Amoria Party Quest

Amorian Challenge Basics:

Time Limit: 1 Hour and 15 Minutes
The Boss: Geist Balrog [Level 95, 1.5m HP]

To participate in the Amorian Challenge, you must meet the following requirements:
You must have a Wedding Ring and be Married. (Not just engaged). [Requires A-Cash]
You must be Level 40 or over.
You must have an Entrance Ticket in your possession. [Obtainable once every 6 hours from Amos the Strong.]
Your party must consist of 6 members.
Your Party must consist of both Male and Female members.


Obtainging the Entrance Ticket:
Amos the Strong will give you an Entrance Ticket once every 6 hours provided you bring him 10 Lip-Lock Keys. Lip Lock Keys are acquired by defeating the special monsters found in PurpleWood Forest I & II. However, you cannot have more than 1 Entrance Ticket your possession.

Be sure not to go inside before you have a full party. Once inside your ticket vanishes, and if you leave you waste a ticket and you're stranded for another 6 hours.

Saving your Entrance Ticket:
Just because you get one doesn't mean you need to use it. In fact if you save it for over 6 hours you can run two PQ's in a row. Just use the ticket for the first PQ, then go gather 10 keys and receive another Entrance Ticket.

Gathering the Adventures: (Opinionated Warning.)
The Amorian Challenge is one of the most challenging quests in MapleStory. You need a balance of wisdom and strength to successfully finish the quest (Or a guide!). As mentioned earlier, your party must consist of 6 members; both male and female, over level 40, and they must all be married. (You do not need to be married to each other, nor does your spouse need to be present). You only need at least 1 member of both genders (for instance 1 male and 5 females) but the first stage takes a little longer.


Party Composition recommendations:
While the monsters found inside the quest are not very strong, the boss is quite difficult (Level 95) and could easily wipe out a party that is not strong enough or ill-prepared. To assure victory against the boss I recommend bring members only over level 70 at least. A full party of 70+'s is would still be a challenge, but if you have enough time and resources and the right classes it could (eventually) be done.

Attacker classes like Hermits/Chief Bandits, Crusaders/Dragon Knights/White Knights, Rangers/Snipers, and Mages are a must and should be in the majority. Priests are useful but not necessary, so if your party is not on the stronger side (80+ average) you might want to sub a support class for an attacker one. However, if you can afford it a Priest may save you a lot of resources and lives at times; the boss can do a lot of damage quickly and has high avoid, so Bless is a god-send.
Ranged classes like Hermits and Rangers/Snipers are very useful at the boss for the map has a lot of platforms and the Geist Balrog can fly about the map with will. Non-ranged members would have a distinct disadvantage.
Some elemental attacks are very ineffective against the boss so at times Mages can be less effective, however they're very useful when the boss casts Super Defense.

Since the Amoria Challenge is limited to Married couples and you can only get a Entrance ticket once every 6 hours, it's difficult to be selective with your party members at times. It's important however to remember that you need both genders.

Starting the Quest:
Once you have a full party everyone should talk to Amos the Strong to be admitted into the waiting area. The leader should then enter and speak to Amos the Strong inside to be admitted. If the channel has another party trying to complete the quest, you may either wait or change channels until you find an open one.

Take care of all party business before entering, you cannot leave and come back inside because your Entrance Ticket is taken. Because of such, it's wise to have your party leader stay outside until everyone is safely inside.

The Quest Begins!


Stage 1: Magik Mirror.
Seems a Magical Mirror located near the center of the map is causing Amos some problems. Your task? Defeat all monsters and defeat a special Magik Fierry to acquire the Wing Hammer and smash the mirror.


If you're Leading:
Once you're warped inside the map immediately speak to Amos a few times; he will open 3 glowing portals nearby. One of the three portals leads to the bottom middle section; try each portal until you find the correct one. Once you're in the middle your party needs to separate. The portal to the left is only accessible to female members, and likewise the portal to the right is only accessible to male members. Split up and work to defeat all the monsters in your section.

Once all monsters on both sides are gone, head back to the middle area and talk to The Glimmer Man a few times. If everything is clear he will summon a Magik Fierry on top right-side of the males section. The Fierry can hover in any direction and float through walls, so it may end up anywhere. Once defeated the Fierry will drop the Wing Hammer. Whoever has the Wing Hammer should head to the middle area and take the portal to the center where the Magik Mirror is and drop the Hammer on the mirror. The mirror will eventually shatter and drop a shattered piece. You need to pick this piece up and drop back down to where The Glimmer Man is and talk to him to clear the map.

Once cleared jump through the shattered mirror and talk to Amos to enter stage 2.

Note: If the leader clicks on The Glimmer Man after clearing the stage he will warp all your party members to Amos; however this causes at times a lot of lag, and you DON'T want any of your members disconnecting.

