Torghast, Tower of the Damned

Torghast, Tower of the Damned
TTD
	; Art of Torghast
Location	Center of the Maw
Instance info
Type	Infinite dungeon
Advised level	60
Player limit	1-5

This article is about the Shadowlands feature. For the Scourge structure in the Ghostlands, see Tower of the Damned. For the quest of the same name, see [58-60] 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.^[1]

History

Torghast: the dark one's seat of power is a place devoid of hope or redemption. Each floor that rises into the endless abyss is more vile and cruel than the last. To climb that tower is to ascend deeper into despair.^[2]

Once, the Jailer kept only the most dangerous souls in the cosmos confined in this eternal prison. Now, some of Azeroth's greatest heroes are trapped here, and you'll need to rescue them from the Jailer's tower before he expends their very souls.^[1]

Gaining access and storyline

Baine captured in Torghast — Baine, captured

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 [60] 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.

[60] The Highlord Calls
[60] Into Torghast
[60] The Search for Baine
[60] Prison of the Forgotten
[60] Deep Within
[60] Reawakening
[60] A Damned Pact
[60] A Grave Chance
[60] The Weak Link
- Optional side chain to unlock Runecrafting:
[60] Ashes of the Tower, [60] The Final Pieces, One of: [60] The Vessels of the Thread, [60] The Vessels of Leather and Bone, [60] The Vessels of Metal, [60] The Vessels of Jewels

The subject of this section was removed from World of Warcraft in patch 9.1.0.

Basic 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/stamina) 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

File:WorldMap-Torghast Entrance.jpg

Map of Torghast's antechamber^[3], entered by Portal to Torghast in Ve'nari's Refuge.

Torghast level selection — The layer selection interface for Coldheart Interstitia

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 six 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 six-floor layer. Floors have the following pattern:

Baseline enemy set with a floor boss
Stronger enemy set with a floor boss
Break room, no enemies, a broker vendor
Even stronger enemy set with a floor boss
Strongest enemy set with a floor boss
Broker vendor and layer boss

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 launch, higher layers were locked behind a weekly gate:

Week	Layers
1	1-3
2	n/a
3	4-6
4	7-8

Players must complete a run on any given layer to unlock the next. The layer-unlocking carries over between the six primary wings. For instance, 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.

As an example of the difficulty scaling, for a solo DPS-specced player, a Mawsworn Sentry has the following health values:

Layer	Floor
Layer	1 & 2	4	5
1	6,552	8,190	9,828
2	8,181	10,226	12,272
3	9,433	11,792	14,150
4	10,877	13,596	16,315
5	12,541	15,676	18,811
6	14,459	18,074	21,689

Soul remnants

thumb|Bound Soul Remnant

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.

Soul Remnant's Blessing — The Soul Remnant grants you its blessing, increasing Strength, Agility, and Intellect by 1%. Untimed buff. Stacks

Soulbound Armaments — Equipping the armaments increases your critical damage and healing by 10% and Haste by 10%. 3 minute buff. Stacks 5 times

Such souls include:

Two Soul Cages holding Tormented Soul Remnants
Partially-Infused Soul Remnant
Boiling Soul Remnant
Heavily Bound Soul Remnant

The Jailer's Chains

Broker Ve'ken refuge — Broker Ve'ken's refuge

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:

The Jailer's Chains — The Jailer's chains prevent Equipment, Talent and Specialization swapping.

Refuge of the Damned — You may change your Equipment, Talents and Specialization while in this area. Enemies have a harder time detecting you. Suppresses the effects of Torment of the Tower and The Jailer's Chains.

Phantasma and brokers

[Phantasma] is the Torghast-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 six 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

Anima powers

Anima Hoard - Choice — A choice of 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]: [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.

Deaths

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.

