Missing in Action

Missing in Action

Year

1337 AE

Storyline

Janthir Wilds

Chapter

Missing in Action

Location

Lowland Shore
(Janthir)

Level

80

Preceded by

Home Sweet Home

Followed by

Strangers among Lands

API

714

Loading screen.

Missing in Action is the fourth chapter of the Janthir Wilds story.

Objectives

Explore the Journeykin Outpost.

• Head westward, further into the wilds, to the kodan hunting outpost.
• Get briefed on the area by Barbed Vale.
• Learn more about the lowland kodans' kinship with nature and the journeykin. (Complete Vast Caldera's Renown Heart Assist the Kodan in Their Coursing Upland Activities. If you have already completed it today, this step will be skipped.)
• Speak with Barbed Vale again.
• Head to the area where the missing kodan scouting party was last seen.

Search for the missing scouting party.

• Meet up with Caithe and Malice.
• Navigate through the misty delta with Caithe and Malice.
• Defeat the ambushers!
  
• Use your warclaw to sniff for clues.
• Defeat the ambushers!
  
• Use your warclaw to sniff for clues.
• Defeat the ambushers!
  
• Examine the Rot on the ground.
  
• Examine the survivor.
• Defeat the stranger's spawn.
• Champion Blighted Beast
  
• Reconvene with Caithe and Malice.
• Complete!

Rewards

• Bag of Loot (5)
• Janthiri Gear Box (3)
• Tale of Adventure

Walkthrough

Explore the Journeykin Outpost

Arrive at  Journeykin Outpost — to speak to Barbed Vale and then complete the nearby Renown Heart (if it has already been completed on that day by that character this step is skipped), then speak to Barbed Vale again.

Head to the low area just northeast of the Outpost, just northwest of  Mire Switchback — , to start the next instance.

Search for the missing scouting party

Speak to Caithe to start the search, then move northwest (make sure to be slightly behind them so they don't stop).

On the first shore is an ambush of spawn followed by having to use the warclaw's #2 skill, Sniff, to find a small object marked with a green magnifying glass. At the foot of the nearby hill is another ambush and a Sniff search, followed by another round near the top. This time the clues are replaced with 3 spots of rot to investigate.

Finally, at the top of the hill is the only surviving scout, Graced by Fire, along with an ambush by Greer, the Blightbringer, and a Champion Blighted Beast that you have to fight. The beast periodically dips down into the ground to grants itself protective boons and to create an area what will corrupt your boons.

• Since it often applies boons to itself, some form of either Boon removal or Boon corruption is good to have.
• Condition removal skills are very good here. While the conditions themselves often don't deal a lot of damage they will hamper your damage heavily.
• Be careful when applying Stability, as the Champion at the end can corrupt it into Fear.
• Ranged weapon are good to have, as both the Champion and several enemies before it will be standing inside of condition fields and might take some time to get lead out of them.

Achievements

Missing in Action	Janthir Wilds: Act 1	1  1
Discover a Stranger among Lands.Journal: Missing in Action Reward: Large Stash of Carved Lowland Pine Coins	Completed Missing in Action	1

• Complete the story mission.

Scouting for Scouts	Janthir Wilds: Act 1	1
Find the missing scouting party within the time limit.Journal: Missing in Action	Found the Missing Scouting Party Within the Time Limit	1

• The time limit is 7 minutes.
• Simply make sure to keep moving and quickly defeating enemies until Graced by Fire is found.
• Make sure to not run far ahead of Caithe and Malice, or they stop moving.
• Eligibility and time left can be check via  Achievement Eligibility: Scouting for Scouts

No Stranger to Success	Janthir Wilds: Act 1	1
Defeat the stranger's spawn without dying.Journal: Missing in Action	Defeated the Stranger's Spawn without Dying	1

• Simply don't get defeated by any of the titanspawn found throughout the mission (including the boss at the end) and this achievement will be completed when the mission finishes.
• If you need a breather during the fight, you can use your skyscale's Combat Launch to get out of combat and restore your health while Malice keeps the Champion engaged.
• Eligibility can be tracked via  Achievement Eligibility: No Stranger to Success

Strange Feelings	Janthir Wilds: Act 1	1
Hear Caithe and Malice's thoughts in the aftermath of the encounter.Journal: Missing in Action Objectives: 2 objectives in total Caithe Malice	Talked to 2 Allies	1

• Speak to both Caithe and Malice after defeating the Champion Blighted Beast, but before leaving the instance.