If you're a Member:
Once you are warped to stage 1 wait around until your leader opens three glowing portals. Find which portal that leads to the middle area. Once in the middle you need to head to one of two portals: go right if you're a male, left if you're female. Once you're in your area you need to kill every monster on your side of the map.
Once both sides are done your leader will summon a Magik Fierry on the righ, top side of the males section. Grab the Wing Hammer the Fierry drops and take it too the center of the map where the Magik Mirror is, via the portal next to the Glimmer Man. Drop the Wing Hammer on the mirror and let your leader pick up the shard it drops. Jump into the broken mirror and wait for the stage to clear, and then talk to Amos to be taken to stage 2.


Stage 2: Heart Ropes.
The goal in Stage 2 is to have 5 of your party members hanging from the 3 ropes in the correct combination. The leader must stay on the ground and talk to Amos. Amos will in turn give your leader clues regarding the correct combination based on which ropes your party is hanging on. You have 6 chances to solve the correct combination.


Both:
There's an effective method devised to solve this puzzle, but first you and your party must understand the basics. There are 3 ropes and 5 party members can be hanging from them at a time. So a combo is assigned to each rope based on how many members are on them; for example, "041". 041 means "0 members on left rope. 4 members on the middle rope. and 1 member on right rope. Make sense?

If you're Leading:
As leader you're on the ground talking to Amos and relaying which combo to execute to your party members. To start off, you should tell your members to do "500"; i.e., everyone on the left rope. This stage is a big logic puzzle which you can solve if you're feeling confident, however it'll probably be quicker if you used the chart below:




This chart in theory works 100% of the time. When you talk to Amos he will provide you with an answer by saying "All 1 ropes weigh the same" or "All ropes weigh differently". You want to pay attention to "Same" or "Different", which is why I made them bold. Just follow the paths in the chart until you clear Stage 2.

If you're a Member:
Once you enter stage 2 take the first portal to the left rope (Press up, jump, and hold up to grab the rope.) Your leader will then talk to Amos and a "Wrong" or "Clear" will appear on the screen. If it's Wrong, wait for the next combo from your leader; be patient, it's a puzzle and does take some thought. If you want to help out you can refer to this chart if your leader clearly doesn't know what he or she is doing. Just be polite.

Once the stage is Cleared you can head to the doorway on the right side of the map and move to Stage 3.


Stage 3: Twisted Switcher
Stage 3 is yet another logic puzzle. (What happened to the PQ's that were simply killing easy monsters and opening boxes anyways?) Stage 3 however is on the ground and consists of 9 platforms: 4 on the top row, 5 on the bottom row. To clear the stage you have to have 5 of your members standing on the correct platforms. The platforms in game are labeled strangely, but to avoid confusion I'll simply number them as 1-9 starting on the top and going from left to right.

[1] [2] [3] [4]
[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]


Have your party start on platforms 1~5.

The key to solving Stage 3's puzzle is, again, talking to Amos. He won't give you a verbal clue, but when the combo is incorrect monsters are summoned. Pay close attention to the Slimes: The number of slimes that appear is the number of correct platforms your party members are standing on!

You have to employ a "Solve the unknowns with the knowns" strategy. For example, let's imagine you have members standing on platforms 1-5 as shown below:

[1] [2] [3] [4]
[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
= 3 Slimes

Lets imagine this combination spawns 3 slimes (3 correct platforms). Now, have the member on 5 move to 6.
[1] [2] [3] [4]
[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
= 4 Slimes

Now 4 slimes have spawned. Logically, you should know that since more Slimes have spawned than last time, platform 5 was incorrect. Keep following this formula: When 4 slimes spawn, the platform the Member on the bottom is standing on is correct, and when 3 slimes spawns it means that platform was incorrect. This is only one variable equation; there are many but they all apply the same principle, and that formula always works as long as the one member on the bottom is moving across:

Principle Formula:
If more slimes spawn than the last combo: The platform he/she is on is Correct.
If less slimes spawn than the last combo: the platform he/she is on is Incorrect

You can mark the Correct platforms with Mesos if you a visual aid to keep track. After you have marked all the correct platforms on the bottom, have your members from the right-side move down to occupy the lower platforms and talk to Amos once again. You may or may not Clear yet, since the platforms those members left on the top may have been correct, so have the members who remain on the top move to the right; again, using the same principle. Keep it up until the stage Clears.

If you're Leading:
Talk to Amos and direct your party members using the method described above. Be sure not to kill the Slimes too fast or miscount, and only move one person at a time.

If you're a Member:
Everyone should occupy platforms 1-5 when the stage starts. The member who's on the bottom should be moving to the right after every combo is checked. The members on the top row should not move until directed to do so. Remember not to kill any monsters until you've counted all the slimes.


Stage 4: Last Man Standing.
Stage 4 is much more simple than Stages 2 and 3; kill enemies, collect Cupid Code Pieces. You need 50 Code Pieces to move to Stage 5, and you have 6 party members. As of such, have someone sit out (usually the leader gets this privilege) and have the rest of the 5 members collect 10 Code Pieces each (5 x 10 = 50).



If you're Leading:
You can choose to sit this stage out or sub out another weaker member; just make sure you have 50 Code Pieces when you want to clear. BEFORE CLEARING: Make sure everyone is paying attention, Stage 6 can cause fatal problems otherwise.

