The Shroud

In ancient times, giants used the Shroud's harrowing challenges as the proving ground for the greatest of warriors. {{Quest The Shroud is one of DDO's most popular raids. This raid consists of 5 phases:
 * name=The Shroud
 * level=17
 * duration=Very Long
 * xp={{xpcolors|normal=11,540|hard=11,980|elite=12,420}}
 * loc=The Shroud
 * npc=Aaseamah Screven
 * zone=Meridia
 * patron=The Twelve
 * favor=11
 * mappic=M_shroud.png
 * maplegend=yes
 * overview=
 * Phase 1 - The Challenge of the Waning Moons (also referred as Invasion, the Gauntlet, or the Portals)
 * Phase 2 - The Challenge of the New Moon (also referred as Pac-Man)
 * Phase 3 - The Challenge of the Waxing Moons (also referred as Subjugation, Lights out or the Puzzles)
 * Phase 4 - The Challenge of the Full Moon (Boss fight, round 1)
 * Phase 5 - The Challenge of the Lost Moon (Boss fight, round 2)

Flagging

 * Complete The Thirteenth Eclipse story arc instructions.
 * Reflagging is never required for this raid.

You may even get yourself blacklisted. Make sure that you have the Raid Leaders approval first.'' In-quest items available at start of the first phase. All Drops on Leaving Adventure and Death. Also just entering the portal to phase 2 will cause them to be dropped. 14th level requirement;
 * obj=
 * (Entrance)
 * Speak to Quissana
 * Use the Portal of the Waning Moons
 * (Phase 1) The Challenge of the Waning Moons tests the might and mettle of the bravest of warriors.
 * Clear the devil scouting force (Kill 19)
 * Destroy the portals (Kill 15) (DR10/-)
 * Defeat the invasion
 * Stop Shavarath from becoming conterminous (Quest failure if not completed)
 * Attune the Altar of the Waning Moons (Optional here gives 10% of base XP)
 * Enter the Portal of the New Moons
 * (Phase 2) The Challenge of the New Moon tests the strategy and cunning of the most intrepid of warriors.
 * Locate the central shrine
 * Shatter the crystal
 * Attune the Altar of the New Moons (Optional here gives 15% of base XP)
 * Enter the Portal of the Waxing Moons
 * (Phase 3) ...
 * Find the flowing Fountain of the Waxing Moons
 * Purify the Fountains of the Waxing Moons
 * Attune the Altar of the Waxing Moons (Optional nets 20% of base XP)
 * (Phase 4) The Challenge of the Full Moon tests the physical and emotional fortitude of the heartiest of warriors.
 * Defeat the devil scouting force (Kill 11)
 * Defeat Arraetrikos, 
 * Attune the Altar of the Full Moons (Optional here gives 30% of base XP)
 * Enter the Portal of the Lost Moon
 * (Phase 5) The path to the Lost Moon must be traveled in death -- do not release. (You actually can't anymore, the release button was disabled in a later update for this purpose)
 * Defeat Arraetrikos and his Lieutenants
 * Attune the Altar of the Lost Moon (Doing this completes the raid.)
 * Collectable sidequests (Won't show up if you don't have the quests and currently ) )
 * Collect: Portal Fragments
 * Collect: Healing Totems
 * Collect: Infernal Pacts
 * Collect: Blade Storm Fragments
 * expect=
 * Traps (fixed, undisarmable)
 * Maze (fixed layout)
 * Spawning/respawning monsters
 * Puzzles (mandatory: light puzzles)
 * Monsters that have to be killed almost simultaneously (mandatory: the 4 lieutenants in part 2)
 * Quest failure (if the Portal Keepers from Part 1 are not killed within 2 minutes after the DM warning)
 * traps=
 * (Phase 3)
 * Floor mark that activates an area effect spell Horrid Wilting and Greater Dispel Magic when stepped on.
 * Prismatic Wall - If the puzzles in this phase haven't been completed in an allotted amount of time (10-15 minutes), a rainbow colored wall progresses around the exterior rooms potentially killing everyone inside.
 * There are a few ways to defeat the Prismatic Wall:
 * Complete the puzzles and place water in the fountain before the wall reaches your area.
 * Using the Cleric capstone Divine Intervention will prevent death caused by touching the Prismatic Wall.
 * Cleric's & Favored Soul's Death Pact may allow you to come back to life after it passes.
 * Using the Rogue capstone Cheat Death may allow you to come back to life after it passes.
 * Breaking the crystals over the doors and placing water in the fountains.
 * ''*NOTE: This may make other party members very upset.
 * (Phases 3 and 4)
 * Whirling Blades (Invulnerable; cannot save against or resist damage by AC, saving throws, or evasion)
 * misc=
 * Axe of the Scarlet Warrior: :, Vorpal, Maiming
 * Bow of the Jade Elf - :, Keen, Ranged Alacrity 10%, Feat: Precise Shot, , Deception
 * Shield of the Azure Valkyrie: +5 Tower Shield: Enhancement: Fighter Armor Mastery 2, Shield Proficiency: Tower Shields, Deathblock,, Regeneration, True Seeing
 * Staff of the Golden Wizard - :, , , , ,

