Skeletons in the Closet

''The Ghost Flame has terrorized Tanaroa for many years, but now the village elders have asked you to end this threat once and for all. From what you've heard about this necromancer, it won't be easy.'' {{Quest | name            = Skeletons in the Closet | adpack          = The Isle of Dread | epic            = 34 | duration        = long | raid            = yes | tier            = | solo only       = false | solo            = | normal          = | hard            = | elite           = | xp              = | ecasual         = | enormal         = 54697 | ehard           = 55962 | eelite          = 57228 | epicxp          = | bestower        = Miya of Mantru | npc             = Miya of Mantru | loc             = The Firemouth | zone            = Village of Tanaroa | patron          = The Gatekeepers | favor           = 10 | free            = no  | extreme          = | mappic          = | maplegend       = | loadingpic      = | overview        = It is time to bring an end to the Ghost Flame's reign of terror on the island. A warrior named Miya of Mantru tells you to begin your challenge at Fire Mouth Mountain.

Flagging
No flagging required. However, unless you have an expansion teleport item or your soul is bound in the Village of Tanaroa, you must complete Captive of the Hidden God once on your current life to get to the entrance. | flagging        = No flagging required. However, unless you have an expansion teleport item or your soul is bound in the Village of Tanaroa, you must complete Captive of the Hidden God once on your current life to get to the entrance. | objective_1     = Gain Access to the Volcano | objective_2     = Find a path through the Kopru Ruins | objective_3     = Defeat the Kopru Tyrant | objective_4     = Confront the Ghost Flame Necromancer | objective_5     = Defeat the Ghost Flame | objective_6     = Destroy the Tormented Souls | objective_7     = Destroy Death's Teeth | objective_8     = Conclude the Ghost Flame's Story | optional_1      = Discover the many names of the God of Secrets (5 total) | opt_percent_1   = 20 | optional_2      = Walk the four paths of the dead | opt_percent_2   = 20 | optional_3      = Find all of the secrets of Firemouth Mountain (4 total) | opt_percent_3   = 20 | optional_4      = Break Vecna's curse | opt_percent_4   = 35 | optional_5      = Defeat the Wrath of Vecna | opt_percent_5   = 30 | expect          =

Important Note Before Starting
There are two ways to finish this quest. The first way is simply to charge straight ahead and kill everything. The second way grants a better ending, two extra end chests and is the only way you can unlock the special raid augments, mount, and non-Dinosaur-Bone named items. However, it is long, complex, and requires the whole party to understand what is going on. Do not attempt this route unless the whole party has first read and understood the information contained in the section The Secret Ending: Freeing Yarrow, underneath the main guide to the quest.

Part 1: Vecna's Secrets
At the start of the raid, there is a large rune on a pedestal with 4 smaller runes around the base. These 4 smaller runes correspond to runes that are hidden nearby and can only be found by searching. When you get close to one, you will get a spot message at the top of your screen and can search to reveal it. There are no spot or search checks, any character can find these runes. (The Watchful Eye feat will not automatically reveal them.) Activating the 4 small runes within a certain time frame (10 minutes) will unlock the large rune.

Activating the large rune unlocks the first area and locks the raid. There are 5 more large runes each with their own set of 4 small runes that must be activated to complete Part 1. During this phase the Tyrannosaurus Rex Death's Teeth will appear and attack you. Death's Teeth cannot be harmed during this phase. His attacks have Ghost Touch and apply a damage over time effect that can stack up to 10 times, dealing untyped damage. Being next to Death's Teeth or attacked by it will apply the DoT to you, and it will periodically leave areas of void behind on the ground that apply the DoT when stepped in. Death's Teeth also occasionally teleports around the area.

There are 2 Ancient Sentry Wards in the central area that will attack you and spawn spinning blade traps if you alert them. Other areas also have spinning blade traps; these trigger automatically, but are easier to dodge.

Whenever any small rune is activated, skeletons will spawn around the connected large rune. Most of these will be normal skeleton archers, but some orange-named "Empowered" enemies will spawn. These enemies all have a special ability called "Sorcerous Shield", which greatly reduces damage done to them by magic. The shield will temporarily deactivate after a few melee attacks.

Optional: There are 5 Cryptic Stone Tablets around the outskirts of the area. Each one has an anagram for one of Vecna's many titles (vecna, the whispered one, lord of the rotted tower, the undying king, master of the spider throne). Use /say and speak the correct title at each Cryptic Stone Tablet to complete the optional.

When you finish activating the 5 large runes, Death's Teeth will disappear and a portal will spawn in the east that leads to Part 2.

Part 2: The Kopru Mountain Keeper
In this area you fight a large Kopru, The Mountain Keeper, that spawns Weird Guardians and has several special attacks:


 * Malice: This creature's main target has difficulty casting spells and being healed. (Malice of the Kopru: Sheer malice assails your mind. You have a 50% chance to fail all spell casts and all heal and repair effects that target you are reduced by 25%. You will be subject to telekinetic strikes periodically.)
 * Storm Caller: Can call down a barrage of lightning bolts against all targets who are not close by.
 * Illusions: Can create illusionary copies of itself to hide amongst.
 * Telekinetic Strike: Blasts its main target with force damage periodically.
 * Mind Reader: You can't dodge its physical attacks.

