AoCWiki
Register
Advertisement

Refuge of the Apostate[]

Refuge of the Apostate
Level 80
Refuge of the Apostate1
Region Khitai
Zone Kara Korum

End Boss Tian-Bai
Player Limit 1

The Refuge of the Apostate is a new level 80 solo instance that can be found in Kara Korum on Ghost Hill. The story ties into events linked to the Scarlet Circle and the Last Legion and centers around a potential extremist member of the Circle named Tian-Bai.
His previous masters and foes alike are nervous about what Tian-Bai is planning amid rumors of a hidden refuge deep within the polluted and toxic air of Kara Korum. Players will be tasked with seeking out the truth and holding the evil illusionist accountable for his plotting, at the sharp end of a sword if necessary.

New Quests[]

A combination of daily and story quests, there is a series of quests available that link in to the experience found in the Refuge. With two faction-neutral quests that anyone can do and special quests for both the Scarlet Circle and the Last Legion at Rank 2 in either faction.

There are three unique encounters, although one is more an area than a person or a mob. Part of the challenge revolves around the wicked maze itself that Tian-Bai has carved out amongst the stone soldiers that he intends to animate and command.

Rewards[]

The rewards for the dungeon experience give some nice rewards. As well as some new rare items; the final boss fight rewards you with a 2 Rare Trophies each time you defeat it... and there is a small bonus chance of a third Trophy if you are lucky. The dungeon has a 20-hour lockout, so it can be done once per day. Be sure to turn in your quests upon completion, for they are needed to re-enter the dungeon.

Walkthrough[]

(Courtesy of Khaletohep from the EU Forums - Link).

Reaching the Refuge of the Apostate[]

Two factions have quests for the Refuge of the Apostate. They both require faction rank 2.

  • The Last Legion offers two quests at their central camp in Kara Korum at coordinates 800, 600.
  • The Scarlet Circle quests start in Pra-Euns Citadel, at Pra-Eun himself, coordinates 1400, 1050.

They both start with a non-repeatable quests. After completing that, you get two repeatable quests. Combined, they give you 38 Marks of Acclaim and about 20,000 points of reputation each time you run the dungeon. This makes them an easy way to level up one of the factions and collect some hard mode tokens on the side.

Khaletoheppicture037


Travel to Resurrection Point: Ghost Hill at coordinates 1680, 360.
Khaletoheppicture039


Fight your way up the road into Ghost Village, going straight ahead. You'll reach a courtyard to your left at coordinates 1805, 385. The NPC Tsaichin here give a quest for the Refuge, the entrance is the trapdoor right besides her.
Khaletoheppicture034
Beware of ghosts spawning here, don't go afk in this area.


The Tunnel Maze[]

Fight your way through the tunnels, keeping on the left. You'll face several level 83 melee mobs.

Khaletoheppicture042


You'll reach a ritual chamber, where the "Refuge Corpse Waker“ resides, a level 83 Boss. She attacks you with spells and summons "Volatile Skulls“. Once these skulls reach you, they stop moving and start a cast called "Detonate“. When it completes, the skull is destroyed, doing moderate damage to anything near it, including the boss. Keep near to the boss, and move away as soon as any skulls stop near her. This will prevent you from getting hurt and deal some damage to her. The boss can be stunned. (Note: LL protection gear, or protection gear in general, is useful here. Also, soldiers, especialy Guardians, can simply stay on her and rotate Cunning Defense & Stall the Advance - much less moving about required).
Khaletoheppicture043


After the Corpse Waker is killed, a killable loot chest appears. Kill it and to get another, lootable chest containing minor loot and an occasional item of blue quality.
Khaletoheppicture045


This is the only known unique item that can be acquired here:

Lootcorpsewaker

Return to the tunnel maze. Keep left again. This part is guarded by a mixture of melee and ranged mobs. Use the corners to draw them together. In the end, you'll find the Trap Room.


The Trap Room[]

There's a "save spot“ here; if you die from here on, you'll be ressurrected at the start of the Trap Room.
Khaletoheppicture046


There're three dangers here:

  • Frost traps slow you down.


Khaletoheppicture049


  • Spike traps instantly kill you.


