View source for Imperial Sanctum/Guide

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==The Boss==
Shiro uses five skills which make him hard to deal with if you come unprepared.

*{{skill icon|Battle Scars}}
*{{skill icon|Echoing Banishment}}
*{{skill icon|Impossible Odds}}
*{{skill icon|Meditation of the Reaper}}
*{{skill icon|Riposting Shadows}}

===Strategies===
;Henchmen
Anyone can accomplish this mission fairly quickly and easily using these [[henchmen]].
*{{w}} [[Devona]] (for [[Storm of Swords]])
*{{w}} [[Lukas]] (for Storm of Swords)
*{{r}} [[Daeman]] (for [[Celestial Stance]])
*{{mo}} [[Redemptor Karl]] (for healing)
*{{e}} [[Kai Ying]] (for [[Celestial Storm]])
*{{me}} [[Erys Vasburg]] (for [[Empathy]])
*{{rt}} [[Aeson]] (for [[Shadowsong]])

;Heroes
[[Hero]]es are not affected by [[Echoing Banishment]], but they also do not receive the [[Celestial skill]]s given by [[Kuunavang]]. At the same time, if you are the only player in the party, Shiro will not banish you either. Thus if you bring only heroes, your party will be immune to banishment. This will mean there will be no Shiro'ken to give you morale boosts, so your Celestial skill will be unable to recharge if you take it. However, you can also set up your whole party with only anti-Shiro skills, which can almost guarantee success in either mode.

;Henchman/hero
Different strategies have been used successfully in this mission; however, some of them require that you have access to the heroes of Nightfall or Eye of the North. 

If you are considering using a henchmen/hero mix, you should examine the skills they have equipped and what their [[Celestial skill]] will do, compared to what you could put on a hero. For example, the Necromancer Celestial skill is generally less useful compared to a Necromancer hero with [[Spiteful Spirit]] or [[Spoil Victor]], so the hero would be preferred. The Warrior Celestial skill can cause a lot of damage, so consider bringing both Warrior henchmen. One Mesmer henchman carries skills like [[Empathy]], and also their Celestial skill will greatly improve the party's casting speed and recharge time. The Elementalist henchmen receive a very high damage dealing Celestial skill, so consider bringing them instead of an Elementalist hero.

Remember to [[Hero flag|flag]] your heroes/henchman if you are not the only player in the party. If you don't, your heroes/henchman will become inactive as soon as you get banished, because they will try to go to you. Bound foes should be killed before continuing the attack on Shiro.

====Profession-specific====
;Warrior
An effective strategy involves forming a party of mostly Warriors. They will need to equip stances to help them avoid Shiro's attacks, and [["Watch Yourself!"]] to raise their [[armor rating]]. A source of [[heal]]ing might be needed and for that you normally bring Monks which will then move into either the north or the south corner of the island to stay out of Shiro's range. There they cannot get banished and will spam skills like [[Heal Party]] and/or [[Light of Deliverance]].

You can use this strategy with only heroes and henchmen.  Bring three Warrior heroes (or two and an Assassin), the two Warrior henchmen, and the two Necromancer henchmen.  When the fight begins, the two Warrior henchmen will use [[Storm of Swords]], and the Necromancers will use [[Star Servant]].  If the whole party [[body block]]s Shiro, each Storm of Swords will deal 3,000 damage over the course of 15 seconds.  This will leave him with little health, allowing your melee damage to finish him off.

;Elementalist
{{Skill bar preset|mini|Armor of Earth|Ward Against Melee|Mental Block|Arcane Echo|Echo|Optional|Sliver Armor|Ebon Battle Standard of Honor}}
Bring a Warrior henchman. Have everyone in the party except the Warrior henchman stand all the way to the right or left pavilion (all of them must either be at the right, or the left, as splitting up means Mhenlo has a high chance of attempting to bounce back and forth between the two groups, easily grabbing the [[aggro]] of Shiro and thus running out of your [[area of effect]] skills). Use [[Armor of Earth]], [[Ward Against Melee]], [[Arcane Echo]], and [[Echo]] just outside of Shiro's aggro range. Aggro Shiro and wait for him to banish the Warrior henchman, and when he does, use [[Celestial Storm]], Echo, Celestial Storm, Celestial Storm. You will want to use damage increasing skills like [[Ebon Battle Standard of Honor]] at this point. The Bound Warrior should die, and recharge all of your Celestial Storms. Use all of your Celestial Storms again while maintaining your defensive skills and Shiro will drop very quickly. For [[Hard mode]], [[Sliver Armor]] should be used just after the first Celestial Storm chain together with your damage increasing skills. Runners often bring [[Drunken Master]] and use it right away and then replace it with the Celestial Storms skill to speed the run to Shiro.

;Assassin
With the proper [[build]], this mission can be performed fairly easily using only an Assassin and [[Mhenlo]] healing. Generally, this involves [[Critical Defenses]], [[Critical Agility]], and an [[Assassin attack chaining|attack chain]] that deals heavy damage quickly and can be [[spam]]med.

''Warrior-variant:'' For this strategy, all you really need is one Assassin and one Warrior (although multiple Assassins can come in handy). The idea is to have the Assassin immediately use their Celestial skill on Shiro as soon as the battle starts, then once all [[Celestial Assassin]]s have been [[spawn]]ed, have your Warrior run into the crowd and use [[Storm of Swords]]. This will cause Shiro to take more than 250 damage per second for 15 seconds and, when done correctly, usually causes death within 5-8 seconds.

