Your
hero knows that time is running out, and that the Apocalypse is
close at hand. Your only hope is to defeat the vile
half-angel/half-demon Therakiel. After seeing the horrible events in
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/guides/viborabayapocalypse"
target="_blank">Vibora Bay Apocalypse,
your hero knows that if they fail, the consequences will be dire. To
that end, your hero joins with a few others to put an end to the
darkness by entering Therakiel’s Temple.
Therakiel’s Temple is the newest
style="font-style: italic;">Champions Online
end-game lair found in
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/guides/world/viborabayoverview"
target="_blank">Vibora Bay.
The lair is a level 40 instance and is best tackled with a 5 person
team. Once you get the
style="font-weight: bold;">Apocalypse Aversion!
mission from Robert Caliburn, it’s time to head over to the
High Apostolic Church, which is where Therakiel’s Temple is
located.
This overview will give you the basics of the lair. It is not a
step-by-step guide to finishing the dungeon or a strategy guide on how
to win each individual fight. Its purpose to is to give you some useful
tips, lay out some of the features of the lair, and give you the basics
of what you can expect to find in Therakiel’s Temple.
Goals
To complete the mission, your hero has to defeat 5 villains in all.
They are Valerian Scarlet, Black Fang, Baron Cimetiere, Vladic Dracul,
and Therakiel. Each of the bosses also has their respective minions
which serve them.
Puzzles
Therakiel’s Temple is different from other lairs in
style="font-style: italic;">Champions Online
in that there are two different puzzles that players will have to get
by to finish the mission. The first are statues in the likeness of
Therakiel. These guardian statues will attack nearby heroes. There are
also barrier statues, in the likeness of Therakiel, that need to be
destroyed for the party to continue on. To defeat the statues, you will
have to use a Divine Mirror; normal attacks will not do any damage. You
can get a mirror from Caliburn when you first get into the instance.
Make sure you get one! If something happens to your mirror, you can get
another one from Caliburn after a boss fight. (After each boss fight,
Caliburn makes an appearance.)
To destroy the statues by using the mirrors, you need to use the pools
of light that you will see throughout the dungeon. One player will have
to stand in the pool of light and use the mirror by clicking on a team
member. The target team member can then use their mirror to damage, and
eventually, destroy a statue. Please note that the mirrors do have a
limited range.
The second puzzle to be found in Therakiel’s Temple is the
angelic and demonic statues, which were created to repel angels and
demons. These statues radiate a certain aura –
style="font-weight: bold;">Heavenly Light
from the angel statues and
style="font-weight: bold;">Infernal Radiance
from the demon statues. When a player steps near a statue, they will
gain the aura from that statue. If a player gets close to a statue with
the same aura as they currently have, they will be knocked back and
take damage. If a player has a different aura than that of the statue,
then they can pass. To replace the aura of a player, the player will
have to walk by a statue with a different aura. Another way to lose the
aura is to be defeated.
Boss
Fight Special Rules
There are two twists to the boss fights in Therakiel’s
Temple. The first is that each boss has a time limit before they become
enraged. If you defeat the villain before the time limit,
you’re golden. If not, their attacks hit you for twice the
damage while they only take half damage from attacks. The time limits
for each boss are:
- Valerian
Scarlet –
10 minutes - Black Fang – 8
minutes - Baron Cimetiere –
10 minutes - Vladic Dracul – 8
minutes - Therakiel – 20
minutes
The second twist to the boss fights is that a player can be locked out
of the fight. If a player is defeated and they hit the respawn button,
they are then locked out of the boss fight (except for Therakiel) until
the boss is defeated or the entire team wipes. Therefore, it is best to
keep track of your health and not drop.
Tip:
To destroy the Immortals from the New Shadows, you will have to use a
stake on them. You can get a stake by clicking on a coffin. These
stakes have a limited existence time. If you don’t use a
stake before you drop them, the Immortals will reform and attack you
again.
style="font-style: italic;">
Stopping
Points
As the entire lair can take anywhere from 2 to 4 hours to complete,
based upon how good your group is and how well they work together,
there are two stopping points where you can pause and then come back
later. These points are after the Black Fang and Vladic Dracul boss
fights. At these points, Caliburn can give you a temple crystal, which
acts as a save. However, you will need the exact same group of people
to continue, so it isn’t all that helpful for a PUG.
Therakiel
After you defeat the first four bosses, then you will face the mighty
Therakiel himself. Before you face him, you’ll be treated to
a nice cut scene, then the battle will commence. In this fight, you
will have to use your Divine Mirrors from time to time, either to free
people who become trapped by Therakiel or to destroy statues that are
summoned by Therakiel. The fight gets pretty wild as the gates of
Heaven and Hell open up after Therakiel loses about a third of his
health. Hopefully, you don’t suffer from motion sickness!
After Therakiel is defeated, you can view his gruesome demise.
Tip:
When you first encounter Therakiel, watch the animation that he uses
before destroying the pillars. This is the sequence that
he’ll use for a tremendous attack that will one-shot you if
you aren’t blocking.
style="font-weight: bold;">
Impressions
Therakiel’s Temple is a well-designed lair and the various
boss fights are different enough to make them interesting. While taking
a good amount of time to do, a good group could do it at around two
hours or less. (I’ve seen some claims that groups have done
it in a little over an hour on some forums.) The only downside to the
lair is that it is difficult to do with a PUG and that it relies upon
the “holy trinity” of MMOGs, that being tank,
healer, and DPS. Most players in
style="font-style: italic;">Champions Online
have heroes that don’t easily fit into a specific role. I
know that mine doesn’t. A lot of players have made their
characters versatile so they can more easily solo, which becomes
somewhat counterproductive in dealing with fights that rely upon the
standard trio of roles. Most PUGs are usually made up of 5 heroes that
are used to going it solo, so teamwork and trying to fit into a
specific role can be quite challenging.
Well, there you have it, my friends. I hope that the basics covered
here for Therakiel’s Temple will steer you in the right
direction. There are a few twists in this lair as compared to other
lairs in Champions
Online, and those twists make
Therakiel’s Temple
unique and a challenge to complete. My job is done, while yours is just
beginning. Get off your duff and stop the Apocalypse!
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