Soul ash

Ash and cinders
Layer	Ash	Cinders
1	180	0
2	150 (330)	0
3	130 (460)	0
4	105 (565)	0
5	90 (655)	0
6	75 (730)	0
7	70 (800)	0
8	60 (860)	170
9	55 (915)	60 (230)
10	45 (960)	40 (270)
11	40 (1000)	40 (310)
12	30 (1030)	40 (350)

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 legendary 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 305 Soul Ash from the wing boss, as seen in the table to the right. Afterwards, should the player clear layer 4 of the same wing, they will come up with 70 more Soul Ash.

By virtue of two wings being available each week, should players manage to full-clear both wings they will gain 1140 Soul Ash each week.

Torments

Starting in layer three, 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 +25% health on floor six. Higher layers start with additional stacks of the buff. So on layer five, the first floor will have three stacks. Torments include:

Torment: Eye of Skoldus — Skoldus' Eye is upon the target, calling forth Mawsworn Seekers every 40 sec while the target is not in combat. These minions have 10% increased health. This effect stacks.
Torment: Fracturing Forces — The Fracture Chambers seeks out new prey, calling forth a Mawsworn Shadestalker every 30 sec while the target is not in combat. These minions have 10% increased health. This effect stacks.
Torment: Soulforge Heat — Oppressive heat from the Soulforges inflicts 1% of the target's maximum health in Fire damage every 5 sec. This effect stacks.
Torment: Breath of Coldheart — The empowering breath of the Coldheart Interstitia increases enemy maximum health by 5%. This effect stacks.
Torment: Mort'regar's Echoes — Remnants of Mort'regar increase enemy Magic damage done by 3%. This effect stacks.
Torment: Might of the Upper Reaches — The might of the Upper Reaches increases enemy Physical damage done by 3%. This effect stacks.

Ve'nari upgrades

Ve'nari, at her refuge in the Maw sells some permanent upgrades to a few mechanics in Torghast, as a form of meta-progression. They require [Stygia] gathered from the Maw and higher reputation standings with her:

Ve'nari
Reputation	Item	Cost	Purpose
Apprehensive	[Vessel of Unfortunate Spirits]	527	Torghast upgrade (death)
Apprehensive	[Extradimensional Pockets]	800	Torghast upgrade (obleron armaments)
Tentative	[Bangle of Seniority]	1135	Torghast upgrade (broker powers)
	[Maw-Touched Miasma]	230	Torghast Mawrat skill
	[Sticky-Fingered Skeletal Hand]	210	Torghast lock bypass
Ambivalent	[Ritual Prism of Fortune]	1025	Torghast upgrade (anima powers)
Ambivalent	[Phantasmic Infuser]	3760	Torghast upgrade (phantasma)
Cordial	[Loupe of Unusual Charm]	1330	Torghast upgrade (broker powers)
Cordial	[Rank Insignia: Acquisitionist]	1575	Torghast upgrade (broker powers)
Appreciative	[Possibility Matrix]	1525	Torghast upgrade (anima hoard)

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 the baseline version of Torghast.

Enemies include:

Fracture Chambers

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.

Bone Shrapnel — Shatter on death, inflicting X Physical damage to all players within 8 yds and increasing Physical damage taken by 20% for 4 sec. This effect stacks.

Enemies include:

Soulforges

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.

Soulbound Armaments — Equipping the armaments increases your critical damage and healing by 10% and Haste by 10%. 3 minute buff. Stacks 5 times

Enemies include:

Coldheart Interstitia

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

Enemies include:

Mort'regar

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 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.

Twisting Corridors

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.

Completing specified Twisting Corridors layers will grant cosmetic rewards:

Layer 2: Pet [Death Seeker]
Layer 4: Toy [Helm of the Dominated]
Layer 6: Title <Spirestalker>
Layer 8: Mount [Corridor Creeper]

Bosses

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 [58-60] Torghast, Tower of the Damned 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 legendary items over the course of the expansion.

