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Siege the Stronghold

Published Jul 19, 2021 Updated May 23, 2023
Zephyr writer

Siege the Stronghold (“Escort”) is the first encounter of Stronghold of the Faithful (Wing 3). While fighting off rabid humans and hounds, escort a petulant “puppy”, play with mines, send a crew (of potentially one) through a cruel cave, and topple towers. Finish by killing the stronghold’s gatekeeper, and then blow open the final gate!

Before Starting Siege

  • Objective
    • Escort Glenna to the stronghold’s courtyard, while killing enemies, clearing mines, and capturing towers.
    • Breach the stronghold, opening the way to Keep Construct.
  • Required Masteries and Mounts
    • (everyone) no Masteries
    • (for entering Tower 1) Forsaken Thicket Waters (for getting Healing Cleanse from cave pools) and Bouncing Mushrooms Masteries
    • (for tower-capturer(s) moving between towers) Ley Line Gliding Mastery
    • (for tower-capturer(s) also staying in towers) Forsaken Magic Mastery: for using Bloodstone Turrets
    • no mounts
  • Special Roles
    • 1 escort (babysitter): Stays with Glenna when others capture towers or kill enemies. Using the SAK, moves the NPC to white AoEs and away from danger. Usually a healer. Has Immobilize skills to stop nearby Warg Bloodhounds.
    • all non-escort players/1 subgroup/1 player tower-capturer(s): Number of players depends on tower-capturing strategy (see below). Removes enemies from capture rings to disable turrets blocking progress on the ground.
    • 1 back-warg-killer (back warg): Kills Warg Bloodhounds that spawn behind the squad. High-burst or condition DPS with lots of soft-CC skills (Immobilize, Cripple, Chill, and Slow).
  • Common Tower-Capturing Strategies
    • everyone: (If everyone has Ley Line Gliding, portals are optional.) 1+ players with and (usually “tower Chronomancer”) to have everyone (except the escort) capture towers without fighting. When a tower is captured, everyone goes down.
    • group: 1 subgroup kills almost all enemies, leaving 1 enemy alive (to prevent respawns). The tower-capturing group stays up, using the Bloodstone Turret on the path while waiting for the next ley line to spawn. The ground players keep Glenna safe as the escort moves her to white AoEs.
    • solo: 1 “tower Chronomancer” with high Toughness uses Stealth, Pulls, and Knockbacks to keep enemies out of the capture ring. The solo Chronomancer stays up, using the Bloodstone Turret on the same tower. Bring for everyone backup strategy, in case solo-capturing fails.
  • Keybinding and Skill Changes
    • Make sure that your SAK keybinding is easy to use for Over Here!. Escort uses it to move Glenna, but in emergencies, having other players ready helps.
    • Immobilize (and other soft-CC) skills: For stopping Warg Bloodhounds.
    • (tower-capturers) Pull skills to make tower enemies easy to cleave.
    • (for going through the cave) blocks, Stability, and Swiftness skills: For moving through the cave quickly, including blocking mushroom enemies’ Pulls.

Planning the Encounter

Minimap with marked locations for white AoEs, water pools, towers, warg spawns, and mini-boss As the encounter area is massive, and the cave’s interior can’t be viewed while you’re outside of it, use the above minimap while you’re reading through the guide.

It’s marked with locations for:

  • white AoEs (solid circle icons)
  • water pool locations (water icons)
  • towers (hollow circle icons)
  • warg spawns (dog icons)
  • mini-boss (crossed-swords icon)

Opening the Outer Gate

You start before a drawbridge that lowers when you go near it. Glenna is at the tent near the raid wing's entrance.

To start the encounter, the escort talks to Glenna.

Everyone gets the Over Here! SAK. Except in emergencies, only the escort uses the Over Here! SAK to move Glenna.

  • If Glenna dies, you fail the encounter, and everyone has to /gg to reset.
  • “Emergencies” are nearby enemies (especially wargs) and respawning mines.
  • Being impatient with how fast the escort is moving Glenna does not count as an emergency!

Moving Glenna (“SAK”)

Over Here!: 1,500 range. 3-second cooldown. Makes Glenna run to where it was used, not where the user moves afterward.

  • When multiple players use Over Here!, Glenna moves unpredictably, making it more likely that she'll run into mines or enemies.

Move Glenna to the drawbridge’s white AoE. Glenna creates a ley line across the gap.

  • If you need to move Glenna from danger, it’s better to have her overly safe (further distance than needed) than not safe enough. Remember, the SAK has a 3-second cooldown!

Escorting Glenna (“babysitting”)

Escorting Glenna Move Glenna to white AoEs to create ley lines and open gates.

