Ancient Nightmare Zone Event Guide

The Ancient Nightmare zone event takes place in Mount Zavain. This is a time-sensitive PvE event whose starting location is (unfortunately) not communicated very well and happens along a patrol path instead of being static, making it a little confusing for newcomers. The breakdown of the event is:

• When: Wednesdays and Fridays at 12 PM, 8:30 PM, and 10 PM server time.
• Where: Zoom into the Mount Zavain zone and take the Misty Valley Waypoint.
• Why: 6 Enchanted Dust, chance for Legendary items.

The Ancient Nightmare event can be roughly split in two: the more commonly available Lord Martanos World Boss, and the limited time Ancient Nightmare World Boss. Killing the former contributes to the subjugation of the latter, so we will review them in that order.

Prior to the Ancient Nightmare event, you will do well to check on the Lord Martanos World Boss. He resides in another area of Mount Zavain; take the Zakarum Cemetery Waypoint, and head southwest, following along the curve of the cemetery forest and into Martanos' Tomb. The area is very visible on the map, with two flights of stairs leading into the tomb's main chamber area.

In order to summon Martanos, you need to activate the Grave Altar in front of his sarcophagus. Martanos can be summoned once every 30 minutes; if you interact with the altar prematurely, you will get a message indicating how long until he can be summoned again. Martanos will be up in every difficulty, allowing you to farm him in multiple difficulties if you so desire.

Once the 30 minute timer for Martanos is almost up, players in the Mount Zavain zone will receive an on-screen message of his imminent availability (a 30-second warning). You likely have more time than those meager 30 seconds to get to Martanos; someone actually has to be at the Altar and click it in order to summon him at all.

Lord Martanos has the following abilities to watch out for:

• Cleaving Attack — Martanos sweeps his flail in a wide, 120-degree arc in front of him, dealing heavy damage to anyone standing within melee distance.
• Shield Throw — Martanos throws his shield at a random player, inflicting moderate damage to anyone in its path — both the initial trajectory, as well as on its way back.
• Spinning Shields — Martanos throws out a spectral shield with a reddish glow that spins around the battlefield for a short period. He can throw out multiple spinning shields at the same time, covering much of the battle and inflicting deadly damage to the unwary.
• Summon Minions — Martanos slams his flail into the ground, inflicting damage to players directly in front of him. Skeletal Paladin minions emerge from the shattered ground nearby. These minions can spawn with a Shielding ability that reduces the damage they take, or a Shield Throw ability that mimics Martanos'. Group them up and cleave them down immediately, since they can easily overwhelm you with their constant hits.
• Spectral Flail — Martanos throws out a spectral flail at a random player. The flail forms a pool of dark purple energy upon impact, covering a large circular area. Players caught within its radius start taking heavy damage over time ticks.

At character level 49 and above, killing Lord Martanos yields the Jered Cain's Vision vessel — part of the Legacy of the Horadrim system. Otherwise, on top of the regular loot (along with a decent chance at Legendary items), killing Lord Martanos yields a Zakarum Sigil. You can only activate the Altars spread across the Mount Zavain overworld (and thus lowering the shield of the Ancient Nightmare, making it vulnerable faster) by using Zakarum Sigils. Zakarum Sigils are stackable, so killing Martanos multiple times before doing the Ancient Nightmare event is not a wasted effort.

The Ancient Nightmare emerges in the Misty Valley area of the Mount Zavain world zone. Its initial spawn is near the Misty Valley Waypoint, and then the demon starts patrolling along a loop outlined by the main road, with numerous Altars dotted along the way. The Ancient Nightmare is uninterested in fighting while its shield is active.

The Ancient Nightmare is protected by a forcefield, damaging nearby players and rendering the boss immune until you either whittle it down through sheer tenacity, or — more conveniently — disable it altogether. Disabling it is done by using Zakarum Sigils at a nearby Altar. Altars are conveniently spread along the patrol path of the Ancient Nightmare, and each covers a decently wide circular area once activated. Players standing in the Altar's activated area gain the Holy Light buff, reducing incoming damage and rendering them immune to Ancient Nightmare's forcefield DoT. Once activated, an Altar cannot be activated again for 1 minute.

When you activate an Altar with the Ancient Nightmare in range of its emitted light, the boss will be stunned, giving you ample time to chip away at its shield. The Ancient Nightmare's shield is taken down on a per-hit basis, so wasting hard-hitting cooldowns will not speed up the process and should be avoided. You do not need a Zakarum Sigil to activate an Altar. If you do use a Zakarum Sigil on the Altar however, it will also take a 20% chunk out of the shield's total, making things easier for everyone involved.

Once its shield is down, the Ancient Nightmare will retaliate with the following abilities:

• Claw Swipe — The Ancient Nightmare swipes away with its claws, damaging players in melee range in front of it.
• Ground Stomp — The Ancient Nightmare slams its foot, unleashing line of nightmarish spikes forward. Players caught within take moderate damage.
• Miasmal Pool — The Ancient Nightmare momentarily rears back, and then unleashes a semi-circle of pale-blue miasmal energy in a 180-degree arc in front of it. Players caught within its radius will take significant damage over time.

At character level 49 and above, killing the Ancient Nightmare yields the Nilfur's Precision vessel — part of the Legacy of the Horadrim system. The Ancient Nightmare drops Gold, items of varying quality (Common, Magic, Rare, and with a good chance for a Legendary), and 6 Enchanted Dust.

You can check out the guides for the other Zone Events by following the links below: