Tharashk Arena

Tharashk Arena is the 1st quest in the Laughing Knives story arcStory arcs are chains of quests that make up a story line. Completing everything in a story arc often yields a nice reward..
The first four quests can be completed in any order to unlock The Vault of Night.
Tharashk Arena • The Prisoner • The Jungle of Khyber • Haywire Foundry • The Vault of Night • Plane of Night

House Tharashk competes with Deneith for mercenary positions in Stormreach and beyond.

Requires access to adventure pack
Definition: Adventure Pack
A list of all adventure packs
: Vault of Night

Tharashk Arena
Heroic level:	8
Epic level:	21
Duration:	Long
Heroic XP:	♣1,135Solo/Casual ♦2,004Normal ♥2,116Hard ♠2,228Elite
Epic XP:	♣5,725Solo/Casual ♦9,861Normal ♥10,180Hard ♠10,499Elite
Takes place in:	Tharashk Arena
Bestowed by:	Dirge of Karrnath
NPC contact:	Dirge of Karrnath
Quest acquired in:	House Kundarak
Patron:	House Kundarak
Base favor:	5
Purchase:	Vault of Night or VIP
Extreme Challenge:	No

Loading screen

Overview

Dirge of Karrnath, famed weapon-master of the Laughing Knives, seeks to replace his broken weapon. He covets an axe called the "Oath of Droaam", the grand prize in Tharashk's underground games. Without a weapon though, he doesn't stand a chance of winning.

So, Dirge asked you to win the Oath of Droaam for him. However, he warned you that the bugbears running his contest may not take kindly to your presence. Dirge has a Drow friend named Myr'dril inside the arena, who could help convince the bugbears to let you compete.

You'll need to enter Tharashk Arena in House Kundarak Enclave, and find a way to enter the contest.

Spoiler Warning: Spoiler material below this point!

Objectives

Find House Tharashk's secret arena
Speak with Urgol the registrar
Find a way to enter the Arena games
Find the key to Ready Room One
Replace the gladiators in Ready Room One
Defeat the kobold and ogre gladiators
Defeat the minotaur and mephit gladiators
Defeat the combined wave of gladiators
Defeat Deadheart the Unbeaten and his sidekick
Seize the Oath of Droaam from the Arena pedestal
(Optional) Speak with Dirge's drow contact — no XP
(Optional) Defeat Angog the Champion — Bonus (10%): Heroic( ♣114 ♦200 ♥212 ♠223 ) Epic( ♣573 ♦986 ♥1,018 ♠1,050 )
(Optional) Learn the password for the Halls of Strife — Bonus (5%): Heroic( ♣57 ♦100 ♥106 ♠111 ) Epic( ♣286 ♦493 ♥509 ♠525 )
(Optional) Defeat Myr'dril — Bonus (15%): Heroic( ♣170 ♦301 ♥317 ♠334 ) Epic( ♣859 ♦1,479 ♥1,527 ♠1,575 )
(Optional) Defeat the drunken ogres (Kill 4) — Bonus (10%): Heroic( ♣114 ♦200 ♥212 ♠223 ) Epic( ♣573 ♦986 ♥1,018 ♠1,050 )
(Optional) Defeat Urgol's troll enforcers (Kill 4) — Bonus (10%): Heroic( ♣114 ♦200 ♥212 ♠223 ) Epic( ♣573 ♦986 ♥1,018 ♠1,050 )
(Optional) Defeat Enforcer Smashjaw — Bonus (15%): Heroic( ♣170 ♦301 ♥317 ♠334 ) Epic( ♣859 ♦1,479 ♥1,527 ♠1,575 )
(Optional) Defeat Grogan the Promoter — Bonus (15%): Heroic( ♣170 ♦301 ♥317 ♠334 ) Epic( ♣859 ♦1,479 ♥1,527 ♠1,575 )

What to Expect

Spawning/respawning monsters

Tips and Misc

Master Myr'dil, your drow contact in the arena, will give you the password to the ready room area if you pay him some gold. You can also attempt to intimidate him into giving it to you for free. Be careful, though, because Myrdil also becomes hostile if you attempt to intimidate him and fail (on Heroic, the DCs are very high, so doing this at level is probably out of the question.)