  • Wait for respawning mines/enemies/wargs to die first.
  • When Glenna stops on a white AoE, she acts for a few seconds, and then is movable again.
  • When moving Glenna, stay on the path's sides, so you aren't surprised by respawning mines.

To keep Glenna safe:

  • Stay with her: She has 15 stacks of Surveilled, which decrease when no players are within 1,000 range of her, and increase when players are near her. At 0 stacks, 4 enemies spawn on her to kill her.
  • Move her from danger: Keep Glenna behind the squad, away from enemies, mines, and other attacks.
  • Don’t let her health drop: She’s squishy, with her health dropping quickly if caught in enemy AoEs.
  • Stop nearby wargs: Before running away with Glenna, use Immobilize on nearby wargs.

Glenna's overhead icon changes if players are too far away, decreasing Surveilled stacks.

  • shield icon = nearby players (does not change at low Surveilled stacks)
  • Fear icon = no nearby players
  • If you’re helping other players, be careful not to forget about Glenna!

Non-escort players with Ley Line Gliding glide across the ley line. On the left, use the nearby lever to raise the drawbridge.

Move Glenna to the gate's white AoE.

Stay away from the bomb's AoE!

  • After opening the gate, if you wipe, the drawbridge stays up and the gate stays open.

Preparing to Capture Towers

Go through the opened gate. Kill the enemies.

Tunnel of Respite entrance and Thicket Waters If going to the first tower, enter the nearby cave entrance. Move between water pools and avoid enemy attacks. After reaching the cave’s exit, turn left, jumping up to glide to the nearby Bouncing Mushroom.

  • If going through the cave with multiple players, move together.
  • Use blocks, Dodges, Stability, and Swiftness.
  • (if tower-capturing with everyone) Wait for the other players to be ready before bouncing up.

Surviving the Tunnel of Respite (“cave”)

Mushroom enemies and Thicket Waters The cave is filled with Toxic Spores and mushroom enemies.

  • Toxic Spores quickly reduce your health.
  • Go into the Thicket Waters (“water pools”) to get Healing Cleanse, healing you and temporarily making you immune to Toxic Spores.
  • The mushroom enemies hit hard and use Pulls. The enemies at the middle and end are more difficult.

If not going to the first tower, kill mines before entering the little courtyard.

Carefully move past the white AoE ring, but not the instant-kill red AoE ring. Standing in the safe area unburies it, making the mine attackable by anyone.

  • For safer movement, go on the side of the red AoE, not toward it, and tap your movement key.

Clearing Mines (“killing mines”)

Attackable mine

  • Mines instantly kill players and Glenna when they walk into the red AoE ring. They cannot be avoided, blocked, or Dodged through.

Before mines respawn, an orange AoE appears. When the orange AoE fills, the mine is active again.

  • Be careful when fighting enemies near mines! They use Fear, and their AoE Knockbacks can ”Pull” you!

Avoiding Respawning Mines

Respawning mine


In the courtyard, kill the enemies.

Tent where back warg spawns The back-warg-killer goes back to where the first group of enemies spawned, staying at the nearby tent.

  • This is where the back Warg Bloodhound spawns.

Clear the next mine, and then continue to the main path. Kill the enemies outside.

Clearing the Path to the Inner Gate

Capture 5 towers to stop Bloodstone Turrets from bombarding the path to the inner gate.

  • Don't go into the Bloodstone Turret AoEs! They cause heavy damage and Knockback!

Capture the first tower.

  • If ground players are capturing towers, kill nearby enemies and wargs first, so the escort and Glenna are safe.
  • In this section of Siege the Stronghold, each white AoE unlocks 2 new ley lines: between towers, and between the ground (near where the white AoE was) and Tower 1.

Going to Towers

  • Tower 1 (only accessible through the cave and player portals): Go through the cave, and glide to the Bouncing Mushroom. Using the mushroom bounces you into the first tower.
  • Tower 2: For the ground ley line, jump onto a rock near its lower end, and then glide into the ley line.
  • Tower 3: For the ground ley line, jump near the wall to glide into the ley line.
  • Tower 4: For the ground ley line, jump on a small ledge near the wall to glide into the ley line.
  • Tower 5: For the ground ley line, at the top of the stairs, glide down into the ley line.
  • To glide to the next tower, jump onto the raised part of the tower, and then glide into the ley line.

If capturing with everyone, the escort stays behind. Put in the tower, on the stacked squad, and then . Everyone else portals up, either ignores enemies (if Stealthed) or kills enemies, and leaves when the ring disappears.

  • Make sure that the tower is captured before leaving!

