Crimson Wood Keep Party Quest
| Level | 90 or higher, no upper limit |
|---|---|
| Party | An expedition of 6 to 30 players (no party is needed) |
| Start | Jack in the Hall to Inner Sanctum, behind the iron gate of the Hall of Mastery |
| Time limit | 2 minutes for the first stage, then 10, 10, 10, 20 and 60 minutes; 1 minute in the Armory |
| Runs | A private copy of the maps for the expedition; only one expedition at a time per channel |
| Daily limit | None |
| Rewards | Up to 123,500 EXP and 36,500 Vesos from the six stage clears, plus the Armory's loot boxes |
Crimson Wood Keep Party Quest is the expedition into the Twisted Masters' Keep, a gauntlet for characters of level 90 and up: six timed stages of Sigils, Menhirs, a flame maze, five class-only mastery rooms and a final fight against the Twisted Masters, followed by a one-minute rush on the Armory's loot boxes. In Masteria the game spells it Crimsonwood Keep.
How an expedition works
The Keep does not use the party window. A recruiter NPC gathers the group:
- One player talks to the recruiter and agrees to assemble a team. That player becomes the captain and must be level 90 or higher.
- Everyone else talks to the same recruiter to register. They need the same minimum level and are told when the team is full (30 players). An expelled player cannot rejoin that team. If a team is already running on your channel and you are not on it, the recruiter only says that another expedition has taken the initiative, and you have to wait until it is over.
- Registration lasts 5 minutes. A clock shows on screen, and if it runs out the team is disbanded. The captain can also pick "Stop the expedition" to cancel.
- The captain can open the recruiter's member list while registration is open, to see who has registered and to expel someone.
- When enough players have registered (6) the captain talks to the recruiter again and chooses "Start the fight!". Everyone who is registered and standing on the recruiter's map at that moment is taken into the first stage.
- Registration is closed once the fight has started. A registered player who was not on the map can still walk in later by talking to the recruiter again, for as long as the run is going on; they arrive on the stage the team has reached.
Rules
Clocks
The first stage has 2 minutes. Each time the first member of the team enters a new stage, the clock starts again with that stage's own allowance; time left over from the previous stage is not carried forward.
| Stage | Keep map | Time allowed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inner Sanctum Hallway | 2 minutes |
| 2 | Forgotten Storage Chamber | 10 minutes |
| 3 | The Test of Agility | 10 minutes |
| 4 | The Test of Wit | 10 minutes |
| 5 | The Test of Unity and the five mastery rooms | 20 minutes |
| 6 | Grandmaster Council Hall | 60 minutes |
| Armory | Crimsonwood Armory | 1 minute (the clock stops when stage 6 is cleared and starts again when you enter the Armory) |
When a stage's time runs out, everyone still in the run is sent out of the Keep.
Which class is which
The Sigils and the five mastery rooms sort characters into five classes by their job line:
- Warrior: the Warrior line, Dawn Warriors and Aran.
- Magician: the Magician line and Blaze Wizards.
- Bowman: the Bowman line and Wind Archers.
- Thief: the Thief line, Dual Blades and Night Walkers.
- Pirate: the Pirate line and Thunder Breakers.
Beginners (no job yet), Super Beginners and Tamers belong to none of the five. They cannot enter a mastery room or light a Sigil, but they can still fight, stand on platforms and make trips through portals.
Entering a mastery room only needs the right class. Lighting a Sigil is stricter: the character must use one of the skills listed for that Sigil, and it must be a skill of the character's own job line (a Ranger cannot use the Sniper's Strafe, for example). In the Masteria Keep the listed skills all belong to the Warrior, Magician, Bowman, Thief and Pirate lines, so Cygnus Knights, Aran and Dual Blades can enter their class's room but cannot light the Keep's Sigils.
When the run ends for everyone
- The captain leaves the Keep before the quest is cleared (by dying, by leaving the map, or by staying disconnected for a full minute).