NPCs

Allies

Charr

• Malice Swordshadow

Kodan

• Barbed Vale
• Graced by Fire

Sylvari

• Caithe

Foes

Titans

• Champion Blighted Beast
• Greer, the Blightbringer
• Rot Strider
• Blighted Beast

Dialogue

Coursed Uplands

Talking to Barbed Vale before completing the renown heart

Barbed Vale: Our paths cross again, Wayfinder.

Barbed Vale: Welcome to our hunting outpost. Here we prepare game to feed our village, as well as foster wildlife.

Barbed Vale: "Take only what can be repaid." That is our motto. Yet the tundra is not so benevolent.

Barbed Vale: Nature's temperament is both nurturing and brutal. Generations spent here have taught us kinship is key to survival.

Barbed Vale: And we lowland have found no better friend than the journeykin. It'd do you well to spend some time bonding with them.

Barbed Vale: The best friendships are worth the time. In the case of journeykin, it can mean the difference between life and death.

Talking to Barbed Vale after completing the renown heart

Barbed Vale: The journeykin has taken to you. Not surprising.

Barbed Vale: Now, Wayfinder, it is I who seek your aid in taming beasts of this land.

Barbed Vale: Concurrent with your arrival, our council received reports of unidentified creatures roaming the wilds.

Barbed Vale: Strangers among Lands, or so we've deemed them.

<Character name>: What do you know about these creatures?

Barbed Vale: Little more than that they're unknown monsters, never before seen in the area.

Barbed Vale: After some debate, a scouting party was assembled to study their behavior. But as of late, we've lost contact.

Barbed Vale: Upon request, your Malice and Caithe have joined our search. So, too, I ask your help, on behalf of Claw and council.

<Character name>: I'll convene with Malice and Caithe. Between the three of us, we can cover more ground.

Barbed Vale: Your alliance is versed in threats of the unknown. Our efforts combined improve chances of shepherding our scouts home.

Barbed Vale: Take heed—a thick fog now rolls across the great tundra. Trust your journeykin to guide you.

Haar Mire instance

Upon joining the instance

Caithe: There you are!

Malice Swordshadow: Over here, Commander!

Talking to Caithe

<Character name>: Any sign of the party?

Caithe: Nothing yet. With any luck, the scouts got turned around in this fog and simply wandered off course.

Malice Swordshadow: The more boots we have on the ground searching, the more likely we are to run into them.

Malice Swordshadow: Barbed Vale insists the area is free of natural predators. Regardless, let's stay alert.

When attacked by the ambushers

Malice Swordshadow: We're surrounded!

Caithe: It's never just a walk in the woods, is it?

After defeating the ambushers

Caithe: Looks like we've hit a junction.

Malice Swordshadow: I'm having trouble getting a consistent read on our location.

Malice Swordshadow: Out here, we'll have to rely on your warclaw for navigation. See if it can point us in the right direction.

Investigating the clue found with the warclaw

???: A pungent smell seeps from the rot pile.

This seems rather new...

Malice Swordshadow: Given the nearby tracks, it seems to have come from east of here.

Let's go.

When ambushed by the second group

Malice Swordshadow: Looks out! Our friends are back!

Caithe: Had more than enough of you!

After defeating the ambushers

Malice Swordshadow: Which way, Commander?

Investigating the next clue

???: A pungent smell seeps from the rot pile.

You smell that...? Awful.

