The Cost of Magic

NOTE: Before you begin this mission you should equip health talismans until you have at least 7500hp. You don’t need to worry about attack rating. If you do this mission correctly you won’t need to fight anything.

Tier 1

Objective: Examine Zaha’s ritual notebook

Use the notebook at Zaha’s feet.

Tier 2

Objective: Infiltrate the platforms in the vampire bastion

Enter the vampire bastion any way that you find convenient and head to (310, 695) where you will find a ramp to the platforms above.

Objective: Steal the blood of an elder vampire

You will need to make you way across the platforms to find the blood. This map is a summary of the route you will need to follow to get to the end:

The step-by-step route is as follows. The trick is to NEVER STOP MOVING. If you stop, you will get caught and likely killed or knocked off of the platform. First, head up the ramp and hang a right. Be careful of the mines at the top of the ramp. Triggering a mine will deal a large amount of damage to you and will knock you back, possibly off of the platform. You can even get knocked into another mine for a chain reaction that can easily kill you. The easiest way through the mines is with sprint off.

After the mines you will encounter the first Sentinel vampires. They have a nasty ability called Sentinel Push that will knock you back a very long distance. You can wait for the Sentinel patrols if you want, but it’s safe to run through them as long as you run in a straight line otherwise they may get close enough to Sentinel Push you right off the platform.

When you enter the tent with the large vampire enemies just keep to the right but not too far to the right or you will fall through the gap. You will aggro at least two of the Gang of Targoviste vampires here. These big guys can deal heavy damage if they catch up to you. Don’t worry, just keep moving.

Once outside of the tent area you will encounter a large mine field. Right before you reach it, cancel sprint by pressing your sprint key – (x) by default – without stopping. Follow the path shown in the image below.

Once past the mines, stop for a few seconds and enjoy the show as the vampires chasing you get blown to pieces by the mines. Once they are dead and you are out of combat, reactivate sprint.

Continue down the path and take the first right, next to the large vampire.

From here you will want to cut across the wide platform area as shown in the image.

Continue down this path past the Sentinels. Remember to keep moving as straight as possible. Unnecessary turns and strafes will cause the Sentinels to get closer and you might get kicked..

You will encounter a final mine field. Beyond that is a ladder. This is where all that health you equipped comes into play. When you reach the ladder quickly right click on it and climb up. As you climb, you will be zapped by the vampires below, but as long as you have at least 7500hp then you should be in no danger. Note: The Sentinel vampires will not trigger the mines, so they can follow you straight through them. This is another reason why you have to be quick at clicking the ladder.

At the top of the ladder you can take a breather, eat a taco, and reactivate sprint. Here you can wait on the patrolling vampires if you’d like and move toward the opening in the tent straight ahead.

You’ll have to run past this guy. In the middle of the room there are pillars. Make sure you go around them on the right hand side.

On the right of the pillars you will find a ladder guarded by another big vampire. Quickly click the ladder and head up. Again you will be zapped but shouldn’t have any trouble surviving.

At the top of the ladder you will find the Elder’s blood on a small platform. You may have to move more toward the center of the platform to get the vampires below to stop zapping you.

Grab the blood.

Note: If you die at any point along the platform part of his mission it’s best to run back to your body in anima form than it is to resurrect at the anima well. While in anima form you can run across the platforms with no worries until you reach your body. Some people find it easier to remove all of their gear and simply blindly run as far as they can, die, run back, resurrect at their body and repeat until they reach the end. This method takes a lot of extra time but works just fine.

Tier 3

Objective: Go to the Sacred Heart Lake

Once you have the blood you have two options to get out of here quickly. The easiest way is to /reset and resurrect at The Perch anima well or you can jump off of the platform and head out the door shown in the image below. You should hit the ground running and don’t stop until you are out of the vampire bastion.

Once out of the vampire bastion head to (500, 770).

Objective: Take the elder ghoul’s heart from the totem

You should still have your health gear on for this portion. Look down the side of the cliff and you will see some rocks in the water. Carefully hop down and land on those rocks.

Next, you will want to run to the rock marked in the picture below. Be careful not to aggro the Ghoul that patrols around the area. When you run into the green water you will take an enormous amount of damage (3000-3500 per tick) so you do not want to stop in the water. You also do not want to jump while in the water because each time you jump you will take an additional tick of damage. If you have sprint on and you jump off of the rock you are on, you can make it there taking only two ticks of damage (this is why you need 7500hp).

Now simply run across the water again to the island in the middle, again being careful to avoid aggroing the Ghouls in the area. The Ghoul on the island is a world boss who will easily kill anybody who aggros him, so be careful.

Once on the island, quickly grab a heart from the totem. Note: If you do this mission in a group, all players will get credit for the mission but you actually have to grab a heart to get the buff that protects you from the water.

Tier 4

Objective: Go to Dark Woods

After you grab a heat you will gain a buff that will protect you from the effects of the toxic water for two minutes. This gives you more than enough time to carefully head south toward (470, 630), avoiding the ghouls on the way.

Objective: Search for Romany signs

Head up to the top of the rise to (475, 610) where you will find the first Romany symbol. Using the white symbol will cause a platform to appear in the air in front of you.

Objective: Access the Romany cache

The best way to climb these platforms is to keep sprint on and stand just a step back from the center. Press forward and then quickly press the jump. If you press them at the same time you won’t make it and if you press jump too late you will fall before you jump. For some, this requires a little bit of practice.

Once you’ve made it up to the second platform you will find two white symbols on the ground. Use the one to the left to continue the mission.

Objective: Retrieve the Romany herb pouch

After you’ve conquered the platforms, grab the Romany herb pouch.

Tier 5

Objective: Go to Vantoase Hill

Proceed to (300, 490) where you will find the path that leads up to Vantoase Hill.

Objective: Retrieve a werewolf matriarch canine

The path is covered in traps. Traps include bear traps. Simply avoid stepping on these.

Grenades with trip wires. You can jump over the trip wires, go around the grenades, or use one of the grenades to remove the trip line.

Finally, there are landmines which are hidden behind obstacles. Be careful when jumping over any rocks or fallen logs because there may be mines hiding behind them.

At the end of the path (280, 565) you will notice the first of a new group of hazards, the Romany Golem. If these guys aggro you they will one shot kill you. It doesn’t even deal damage, it’s just simply death. There is no way to survive it. Their aggro radius is relatively small, however, so avoiding them is easier than it may seem. There are also bear traps scattered around the area. Stepping on one of these will immobilize you allowing the Romany Golems to catch you and kill you.

The next trap is hidden beneath these hay piles. These are actually punji pit traps. Falling into one of these is instant death as well.

The werewolf matriarch is found at (240, 535). Use the corpse to acquire the werewolf matriarch canine.

Tier 6

Objective: Reach the ritual area

The stairs to the ritual area are at (300, 490).

Follow the path to (325, 440) where you will find the ritual area guarded by a Romany Golem. Don’t worry, this one will not aggro you unless you attack him. He’s there to make sure the ritual is completed properly…

Objective: Read the ritual page

Read the ritual page in your inventory.

Objective: Start the ritual

Click the altar to begin the ritual.

Objective: Complete the ritual

In order to complete the ritual, use the items on and around the stone table in this order: 1) Bowl 2) Left Skin 3) Herb Pouch 4) Right Skin 5) Ghoul Heart 6) Dagger

Completing the ritual will give you a small bleed for 10 seconds. It’s nothing to worry about. If you mess up the ritual, the Romany Golem will instantly kill you for your insolence!

Congratulations on completing one of the most difficult missions the game has to offer.