Puzzles on phase 3 are called "Lights Out".
 * Article on Wikipedia
 * Detailed explanation of the Lights Out puzzle and step-by-step guide to solving them with cheat sheets.
 * Online puzzle solver
 * How to solve each puzzle in part 3 thread
 * How to solve the puzzles in part 3 of the Shroud - Six Pattern Technique(Memorize six simple patterns and be able to solve all the puzzles all of the time!)
 * A cheatsheet for 3x3 and 5x5 puzzles

Vial of Lunar Water - Bound, Destroyed on Exiting Adventure "This ancient vial is full of water gathered from the last full eclipse."

Walkthrough
Entrance: Wait until all players zone in. Buff. Click altar and enter portal.

Phase 1
You must destroy 15 portals. After cleaning up the initial foes, melees run in a tight bunch from portal to portal. Casters usually instakill few spawning mobs. This phase is probably the least dangerous. It has a fail-condition - if portal keeper stays alive for too long - but this never happens because someone kills him immediately.

Phase 2
Buff before entering. The map is a really simple maze, each character spawns in one of the four corners. Assemble in the south (kill trash mobs you encounter or kite them there). Healers might spawn elsewhere, so don't be a hero. Casters lay down some crowd control (usually disco balls). When the trash is cleared, durable characters or competent self-healers (or small teams) locate 4 red-named lieutenants that spawn in various locations and kite them to the SW corner. Party "prepares" all the red-named to almost-but-not-quite-dead. Some of the lieutenants can heal the other, you might want to keep them slightly separated. When approved by party leader, kill all four mobs asap. When dead, one person must shatter a crystal in the middle of the maze (often a caster with firewall). When the timing in not right, ghosts of the red-named return to the central crystal, resurrect, and you have to kill them again.

Walking around the corners in this area regenerates your HP and SP.

Phase 3
Buffing is not required for this phase, you won't face any enemies. Be prepared to self-heal though. Each character spawns in a room with a puzzle, a door, and a fountain. Solve the puzzle. When you step on a field, it will toggle between light on / off, along with four neighboring fields. All lights must be lit. Solving the puzzle opens the door. If you don't know how to solve the puzzle, please tell this asap to the rest of the party.

Once you are out of the room (puzzle solved or someone came to help with the puzzle and let you out), run through the corridors to a central fountain (reachable from the south). Beware, blades are flying through the corridors (not the rooms). Interact with the face at the top of the central fountain to get a vial of water. Take the water to a face in a room where the puzzle has been solved and interact with the face to start water running in the fountain. When water has been run in all rooms, the challenge is complete.

You should only destroy crystals above the fountain room, not the puzzle rooms. Because destroying the ones above any puzzle will disable said puzzle, and thus prevent gaining access to an additional chest - which is granted for completing all puzzles. Do not bring summoned creatures to this phase (they might attack crystals that should not be attacked).

Jumping in the central pool regenerates your HP and SP ("going for a quick swim"). Marraenoloth is an expert repair smith and vendor available after completing this phase.

Phase 4
This is the most difficult part of the raid. Buff appropriately. When zoning in, casters usually set up crowd control (e.g. disco balls). Kill a wave of trash devils. Beware! Killing a green devil spawns blades that follow the killer for a few seconds. Mind the blades, keep moving. You cannot even hide in a corner, as the area is circular! When trash is dead, boss arrives. DPS the boss. A wall of blades circles around the boss, slowly moving towards the center. After approximately 1 minute, the blades hit the center and start to kill you, so be ready to run/jump away. When the blades reach the center, the boss teleports away. Another wave of trash spawns, and again the boss teleports in (this is called a round). Most groups manage to kill the boss in two rounds; great groups can do one. When the boss dies, blades disappear. When you die during this phase, your soulstone is transferred to a prison, i.e. you cannot be revived immediately. Party will have a brief opportunity (few seconds) to revive you upon completing this phase.