Malice Swordshadow: Lets[sic] try heading up this hill.

Lets[sic] go.

Going up the the hill

Malice Swordshadow: There's someone ahead!

After defeating the ambushers

Caithe: I think we're getting closer... But whatever we're getting closer to, I don't like it in the slightest.

Reaching Graced by Fire

<Character name>: Over here! A survivor!

Cutscene after talking to Graced by Fire

(Caithe kneels beside Graced by Fire to check on her before they notice a single bug flying towards them. Caithe catches the bug in her hands to inspect it more closely only to witness a swarm approaching the pair and enveloping them soon after. As the two swat away the swarm that passes them by, they notice a massive four-legged monster with a trunk-like body emerging from the fog and looking down on them. Graced by Fire points at the monster in horror as her voice wavers.)

Graced by Fire: Stranger.

After the cutscene

Greer, the Blightbringer: Worms, wallowing spineless in the filth they create for themselves.

Caithe: Is...this a—

Malice Swordshadow: A false god.

Malice Swordshadow: Come to terrorize a new people.

If asura:

<Character name>: I never thought I'd see one with my own eyes.

If charr:

<Character name>: Hell with effigies. Should've burned your kind at the pyre!

If human:

<Character name>: Ascalon... Kryta... Your blight ends here.

If norn:

<Character name>: A legendary mark! I'll mount its head on my wall!

If sylvari:

<Character name>: Its rot threatens my very being. No longer!

(Greer unleashes a titanspawn on the party while retreating.)

Caithe: Where does it think it's going?

Malice Swordshadow: To cower. While its lackey takes the heat.

Caithe: Need to keep her conscious. I'll tend to her while you two handle the spawn.

Malice Swordshadow: Gladly.

When the Champion Blighted Beast reaches 75% health

Malice Swordshadow: I'd better be wrong. This better not be what I think it is.

When the Champion Blighted Beast reaches 50% health

Malice Swordshadow: (snarls)

When the Champion Blighted Beast reaches 25% health

<Character name>: How's the scout?

Caithe: Holding on, but just barely. She needs medical attention.

Malice Swordshadow: This won't take much longer.

After the champion is defeated

Caithe: Where are you going? Malice!

Malice Swordshadow: Job's not done yet.

Caithe: We'll have plenty of time for that. But for her, it's running out! She needs a healer.

Talking to Caithe

<Character name>: Caithe's right. We go for help first. Then we talk to the council.

Malice Swordshadow: Fine. But this goes beyond just the council. We need to notify the alliance.

Malice Swordshadow: And have the bodies identified...

Caithe: Unless you want one more to identify, let's move.

Malice Swordshadow: Once she's safe, I'll contact Crecia. Have her call for an emergency meeting.

Talk to Caithe after the story completes

Caithe: Hmm...

Everyone okay?

Caithe: I've got my hands full with an injured kodan and a riled charr, but I'm fine.

Caithe: I imagine the alliance is going to act fast. You should prepare your account of what happened here.

Talking to Malice

What a fight that was.

Are you okay?

Malice Swordshadow: Is that what I think it was?

Malice Swordshadow: I'm okay. I'm fine. We don't know for sure... I could've been... Maybe...

Malice Swordshadow: I need to call Crecia.