- Any member leaves while the number of players in the run is no higher than the minimum (6). With exactly six players, one departure is enough.
- The stage clock runs out.
Everyone left is then sent back to the exit map (the Hall to Inner Sanctum) with the notice that either the leader has quit or there are no longer enough members to continue. When a member leaves and the run goes on, the rest of the team is told which member has left.
Once the final stage is cleared the rules relax: from then on the run only ends when the Armory clock runs out or when the last players have left.
Dying and coming back
A character who dies is revived outside the Keep (in the Hall of Mastery) and is no longer part of the run. Only players registered in the run when a stage clears receive that stage's EXP and Vesos, so a player who dies loses the rewards of every stage cleared while away. A player who is still registered in the expedition can return by passing the gate again and talking to the recruiter, as long as the run has not ended, and arrives on the stage the team is on. A disconnected player is treated as having left after one minute.
Expedition items
The five mastery weapons (Master Sword, Ancestral Bow, Staff of First Magic, Primal Claw and Forbidden Gun) disappear from your bag the moment you leave the run, however you leave. Each class can collect its weapon once per run (see Stage 5).
Getting to the Keep (Masteria)
- Take the portal from Crimsonwood Mountain's Crimsonwood Keep map into the Courtyard, then cross it to the Hall of Mastery.
- At the far upper right of the Hall of Mastery stands a giant iron gate with a key-shaped socket. Without a Crimsonwood Keystone it will not budge. With one in your bag the gate opens to the Hall to Inner Sanctum; the Keystone is not used up, so you only need to earn it once.
- Jack, the recruiter, waits in the Hall to Inner Sanctum.
The Keystone comes from Lukan at Phantom Road in the Phantom Forest (level 70 and up):
- The Brewing Storm: bring back 10 Stormbreaker Badges, which Stormbreakers drop at 20%.
- Storming the Castle: defeat 75 each of Windraiders, Firebrands and Nightshadows. The reward is the Keystone and 220,000 EXP.
Each player needs a Keystone of their own; it cannot be traded.
In the Courtyard, five statue keepers (Master Warrior, Master Bowman, Master Mage, Master Thief and Master Pirate) tell the story of the five heroes of the Keep. They have nothing to give.
Stage by stage (Crimsonwood Keep)
The game checks each stage's real conditions itself: doors stay shut, Sigils stay dark and rewards stay unpaid until they are met.
Stage 1: Inner Sanctum Hallway
Allowed: 2 minutes. Reward: 2,500 EXP and 500 Vesos for every registered member.
The team arrives in a long hallway with Jack standing in it. He warns that the Master Guardians will find the team in about a minute and that the way to the Twisted Masters is broken.
- The ambush. One minute after the run starts, if anybody is still in the hallway, the message "The Master Guardians have detected you." appears and 20 Master Guardians (level 100, 7,000,000 HP each) appear in the hallway. If the hallway is empty at that moment, nothing happens.
- The portals. The portal that leads on to stage 2 lies between Jack and the far end of the hallway, but it is shut ("This path is currently blocked."). A broken-looking portal at the right-hand end of the hallway is what opens it.
- Everyone gathers in the hallway, then one player runs to the broken portal at the right-hand end and steps into it.
- The first time anyone does this the message "A strange force starts being emitted from the portal apparatus, showing a hidden path once blocked now open." appears, the stage is cleared (2,500 EXP and 500 Vesos for each member), and the player is put back at the start of the hallway.
- The portal that was shut now works. Take it to stage 2.
- The broken portal only works once. If anyone steps into it again it only reports that it is malfunctioning.
Stage 2: Forgotten Storage Chamber
Allowed: 10 minutes. Reward: 8,000 EXP and 1,000 Vesos.
