Guild Wars 2 Halloween 2012 – Ascent to Madness

This is a very unique event as there has not been anything like it in Guild Wars previously. Before it was simply some quests and playing Mad Kings Says on Halloween itself. This time you are  Confronting Mad King Thorn and trying to hold him in the Mad Realms. This takes the form of heading to Lion's Arch and going inside the now blasted remains of the Lion Statue that stood just about the Gate Hub.

Once there you want to head toward the ruins of the statue. It is here you will be able to head into the Mad Realm itself to face the Mad King Thorn. Things are easy enough as he explains that he is going to have you play, “Mad King Says”, which has you doing what he says while fending off the hordes of Halloween creatures that are coming out of Haunted Doors at you. You only need to participate when your skills change over to the emote. It is very obvious when this happens. You will see various icons showing the different emote. You can also simply type them in as usual. If you use the wrong one, then Thorn will  instant-kill you.

This will continue on for a good while. There are at least 5 waves of various Halloween creatures that must be defeated. You need to do this all while performing the actions that Thorn is commanding of you. It takes a little getting used to, but it is very doable.

When you have cut through enough waves of the Haunted Doors it is time to fight the mad King himself. He loves to inflict conditions and do everything he can to be annoying it seems. The biggest thing to watch out for the are the Scarecrows. When these are destroyed they will unleash a fear effect. This itself is nothing too bad. The problem comes from the small area where the battle takes place. Sometimes it is just annoying as you will find yourself running over the ledge without much effort at all.

As the fight wears on you will find that Thorn will teleport around, removing himself from the fight for a time. It is during this interval you have more Halloween Creatures to fight. If you were low on this achievement, it is not hard to kill the requisite 150 monsters at all here with some effort to help out the Priory. Take out a number of them and then he will reappear. HE will usually disappear and and reappear on the same platform. Once in a great while he will actually climb or descend. It is usually best just to wait on the second platform down. Just remember that there will be a near constant flow of enemies coming out at you.

Once you take down the Mad King Thorn it is time for you to claim the chest. Head tot he Northwest corner and look downwards. Be sure to cross over the chain first though. Once there drop down to the 2  hovering rocks below. If that is not looking too good then just jump for the chest. Your party members will understand just why you did that. If you have any Magic Find food, now is the time to eat it. Once you do, open the chest and claim your rewards. Now you just need to wait for the 31st ...