My Story

“ I ventured to the hunting outpost to meet with Spear Master Barbed Vale. She told me of the outpost's purpose as a hub for fostering wildlife and preparing game to feed the village. Also, she spoke of the lowlanders' philosophy of taking only what can be repaid and the importance of forming bonds for survival. As such, she encouraged me to spend time with the journeykin that roam the grounds freely. She said nothing, however, of the reason for inviting me here. This peculiar caginess did little to ease my suspicions—though, for the time being, I wrote it off as cautiousness on her part. Regardless, I used the opportunity to familiarize myself with the outpost and its surroundings. I came across another key council figure, Hunting Master Vast Caldera, tending to the warclaw pen. After lending a hand around the outpost and spending some time with the journeykin, I returned to Barbed Vale, this time intent on getting some definitive answers. And answers I received. For one thing, Malice's sleuthing proved spot-on. The tidbits of intel she gathered about the strangers and the kodans' concerns are indeed valid and pressing. According to Vale, a scouting party, led by Warclaw Master Graced by Fire, went searching for information on the strangers and their whereabouts. Thinking back, I recall her seeming on edge during the lowlanders' council meeting. Her apprehension seems perfectly justified, knowing now what happened next. Vale said that since their departure, the council has been unable to contact Graced by Fire or any of the scouts accompanying her. And thus far, all searches of the nearby wilds have turned up empty. After recounting this plight, Barbed Vale asked for my assistance in finding the missing scouts. I have, of course, agreed to help, as have Caithe and Malice. My plan is venture into the nearby wilds with them to pick up the search. Though we don't boast the same level of familiarity with the wilds as the lowlanders, we've proven ourselves adept at tracking down leads. If we can find something, anything, to point us in the right direction, we may be able to rescue the scouts from any lurking dangers. To make matters worse, Vale warned of a thick fog rolling in off the waters. Low visibility is the last thing we need, even with the aid of a journeykin. But there's no time for getting bogged down in doubts. We need to get out there, start searching, and adjust as needed. The scouts can't afford any hesitation. *** Devasting. The only word fit to describe this turn of events. But let me start from the beginning. I met with Caithe and Malice in the delta to begin our search. As we feared, the fog clouded our sight like a gray film over our eyes. We wandered the woods, each path weaving us deeper into disorientation. It's easy to see how one could get turned around in such a place, veteran or not. We trudged on, the fog thicker and more putrid with each breath. The further we trekked, the more a sense of unease seemed to follow, like unseen eyes lurking beyond the trees. Watching... Waiting... And then, an ambush. The first of many. Our combatants were packs of disturbing creatures, their appearance a foul mess of rotted earth. Upon reflection, they looked similar to the creatures I witnessed when closing the rifts for Vanak, the setting making them all the more sinister. Then we found the corpse. The first one. Based on its condition, it had been decomposing for some time. We thought it was far too decayed to align with the scouts' timeline...until we found the others. Corpses strewn across the cold ground like discarded husks. In years of battle, I've seen what death does to the body. But this... It looked as if the soul itself became infected and rotted the body from the inside out. And the smell... The way it stung my nose, seeming to burn straight through the backs of my eyes. I fear it's seared in my memory forever. Suddenly, a voice cut through the horror. Faint but distinct. Seeking life amid the carnage, I discovered Graced by Fire, the party's lone survivor. She lay collapsed in an injured heap. We ran to her aid, determined to get her home with her last bit of life still intact. And that's when it decided to show itself. The "stranger." No stranger to history, if what Malice assures us is correct. She believes the creature to be a titan. Of course, none of us had seen one with our own eyes. But I've heard tales, read of their legacy. All I can say is that as it towered over us, it certainly looked like a creature fit for ancient tombs. Before we could process its arrival, it fled, leaving a minion to fight in its stead. A first-class maneuver in cowardice. After a heated battle, we subdued the beast. Then we prioritized our next moves. Graced by Fire's need for medical attention was our most pressing matter. Given the deep historical vendetta, Malice was most hesitant to give up the fight. But if we're to stand a chance against these monsters of near legend, our fight must be fueled by intent, not impulse. Once Graced by Fire is returned to safety, there's one clear course of action. It's time to call the alliance to council. — My story

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Janthir Wilds storyline

Act 1	Prologue: The Tyrian Alliance → Unknown Territory → Diplomacy and Discovery → Home Sweet Home → Missing in Action → Strangers among Lands
Act 2	Storm Clouds over Janthir → Twice Stricken → Finding Balance → Against the Wall → Sorrow in These Halls
Godspawn	Trial and Error → Battle's Eve → Balrior Peak
← Previous: Secrets of the Obscure