Torghast, Tower of the Damned

Torghast, Tower of the Damned is an infinite dungeon in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands that can be played by 1 to up to 5 players. It sits at the center of the Maw. Torghast is an endlessly replayable, ever-changing dungeon that can be challenged alone or in a group. Each run will differ, and adventurers will need to explore cautiously, as death comes at a terrible cost. Advance through Torghast's unpredictable challenges to unlock anima powers to enhance damage output or survivability. The goal is Soul Ash, used to craft the legendary weapons and armor that will help restore balance to the Shadowlands.

History
Torghast is the seat of power for the Jailer, the ruler of the Maw. It serves as an eternal prison for the most dangerous souls in the cosmos and is one of the most dangerous towers in all of existence. Like the Maw itself, the power of Domination is woven into Torghast's very fabric, and the Jailer's malevolence permeates everything within it. It is a place devoid of all hope or redemption. Each floor that rises into the endless abyss is crueler than the last; to climb Torghast is to ascend deeper into despair. The tower's interior defies all traditional logic: its corridors are vast and seemingly endless, to the point where one could spend an eternity wandering them, and they are constantly shifting and changing according to the will of the Jailer. The deeper one journeys into Torghast, the closer one also gets to the Jailer himself.

Gaining access and storyline
Torghast is unlocked through a quest chain, started by Bolvar Fordragon in Oribos. Max-level players must first pledge themselves to one of the Covenants and complete the first chapter of their covenant campaign, at which point they will be offered The Highlord Calls, a breadcrumb back to Bolvar in Oribos.

For alts, access to Torghast is on an account-wide basis. Unlock access on one character and all subsequent characters will gain access after reaching level 60.

The campaign covers freeing some of the characters that were left behind and unlocking the Runecarver. Quests are generally offered on a weekly basis, or on a 20-hour time gate for players who are catching up. If Bolvar does not immediately offer a follow-up quest, check back with him 20 hours later.

Tower mechanics
A normal Torghast run is comprised of six floors, with increasingly powerful enemies on higher floors.

Found or dropped anima cells unlock anima powers, which can drastically change how runs are played out, by unlocking some temporary abilities.

Souls can be freed, and will stack an untimed +1% primary stat (agility/intellect/strength) buff for the duration of the run.

Friendly NPCs will offer optional side quests near the beginning of a floor, asking players to find another friendly NPC or an object near the end of a floor, or kill a specific enemy, and will award an anima cache on completion.

Treasure chests can occasionally be found, and will need to be opened with three keys found elsewhere in the floor, or via solving lever puzzles.

Wings, layers, and floors


Players first arrive in the Torghast Antechamber, which provides access to all of the wings. Torghast is divided into six primary wings, with eight layers of five floors per layer. All wings play similarly, but each wing has its own twist on a mechanic.

A normal Torghast run is of a single five-floor layer. Floors have the following pattern:
 * 1) Baseline enemy set with a floor boss
 * 2) Stronger enemy set with a floor boss
 * 3) Break room, no enemies, a broker vendor
 * 4) Strongest enemy set with a floor boss
 * 5) Broker vendor and layer boss

Before patch 9.1, layers had six floors, with two floors of enemies before and after the break room on floor three. Each floor raises the difficulty incrementally by increasing enemy health, the mix of enemies spawned, the size of spawn packs, and the damage enemies deal. Higher layers raise the difficulty even further.

At expansion and patch 9.1 launch, higher layers were locked behind a weekly gate:

Players must complete a run with a high enough score on any given layer to unlock the next. The layer-unlocking carries over between the six primary wings. For example, once players complete layer five in Skoldus Halls, they will be able to attempt layer six in Skoldus or any of the other wings, like Coldheart Interstitia. However, the layer-unlocking does not apply to the Twisting Corridors, which keeps track of its own layer unlocks.

Blizzard suggests the following item levels to complete layers of the normal six wings of Torghast, and of the Twisting Corridors (TC):

Scoring
Instead of a binary pass-fail measure of success &mdash; either the layer boss died or the party ran out of lives &mdash; patch 9.1 introduces a numerical scoring mechanic, and ties layer unlocks to getting a good enough score. Higher scores grant more Tower Knowledge, which can then be used at The Box of Many Things to unlock permanent perks.

The points-based score is both time- and completion-driven. Each 40 points earned adds one star to the score. Complete a run under a par time (much like in Mythic+), then increase the score by quickly killing enemies to stay empowered, breaking ashen phylacteries, looting chests, freeing souls, and completing bonus objectives. "Completion" is a large portion of the overall score, and to five-star a run players will need to kill/save/loot just about everything. After defeating the layer boss, the score display will appear and Tower Knowledge will be granted.

The score is also tied to layer unlocks, and players must get four or five stars in a run to unlock the next layer. Get a five-star run to earn the achievement A Taste of Perfection. Five-star runs on layers 9 and above will grant access to the Adamant Vaults once unlocked from The Box of Many Things. Achieve flawless runs on layer 12 of all six wings to earn the achievement Flawless Master.

The bulk of the score comes from:
 * Completion (up to 100)
 * Time (up to 50)
 * Empowered bonus

Other tasks/goals/accomplishments will add or subtract points:
 * Annihilator (+20) - Boss killed in under 20 seconds
 * Collector (+10) - Collected at least 30 Maw Powers
 * Daredevil (+10) - 2 Elites killed within 10 sec
 * Deaths (-20 each)
 * Executioner (+10) - Boss killed in under 40 seconds
 * Highlander (+15) - No duplicate Anima Powers
 * Hoarder (+10) - Exited with 500 Phantasma
 * Hunter (+15) - No enemies reached 4 stacks of Unnatural Power
 * Pauper (+10) - No Epic Anima Powers
 * Pillager (+5) - 90% of Ashen Phylacteries Destroyed
 * Plunderer (+5 each) - Opened treasure chests
 * Reinforced (+10) - Collected 5 of one Obleron power
 * Rescuer (+5 each) - Assisted a denizen of Torghast
 * Robber (+5) - Robbed a Broker
 * Savior (+10) - All souls freed
 * Speed Demon (+30) - Completed within 60% of par time
 * Speedy (+15) - Completed within par time
 * Trapmaster (+10) - No trap damage

One other change in patch 9.1 is that layer bosses will not reset to full health after a wipe, and there is no longer a hard death limit. Players can die as much as they like, though their score will suffer, but as long as they eventually kill the boss at the end, they will still get their Soul Ash and/or Soul Cinders.

Permanent upgrades
So that players are constantly improving their odds of success, they will earn currency (both within the tower and without) that can be used to permanently upgrade their power in the tower.

The Box of Many Things
In patch 9.1, players will unlock The Box of Many Things, which serves as a Torghast-specific talent tree. Complete runs to earn Tower Knowledge, then feed that knowledge to the box to unlock permanent perks. Such perks include:

The Box of Many Things does not apply in the Twisting Corridors.

Players will gain Tower Knowledge based on the layer they complete and the star rating they earn:

Ve'nari


Ve'nari, at her refuge in the Maw exchanges Stygia for some permanent upgrades to a few mechanics in Torghast. The non-consumable items are account-wide, and only need to be purchased on one character.

Upgrades include:

Soul ash and cinders
Once per week, layer bosses will drop Soul Ash, with the amount increasing based on the layer cleared. Soul ash is used by the Runecarver to make equipment, with a base (item level 190) item costing 1250 Soul Ash. Only the six normal wing bosses will drop Soul Ash - bosses in the Twisting Corridors or any quest-specific wings will not have any Ash to loot.

In an effort to not force players to run every layer in a wing, they can skip back to that layer in future runs. The end boss will drop all soul ash from lower layers. Thus, if players skip to layer three for their first run of a week, they will loot 460 Soul Ash from the wing boss, as seen in the table. Afterwards, should the player clear layer 4 of the same wing, they will come up with 105 more Soul Ash.

By virtue of two wings being available each week, should players manage to full-clear both wings they will gain 2080 Soul Ash each week through layer 12.

In patch 9.1, Soul Cinders will start dropping from the new layers 9-12. Cinders are used alongside soul ash to upgrade legendaries above item level 235. Additionally, layers that have already been cleared in a given week will drop a small portion of their soul ash on re-clears. For example, a layer six reclear is worth 146 ash. Furthermore, Soul Ash drop rate was increased by roughly 50%, so instead of getting 570 ash for clearing an eight, players will receive 860 instead.

Phantasma and brokers
Phantasma is the Torghast run-specific currency. Most mobs and ashen phylacteries will drop some Phantasma, which can then be traded in to brokers Ve'ken and Ve'nott on floors three and five for a selection of anima powers. Phantasma cannot be carried over between runs, and will be lost should players exit Torghast prematurely or end their runs normally after defeating the layer boss.

Brokers offer a selection of anima powers, and some special items, not all of which are available on each broker, including:
 * Plundered Anima Cell - spawns an anima cell
 * Ravenous Anima Cell - turns a non-elite enemy into a themed anima cell
 * Obscuring Essence Potion - removes a death from the counter
 * Blinding Smoke Capsules - throw it in an area to obscure it, allowing players to sneak past
 * Rejuvenating Siphoned Essence - a Torghast-specific rejuvenation potion
 * Fleeting Frenzy Potion - increases damage by 30% in combat, lasts for the duration of the combat

In layers nine and above, the brokers occasionally sell transmog cosmetic pieces and even toys if players have Stygia to spare for each, including:
 * Deathsworn's Sterling Shoulderguards
 * Sterling Blade-Tipped Spaulders
 * Sterling Impaler's Mantle
 * Sterling Ornamental Mantle
 * Sterling Shoulder-Shields
 * Sterling Shoulder Skewers
 * Sterling Skullwing Shoulders
 * Sterling Spike Fortress
 * Sterling Twin-Scythe Shoulders
 * Experimental Anima Cell

Anima powers
Anima powers are gained by interacting with anima caches that can be found scattered about, either just spawned out in the open, dropped by mobs, rewarded from completing bonus objectives, or found in treasure chests or selected ashen phylacteries. Each selected power will modify the rest of the run. Many powers can be stacked, increasing the effect of the power.

There are hundreds of unique anima powers. Common powers are available to all players (straight stat or health increases like Obleron Spikes, or general powers like Curious Miasma), while others are class- or spec- based (like Dimensional Blade (anima power): Blink through a Mawrat to kill it instantly and gain bonus Blink charges), and there are covenant-based powers as well (like Strigidium: your summoned steward can heal or buff you in combat).

Anima powers can also synergize with previously-selected anima powers. For instance, mages can select Everwarm Socks to move while under an Ice Block, then they can later choose Creeping Freeze, which freezes enemies that are near the mage while it moves when Ice Blocked.

Empowerment
In patch 9.1, part of the Torghast interface is the Empowerment bar. Fill the bar by slaying enemies, freeing souls, and breaking urns. Once the bar crosses the threshold, activate the ability using the bonus action:

The higher the bar is before players use it, the longer they will stay Empowered. The empowerment bar will reset to zero on deaths. Additionally, some The Box of Many Things perks modify the length of time players remain Empowered, or the Empowered effect:

Beyond that, some anima powers can be picked up during runs that trigger while players are Empowered, including:

Adamant Vaults


Unlocked via The Box of Many Things, players who five-gem a layer 9-12 Torghast run by scoring at least 200 points can choose to continue their run in the Adamant Vaults. The vaults consist of two floors, one regular floor with enemies and one boss floor with the traditional broker vendor. Defeating one of the following three possible bosses grants bonus Tower Knowledge: Vault Aegis, Troz'igal the Oppressor, or Vault Sentinel.

Torments and Blessings
Torments and blessings change up runs of Torghast.

9.0 Torments
Previously in all wings, but as of patch 9.1 only in the Twisting Corridors, wing-based torments will be added to the mix. The effect increases on every floor (with the exception of the break room on floor three). So, if an enemy has +5% health on floor 1, it will have +20% health on floor five. Higher layers start with additional stacks of the buff. So on layer five, the first floor will have three stacks. Torments include:

9.1 Torments
In patch 9.1, the torments system changes. Starting on layer six, players will be affected by at least one torment. These torments vary by day and by wing (that is, Skoldus Hall and Coldheart Interstitia will have different torments active each day), but they are shared across players. More torments will be unleashed concurrently on higher layers.