Khaletoheppicture052


  • Some of the terracotta warriors will (surprise, surprise) awaken and attack you. This Stone Ínfantry attacks in pairs of level 83 melee mobs. They're immune to crowd control effects and hit hard.


Khaletoheppicture048


Navigate the trap room to the north west, i. e. far right corner, avoiding spike traps and killing any Stone Infantry attacking you. There's a ladder here. Climb up.
Khaletoheppicture053


Now starts a small puzzle part. You have to cross the upper level to reach the south west corner, but there're wooden bridges that have to be moved around to free the way. That is done by pulling three levers placed across the room.
Khaletoheppicture054


The sequence to open the way is as follows: move east to lever 1, pull it. Return west, cross two wooden brigdes, pull lever 2. You should hear a loud clicking noise now. Cross the wooden bridges again and jump down to the ladder, avoiding the spike trap. Return to lever 1, don't pull it, run south across four wooden bridges, pull lever 3, run west, cross two wooden bridges, run into the tunnel. You'll reach another save spot. If it takes you more than 90 seconds to cross the last bridge, the trap room resets and you'll have to start over.
Here's a map to illustrate. North in this map is east in the ingame map; it 's easier to understand in this direction. The red lines mark which lever controls which bridges. Lever sequence is 1, 2, 3.
Traproom


The following map shows the ways you have to take.
- Purple line is the first run to lever No. 1.
- Green line is the second run to lever No. 2.
- Blue line is the third run to lever No. 3 and the tunnel exit. You have to jump down to the ladder and stop at lever 3 during this run.
Traproom2


If you complete the maze fast enough, there'll be a loot box at the safe spot. The faster you have been, the greater the reward will be. The boxes are named copper / silver / gold according to your speed. They contain a rising amount of minor loot (potions, Imperial Insignias). The timer (supposedly) starts when passing the door to the labyrinth.
Don't work yourself into a heart attack, though, the rewards (including gold) are negligible compared to the loot and quest rewards you get in any case.


The Library[]

Fight your way through the library, keeping right. There are level 83 ranged mobs here and four stealthed Jiang Shi melee mobs. Be careful, as there are several mobs patrolling or standing behind corners. It safest to pull mobs back to the tunnel where you started and kill them there. Some Jiang-Shi will attack you from stealth. Kill them to complete this part and open the next door. (Note: The doors to the final boss will not open until the four hidden Jiang Shi are dead).
Khaletoheppicture055


The Sanctuary[]

Finally, you'll end up at the last save spot just in front of Tian-bai's Sanctuary. Enter the Sanctuary.
Khaletoheppicture057


There are four versions of Tian-bai standing there. One of them will clap his hands - remember which one. You can take a screenshot to help with that or write the corresponding number (1 to 4) in /say chat.
Khaletoheppicture066


Tian-bai will teleport you into an illusionary dream world. You'll be affected by a slow debuff, which increases in strength over time. When it reaches 10 stacks, it'll immediately kill you.

The debuff is lowered by standing in the pulse effect coming from the pillars on the left. Each pulse reduces the debuff by 10%, to a minimum of 10%.
Khaletoheppicture059


Illusions of Tian-bai will sometimes appear and cast a knockback spell on you. Move between him an the pulsing pillar - this way, you get knocked down, but the time needed to get up isn't lost, as you'll catch several pulses.

Khaletoheppicture061


Your only way to leave the dream world and avoid this death effect is to reach the platform in the middle and touch the "Chained Soul“ hanging there. Use forward double-tapping to complete the last part of the run, then immediately click on the chained soul until a castbar appears.
Khaletoheppicture062


Killing Tian-bai[]

After leaving the dream world, you'll be returned to Tian-bai's Sanctuary. There are still four versions of him standing there. The one who clapped his hands earlier is the real one, the other three are illusions. Attacking the real Tian-bai starts the boss fight.
Khaletoheppicture063



Killing an illusion gives you a stacking debuff called "Shattered Mirror". First stack gives you -45% Damage Mitigation, +45% Miss Chance, +45% Fizzle Chance, -45% Immunity. Additional stacks increase this by another 10% each.
Khaletoheppicture068


When you've started the boss fight, any remaining illusions will disappear, and Tian-bai teleports to the room's center. He attacks with various fire spells.

