Enter the Kobold

''A tribe of kobolds have taken residence in this sulfurous mine. They are known for their unusual size and ferocity.'' {{Quest In order to breach the defenses protecting Sor'jek's hidden fortress, Khiin of Argonessen asked you to retrieve Khyber Dragonshard Essence. It's located deep within Mount Reysalon and Khiin created a portal for you to travel there.
 * name      = Enter the Kobold
 * level     = 17
 * duration  = very long
 * solo = 5099
 * normal = 8835
 * hard = 9172
 * elite = 9508
 * xp =
 * loc       = Volcanic Mine
 * npc       = Khiin
 * zone      = Reaver's Refuge
 * patron    = Agents of Argonnessen
 * favor     = 8
 * mappic    = M_enter_the_kobold.png
 * maplegend = yes
 * loadingpic = L Enter the Kobold.jpg
 * overview  =
 * obj=
 * Speak with Bezeek, kobold chief
 * Find the Great Kobold
 * Survive the assault
 * Clear the kobold nest
 * Survive the kobold gauntlet
 * Slay Desaga, kobold leader
 * Slay Pyripnon
 * Acquire the Khyber Dragonshard Essence
 * (Optional) Slay the frenzied fire elemental: (10% of base XP)
 * (Optional) Slay tainted kobolds: (25% of base XP)
 * (Optional) Clear the kobold nest: (20% of base XP)
 * expect=
 * Traps (fixed, undisarmable)
 * Collapsible floor
 * Point of no return
 * Overlapping floors
 * Maze (fixed layout)
 * Spawning/respawning monsters
 * Puzzle (mandatory: Knight's Tour puzzle)
 * traps=Spikes, falling floor
 * misc=

The Puzzle

 * The kobold gauntlet puzzle is based on a mathematical problem called Knight's Tour (or Warnsdorff's Algorithm). See Wikipedia article if you are interested.


 * The maps below outline where you will end up when stepping on squares.
 * The point of this puzzle is to turn all the lights on in the cages. Be careful when you move.  You may accidentally turn a light off necessitating you go back. You need to turn ALL the lights on.  If you are in a room with an unlit light, jump once to turn it on.
 * You always land in a room facing West.
 * For a solution try the following Chain:
 *  g e n p i r l c i k q j d m f h o m t 
 * The rest of the party can take i k t to move through.
 * From s take the chain of l j for chest.
 * Alternate description for puzzle solution: when entering a room, face West and consider the positions of the lights surrounding you as if they were the numbers on a clock. 12, 3, 6 & 9 o'clock will never be options.  1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 & 11 o'clock may be.  To follow the path above, after entering the puzzle through the center light, select 7, 4, 1, 8, 4, 11, 10, 5, 1, 5, 8, 11, 4, 8, 1, 2, 7 then 2 o'clock.

End Fight

 * The end fight is very challenging. It's recommended that a party will leave one person at the last shrine as an emergency rescuer, to release the party back up from the cave below, or to try to collect stones in case everyone else is dead.
 * Solo tip: you can park a (gold seal) hireling at the valve to let you back up and prevent a failure in the event of your death.
 * Useful buffs: Blur/Displacement, Fire Resistance, Fire Shield: Cold, and anything else that can lessen incoming fire damage.
 * One of the major challenges of the end fight comes from the Living Spells. If you can't nuke 'em down quickly, use Ooze Puppet to contain their threats.
 * Recommended tactic is for the melee to head straight for Desaga (the boss kobold), and pin him into the wall to quickly DPS him down, then head for the Efreeti and take him down fast as well. While this is being done, a caster type should get the living spell/mephit agro and either kill or charm them all. Especially important is targeting the living meteor swarm first, as that is by far the most dangerous foe. Done well, both bosses should be dead in under a minute, and all that will be left is the fire elementals, as the living spells will no longer respawn. You can then loot the chests and DDoor out without bothering to kill the fire elementals, as killing them provides no benefit and takes quite a long time.
 * The living spells stop respawning as soon as Desaga (the red-named kobold) and efreeti are killed. Also note that while Desaga will return with full health if he gets too close to the entrance, this is not the case for the fire elementals. Therefore another tactic is to first have the healer(s) in the entrance tunnel while the melee(s) carefully pull over the elementals and living spells (the boss won't be able to follow), though this tactic will take a long time and probably resources, since the fire elementals have massive amounts of hitpoints and the living spells deal very heavy damage. You'd most likely want to charm the spells if you choose to do it this way.

Bonus XP:

 * Onslaught Bonus: ~103 monsters killed.
 * Conquest Bonus: 118 monsters killed.
 * chest=5
 * 1 optional for killing the first Frenzied Fire Elemental
 * 1 optional for clearing the kobold nest
 * 1 in the gauntlet puzzle
 * 1 at the end for killing Desaga and Pyripnon (Paragon Kobold and Efreet)
 * 1 locked at the end (Lock DC)
 * The unlocked end chest contains the Khyber Dragonshard Essence - BtC on Acquire, this is one of the three essences needed to flag for Stealer of Souls - as well a random Eldritch Rune - BtC on Acquire. The Eldritch rune is likely but not guaranteed on casual.

Monster Information
 * npcreward=Standard
 * unique=no
 * monsters=

Named Monsters: }}
 * Fire Mephit Warriors
 * Greater Fire Mephits
 * Kobolds
 * Living Delayed Blast Fireballs
 * Night Wolves
 * Paragon Kobold Shamans
 * Paragon Kobold Warriors
 * Tainted Kobolds
 * Bezeek - Optional orange-named kobold; various skill checks avoid the fight. He gives a key necessary to prgress.
 * Desaga - Red-named kobold; end boss
 * Frenzied Fire Elemental - Optional red-named fire elemental
 * Pyripnon - Red-named efreet; end boss