====Bodyblocking + Impossible Odds====
Shiro's [[Impossible Odds]] skill can be turned against him by triggering ''"inverter-hexes"'' like [[Empathy]] and [[Spiteful Spirit]] as much as possible. Bring one or two Warriors and at least one player with access to these skills. Once Shiro's health is low enough, he will start using Impossible Odds. At this point cast Empathy and Spiteful Spirit on him, and have all party members stand [[adjacent]] to Shiro so that you all damage him by means of these hexes. Warriors should use [[Storm of Swords]], and Necromancers and Assassins should use [[Star Servant]] and [[Star Strike]] as well to create even more combatants that will contribute to the damage.

[[Block]]ing skills will be highly useful in this approach, since you will be deliberately exposing yourself to Shiro's most dangerous ability. In particular, a Ranger with [[Celestial Stance]] will improve the party's survivability immensely.

=== Other tips ===

* Remember to take the Celestial skill at the beginning of the mission.
** Celestial skills [[recharge]] whenever a bound foe is slain, so choose carefully when to use them.
* Shiro has no way to remove [[enchantment]]s.
* Shiro's skills cannot be [[disable]]d; only [[Impossible Odds]] can be [[interrupt]]ed (the others lack an [[activation time]]).
* Bringing monks makes the mission more difficult: if they're banished, the [[Bound Monk]]s that replace them are more durable than other bound foes. 
** Mhenlo does a decent job of healing during the mission, so you could go without a dedicated [[healer]].
** Alternatively, bring [[Restoration Magic]] and/or [[Communing]] ritualists with protective [[passive spirit]]s (e.g. [[Union]] or [[Shelter]]).
* Shiro tends to use Riposting Shadows followed by [[Battle Scars]] when Riposting Shadows ends. He almost always uses Battle Scars immediately after coming out of [[Meditation of the Reaper]] (unless his health is low enough to qualify for [[Impossible Odds]]).
* Impossible Odds has a [[duration]] longer than its recharge, and Shiro sometimes uses it solely to remove all [[hex]]es from him. Try to cast hexes on him ''immediately after'' he uses the skill.
* Create any non-attacking spirits ''before'' crossing into the courtyard (and triggering the [[cinematic]]); he will be unable to attack them since they are behind a closed gate.
* In [[Hard mode]], Shiro brings [[Natural Resistance]] (or an equivalent passive skill); this makes it difficult to maintain hexes or conditions on him. However, this allows you to spam hexes with an [[end effect]] (e.g. [[Wastrel's Worry]]), which can also be used to help trigger the damage limit on Meditation of the Reaper (ending it more quickly means the party will take less damage).
* Shiro will not use [[Echoing Banishment]] if only a single player and heroes are within range.

== Skill recommendations ==
; Generally ineffective
* [[Adrenaline]] and [[energy denial]] tactics are ineffective against Shiro, since they only affect [[Riposting Shadows]].
* [[List of hex removal skills|Hex removal skills]] are unnecessary.
* Shiro does not inflict conditions on his own; only bring condition-removal skills if you plan on inflicting conditions on him.

; Generally useful
* [[Melee counter]] hexes are generally useful. 
* [[Echo]] and [[Arcane Echo]] allow you to use your Celestial skill multiple times in a row. 
* [[Armor-ignoring damage]] skills are especially effective. 
** [[Binding ritual]]s do not deal enough damage for Battle Scars to become dangerous and a group of spirits can make a good [[meat shield]].
* A [[bonder]] Monk can help mitigate damage if you can keep him out of Shiro's [[shout]] range. Alternatively, use a secondary monk to bring [[Protection Prayers]] skills, e.g. use a Necromancer to cast [[Shield of Deflection]] or [[Life Sheath]].
* [[Stance#Skills countering stances|Stance removing skills]], such as [[Wild Blow]] or [[Wild Throw]], to end [[Battle Scars]] and [[Riposting Shadows]].
* Attack-[[block]]ing skills, especially [[Critical Defenses]] (which can be maintained indefinitely when [[tank]]ing Shiro).
* [[Condition]]s can be dangerous against Shiro, since he can spread them using Impossible Odds.
** [[Blind]] is great when bringing [[spellcaster]]-heavy parties, e.g. from [[Blinding Flash]], [[Eruption]], [[Ebon Dust Aura]], or [[Sneak Attack]].
* [[Shadowsong]] and [[Displacement]] can render Shiro harmless; he will either miss (due to blindness) or get blocked (preventing him from removing blindness).
* Shiro cannot be [[knock down|knocked down]] unless the duration of that knock down was enhanced.
** [[Shield of Judgment]] will continually trigger, killing him quickly (especially once he activates Impossible Odds). Alternatively, bring that skill without Earthbind, which will cause it to trigger even more frequently.
** [[Earthbind]] can cause him to be vulnerable to knock down. Since he is frequently the only target, bringing [[Wanderlust]] almost ensures that he remains [[knock-lock]]ed for the mission's duration.

=External links=
*[https://gwpvx.gamepedia.com/Build:E/Me_Imperial_Sanctum_Runner E/Me Imperial Sanctum Runner Solo Content at PvXwiki]
[[Category:Quest guides]]
[[Category:Solo builds]]