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:

NPC	Bonus objective	Follower quest
Ashraka	[60B] Ashraka's Intelligence	[60] Champion: Ashraka
Ayeleth	[60] Ayeleth's Hunger	Champion: Ayeleth the Deprived
Blisswing	[60] Blisswing's Rescue	[60] Champion: Blisswing
Calix	[60] Help Calix find Amethia
Chalkyth	[60] Chalkyth's Saber	[60] Champion: Chalkyth
Croman	[60B] The Riddle of Death	[60] Champion: Croman
Dug Gravewell	[60] Dug's Missing Shovel	Champion: Dug Gravewell
Duskleaf	[60] Duskleaf's Revenge	[60] Champion: Duskleaf
Gallath	[60] Gallath's Bell
Gorgelimb		[60] Champion: Gorgelimb
Hala	[60] Hala's Sword	Champion: Hala
Indigo	[60] Help Indigo find Penthia
Indri the Treesinger	[60] Indri's Flute
Ispiron	[60B] Spare Parts	Champion: Ispiron
Kaletar	[60] Kaletar's Freedom	Champion: Kaletar the Mender
Karynmwylyann	[60] Karynmwylyann's Roots	[60] Champion: Karynmwylyann
Kythekios	[60] Kythekios' Memory Stone	Champion: Kythekios
Lloth'wellyn	[60] Lloth'wellyn's Breakthrough	[60] Champion: Lloth'wellyn
Meatball	[60B] Meatball's Revenge	[60] Champion: Meatball
Moriaz the Red	[60] Help Moriaz find Buttons
Molako	[60] Molako's Freedom	Champion: Molako
Nerith Darkwing	[60] Nerith's Vengeance	Champion: Nerith Darkwing
Bloodletter Phantoriax	[60] Phantoriax's Warsword
Rattlebag	[60] Rattlebag's Lost Armor	Champion: Rattlebag
Renavyth	[60] Renavyth's Medallion
Sawn	[60B] Help Sawn find Varrik
Stonehuck	[60] Stonehuck's Sinstone	Champion: Stonehuck
Talethi	[60B] Talethi's Desire	[60] Champion: Talethi
Telethakas	[60] Telethakas' Revenge	Champion: Telethakas
Teliah	[60] Teliah's Stolen Spear	Champion: Teliah
Thela Soulsipper	[60] Thela's Memory Stone	[60] Champion: Thela Soulsipper
Velkein	[60B] Velkein's Blade	[60] Champion: Velkein
Assembler Xertora	[60] Xertora's Construct	Champion: Xertora
Yira'lya		[60] Champion: Yira'lya

Achievements

Wings
- [Skoldus Hall]
- [Fracture Chambers]
- [The Soulforges]
- [Coldheart Interstitia]
- [Mort'regar]
- [The Upper Reaches]
- Twisting Corridors
  1. Twisting Corridors: Level 1
  2. Twisting Corridors: Level 2
  3. Twisting Corridors: Level 3
  4. Twisting Corridors: Level 4
  5. Twisting Corridors: Level 5
  6. Twisting Corridors: Level 6
  7. Twisting Corridors: Level 7
  8. Twisting Corridors: Level 8
Runecarver
- [Legendary Accord]
Phantasma
- [For the Hoarder!]
Other

Notes

As shown in the Shadowlands cinematic, the spire of Torghast points directly at the spire of Icecrown Citadel, implying a connection between the two structures. Moreover, according to the Shadowlands presentation at BlizzCon, Thorghast's interior also "definitely calls upon the architecture that we saw in Icecrown Citadel, and elsewhere",^[4] and concept art for Torghast directly describes it as the source of Icecrown Citadel architecture.^[5]
Both Frostmourne and the Helm of Domination were made at the Forge of Domination^[6] within Torghast.^[5]
Some of the wing names have small references.
- Skoldus Hall is likely a reference to the Norse norn Skuld, whose name means "debt"
- Coldheart Interstitia is likely a reference to the myocardial interstitium of the heart, whose damage is common in all heart disease.
- Mort'Regar could be based on the Latin words mors and rex, from which we derive words like mortal and regal respectively, and thus could mean Death King.