If you're a Member:
Collect 10 Code Pieces from the monsters scattered about the map. Make sure you give everyone their space, it's not exactly a race to finish first. The monsters are not difficult; Evil eyes and Toy Trojans. Once you have 10 drop them for your leader and wait to clear: do not go anywhere without making sure your leader knows, otherwise you'll end up dead next stage and your party's effort will have been for naught.


Stage 5: Fluttering Hearts
The moment you clear Stage 4, you'll be dropped right into Stage 5 and given the instructions "Run to the Right! Save yourself! Run run run!!". The moment you drop an assortment of monsters begin chasing you. Most all of them cause minimal damage and actually help you avoid the lava shooting out of the ground and keep you going faster, but at the very back there's Rombards that inlfict 10,000+ damage. They move slowly so unless you decide to picnic in the middle of the map there's not too much to worry about. (Haste and other speed boosters do not work here)

If you're Leading:
Your jobs the same as your members; keep running and keep your HP up, and open the occasional gateway by hitting them with a weapon (skills don't work). It's a bit of a job but eventually you'll climb the last hill. Once all your members are at the top click Amos once or twice to Clear the map and instruct your Party to do so as well. Next up: Geist Balrog.

If you're a Member:
The only thing you need to do is keep running right, heal when you need too, and open the occasional gateway by attacking them (skills don't work). Once you climb the final hill wait for your leader to Clear the stage and then talk to Amos to be taken to the area before the Boss.


Stage 6: Love Hurts (boss stage)
The final stage can be the most challenging if your party isn't up to the challenge. Although the Quest itself is 40+, the boss could easily demolish a weaker party. As a general rule I never invite anyone below level 70 to take on the boss, and even 7x is fairly iffy. I'd feel better about my chances with lvl85+.

Boss: Geist Balrog

Level: 95. HP: 1,500,000. KB: 2000
Details: Can cast Super Defense, Super Magic Defense, and Dispel.


Geist Balrog is a somewhat unique boss to MapleStory; it's almost like a Platform-game fight. The entire map is made up of suspended warp-platforms, and on the warp-platforms are thorns that inflict anywhere from 1-45 damage. Geist has 3 stages, however the first 2 are fairly simple and won't cause too much problem. Geist however is much more tricky.

Geist will immediately take to the sky's once he is in his final stage. You'll often have to use the platforms that warp you around the map to track him down. This can be tricky for non-ranged fighters, and the platforms are small and if Geist hits you you'll recieve a lot of damage and more than likely be knocked to the ground. As of such there's an effective strategy to take down Geist.

Strategies:
-Lure Geist on the ground. Easier said than done. If Geist happens to fly off send ONE ranged member (Hermits/Rangers work best) to aggro him and then lead Geist back to where your party is waiting (Just make sure your ranged member can inflict over 2000 damage). If you're lucky you'll continually KB him on the ground and you'll inflict a lot of damage. Keep repeating this process.

-Use cover. Taking damage from those thorns is much better than taking a hit from Geist; use them. As another benefit it will keep you in one location. This is especially useful on platforms where you can be easily knocked down. Just watch your HP if you're on one thorn for too long. Geist can still hit you in the off chance the damage timing is off.

-Keep an eye on your buffs. Geist can cast dispel and sometimes he casts if often, so if you're a Magician keep a close watch on your Magic Guard and try to stay in the cover of thorns as much as possible. If you have a party skill such as Haste or Hyperbody, be aware that even though you might not have been dispelled some of your party members might have been, so if everyone gathers up feel free to recast your buffs just as a polite precaution.

Bonus Stage: Couples Vault
[-Under construction-]

Bonus Stage: Regular bonus

~Prizes~
Equips:
Lunar Earrings (lvl40)
Moonstar Earrings (lvl45)
Cecellias Earrings (lvl60)
Amos's Royal Cape (lvl50)
Amos's Spirit Cape (lvl50)

Use:
Onyx Apple
Amorian Rice Cookie
Amorian Gift Basket
Reindeer Milk
Power Elixir
Dark / Cursed scrolls

Etc:
Black Crystal/ores
Gold Plates/ores
Diamonds/ores

This is the pay off for all your hard work. The items found inside this stage are quite valuable and you have about a minute to collect all the goodies.

Strategy:
What? You need a strategy for a Bonus stage? Of course you do! You can only get here once every 6 hours, might as well make it worth your time.

-Bring a nice fast weapon. Don't slow yourself down with clumsy spears and staffs, tag along a whip or some other Fast/Faster weapon.

-Hit multiple boxes at once. The bonus boxes are often bunched together in reachable range; while you hit one box there's a lag before you can hit it again, so why not hit the box right beside it in-between time? You'll open twice as many boxes in the same amount of time. Just make sure you position yourself correctly.

-Keep your eye on the prize. There's a lot of nice stuff inside the bonus, but the most valuable are Onyx Apples. Capes are rare so grab if you can, and Cecellia Earrings have an NPC price of 150,000 mesos. Moonstars go for 50k, but don't stop too long for them; if you get a Cecelia Earring thats equivalent to getting 3 moonstars. The rest of the stuff you can more or less ignore unless you need them.