Marking the real Kopru at the start of the fight with debuffs such as Horizon Walker's Marked Target can help reveal which Kopru is the real one when it summons its illusions.

After defeating the Kopru, a shrine will spawn along with a portal to Part 3. There is also a chest that can contain named loot – if you wish, you can use this to farm for crafting blanks without having to wait for a raid timer.

Part 3: The Ghost Flame
Inside the volcano is a large open room with lava in the center and around the edges. Touching the lava deals damage and applies a stacking debuff that reduces your fire absorption with each stack (-13% per stack, unknown max stacks). There are circular platforms in the four corners of the room as well as the center. Stepping on the platforms gives you the effect Shroud of Secrets: You receive -900 to all Healing Amplifications, have increased Arcane Spell Failure, and are completely immune to Sonic damage.

Empowered skeletal enemies spawn constantly while in the volcano. Remember that unless they have recently been engaged in melee, they will take greatly reduced damage from magic.

Phase 1:
The Ghost Flame remains in the center, inactive. There are four Tormented Souls in the corners of the room that will become active one at a time. Whenever one becomes active, it spawns additional skeleton enemies. Reducing a Tormented Soul to 85% of its max HP will deactivate that one and activate the next. The skeleton enemies have the buff Sorcerous Shield: This target is heavily shielded against missiles and spells. Melee Weapon Strikes will eventually cause the shield to break but it can regenerate in time.

Tormented Souls order:
 * Northeast (Kelas)
 * Southwest (Osfield)
 * Southeast (Alaric)
 * Northwest (Gorth)

When all the Tormented Souls have been fought, Phase 2 begins.

Phase 2:
Death's Teeth appears and attacks you like in Part 1 of the raid. The Tormented Souls appear again in a new order and must be reduced to 70% of their max HP.

Tormented Souls order:
 * Southwest (Osfield)
 * Northeast (Kelas)
 * Southeast (Alaric)
 * Northwest (Gorth)

When all the Tormented Souls have been fought, Phase 3 begins.

Phase 3:
Vecna forces The Ghost Flame to join the battle. She and Death's Teeth remain invincible. Her abilities are:
 * Teleporter: She blinks about the battle field!
 * Silence: She can silence a foe with a word.
 * Claw of Vecna: A ghostly claw targets one player. Prefers players not close to Death's Teeth. It cannot be dodged but only blocked at the moment it strikes.
 * Master Necromancer: Removes death ward with her spells, and has additional tricks to counter Pale Masters (deactivates negative healing on a character that uses Death Aura or similar in her sight.)
 * Sorcerous Shield: This target is heavily shielded against missiles and spells. Melee Weapon Strikes will eventually cause the shield to break but it can regenerate in time.

Avoid using negative healing while near to The Ghost Flame. She periodically hits nearby Pale Masters with a special attack that causes their own Death Aura spells to hurt them for the next minute - as the damage you take continues to scale with your Negative Amplification and it is exceedingly unlikely you have a Negative Absorption item to hand, this will very quickly kill you.

(NOTE: During the Claw of Vecna attack, Vecna's hand appears over your head and a debuff appears in your debuff bar. The debuff counts down from 10, but the damage is dealt when there are 3 seconds left. Actively blocking prevents the damage.)

The Tormented Souls appear again in a new order and the first three must be reduced to 50% of their max HP.

Tormented Souls order:
 * Southeast (Alaric)
 * Northwest (Gorth)
 * Southwest (Osfield)
 * Northeast (Kelas) (At this point Kelas can be killed completely, starting Phase 4)

Phase 4:
When a Tormented Soul is killed, several Dark Secrets will spawn around the edges of the room. Whenever a Dark Secret is destroyed, everyone in the room takes untyped damage. However, if left undestroyed for too long, all remaining Dark Secrets will explode, dealing their damage at the same time.

The Ghost Flame and Death's Teeth are inactive while the first set of Dark Secrets are up. After the first set of Dark Secrets are destroyed, they lose their shadowy shields, becoming vulnerable to damage. However, they will continue to regenerate health as long as any Tormented Souls remain alive.

Death's Teeth now gains new abilities:
 * Soul Shattering Roar: There are moments its anguish is released in a roar of massive sonic damage applied to the room.
 * Soul Bitter: Attacks inflicted by its teeth apply soul bitten which reduces max hp, fort, and healing amps.
 * Heart Burn: Bletches pools of lingering fire, and sometimes breathes out a jet.
 * Undying Anguish: Even beyond its curse this creature's anguish won't die easily.

For the Soul Shattering Roar attack, Death's Teeth deals 3 large bursts of Sonic damage to everyone in the raid, as well as 3 bursts of fire damage to those close by. When Death's Teeth begins the roaring animation, players should run to the nearest rune-inscribed circular platform to be shielded from the Sonic damage.

Tormented Souls order:
 * Southwest (Osfield). After Osfield is killed, Death's Teeth applies the stacking debuff Soulbitten with its attacks, reducing max HP with each stack.
 * Southeast (Alaric).
 * Northwest (Gorth).

