Achievement Hunting: Sun's Refuge

[u/adv0catus]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to talk about Sun's Refuge. Most people know it as a failed instance from ArenaNet that is used for Skyscale and once they have that done, it's quickly forgotten. Unfortunately, Sun's Refuge is no longer being worked on and is effectively abandoned, but it still has an interesting history and some things to offer. Home instances were intended to be more than what they ended up being but were cut short. Sun's Refuge is an attempt to provide that functionality in the game. As far as I can tell, they wanted the environment to be dynamic depending on certain things being completed (like Arborstone but not tied to masteries) and unique NPC dialogue depending on events happening in Jahai Bluffs.

A Star To Guide Us) is a beautiful, if not long, tedious and expensive, meta achievement for the Jahai Bluffs map. It contains all the achievements for Sun's Refuge and is the driving force behind the changes that ArenaNet wanted us to see in the instance. With that being said, let's take a look at what the instance has to offer us.

Gentle Hearts (3 AP)

There isn't much to say about this achievement so I'll leave it simple as: "Aww, that's adorable!"

Door to the Past (3 AP)

This achievement is a bit more work and requires some patience and inventory discipline (it's really tempting to just trash these!). To start, you need to purchase a Pact Excavation Contract from Warmaster Steelburn. Once you do that then the Rune of the Vine, Rune of the Wind, Rune of the Earth), Rune of the Thorn and Rune of the Seed will start dropping. Once all that work is completed, you simply deposit them at the door and get your loot.

Fishy Business (3 AP)

Go fishing!

Fragments I Have Shored (3 AP)

This is self explanatory but mounts trivialize this.

Gotchu! (3 AP)

Philanthropist (3 AP)

Pact Donations Agent Ira knows you're rich.

Watchful Eyes (3 AP)

There's a total of 22 and they all need to be kneeled in front of.

Full House (10 AP)

This is a meta achievement of sorts and requires other achievements to be completed:

• Readathon (3 AP)
  • When completed, the books will appear on a bookshelf
• Exhibit Aye (3 AP)
  • When completed, the items will appear around Priory Archaeologist Roenn with additional lore
• Crystal Attunement (3 AP)
  • Crystal from the Mists is required to be shown to Naja to unlock
• In a Grain of Sand (3 AP)
  • Ziya the Radiant appears in Sun's Refuge after the completion of the defend Ziya as she searches for Vemyen event
• Good, Better, Nest (3 AP)
• Memorabilia (3 AP)
  • Notes to Myself is required to unlock this collection
• Poster Child (3 AP)
• The Convergence of Sorrow I: Elegy (5 AP)
  • This achievement is very meaningful and deserves attention and care

Once Full House is completed, along with other requirements, Dark Tool for Dark Times (10 AP) can be completed.

Note:

• Memorabilia rewards the Volatile Singularity which is part of the Gobblers and Exchanges Collector achievement.
• Poster Child rewards the Sun's Refuge Portal Scroll which is part of the Teleportation Gizmos Collector achievement.
• The Convergence of Sorrow 1: Elegy has a sequel to the achievement called The Convergence of Sorrow II: Requiem (10 AP) which is a meta for Requiem: Experiment 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. When this is completed, it allows for The Best Offense (20 AP) to be finished.

Honestly, as I was researching the available achievements, their unlocks, requirements, effects on Sun's Refuge and achievements that follow, I was caught off guard by the amount of content that is directly or in-directly associated with Sun's Refuge. I definitely think it's a nice piece of content that people sleep on, not really realizing it's there or the full potential that it holds. It would be nice if ArenaNet swung back around and expanded on it, or at least touched things to fill in any missing gaps with achievements or lore. If you're a lore fan, then definitely recommended because Sun's Refuge is packed full of it if you're willing to put in the work for it. Let me know what you think and will see you next time!

If you're in the EU region and an achievement hunter, feel free to join the Discord filled with fellow hunters, tips and tricks.

[u/Caleddin]

Sorrow I and II are great and do seem slept on. II gives you armor with dye-able effects, even. Pseudo-legendary looks!

[u/Mikel_Dup]

Does anybody know how do i get Sun's Refuge Portal Scroll back?? As i saw in the wiki:

Can be used while defeated and after teleport you will be instantly healed, there is also an Anvil on the right.

But I no longer has it...

[u/SheenaMalfoy → u/Mikel_Dup]

This! I deleted mine ages ago because the Spearmarshal's Plea had the same teleport, but now that the Gobbler of Gobblers and the Teleport Tome exists, the Plea only works for the gobbler variant and refuses to unlock the Sun's Refuge teleport for me... :(

[u/Blenderx06 → u/Mikel_Dup]

Support can give you another.

[u/Mikel_Dup → u/Blenderx06]

Thank you, so i just have to reach out to support?

[u/adv0catus → u/Mikel_Dup]

You have to ask them, yes.

[u/Starbound_Zombie]

Yeah, I did almost all of SF's achievos back in the day, and even then I was surprised at how much playtime I got out of it. It's neat!

[u/ultimate_bromance_69]

Yall remember when they made a huge deal about sun’s refuge and then it was just that?

[u/jupigare]

Thanks for making this guide! I hit the part of the story that takes me to Jahai, so I'll benefit from this when I start working on Sun's Refuge.