Capturing Towers

Uncaptured tower

  • To capture the tower, the number of players needs to be greater than the number of White Mantle enemies. (Player and enemy minions don't count.)
  • The capture ring is red when not capturing, and blue when capturing. When captured, it disappears, a character that helped capture says something, and the encounter’s progress bar progresses.
  • If group-capturing, leave 1 enemy alive, so enemies don’t respawn.
  • If solo-capturing, Stealth when entering a tower, and use Pulls and Knockbacks to keep enemies out of the capture ring in Step 1. Use Bloodstone Turret on enemies in your tower. If you don’t instant-capture, use everyone strategy to capture.

While waiting for the next ley line, in the newly-captured tower, group-/solo-strategy tower-capturers use the Bloodstone Turret.

  • Group-capturers attack enemies on the path.
  • Solo-capturers attack the enemies in their tower, keeping them Knocked Down.

Using Bloodstone Turrets (“cannons”, “turrets”)

Fire Turret: While using the Bloodstone Turret, use its Ground-Targeted AoE to shoot bloodstone shards at enemies, damaging them and causing Knockdown.


After a tower is captured, 2 Warg Bloodhounds spawn (“front warg” at end courtyard, and “back warg” at tent).

Using soft CC, kill nearby Warg Bloodhounds, so they don’t kill Glenna.

  • Ground players kill front wargs. Back-warg-killer kills back wargs.
  • If back-warg-killer calls for help, 1–2 DPS go kill the back warg. If the back-warg-killer is dead, continue killing back wargs.
  • If the escort isn’t moving Glenna away from a nearby warg, use your SAK, but be careful not to move her into more danger!

Killing Warg Bloodhounds (“wargs”)

Warg Bloodhound near Glenna Warg Bloodhounds run to Glenna. When they reach her, they attack, killing her in 1–2 hits.

  • Use only soft CC (Immobilize, Cripple, Chill, and Slow) to slow the Warg Bloodhound’s movement.
  • Immobilize stops even sped-up wargs.
  • Hard CC doesn’t affect wargs, or causes them to rubberband. Example: if Feared, after it ends, wargs quickly return to their pre-Feared position, and then their speed returns to normal.
  • After killing 4 back wargs, back-warg-killers rejoin the squad.

After capturing a tower, move to the next white AoE. Kill enemies, clear mines, and use Glenna to create ley lines. Keep Glenna safe.

  • Be careful where the path sharply turns back! There’s less space between mines.
  • If using Bloodstone Turrets, at Towers 3 and 4, AoE the enemies on the wall overlooking/in the alcove next to the nearby dirt courtyard.

When the 5 towers are captured, the Warg Bloodhounds despawn, and McLeod the Silent spawns in the courtyard. Glenna's stacks of Surveilled stop decreasing when no players are around.

  • If there are dead players, the back-warg-killer revives them as they rejoin the squad. Dead players cannot respawn until after the encounter ends.

Mini-Boss: McLeod the Silent

Keep Glenna safe, away from McLeod the Silent. Leave her where you unlocked the last ley line (on the stairs).

McLeod at the gate (gate stacking location) Depending on your group, there are 2 stacking positions for the fight:

  • gate (easier for new/low-DPS groups): Everyone stacks and fights at the gate. Easier to cleave wargs.
  • centre (faster): Everyone stacks and fights in the centre of the courtyard. Faster for killing clones.

If McLeod the Silent teleports to a player still in the final tower, wait for the tower players to be in the courtyard, so he teleports down.

  • : Teleports to the player furthest away from him, causing Knockback in an AoE around the target.

McLeod the Silent using Confounding Flurry and nearby warg Don’t stand in front of McLeod the Silent!

  • : McLeod the Silent rapidly slashes his sword for extreme damage and Confusion.

Every 25%, McLeod the Silent splits into 2 clones. Each clone and player has a red or white icon over their head.

Kill the clone with the same-coloured icon as the icon over your head.

  • You can’t damage clones with different icon colours. Attacking the wrong clone stacks Confusion.

After killing both clones, the real McLeod the Silent reappears, and a Warg Bloodhound spawns from the gate.

  • Cleave the warg as it moves through where you’re fighting McLeod the Silent. Use soft CC (Immobilize, etc.) to keep it with the group, instead of attacking Glenna.

Kill the Warg Bloodhound, DPS McLeod the Silent until he splits into clones again, and repeat.

At 0%, McLeod the Silent dies.


Use Over Here! to move Glenna to the inner gate’s white AoE.

Stay away from the bomb's AoE!

When the inner gate opens, Siege the Stronghold ends.

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