Optional: Walk the four paths of the dead: When a Tormented Soul is killed, skulls appear in their corner of the room floating above the lava. These skulls can only be seen and interacted with while you are dead. Use the skulls as platforms to reach the spirit of each Tormented Soul to complete the optional.

When all the Tormented Souls are killed, Death's Teeth and The Ghost Flame must be slain. However, The Ghost Flame will revive Death's Teeth to 40% HP if he is downed while she is alive, and vice versa. Death's Teeth must be atop the platform with the skeleton of his old Elvish form to prevent him from being healed (just as player characters cannot be healed on the platforms).

After Death's Teeth is dead, kill The Ghost Flame to complete the raid.

The Secret Ending: Freeing Yarrow
''The information from this section is gathered from the forum post, and we thank everyone involved. Special thanks is due to twitch streamer, Arcanaverse aka forum user Magnus_Arcanis, who solved how the critical mechanic worked.''

To obtain the secret ending, the following steps should be done in this order: | misc            = | insidious       = | devious         = | discreet        = | aggression      = | onslaught       = | conquest        = | tamper          = | neutralization  = | ingenious       = | observance      = | perception      = | vigilant        = | mischief        = | vandal          = | ransack         = | bonus_xp_notes  = | chest           = Four | npcreward       = Standard, no 20th completion reward as Raid Rune system is in place (note that the runes can only be used to purchase items from the standard end chest) | unique          = yes | external        = }}
 * Solve the Names of Vecna puzzle in part one. Strictly speaking, this is optional, but it helps you keep track on your progress using the "Secrets of Firemouth Mountain" optional. By this phase, you should have three secrets remaining.
 * Continue as standard until, in part three, you slay any skeleton (the order is not important, as it seems to differ by server.) At this point, a player should die and "walk the path of the dead" behind it (jump across floating skulls to a ghost.) The ghost will teleport onto the platform.
 * Repeat this process until all four skeletons are dead and all four ghosts are on the platform.
 * Now, one person in charge of appeasing the ghosts should use the /say command to speak each of the following lines, one by one, to the right ghost. After each line, the ghost teleports, disappearing after the final one is read. Complete the four ghosts in order.
 * While this is happening, the party should be keeping skeleton trash out of the way and looking out for Death's Teeth roaring (if he's still "alive"). You can do this part of the raid as Normal up to and including slaying Death's Teeth, but you must not, under any circumstances, slay The Ghost Flame.
 * Completing the fourth path of the dead should unlock the second Secret of Firemouth Mountain.
 * First find Osfield, an unarmed floating human. Read the following:
 * Once Osfield disappears, find Alaric, a floating human with a quarterstaff. Read the following:
 * Once Alaric disappears, find Kelas, a floating human with a mace. Read the following:
 * Once Kelas disappears, find Gorth, a Half-Orc who isn't floating. Read the following:
 * Finally, bring Death's Teeth to his platform and slay him (if you haven't done this yet). Lindal's spirit should appear above his platform (unlike the others, he can be selected, although not interacted with.) Read the following lines to him:
 * At this point, The Ghost Flame will joyfully announce that her pact with Vecna is broken, she is Yarrow once again, and she is free. She will then disappear.
 * At this point the third Secret of Firemouth Mountain unlocks.
 * An enraged Vecna will appear and set a giant version of his severed Hand and Eye upon you. The Wrath of Vecna is tougher than both Death's Teeth and the Ghost Flame put together. Be warned.
 * The Wrath of Vecna relies almost entirely upon evil damage – bring absorption and a high-MRR tank. Try to keep the party spread across the map until the tank has got the Wrath's attention, as otherwise the whole group is at risk from the massive conic AoE of its Ground Pound attack (see its page for more.)
 * Should you manage to slay the hand, the quest completes (as does the Secrets of Firemouth Mountain optional), granting you not one, not two, but three end chests. The outer two chests are the only way you can get the special named augments, dinosaur mount, and non-Dinosaur-Bone named items from the raid. Enjoy your loot – you've earned it.
 * It is possible to sneak by the Sentry Wards in Part 1 to find the hidden runes, allowing you to avoid grabbing their aggro and spawning traps.
 * The tank in Part 2 should bring force absorption, and everyone else should bring electric absorption just in case something goes wrong and a Storm Caller attack hits them.
 * Fire resistance and absorption are very helpful in Part 3.
 * Two tanks are helpful against Death's Teeth in Part 3 in order to swap aggro when one tank gets too many stacks of the max HP debuff.
 * It can be helpful to assign one party member to slowly destroy the Dark Secrets in Part 3. If everyone destroys them immediately, it may overwhelm the party with damage.
 * One for defeating The Mountain Keeper (drops Item:Black Pearls, Dinosaur Bone weapons, and all non-weapon Dinosaur Bone crafting blanks)
 * One end chest (drops s, Attuned Bone weapons, and all non-weapon Dinosaur Bone crafting blanks)
 * Two bonus end chests (with possibility of named augments, mount and unique named items) for completing the secret ending