Players can spend Tower Knowledge to reduce the amount of Torments afflicted upon them:

Torments include:

One blessing and three torments have achievements attached to them. Earn all four blessing/torment-related achievements to earn the meta-achievement Master of Torment.

Blessings
Blessings are unlocked from The Box of Many Things in patch 9.1, and players can invest Tower Knowledge to gain up to three blessings per run:

Just like with Torments, they vary by day and by wing, but are the same for all players. At rank three, players will be awarded the achievement So Blessed.

Blessings include:

Soul remnants


Soul remnants are a common sight in Torghast - Once freed, they will give the last of their strength in the form of the buff Soul Remnant's Blessing, which increases agility/intellect/strength by 1% per soul saved in Torghast. The Soulforges wing has a special variant that instead can provide a stacking 10% crit damage/healing and 10% haste buff, but it only lasts for three minutes.



Such souls include:
 * Boiling Soul Remnant
 * Bound Soul Remnant
 * Heavily Bound Soul Remnant
 * Partially-Infused Soul Remnant
 * Tormented Soul Remnant
 * Unraveling Soul Remnant

The Jailer's Chains


Outside of very few exceptions, players are prevented from adjusting their equipment, talents, or specializations while on a run. The exceptions include at the entrance of the first floor, and near the broker on the third floor, who provides Refuge of the Damned:

Deaths
Until patch 9.1, players (or the party) are allotted a set amount of deaths per run, starting with five for solo players and scaling up to 15 for a party of five. These deaths are spread across the party, and not that each player has fifteen deaths each. Once the death counter reaches zero, the very next death will trigger a 30-second timer. Once that timer expires, The Tarragrue spawns at the beginning of the floor and slowly walks all the way to the exit.

The tarragrue will one-shot any players it comes across. Should the entire party die or the tarragrue reach the end of the floor, the run will end and the Jailer will eject players from the tower. Drop everything and get to the end of the floor to continue the run, but be warned that more deaths will spawn another tarragrue on the next floor.

In patch 9.1, The Tarragrue will be occupied by being a boss in the Sanctum of Domination raid, so the death counter mechanic will be removed in the tower. Deaths still negatively affect scoring, but there is no hard limit on deaths on any given run.

Wings
Initially, players must complete the tutorial wing, Arkoban Hall, then a selection of two wings are made available each week. Late in the primary quest line, players will unlock access to the Twisting Corridors, a special challenge mode wing, which is always accessible from then on.

Skoldus Hall


''Skoldus Hall is but one of Torghast's countless cell blocks. Warden Skoldus utilizes beasts, chains, and traps to torment his prisoners as well as those who intrude upon his domain.''

Skoldus Hall is the baseline version of Torghast.

Enemies include:
 * Mawsworn Archer
 * Mawsworn Guard
 * Mawsworn Interceptor
 * Mawsworn Seeker
 * Mawsworn Sentry
 * Mawsworn Shackler
 * Mawsworn Shadestalker
 * Mawsworn Ward

Fracture Chambers


''Within the Fracture Chambers, prisoners from across the Shadowlands have their bones endlessly broken and mended in a cruel cycle of torture. Release them so they might claim their vengeance.''

Full of necromancy and with a green theme, skeletal mobs in the Fracture Chambers, like Lumbering Creations or Skeletal Remains, explode when they die for a decent chunk of damage. Large packs of Skeletal Remains are notorious for this -- make sure to not kill them all point-blank, or the feedback may kill the player in return... Unlike exploding Mawrats, this damage only affects players so this cannot be used to clear out packs of enemies.

Enemies include:
 * Lumbering Creation
 * Mawsworn Acolyte
 * Mawsworn Archer
 * Mawsworn Disciple
 * Mawsworn Ritualist
 * Mawsworn Seeker
 * Mawsworn Sentry
 * Mawsworn Shackler
 * Mawsworn Shadestalker
 * Mawsworn Soulbinder
 * Mawsworn Soulweaver
 * Skeletal Remains

The Soulforges


''Doomed souls are brought to the Soulforges to be melted down into weapons and armor for the Jailer's army. Beware the rampant flames that burn within these falls.''

