valley is a hardcore raid expedition meant to challenge a group of 8 skilled players who have reached level 45 and have already mastered Margoras’ Altar. This isn’t your grandpa’s dungeon, so read on and get ready to bring your A game!

• Resurrection Limit 20: Every expedition that seeks to conquer Dead Man’s Valley and earn access to the Bone Dragon’s treasure will only be allowed 20 resurrections per run. This is shared between all the group members so be sure to watch your buddies’ backs. Once members of your expedition have resurrected a total of 20 times, you won’t get any more second chances.

• Elemental Immunities: Many of the regular baddies and nearly all the bosses of Dead Man’s Valley are immune to one type of damage or another. Some of these defenses will be obvious, but keep an eye on your damage numbers to see what attacks are being effective. You’ll want a good mix of character types and focuses to make sure you have all the damage types covered. Take special care if you have a special 100% elemental weapon, too. You’ll definitely want to bring a back up weapon just in case.

• Lord of her Domain: The Bone Dragon is the master of Dead Man’s Alley and defeating her is the ultimate goal, but that doesn’t mean you can just charge right through and take her down. There are 5 elemental golem bosses (found in rooms 2-6 on the labeled map) and for each golem still alive when you face the Bone Dragon, her power grows. Leaving one golem alive might be possible for a well equipped and experienced group, but leaving two or three alive will result in a showdown with one bad Bone Dragon. Each of the golems drops their own set of goodies, so take your time and clear them out before entering the final chamber.

• Golems Galore: There are a total 6 golem bosses you’ll face as you clear your way through this area and although each chamber has a different mechanic that make the fights extra challenging, the golems themselves have some similar attacks. Get used to how they move, when they are vulnerable, and which attacks you need to run from. A well-timed Just Guard can stagger even the mightiest of golems, allowing your expedition mates valuable time to wail on him.

After a leisurely stroll through a corridor of beefed up minions, the first chamber of Dead Man’s Valley gives you a good idea of what you’re in for: pain! A mix of water and fire type enemies will force you to mix up your attacks while the lady of the house, the Bone Dragon herself, watches from atop a nearby cliff. Don’t worry, once the time counts down she’ll stop by to give you a proper greeting. Pay attention to the red cracks that spread along the floor because they will hold you in place while the Bone Dragon does strafing runs with her noxious poison breath.

Clear out the enemies and pick your poison; fire to the north or ice to the south.

The northern path leads to a lovely patch of scorched earth filled with all sorts of blazing baddies. Bring plenty of cold drinks and all the water-type attacks you can muster, because they deal increased damage to these hot heads. It’s recommended to take out all the little guys before going to work on the boss of this chamber, the Magma Golem. He won’t just sit around while you’re wasting his minions though, so try to keep your distance until you’re ready to take him head on.

A lover of Olympic high-diving, the Magma Golem will periodically leapt high into the air and perform a half-tuck triple gainer. Judges always give him low marks, though, because his slashes fill the chamber with deadly lava! Get to high ground as soon as you see him leap into the air and be ready to air-dash from island to island because the lava doesn’t even slow this golem down. Just getting your feet wet will cause you to burst into flame, dealing heavy damage over time.

This central chamber is a great place to relax. It’s got hot springs, lovely flowers and a great view of the gaping abyss in all directions! You just have to kick out the current occupants before you can enjoy it.

The boss of this area is the Plant Golem. A typical hulking brute out to bash your head in, you’re probably used to what he can do already but his garden is there to make thing just a little more hectic. All around the Plant Golem’s chamber grow nasty little shrubs who love to bombard passersby with globs of poisonous sap. The only cure for this caustic mixture is a good bath, so be aware of which pools around the chamber are full and head straight for the nearest one if you get tagged by some sap. Try not to get poisoned early though, because the first pool will fill only after the counter reaches zero. Before then, you’re on your own! Apply fire liberally to the Plant Golem to deal extra damage and don’t even think about poisoning him if you want to make it out of this ghastly garden.

The head honcho of this chilling chamber has a dark secret. He really wanted to be the plant golem, but the Ice Golem slept in on the day of the interview. At least that’s what we assume, because he sure loves plants!

In addition to the mob of water-immune minions, this chamber has a pair of trees growing right out of the ice. Waves of voracious mole bugs will come to nibble at the trees. It’s recommended that most of the party focus on the Ice Golem while a couple of members hang back to handle the mole bugs. Defeat them all before they destroy the trees and you’ll be rewarded with an Ice Crystal. Use the Ice Crystal to destroy the Ice Flowers that appear during the fight but be careful! Destroying the Ice Flower prevents the boss from using a powerful freezing attack that will stun all members of the expedition, but destroying the normal flowers that appear will cause a Confusion spell to be cast instead.

Fire will deal additional damage to all enemies in this chamber so light ‘em up and kick some ice!

The boss of this chamber is a craftsman extraordinaire. He’s decorated his room with some lovely baroque columns, outfitted himself with some extra armor and even created a host of suicidal bomb-bots to welcome new guests. As a proper party-crasher, it’s your job to wreck all three.

As the fight begins, one of the columns around the chamber will become lit up. This means it’s time to get to work. Breaking these columns removes some of the Bronze Golem’s armor, which is a good thing because this bad boy is resistant to all types of damage except lightning, and he’s immune to earth. You won’t be able to just stand there busting up columns, though, because the Bronze Golem’s special minions want to give you a big hug. They’ll chase you around the room until they get close enough, and then self-destruct, spilling out tiny bombs over a small area. These mad Bombers can be easily stunned by repeated attacks and defeated before they deliver their deadly payload, but keep in mind the Bronze Golem himself will be charging around trying to smash you at the same time!

If you thought the other chambers were tough, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! In the second-to-last chamber you get to face two golems for the price of one! And these aren’t any normal golems, the Gold Golem twins have a special power that is sure to have even the most caring group mates at each other’s throats!

When the battle starts, group members will be given either an Ice or Fire symbol that floats above their heads. These symbols will be the same for the duration of the fight, so check what yours is and remember it! Each of the golems will also have one of those symbols above their heads, but the golems’ symbols have a chance to change every time the counter reaches zero. It doesn’t always change, so you have to be aware of the symbol on the golem you’re attacking. Golems only take damage from players whose symbol is the opposite of theirs. If a player with the same symbol attacks a golem, their attacks will heal the golem instead of damaging it! If that wasn’t enough, both golems must be killed within 10 seconds of each other. If one golem is dead for more than 10 seconds and the other golem is still alive, the dead golem will revive with full hit points! At least these jerks don’t have any elemental immunities, though they are resistant to all elements. Patience and coordination are the only way to defeat this gruesome twosome and open the way to the final boss, so be sure to bring people you can trust and turn the Gold Golems into piles of slag! After the fight, feel free to beat up the Insane Nomi Nomis who show up with bags of loot as a reward.

If you’ve made it this far, you really are at the top of your game. But the Bone Dragon is at the top of the food chain in Dead Man’s Valley, and she’s not about to give up without a fight.

At least you won’t have to worry about any crazy gimmicks here. The Bone Dragon is all business, and business is good. You’re going to want to jump or use a perfectly timed block when she sprays her poison breath. Avoid fighting her from the front unless you want a face full of dragon claw. When she flies up to carpet the area in an aerial poison bombardment, make a break for the highlighted section of the ground. She’ll summon skeletal minions throughout the fight, but by now you should be an expert and minion destruction. Oh, and don’t even think about poisoning her. She’s made out of bones! With a little luck and some flawless execution, you’ll be able to send this abomination straight back to her grave.