Five Sigils stand along the chamber, from left to right: Warrior, Archer, Mage, Thief and Pirate. Each one is lit by a member of its own class using one of its skills while standing at it. Every Sigil can be lit once, and each lighting announces itself ("The Warrior Sigil has been activated!"). When the fifth is lit, "The Antellion grants you access to the next portal! Proceed!" appears and the stage is cleared. The portal onward (between the Thief and Pirate Sigils) says "The portal has not been activated yet!" until then.
| Sigil | Skills that light it | Who can use them |
|---|---|---|
| Warrior | Shout, Charged Blow, Dragon Fury: Spear, Dragon Fury: Pole Arm | Crusaders and Heroes (Shout); White Knights and Paladins (Charged Blow); Dragon Knights and Dark Knights (both Dragon Fury skills) |
| Archer | Strafe, Silver Hawk, Golden Eagle, Piercing Arrow | Rangers and Bowmasters (Strafe, Silver Hawk); Snipers and Marksmen (Strafe, Golden Eagle); Marksmen (Piercing Arrow) |
| Mage | Magic Claw, Explosion, Ice Strike, Bahamut | Any Magician (Magic Claw); Fire/Poison Mages and Arch Mages (Explosion); Ice/Lightning Mages and Arch Mages (Ice Strike); Bishops (Bahamut) |
| Thief | Avenger, Shadow Partner, Veso Explosion, Chakra, Band of Thieves | Hermits and Night Lords (Avenger, Shadow Partner); Chief Bandits and Shadowers (Veso Explosion, Chakra, Band of Thieves) |
| Pirate | Flash Fist, Transformation, Gaviota, Dragon Strike, Rapid Fire | Any Pirate (Flash Fist); Marauders and Buccaneers (Transformation); Outlaws and Corsairs (Gaviota); Buccaneers (Dragon Strike); Corsairs (Rapid Fire) |
The same lists apply to the Sigils of stages 3 and 4.
- Each class sends one character to its Sigil: the Warrior Sigil is the leftmost, then Archer, Mage, Thief, and the Pirate Sigil is the rightmost.
- Stand right beside the Sigil and use one of the skills in the table that belongs to your own job line. Using a skill that belongs to another class, or using it away from the Sigil, does nothing.
- When all five say they are activated, take the portal onward.
Stage 3: The Test of Agility
Allowed: 10 minutes. Reward: 18,000 EXP and 2,000 Vesos.
A tall climbing map with five more Sigils at different heights. From the bottom up they are Warrior, Archer, Mage, Thief and Pirate. Two things must both be done:
- All five Sigils lit, the same way as in stage 2. This time every lit Sigil also sets one or two Menhirs moving ("You hear gears turning! The Menhir Defense System is active! Run!"). A Menhir deals 50,000 damage on contact.
- Five trips through the portal at the very top. Each trip is counted as it is made ("An adventurer has passed through! N to go.") and the portal sends the traveller straight back to the bottom of the map. The game counts trips, not different players, so five players making one trip each and one player making five trips both count.
When both are done the stage is cleared and the portal at the bottom opens to stage 4. If the trips are finished before the Sigils, further trips only say that not all Sigils have been activated yet; if the Sigils are done first, the stage clears on the fifth trip. Jack warns that not every wall or floor on this map is what it seems to be.
- Light the five Sigils with the same skills as in stage 2, one per class. Lighting a Sigil starts its Menhirs, so decide beforehand where everyone will stand and keep clear of the moving blocks.
- Climb to the portal at the very top and go through it. Do this five times in total, in any combination of players.
- Once both counters are complete, take the portal at the bottom of the map to stage 4.
Stage 4: The Test of Wit
Allowed: 10 minutes. Reward: 25,000 EXP and 5,000 Vesos.
A maze of flame columns with eight Sigil stations around it, and 48 Blood Stirges flying about.
- The stations. Each run, every one of the eight stations holds either a working Sigil or a fake. There are always five to seven working Sigils (every class has at least one, and one class can have up to three) and one to three fakes. Which is which is random each time, and the positions are shuffled among the stations. Light any five working Sigils with the skills in the stage 2 table and the stage is cleared; the lit Sigils do not have to be one per class. Jack's advice is to try every one of them until they work. A fake just breaks when it is hit.
