Mission 3: The Grand Canyons

**Mission 3** is the third mission of Assassin of Steve 3, where you go through Gangun and its mines to confront the Assassin.

## Walkthrough

After defeating Sheriff Firearm you can find another Shop Altar. Walk up to Roger, and a cutscene will start displaying Mission 3's title.
Mission 3 is much like Mission 1 - keep following Roger's directions. You have to get to the end of the train tracks, then go to the right, where you should find an abandoned, run-down collection of buildings. Past the buildings is a cave that leads into a much larger area. In this area there are some snipers on wooden supports. Snipers are immobile skeletons that do just that - snipe.

You can find the entrance to Hidden Mission 1 in the last area before the Assassin boss fight, where the snipers guarding the doorway are. Southwest of them you should see some green cactus sprouts snaking over a hill. Beyond the hill you should be able to see they lead to a large cactus built out of green and black clay. You have to go through the arch to the right of this cactus to access Hidden Mission 1.

With the snipers guarding the doorway, you have to shoot all of them dead in order for the door to open. Then you can enter the abandoned village of Gangun, where you will find the Assassin on a large clay formation to the left.

### Boss Fight: The Assassin

#### Stage 1

At first the Assassin will teleport to certain positions, and you have to climb up to them. When you reach him he will teleport to the next position, and you have to go there again. After four times he will teleport you to the top of a clay formation nearby, where you talk to him, and then you will be teleported down to the abandoned village of Gangun.

#### Stage 2

In Gangun the Assassin will begin to spawn clones of himself. You have to battle your way through all his clones in the village and make your way to the town centre where the fountain is.

#### Stage 3

Upon approaching the fountain the Assassin will use his block-placing powers to create a huge maze out of nether brick fences, and also some more clones will spawn on sniping positions. They will constantly drop fireballs near them, meaning in order to get past them you have to shoot them dead. Make your way through the maze to the fountain at the centre. Hint: All the clones are placed along the correct path.

#### Stage 4

Once you reach the fountain the maze will disappear, and you will fight the real Assassin - along with a bunch of clones. The problem is that his clones look exactly the same as him, and even have the same name. At the start seven clones along with the Assassin himself spawn, and every ten seconds or so two random clones will die, and the real Assassin will spawn two more, and will also drop some fireballs from the sky around him. Once you defeat the real Assassin it is Mission 3 complete.

You unlock the Legendary Box Altar in the Shop at the end of Mission 3, and this is also the first mission where you can obtain Legendary Boxes.

## Mobs

* Red Sand Zombies are zombies wearing some Rusty Armor and a red sand block on their head. They wield a Rusty Axe. They move slowly.
* Baby Red Sand Zombies can also spawn. They move much faster.
* Mesa Hunters are skeletons with part Rusty and part Red Sand Armor. They wield a Mesa Hunting Bow. They have a chance to switch from a bow to a Mesa Hunting Knife if you get close to them. They can be found on sniping positions.
* Hardened Monsters are zombies wearing Rusty Armor and a hardened clay block on their head. They wield a Hardened Claymore and a shield. They can jump up and then slam the ground upon landing, which will deal damage to you if you are near them when they land.
* Scarab Jockeys are spider jockeys - skeletons riding on spiders. The spider can climb all over the mesa, so quite often they may drop from above or behind you without you expecting so keep an eye out for them.
* The Red Sand Twister is a rare mob - it consists of three invisible zombies riding on top of each other and they constantly emit red sand particles. Often the Red Sand Twister will zoom up, very high in the sky, damaging you if you are near it when it jumps up, then land back on the ground. If it does not damage you when it jumps up it will jump up again, continually jumping up until it damages you from jumping.

In the Assassin's boss fight:

* Assassin Clones spawn throughout the town of Gangun. They can be tough to take out, given their large numbers and Fire Aspect on their swords. They are called "Assassin", making it difficult to distinguish from the real Assassin in the last stage.
* Assassin Fireball Clones are immobile and spawn in the nether brick fence maze, and will be constantly dropping fireballs down. You need to shoot them dead with a bow in order to get past them.

## Equipment

You can get two types of armor - Red Sand Armor and Rusty Armor. Red Sand Armor is orange-red leather armor that has some secondary protection enchantments and slightly more health than leather armor from previous missions, and Rusty Armor is chain armor with much more health.

* Hardened Claymore: 6.5 attack damage, 1 sweeping damage, 1.6 attack speed, 10.4 DPS
* Rusty Axe: 13 attack damage, 0.8 attack speed, 10.4 DPS.
* Mesa Hunting Knife: 5 attack damage, 2.1 attack speed, 10.5 DPS.
* Mesa Hunting Bow: 13 ranged damage.
* Hardened Clay Shield: A basic shield.