Note: You can first pay Myr'dril for the password and then choose to kill him for both optional XP awards. If you do fight him without getting the password first, when it comes time to use the password you will have to fight the nearby guards. Defeating the guards will then gain you access into the ready room area. Of course, you can bypass him all together and just fight the guards.

If you don't acquire the password from the drow, a good Bluff skill can help to avoid one fight (the DCs for this are lower.) Failing this check means the Troll guards attack you.

Once you fight your way into the arena, there will be four rounds as follows:

Ogres and kobold shamans
Minotaurs and air mephits
Ogres, kobold shamans, minotaurs, and air mephits
A very tough named troll and his less tough troll "sidekick"

On rounds two and three, it helps to look through the gates and find the one where the minotaurs are walking up. You can then run through when it opens and kill them separately so they won't keep knocking you down while you face everything. This tactic also works for the mephits if you want to take them out first. On epic, running through the south-west room during the first round lets you challenge the ogre mage Unkor (from Chains of Flame) to a duel, thus removing him from the third round.

Also the named troll has a lot of HP, regenerates very fast, and hits fairly hard. It's easy to take out his sidekick first and then concentrate on him. You will have to be able to do a lot of damage quickly or use fire/acid to take him down.

His club has a chance to proc Otto's Irresistable Dance when he strikes you so beware. The best counters against this are either not getting hit (AC, Displace, Cloudkill) or break enchantment (removes the dance).

Epic Notes

Waves 1 and 3 involve a Mudwallow Ogre Mage who can extend the wave if not killed before hiding.
None of the spectators scale on epic, so they can be safely ignored or dispatched with one shot.

Bonus XP

Aggression bonus: 11 or more monsters killed +10% Bonus.( ♣114 ♦200 ♥212 ♠223 )
Onslaught bonus: 20 or more monsters killed +15% Bonus.( ♣170 ♦301 ♥317 ♠334 )
Conquest bonus: 30 or more monsters killed +25% Bonus.( ♣284 ♦501 ♥529 ♠557 )
Mischief bonus: 47 or more breakables smashed +8% Bonus.( ♣91 ♦160 ♥169 ♠178 )
Vandal bonus: 62 or more breakables smashed +10% Bonus.( ♣114 ♦200 ♥212 ♠223 )
Ransack bonus: 76 or more breakables smashed +15% Bonus.( ♣170 ♦301 ♥317 ♠334 )

Loot

Chests: 2 (3 Epic)
- One in the east gatehouse behind a locked door (Door may be picked [Epic Normal and Epic Elite; Open Lock DC: 90], and Grogan holds the key)
- One at Air Mephits' ready room
- Epic chest is rewarded in addition to these chests at quest completion in the arena. Contains fragments and a chance at epic seals.
Collectables: 6
- Mushroom — in the alcove with Angog
- Mushroom — under left stairs as you approach the Arena
- Cabinet — in the west gatehouse behind a locked door
- Rubble — on the path to the key (near Enforcer Smashjaw)
- Adventurer's Pack — in the Arena
- Crude Altar — in Ready Room Five (accessible after the arena fights)

NPC end rewards

Randomly generated loot, ML correlates with effective quest level.

