Vault Of Heroes

General Information

Location

Editor's Notes

I have a bit of nostalgia for Vault of Heroes. It was the very first group dungeon I ever visited in the game, way back at launch. I was running past the front door and stopped to gawk at it and promptly received an invite from an enthusiastic pick up group. None of us had any quests for the place, we were one of 3 or 4 groups wandering around and we wiped once on the entrance and had to have one of the other groups clear the way for us so our naked little characters could scurry in to loot their tombstones. We fought our way to the top and jumped up and down on the throne and danced in the bonfire. We had an absolute blast.

The greatest strength of the Vault, the quest line, is also, perhaps, its greatest fault. It is a truly epic quest line that will carry you through a slave camp as well as an interval dungeon before taking you to the Vault. It finishes with a great scripted event that might even give you chills. And it all starts from an NPC that doesn't appear to offer any quests unless you actually talk to him. Having everyone in your group on the same stage of the quest series will likely require you to start the whole thing from the beginning.

The Vault is an interesting place and has a very complete backstory. Without knowing the backstory it will be rather mystifying to anyone trying to make sense of the place. Knowing it, however, gives you a sense of the history of each location as you explore and adds a great deal to the overall experience of the dungeon. There's a large two-part outdoor area, a side cave, crypts, a multi-layered center as well as a complex of military chambers. There's a lot to see here and you could spend a great deal of time simply exploring the place.

Itemization is good. The Vault has a number of drops; Nameds tend to drop the Rares while the Uncommon items drop pretty regularly from anything else. Looking at the item list seems to suggest that there is a full set of each type of armor available here and that we haven't quite uncovered all of them yet.

You'll need to dedicate some time if you intend to run the Vault quests from start to finish. Get a full group together to start with. Warm up on the Slave Camp quests, sharpen your coordination in the Orcbane Mine series and then take on the Vault. I'm guessing you'd need at least 4 hours for the whole thing but it will be one of the more memorable dungeon experiences you'll have had!

Dungeon Ratings

Overall Rating: A-
Layout: A-
Mob Placement: B
Mob Itemization: B+
Quest Quality: A
Quest Rewards: B-
Atmosphere: B
For more info on our dungeon rating system, please see this page.

Lore

Before The Orc Wars, the Lesser Giants built the Vault to house their dead heroes. Once the Orcs invaded, Halgar, the hero of the Varanjar, came to Rotham, the Lesser Giant King, and fought him to prove the worth of the Varanjar as allies. Impressed by his prowess, Rotham refrained from striking him down and the Lesser Giants accepted the Varanjar as allies. This part of the story is told as part of the quest series for Passage to Kortella.

Together the two races, joined soon after by the Vulmane, converted the Vault into a fortress, fortifying it and adding a foundry, Halgar's Hammer, which played an immense role in the war effort. Utilizing ore from the nearby Orcbane Mine, the weapons Halgar's Hammer provided were critical in the success of the three races in repelling the Orc invasion. After the war, the Lesser Giants and the Varanjar made a pact with the Vulmane to defend the Vault and Halgar's Hammer. This worked until the Bloodhowler Vulmane rebelled. The split severely reduced the Vault's defenses.

The nearby Broken Fang Clan of Gnolls took advantage of this weakness and invaded the Vault, taking control of it, the foundry and Orcbane Mine. Allying themselves with the Sons of Torsheim, a rebel group of Lesser Giants, the Broken Fang Clan holds the Vault, foundry and mine to this day and use it to back their growing slave trade.

Quests

Speak to Hreldgor T'jelad in Tahean's Vengeance to start this quest series. He won't have a quest icon indicator but will have a conversation option when spoken to. Hear him out and after he tells his story he'll offer the first of the Slave Camp quests. Hreldgor is a Lesser Giant with an orange mohawk and is dressed in lime green clothing. You should find him relatively easy to pick out of the crowd. With that outfit he is possibly even visible from the next chunk over.

The Slave Camp Series

Though these quests do not take you into Vault of Heroes they are the start of the questline that ultimately leads to Vault of Heroes.

[8]

Find Fedora

(Solo)

[10]

Keys to the Slaving Locks

(Solo)

[10]

Slay the Slavemaster

(Solo)

The Orcbane Mine Series

This questline is only available after completing the Slave Camp series of quests. Likewise, these quests do not take you into Vault of Heroes but are part of the quest chain that leads to Vault of Heroes. Rather, these take you to the nearby prereq dungeon, Orcbane Mines. See Orcbane Mine for all of the details on the Mines.

[10]

Initiate the Escape of the Slaves

(Group)

[10]

Collapse the Orcbane Mines

(Group)

The Vault of Heroes Series

The Vault of Heroes at Last! You must have completed the Slave Camp series and the Orcbane Mine series to obtain these quests.

[14]

Jarl of Torsheim

(Group)

[12]

Gnoll Commander

(Group)

Named Mobs

Vault of Heroes World Drops

The items listed here can drop from any mob in the Vault. Rare quality items primarily drop from named mobs whereas Uncommon quality items are drop from both named and, rarely, trash mobs in the Vault. Presumably these are all pieces created at Halgar's Hammer, the Vault foundry.

Plate Armor of the Vault

Scale Armor of the Vault

Chain Armor of the Vault

Cloth Armor of the Vault

Known Issues

None.

Source

Silky Venom wiki — http://wiki.silkyvenom.com/index.php/Vault_of_Heroes_(dungeon)