Khaletoheppicture070


Every 25% (at 75%, 50% and 25%), he summons more illusions of himself. He teleports you to the room's center and starts channeling a long cast. If it completes, he'll cast a hard hitting area of effect fire spell, covering the whole room. If you've got low HP or got the debuff for killing the illusions, it'll probably kill you.
To avoid that, use double-tapping to get behind one of the pillars. Or, if a soldiers with protection gear, just use Cunning Defense, Stall the Advance, etc. Take cover until the spell was cast, than continue poking him until he's dead. (Note: If you find the going tough, melee characters can simply retreat to behind a pillar, up against the wall, out of line of sight. They can then wait, heal up, and go back in. Demonologists can go one better. They can also retreat to the safety of the pillars, then simply AoE him from safety. The boss cannot hit you, but you can hit him. He will still port you to the middle, but in either case he will never leave the middle spot).


If you avoided the debuff, you should be able to kill him in a straight, face to face "shoot out". He'll blast you once, but you'll probably survive this.


Aftermath
[]

When he's dead, he'll leave a loot chest behind, containing some minor loot, one mediocre blue item and 2 or 3 Rare Trophies, i. e. Hard Mode Tokens.Khaletoheppicture069


Note: The number of Tokens appears to be completely random. It does not seem to correlate with having a debuff from killing illusions. There is - as far as is known - no hard mode.



These are some of the blue items you can acquire here:


Loota


A door opens to reveal a small room. Click the book to collect the notes needed for the Last Legion / Scarlet Circle quest. Also, there is a mirror which teleports you back to the Ghost Village, a mask which gets you to Pra-Eun's Palace and a helmet to reach the Last Legion Camp in the center of Kara Korum.
Khaletoheppicture064


Videos[]


Instanced dungeon locations
Tortage City of Tortage Acheronian RuinsTortage Underhalls
Cimmeria Conall's Valley Spider Caverns
Lacheish Plains Frost Swamp
Field of the Dead Fight Club ArenaCradle of DecayToirdealbach's TombThreshold of Divinity (House of Crom) • Kyllikki's Crypt
Eiglophian Mountains Cannibal CaveThe Vile Nativity (House of Crom) • Yakhmar's Cave
Ymir's Pass Amphitheatre of Karutonia
Atzel's Approach Halls of Eternal FrostAtzel's FortressVistrix's Lair
Aquilonia Old Tarantia Outflow Tunnels
Wild Lands of Zelata Abandoned Smugglers TunnelsThe MazeBorder RangeSanctum of the Burning Souls
Poitain Imirian Ravine
Tarantia Noble District Armsman's ArenaThe CisternThe Main SystemThe CatacombsVilla AmielVilla CamillusVilla LentulusVilla PaetusVilla Verde
Thunder River The Slaughterhouse CellarThe Prison ColonyXibaluku
Tarantia Common District Attilius' MansionCrows' NestIron Tower
Stygia Khopshef Province Bubshur HousePyramid of the AncientsTreasury of the AncientsBlack Castle
Purple Lotus Swamp Oasis of Zaara
Kheshatta Scorpion CaveCaravan Raider's HideoutOnyx ChambersBlack Ring CitadelThoth-Amon's Stronghold
Dragon's Spine Coils of Ubah KanSepulcher of the WyrmThe Slithering ChaosOtherworldly JunctionPalace of Cetriss
Turan Coast of Ardashir Dead Man's HandIsle of Iron StatuesArdashir FortTemple of Erlik
Khitai Gateway to Khitai The Forgotten CityThe Breach
Northern Grasslands Kang PagodaPillars of HeavenReliquary of FlameVortex of the StormCoppice of the Heart
Chosain Province Palace of Yun RauJade DugoutThe Abyss of Kun WhuDen of the Crowmen
Kara Korum Refuge of the ApostateCaverns of MaliceThe Celestial NecropolisThe Enigmata of Yag
Paikang Ai DistrictT’ian’an DistrictJade Citadel
Advertisement