In the lava and fire-filled Soulforges, the Partially-Infused Soul Remnants found here have been partially bound into armor. Players can choose to finish the binding ritual, gaining a stacking +10% crit damage/healing and +10% haste buff for three minutes, or they can be freed as normal for the usual untimed 1% agility/intellect/strength buff.

Enemies include:
 * Blazing Elemental
 * Flameforge Enforcer
 * Flameforge Master
 * Forge Keeper
 * Mawsworn Firecaller
 * Mawsworn Flamecaller
 * Mawsworn Flametender
 * Mawsworn Guard
 * Mawsworn Seeker
 * Mawsworn Sentry
 * Mawsworn Ward

Coldheart Interstitia


''Suspended between the towering spires of Torghast, the Coldheart Interstitia is where the Mawsworn kyrian make their lair. Striking from above, they fling foolhardy interlopers into the darkness below.''

Think teal and Mawsworn kyrian in the Coldheart Interstitia. Watch out for the ambushers!

Enemies include:
 * Animated Prowler
 * Coldheart Ascendant
 * Coldheart Agent
 * Coldheart Ambusher
 * Coldheart Binder
 * Coldheart Guardian
 * Coldheart Javelineer
 * Coldheart Scout
 * Grand Automaton
 * Winged Automaton

Mort'regar
''Like the shifting and malformed terrain itself, the souls trapped within Mort'regar have lost all semblance of who they once were. The Jailer's forces subject them to necromantic experiments, transforming them into horrible monstrosities.''

In Mort'regar, the corpses of most mobs slowly spread Death Pools that do not despawn. Take care to avoid killing them in inconvenient spots. Additionally, Deadsoul Spirits cannot be fully killed, and will respawn after 30 seconds with 40% health.

Enemies include:
 * Deadsoul Drifter
 * Deadsoul Echo
 * Deadsoul Miscreation
 * Deadsoul Scavenger
 * Deadsoul Shade
 * Deadsoul Shadow
 * Deadsoul Shambler
 * Deadsoul Spirit
 * Deadsoul Stalker
 * Deadsoul Strider

The Upper Reaches


''The Upper Reaches are the domain of the Jailer's most devoted servants. Elite Mawsworn forces and their Venthyr allies patrol these halls and maintain their master's most powerful defenses.''

The Upper Reaches is the most prison-like wing of the tower. Fewer anima cells, ashen phylacteries, and freeable soul remnants are around, limiting the power gains as well. Many enemies from previous wings make an appearance.
 * Armed Prisoner
 * Deathspeaker
 * Imperial Curator
 * Imperial Duelist
 * Imprisoned Cabalist
 * Lord of Torment
 * Lumbering Creation
 * Mawsworn Darkcaster
 * Mawsworn Disciple
 * Mawsworn Endbringer
 * Mawsworn Guard
 * Mawsworn Interceptor
 * Mawsworn Ritualist
 * Mawsworn Seeker
 * Mawsworn Shackler
 * Mawsworn Soulbinder
 * Mawsworn Soulweaver
 * Prisonbreak Cursewalker
 * Prisonbreak Mauler
 * Runecarved Colossus
 * Skeletal Remains
 * Tower Sentinel

Twisting Corridors
''True to their name, the Twisting Corridors wind unpredictably throughout the entirety of Torghast's myriad cell blocks and are guarded by all manner of the Jailer's minions. Those intrepid enough to venture into its 18 floors seldom return.''

For players seeking cosmetic rewards, the Twisting Corridors will stitch together three wings of floors for a total of 18 floors (six per wing), with the usual break rooms on the third floor and a boss on the sixth. No Soul Ash will be found here. In a small concession to run time, floors are generally much smaller than in normal wing runs; usually a small or medium-sized room per floor. Twisting Corridor wings can be from any of the other six wings listed above, and it is possible two have two Corridor wings be of the same Torghast wing in a row (i.e. first wing is Skoldus Hall, second is Mort'regar, but third is Skoldus Hall again). The difficulty rises steadily within a given wing like normal, and jumps in difficulty between wings.