Rare equipment:

* Twister Armor has movement speed and attack speed buffs along with health equivalent to Rusty Armor. It only consists of leggings and boots.
* Sandstorm Blade: 7 attack damage, 4.5 sweeping damage, 1.6 attack speed, 11.2 DPS, Knockback I.
* Twister Shield: +10% Knockback Resistance, +5% Movement and Attack Speed.
* Cyclone Wand: 13.5 ranged damage, Punch I.
* Mesa Stool (very rare): 35 attack damage, 0.275 attack speed, -20% movement speed on user, 9.625 DPS.

### Recommendations

* You'd likely want to use Rusty Armor over Red Sand Armor as it offers more health and greater durability. The Red Sand Helmet with Fire Protection can be helpful for the Assassin boss fight, as the clones have Fire Aspect on their swords, and it offers the same health as the Rusty Helmet anyway.
* If you have enough experience at the end of Mission 2 or at the Shop Altar in the middle of this mission, buy a shield as soon as you can.
* You are guaranteed to get a Colt Bow in the chest at the end of Mission 2, however if you are playing in multiplayer you will need to obtain more bows for everyone in order to take down the snipers and the Assassin Fireball Clones, so again the shop should be used to get a bow for everyone. If you can get a Mesa Hunting Bow, do it - it deals 50% more damage than the Colt Bow.
* The Cyclone Wand can also be very effective if you get it, since its Punch enchantment will knock Mesa Hunter snipers off of their perches.
* Getting a Sandstorm Blade can be handy for the Assassin boss fight, as the increased sweeping damage will allow you to finish off the real Assassin much faster even if you have trouble figuring out which clone is the real Assassin.
* If you do Hidden Mission 1, getting a Cactus Spine can be extremely useful too, as you can spam click at all the Assassin clones to keep them all at bay and take them all out.
* Also, Spiny Cactus - the consumable you unlock from completing Hidden Mission 1 - can let you easily complete the final stage of the Assassin boss fight. Just plonk down a Spiny Cactus and let the clones come and fight you around them. The Spiny Cactus will damage all of them, defeating the clones quickly and dealing heavy damage to the real Assassin.

## Chest Locations

* In the open mining tunnel on the left in the main mines, there is a Loot Chest.
* Out in the open, in the middle of the mines, there is the Lore Book Gangun Mines Closure Message
* In the destroyed house on the left next to the previous chest, you can find the lore book Diary of a Gangun Miner
* Instead of going through the main tunnel leading to the next area, there is a small path to the right that goes up the mountain leading to another loot chest.
* On the left side of the tunnel, there is a loot chest on a small hill.
* In the next section, there is a small pond. To the left of this pond is a small opening with leads to another loot chest.
	+ This can also be accessed by going up the ladder on the left side, following the path, then dropping down the hole on the left.
* After going up the ladder on the left side and following the path, instead of dropping down the hole on the left, drop down to the left but instead keep going and parkour up the side of the mini pillar formation. From here, you can leap down to a lower ledge which has a loot chest.
* After exiting the Shop Altar, you can go along the left wall to find another loot chest.
* In the next section, you can go up the ladder and then keep going up the mountain. There is a small pit with another loot chest.
* In the next section after that, hug the left wall to find yet another loot chest.
* In the abandoned city, the first house on the left contains the lore book The town of Gangun.

## Music

*Main article: Music*

At all times, one of the following tracks can play:

* **Honor of Days** by Twin Musicom.
* **Devastation and Revenge** by Kevin MacLeod.
* **Ryno's Theme** by Kevin MacLeod.
* **Lonely Mountain** by Cinematic Waves.
* **River of Io** by Kevin MacLeod.

During the boss fight against the Assassin, the track **Killers** by Kevin MacLeod plays.

## Trivia

* This mission is infamous for having very hard to find loot chests.

* There is a trigger that spawns mobs in the area before the main mine. It doesn't work because the /testfor command starts at the wrong position.
* In the amplified mesa section, it is possible to get through by either travelling at ground level, or by taking the more treacherous path on the cliffs above.
* Every track that plays in this mission (with the exception of the boss track) plays in both of the two earlier maps.
	+ "Devastation and Revenge" and "Ryno's Theme" also plays in Mission 9 of Assassin of Steve. In Assassin of Steve 2, "Devastation and Revenge" plays in Mission 11 and "Ryno's Theme" plays in Mission 3.
		- "Devastation and Revenge" is also the track used for much of the 1.10 trailer for Assassin of Steve 1.
	+ The music tracks "Honor of Days" and "Lonely Mountain" also plays in Mission 6 of Assassin of Steve 2. In Assassin of Steve 1, "Honor of Days" plays in Mission 8 and "Lonely Mountain" in Mission 4.
	+ "River of Io" also plays in Mission 8 of Assassin of Steve 1, and in Hidden Mission 3 in Assassin of Steve 2.

* The boss track "Killers" plays during the Assassin's boss fight in Assassin of Steve.