- The Blood Stirges are level 20, cannot be killed and give no EXP. They are only a nuisance, and they can be removed: when five players stand on the stirge platform on the left side of the map at the same time ("the middle-left platform", Jack says), the next change in the number standing there, a sixth player stepping on or one of the five stepping off, makes them all vanish with "All stirges have disappeared."
- The flames. When the stage begins, 43 of the maze's flame columns are burning, and a burning column hurts anyone who touches it (400 damage). Eight plates in the floor of the maze each switch a group of six or nine columns, burning to out or out to burning. The first player to stand on a plate toggles its columns, and the last player to step off toggles them back, so someone has to stay on a plate to keep a route open.
The door at the lower left opens once five Sigils are lit (until then it says "The portal is not opened yet.").
- There is no fixed answer, because the layout is drawn fresh for every run. Split up: each class takes some of the stations, tries its skills on each one it reaches, and calls out which ones lit.
- Use the plates to open routes through the flames, and keep one player standing on a plate while the others pass.
- Ignore the stirges, or send five players to the platform together and have a sixth step on to be rid of them.
- When five Sigils have been lit, take the door at the lower left to stage 5.
Stage 5: The Test of Unity
Allowed: 20 minutes. Reward: 30,000 EXP and 8,000 Vesos.
Jack explains that this is the statue of the Keep and that its five weapons are missing. Five doors lead from the map to the five class rooms: Warrior, Bowman and Mage on the left edge (from the bottom up), Thief and Pirate on the right edge (from the bottom up). A door only lets in characters of its own class ("Only warriors may enter this portal." and so on). In the middle of the map, five keeper statues (Master Warrior, Master Bowman, Master Mage, Master Thief and Master Pirate) brief their class on its room, beside the five relics that wait for the weapons. Every class must bring its weapon back from its room and restore it to the matching relic.
| Class and room | What the room needs | You receive |
|---|---|---|
| Warrior: Warrior Mastery Room | Defeat all 21 Crimson Guardians (level 120), then talk to the Master Warrior. Until then he says "Eliminate all Crimson Guardians." | Master Sword |
| Bowman: Bowman Mastery Room | Five Master Guardians (level 100, 7,000,000 HP each) appear when the first bowman walks in. Defeat all of them, then talk to the Master Bowman ("Eliminate all Master Guardians." until then). | Ancestral Bow |
| Mage: Mage Mastery Room | The door leads into the middle of the three Mage Mastery Rooms. Defeat every monster in that room (13 Firebrands, 2 Elderwraiths and 7 Stormbreakers), then talk to the Master Mage there ("Eliminate all monsters." until then). The other two rooms are not checked, and the Master Mage in the third room has nothing for you. | Staff of First Magic |
| Thief: Thief Mastery Room | Break all five All-Seeing Eyes in the room by hitting them (the keeper says they sit on ledges that take mobility skills to reach), then report to the Master Thief. Eight Master Guardians also roam the room. | Primal Claw |
| Pirate: Pirate Mastery Room | There is no keeper. Five treasure chests sit in the room; only one holds the Forbidden Gun and the other four are empty. Which chest it is changes every run. Sea monsters (Sharks, Squids and others) swim in the room. | Forbidden Gun |
Each class receives its weapon only once per run. If the character who took it dies or leaves, the weapon vanishes with them and the keeper then says "The weapon inside this room has already been retrieved." for everyone of that class. Whoever holds a weapon should therefore take it to the relic immediately.
Restoring a weapon. Bring it back to the Test of Unity map and drop it on the ground in front of its own statue (the five relics stand in the middle of the map); handing it over by talking to someone does not work. The relic takes the weapon within about a second if it lands in the right spot, and the game announces "A weapon has been restored to the Relic of Mastery!". A relic accepts only its own weapon, one at a time. If a dropped weapon does not disappear, pick it up and drop it closer to its statue. When all five are restored "The Antellion grants you access to the next portal! Proceed!" appears, the stage is cleared and the portal in the middle of the map opens to stage 6 (before that it says "The portal is not opened yet.").