In Layer 3 and above, the standard torments start applying. Players will gain five stacks of a torment over the six floors of each layer, and that debuff will persist for the rest of the run. Should players wind up in the same wing again, the debuff will continue to stack.

Unlike the normal six wings, The Box of Many Things does not apply in the Twisting Corridors, and the 9.0 torments will remain active in patch 9.1.

Completing specified Twisting Corridors layers will grant cosmetic rewards:
 * Layer 2: Pet Death Seeker
 * Layer 4: Toy Helm of the Dominated
 * Layer 6: Title
 * Layer 8: Mount Corridor Creeper

Bosses

 * Warden Skoldus
 * Dark Aspirant Corrus
 * Arch-Suppressor Laguas
 * Watchers of Death
 * The Grand Malleare
 * Custodian Thonar
 * Warden of Souls
 * Decayspeaker
 * Observer Zelgar
 * Binder Baritas
 * Kosarus the Fallen
 * Synod
 * Writhing Soulmass
 * Gherus the Chained
 * Cellblock Sentinel
 * Goxul the Devourer

Quests
Players are directed to Torghast several times in the Shadowlands campaign. The first time is late in the Revendreth storyline when Prince Renathal, freed from a cage in the Maw sneaks himself, the Maw Walker, and his enchanted sword into Torghast during Torghast, Tower of the Damned (quest) to free some more allies.

Later, after players have joined their covenant, the second chapter of their covenant campaign will send them to Torghast multiple times to be introduced to the wings and to free some Azerothian champions. Additionally, they will unlock access to the Runecarver, who will create and upgrade items over the course of the expansion.

During the Chains of Domination campaign, players are directed into the tower to find Uther's soul fragment, taken from him when he was slain by Frostmourne.

Other notable inhabitants
Some notable characters have been captured, and part of the storyline is freeing them, including:



Captured souls and bonus objectives
Captured souls offer a bonus objective, and after completing it, can become the Maw Walker's follower in their covenant sanctum for Adventures. Players will eventually be able to come up with eight followers for their adventures - six covenant-bound and two neutral.

Additionally, there are a handful of frequent-flyer quest givers that the Maw Walker does not save -- they will continually reappear in Torghast.


 * 9.1 additions
 * , Ve'lor's Lost Parcel
 * , The Box of Many Things (quest)
 * , Missing Friend, Champion: Spore of Marasmius

Achievements

 * Wings
 * Touring Torghast
 * Traversing Torghast
 * Terror of Torghast
 * Skoldus Hall (achievement)
 * Fracture Chambers (achievement)
 * The Soulforges (achievement)
 * Coldheart Interstitia (achievement)
 * Mort'regar (achievement)
 * The Upper Reaches (achievement)
 * Twisting Corridors
 * Twisting Corridors: Layer 1
 * Twisting Corridors: Layer 2
 * Twisting Corridors: Layer 3
 * Twisting Corridors: Layer 4
 * Twisting Corridors: Layer 5
 * Twisting Corridors: Layer 6
 * Twisting Corridors: Layer 7
 * Twisting Corridors: Layer 8
 * Runecarver
 * The Forgotten One
 * It's Coming Back to Me...
 * Recollection Collection
 * Clearing the Fog (achievement)
 * Legendary Accord
 * Phantasma
 * Phanciful
 * Phantastic
 * Phanatical
 * For the Hoarder!
 * Other
 * Explosive Extermination
 * Extremely Ravenous
 * Gatekeepers of Torghast
 * 9.1 additions
 * Infiltrators
 * Torments and Blessings
 * Master of Torment
 * Avenge Me! (achievement)
 * Crowd Pleaser
 * No Doubt
 * Rampage (achievement)
 * The Box of Many Things
 * The Box of Many Things (achievement)
 * So Blessed
 * Many, Many Things
 * Scoring
 * A Taste of Perfection
 * Adamant Vaults (achievement)
 * Flawless Master
 * Flawless: Skoldus Hall
 * Flawless: Fracture Chambers
 * Flawless: The Soulforges
 * Flawless: Coldheart Interstitia
 * Flawless: Mort'regar
 * Flawless: Upper Reaches