Monsters

Name ^{( picture )}	CR	Type	Race
Air Mephit Gladiator ^{( view • edit )}	●♦22Epic Normal ●♥30Epic Hard ●♠45Epic Elite	Air Outsider	Mephit
Angog the Champion ^{( view • edit )}	♦9Normal ♥12Hard ♠15Elite ●♦23Epic Normal ●♠48Epic Elite	Monstrous Humanoid	Minotaur
Blackheart Oracle ^{( view • edit )}	♦12Normal ♥14Hard ♠17Elite	Giant	Troll
Blackheart Warmonger ^{( view • edit )}	♦15Normal ♥17Hard ♠20Elite ●♦26Epic Normal ●♥30Epic Hard ●♠61Epic Elite	Giant	Troll
Deadheart Pack Wolf ^{( view • edit )}	●♦22Epic Normal ●♥31Epic Hard ●♠46Epic Elite	Animal	Wolf
Deadheart the Unbeaten ^{( view • edit )}	♦10Normal ♥12Hard ♠15Elite ●♦24Epic Normal ●♠50Epic Elite	Giant	Troll
Deadheart's Sidekick ^{( view • edit )}	♦8Normal ♥10Hard ♠13Elite ●♦23Epic Normal ●♥31Epic Hard ●♠49Epic Elite	Giant	Troll
Drunken Ogre ^{( view • edit )}	♦6Normal ♥9Hard ♠12Elite ●♥30Epic Hard ●♠43Epic Elite	Giant	Ogre
Elder Air Elemental ^{( view • edit )}	♦11Normal ♥13Hard ●♦22Epic Normal ●♠45Epic Elite	Elemental	Air Elemental
Enforcer Smashjaw ^{( view • edit )}	♦8Normal ♥9Hard ♠12Elite ●♦23Epic Normal ●♥32Epic Hard ●♠48Epic Elite	Giant	Troll
Fury-Horn Minotaur ^{( view • edit )}	♦7Normal ♥10Hard ♠13Elite ●♦22Epic Normal ●♠45Epic Elite	Monstrous Humanoid	Minotaur
Fury-Horn Shaman ^{( view • edit )}	●♦24Epic Normal ●♥32Epic Hard ●♠50Epic Elite	Monstrous Humanoid	Minotaur
Grogan the Promoter ^{( view • edit )}	♦9Normal ♥11Hard ♠14Elite ●♦26Epic Normal ●♥30Epic Hard ●♠60Epic Elite	Goblinoid	Bugbear
Hobgoblin Spectator ^{( view • edit )}	♦5Normal ♥8Hard ♠11Elite ●♦11Epic Normal ●♥11Epic Hard ●♠14Epic Elite	Goblinoid	Hobgoblin
Kobold Spectator ^{( view • edit )}	♦0.25Normal ♥1Hard ♠9Elite ●♦11Epic Normal	Reptilian	Kobold
Krusher Kobold ^{( view • edit )}	♦4Normal ♥6Hard ♠8Elite	Reptilian	Kobold
Lurking Brute ^{( view • edit )}	♦8Normal ♥10Hard ♠13Elite ●♥30Epic Hard ●♠45Epic Elite	Goblinoid	Bugbear
Lurking Thug ^{( view • edit )}	♦8Normal ♥10Hard ♠13Elite ●♥30Epic Hard ●♠45Epic Elite	Giant	Ogre
Maelstrom Mephit ^{( view • edit )}	♦8Normal ♥11Hard ♠14Elite ●♦22Epic Normal ●♠45Epic Elite	Air Outsider	Mephit
Master Myr'dril ^{( view • edit )}	♦12Normal ♥14Hard ♠17Elite ●♦24Epic Normal ●♠50Epic Elite	Elf	Drow Elf
Minotaur Page ^{( view • edit )}	♦7Normal ♥9Hard ♠12Elite ●♦16Epic Normal ●♠34Epic Elite	Monstrous Humanoid	Minotaur
Minotaur Spectator ^{( view • edit )}	♦6Normal ♥10Hard ♠13Elite ●♦11Epic Normal ●♠17Epic Elite	Monstrous Humanoid	Minotaur
Mudwallow Ogre Mage ^{( view • edit )}	●♠45Epic Elite	Giant	Ogre
Mudwallow Ogre ^{( view • edit )}	♦6Normal ♥9Hard ♠12Elite ●♠45Epic Elite	Giant	Ogre
Paragon Kobold Shaman ^{( view • edit )}	♦8Normal ♥20Hard ♠25Elite ●♦22Epic Normal ●♠45Epic Elite	Reptilian	Kobold
Troll Enforcer ^{( view • edit )}	♦7Normal ♥9Hard ♠12Elite ●♠45Epic Elite	Giant	Troll
Troll Gladiator ^{( view • edit )}	♦8Normal ♥9Hard ♠12Elite	Giant	Troll

Skill DCs