Stage 6: Grandmaster Council Hall
Allowed: 60 minutes. Reward: 40,000 EXP and 20,000 Vesos.
The Battle Statue, who speaks as the host of the Keep, runs this stage, and only the captain can start each step; anyone else who talks to it is told to fetch their leader.
- Wave 1. The captain talks to the host. "Engarde! Master Guardians approach!" appears and 10 Master Guardians (level 100, 7,000,000 HP) and 20 Crimson Guardians (level 120, 120,000 HP) appear. Defeat all 30.
- Wave 2. The captain talks to the host again. "Twisted Masters approach!" appears and the four Twisted Masters come out: Margana, Red Nirg, Rellik and Hsalf (all level 130, 200 to 255 million HP each). Defeat all four.
- The finish. The captain talks to the host a third time. The stage is cleared (40,000 EXP and 20,000 Vesos), "The portal to the next stage has opened!" appears, and the quest counts as cleared. The clock stops.
- Take the door at the right-hand end of the hall into the Grandmaster Secret Chamber, where Jack congratulates the team, then go through its portal to the Armory.
If the captain is not ready, the host simply says "I wish for your leader to talk to me." and while a wave is still alive it says that the guardians (or the Masters) will escort you.
The Armory
Allowed: 1 minute from entering Crimsonwood Armory.
The Armory holds 30 loot boxes. Hit a box to break it; each box breaks once, and you must be near it to hit it. A box showers loot on the floor for the player who broke it, and a minute is short.
- A box always drops at least 15 pieces. Most are piles of Vesos of 90 to 359 each; any items it rolls take the place of piles. On average that comes to about 3,000 Vesos per box.
- Each box then rolls every prize below on its own. Every box uses the same list.
| Chance per box | Prizes |
|---|---|
| 20% | Sunblock |
| 4% each | Dragon Green Sleve, Sky Blue Surfboard, Blue Arnah Shoes, Crushed Skull, Crossheider, White Nisrock, Concerto, Khanjar, Berzerker, Red Belly Duke, Golden Neschere, Gold Double Knife, White Seal Cushion, Tao of Shadows, Tao of Sight, Tao of Harmony, the storybooks [Storybook] Ancient Book, [Storybook] Formula for Black Cloud, [Storybook]Black book, [Storybook] Burning Book of Fire and [Storybook] Frozen Book of Ice, Gelt Chocolate, Scroll for Knuckler for Attack 70%, Scroll for Gun for Attack 70% |
| 2% each | Brown Adventurer Cape, Blackfist Cloak, Crimson Arcanon, Crimson Arcglaive, Crimson Arclancer, Crimsonheart Cloak |
When the minute is up the team is sent back to the Hall to Inner Sanctum, so pick up your loot before then. A portal at the right-hand end of the Armory leads out to the Hall of Mastery if you want to leave sooner.
Rewards
Stage clears
Every member registered in the run when a stage clears receives that stage's EXP and Vesos once.
| Stage | EXP | Vesos |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2,500 | 500 |
| 2 | 8,000 | 1,000 |
| 3 | 18,000 | 2,000 |
| 4 | 25,000 | 5,000 |
| 5 | 30,000 | 8,000 |
| 6 | 40,000 | 20,000 |
| Total | 123,500 | 36,500 |
There is no extra prize at the end of the run beyond the Armory's boxes, the monsters' own drops and the EXP for the monsters you defeat. Kill EXP follows the usual rules for bosses and parties (see Party).