Phase 5
When you click the portal to enter this phase, all characters die (summoned creatures stay alive). Therefore, you don't need to buff in advance. After a while, all are revived, but you only have a few moments to buff before you're swarmed by the red-named lieutenants you met in phase 2. This time they die permanently. Most groups keep one of the red-named alive, kite him around, while most of the party finishes buffing and regenerates their SP (and HP) by entering and leaving the pools in the SE and SW corner. When buffed and full, the final red-named is destroyed. The boss appears and fights until death.

Four portals appear upon completion of this phase so you can return to previous phases.

Useful buffs

 * greater heroism, deathward, rage, haste, inspire courage
 * jump for phase 1
 * true seeing (what for, actually? trog casters in phase 1?)
 * silver weapons, deadly weapons
 * blur/displacement - useless vs boss, useful vs trash
 * resist fire for boss fights
 * DR against the blades (?)


 * chest=
 * 10 Guaranteed for completion, 2 optional in part three - Up to Total.
 * 2 for phase 1 (1 can drop small ingredients and power shards)
 * 2 for phase 2 (1 can drop small ingredients)
 * 2 guaranteed and 2 optional for phase 3 (1 each can drop medium ingredients and power shards)
 * 2 for phase 4 (1 can drop large ingredients and power shards)
 * 2 for phase 5 (1 can drop large ingredients and power shards)
 * As of Update 12:
 * 1 Extra chest for completing hard Phase 5 (Can drop large ingredients)
 * 2 Extra chests for completing elite Phase 5 (Can drop large ingredients)


 * npcreward=
 * Unique: Select from 8 items plus Guild Renown: mostly small and medium Shroud crafting ingredients; rarely large Shroud crafting ingredients, Boots of Anchoring ingredients, Shards of Power, Some random loot, +2 Tomes, and very rarely  +3 Tomes.
 * Special raid reward for 20th completion is a choice of 7 of the following;
 * stat tomes (1 for each stat will always appear in the list, can be +2 or +3)
 * Essence of Cleansing which can remove Taint of Shavarath from your Green Steel Accessories
 * monsters=
 * Troglodytes
 * Planar Gateways (15)
 * Orthons
 * Bearded Devils
 * Bezekiras
 * Arraetrikos - Purple Named Raid Boss
 *  - Phase 2 and 5 red named. 4 semi-randomly selected from the list below, with 1 being randomly selected from each group:
 * Group A
 * Adurnac the Liviathan (Orc Barbarian) - DR8/-, Cleave, Improved Sunder, Chaotic Evil
 * Esarhal the Knave (Troglodyte Shaman) - Stench, Chaotic Evil
 * Kasquick the Mighty (Kobold Fighter), DR10/Epic, Vorpal, Lawful Evil
 * (Combat) You are hit by Kasquick the Mighty's vorpal.
 * (Combat) Snick-snack went the vorpal blade, and it removed your head, killing you instantly.
 * Group B
 * Mitanu the Savage (Orthon Savage) - DR20/Silver or Good, Cleave, Lawful Evil
 * Nimrisr the Ruthless (Bezekira) - DR20/Good, Lawful evil, Improved Trip, Lawful Evil
 * Sagrata the Feral (Bearded Devil) - DR20/Silver or Good, Bleeding Wound, Curse, Lawful Evil
 * Group C
 * Anur-Shub the Hellion (Fire Elemental) - DR10/-, Searing flames, Lawful Evil
 * Damasze the Windago (Earth Elemental) - DR10/-, Earthgrab, Lawful Evil
 * Group D
 * Tho-Daah Nugh the Heartless (Gnoll Shaman) - Greater Dispel Magic, Greater Command, Blade Barrier, Chaotic evil
 * Ubein-Lnaa the Infernal (Troll Warrior) - Fast regeneration, Chaotic evil

* Note: Damage reduction amounts are for normal difficulty, some are higher on hard/elite. }}