by: Tony "RadarX" Jones

In the center of war torn Concordia Palisades a vast trench provides a grim reminder of the Bane shard ship that created it.  Guarded by dozens of heavily armed Thrax infantry and swarms of dangerous Fithiks, the cavern at the end can only be reached by fighting your way through.  Many Rangers, both Forean and AFS have perished attempting to infiltrate this dangerous zone. 

The aptly named the Devil's Den is one of the lengthiest instances you will have run into so far. This isn't the cake walk you saw in Pravus Research or Timora Mines but will provide a 90ish minute battle taking the lives of hundreds of Bane forces.  Designed for squads in the upper teens, if you can't find a squad or don't play well with others you can usually solo it around 23 if you're patient. 

First stop by the Hightower Outpost (-45.0, 153.6, 42.8) and find Ranger Siri and Ranger Lurori who will ask you to find the bands of Hakari and Luroron inside Devil's Den.  Also see Ranger Cyrida for the Find Caritas mission and Ranger Kogari for Recover the Eloh Artifcats. Next you'll head to Walk of the Giants and find Field Lt. Brody next to the teleporter who will give you Missing Strike Team, Operation Devil Strike, and Sever the Devils Head.

Now that you've grabbed all your missions, double time it to the Fithik Trench in the center of the zone and fight your way past the mobs of Fithik and Bane to the Devil's Den entrance near 158, -579.  Now there are two things you need to know about Fithiks if you are somehow unfamiliar with them at this point. First, they always come in swarms which means area of effect abilities and weaponry like shotguns are a big plus.  More importantly however, when they sit still and start glowing that means they are going to explode and you don't want to be standing next to them when it happens.  Kill them fast or get out of harms way.

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Gulp! In there?

The first room in the instance is rather large and contains a dozen Fithiks hiding amongst the eggs.  There is a path down the middle but don't move too quickly or you'll be over run.  You may notice a teleporter to the left and be tempted to investigate it. Taking it will stick you in a room with a lot of angry Bane and no way out, so skip it for now. 

The next area will have a little alcove to the left, feel free to destroy all the egg clusters and kill the waves of Fithik.  You'll also be hit by Yzub, a named level 20 Fithik who is quite a bit stronger (translation more hitpoints) than the others.  Head up the path and clear more egg clusters until you get to a T-intersection.  To the left at the end of the cave you'll find the body of Haken at 47.0, 80.4, -145.0.  Harvest the body to get his Honor Band. Take care in this area, as you are likely to find Kryell, a level 21 named Fithik who further taxes your ammo supply.

Backtrack and continue down the right path and you should've started running into a little Bane resistance.  Heading through this next egg area you should find another alcove on the left which will have the body of Luroron at - 54.1, 94.8, 42.7.  You may also notice Captain Francisco at -59.7, 95.3, 49.0 who will update your Missing Strike Team mission. He'll join you and having a Commando tag along will come in a little handy.  As you make your way up the next path, note there is a security camera just inside the room.  Take it out or...well email me if you trip it off and tell me what happens.  There are also a number of teleporters that can bring Bane forces in so if you got ammo to spare, shoot them.

To the right you are going to encounter your first Kael and he is a tough one.  If you've yet to encounter one, they are completely immune to physical or fire damage so choose an appropriate weapon and don't let him get too close.  Once he's down take out the laser door with a charge or use the console.  Inside you are going to find 5-6 Bane and a level 21 Caretaker Sklorax who will make life interesting. The guys in this room are tough for the soloer. Try to pick off the Technicians first, to stop their armor regen, then the regular soldiers. Through all this, Sklorax is going to try and and rez his comrades. All I can say is - good luck. 

Once you've taken everyone out you'll find Caritas ( 78.7, 105.6, 213.5) who will update Find Caritas and give you a new mission Finish the Task.  This will require you to kill the Fithik Hivemaster which you already planned to do for Operation Devil Strike.  You'll notice a transporter behind Caritas, this will take you from the first room in the instance to this point if you die.  You'll very likely use it.

The large room in front of you is fairly cut and dry.  You need to head down the path and back up the other side fighting through more Fithik, a named level 20 Kael Rhamshaw and Thrax soldiers who like to teleport in. Take out the teleporters to make your life easier.  You'll climb a path past a large generator which can be blown up although it doesn't appear to do anything.  Another Kael patrols the large bridge you'll cross and eventually you end up a room filled with egg clusters.  If you haven't hit 50 egg clusters yet, go to town. 

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I'm going to need a bigger can of Raid

At the back of the room you'll find the Fithik Hive Master.  Killing the other Fithik around first will make things a little easier but dropping him won't prove any more difficult than the guardians.  Behind where he spawns you'll see a box containing one of the Eloh Artifacts.  The box does respawn if you are patient but there are more spawns further in.

To your right you'll see cavern which will take you deeper into the instance.  The path down is a dead end, but up will bring in contact with some nasty Miasma, including level 19 Wickip. A few squads of Bane are around, one of which includes a toughened level 20 Caretaker named Spivitz who can prove challenging by rezzing his friends.  You'll take out a few more Kael and continue until you reach another room with some drilling equipment. 

In here you'll find a named Thrax to kill, and a pair of boxes next to a teleporter.  Harvest these and wait for respawns until you have your five completing the Recovering Eloh Artifacts mission. Continue down the tunnel which will open up into a large Bane facility, and here is where the fun begins.

First clear the Thrax in front of the forcefield, and proceed to shoot out the generators above the teleporters to drop the field.  Take out the pair of Predators patrolling and move forward until you see a landing pad.  You'll notice 3 boxes around the pad which you can target.  Destroy them to update Sever the Devils Head, but be warned this will trigger a number of Striders and a Juggernaut spawn. 

If you head back in the direction of the forcefield you'll notice a path that moves uphill and beyond a few guards you'll see a pair of bunkers.  If you go inside and adjust the machinery in each one this will turn the Bane mortars on their own soldiers.  This is particulary useful in keeping the larger targets busy.  Ignore the building on your left and move past the second bunker until you get to the open area filled with Bane equipment. Lock on and shoot up pieces labeled "Bane Machinery" until you've completed the objective for Sever the Devils Head. You can kill everything here if you want, but it's not required.

Now it's time to head back to the building you skipped. The first door will lead to a teleporter, which will take you back to the room where Caritas was so leave this one for now. The second door will lead to a chamber with Kael, Caretakers - watch out for the level 20 Harmox, Technicians and general nastiness ending with the Bane Commander. The last door does have a security camera inside so if you are quick enough you can save yourself some additional killing. Another boss encounter will pop up and once you've killed him just shoot out the power nodes behind him. Head back to the teleporter and return to Walk of Giants and Hightower Outposts for your rewards. We hope this guide has been useful to you. If you see anything we could add or a correction please feel free to email me, you'll get full credit.


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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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