Monster drops
These are base chances from the monsters' drop tables. Open each monster's page for its complete list.
| Monster | Notable drops |
|---|---|
| Margana | Smiling Mask 2%, Mark of Naricain 0.8%, plus Mastery Books |
| Red Nirg | Redner 2%, Mark of Naricain 0.8%, plus Mastery Books |
| Rellik | Spectrum Goggles 2%, Mark of Naricain 0.8%, plus Mastery Books |
| Hsalf | Maple Scarf 2%, Mark of Naricain 0.8%, plus Mastery Books |
| Crimson Guardian | Crimson Heart 20%, Power Elixir 4%, Power Crystal Ore 0.3%, rare Mastery Books |
Monsters
EXP is the game's current value for one kill.
| Where | Monster | Level | HP | EXP | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 (after 1 minute) | 20 Master Guardian | 100 | 7,000,000 | 10,000 | Boss |
| Stage 4 | 48 Blood Stirge | 20 | 9,999,999 | 0 | Cannot be killed; a nuisance only |
| Warrior room | 21 Crimson Guardian | 120 | 120,000 | 10,814 | |
| Bowman room | 5 Master Guardian | 100 | 7,000,000 | 10,000 | Appear when the first bowman enters |
| Mage room (middle) | 13 Firebrand | 90 | 45,000 | 2,350 | |
| Mage room (middle) | 2 Elderwraith | 95 | 51,000 | 8,500 | |
| Mage room (middle) | 7 Stormbreaker | 80 | 38,000 | 2,507 | |
| Thief room | 8 Master Guardian | 100 | 7,000,000 | 10,000 | Not required to defeat |
| Pirate room | 5 Bombing Fish House, 4 Squid, 2 Risell Squid, 8 Shark, 2 Cold Shark, 4 OctoPirate | 90, 94, 97, 100, 102, 35 | 40,500; 46,000; 49,000; 56,000; 58,500; 800 | 0; 2,650; 3,380; 4,396; 4,543; 0 | Not required to defeat |
| Stage 6, wave 1 | 10 Master Guardian, 20 Crimson Guardian | 100, 120 | 7,000,000; 120,000 | 10,000; 10,814 | |
| Stage 6, wave 2 | Margana | 130 | 200,000,000 | 4,300,000 | Boss |
| Stage 6, wave 2 | Red Nirg | 130 | 255,000,000 | 4,550,000 | Boss |
| Stage 6, wave 2 | Rellik | 130 | 231,000,000 | 4,450,000 | Boss |
| Stage 6, wave 2 | Hsalf | 130 | 233,000,000 | 4,510,000 | Boss |
Tips and common mistakes
- Count the classes before you register. Stages 2, 3 and 4 cannot be cleared unless every class has a character who can use one of its Sigil's skills, and in the Masteria Keep only the Warrior, Magician, Bowman, Thief and Pirate lines can light Sigils. Cygnus Knights, Aran, Dual Blades and Tamers are welcome extra hands, but they cannot stand in for a missing class there.
- Check who can actually light a Sigil. In the Masteria Keep, Warriors, Bowmen and Thieves need a third-job skill from the table (Marksmen's Piercing Arrow is fourth-job), while Magicians can use the first-job Magic Claw and Pirates the first-job Flash Fist. A character that has not learned a listed skill cannot light its class's Sigil.
- Recruit a buffer. With exactly six players every departure ends the run. A seventh or eighth member lets the team survive an early death, and the captain must not be the one who falls.
- Be quick on stage 1. Two minutes, and the Master Guardians arrive after one. One player is enough to use the broken portal; send everyone through the opened portal at once.
- Plan the Menhir stage. Every lit Sigil on stage 3 starts a deadly Menhir. Light the Sigils in an order the whole group can climb past, and make the five top-portal trips while the way is clear.
- Do not chase the Blood Stirges. They cannot be killed. Use the platform trick, or just move.
- Protect the weapon. Each class gets its weapon once. Whoever carries it should go straight to the relic and drop it on the right statue.
- Bring free slots. You need an ETC slot for the weapon, and free slots in every tab you want to loot in the Armory.
- Be in the Armory fast. Only a minute, and 30 boxes. Split the boxes between players and pick up your own loot quickly.
- Late arrivals are welcome, but unpaid. A member who rejoins after a stage was cleared does not receive that stage's EXP or Vesos.