| Name | Cabal For One Quest Guide |
| Category | Quest |
Gianthold is currently the most happening place in DDO. Side quests in the area give out very nice loot and enough XP to level your toons in a few hours. Of course, there's the need to collect ancient relics to get to the pre-raid, and subsequently the Reaver Raid. One of the quests known to be a source of Elven relics is "A Cabal For One". It's a level 13 quest that lets you fight your way through hordes of different types of Hobgoblins. At every turn, you have encounters that can get really ugly if Crowd Control is not quickly put in place.
GETTING THERE
To get to the Hobgoblin Encampment Entrance, you will have to enter the Ruins of Gianthold and jump to your left and take the northeast route. There is chance you will encounter Gold Wizard Concordes en route to the encampment. You will see on the map where exactly you need to go as it is marked with a golden cup, signifying that it is a quest area. The quest is automatically bestowed when you reach the quest entrance. Note, however, that there is a big fight involving Fire Giants, Hobgoblins and Gold Wizard Concordes just a stone's throw away from the entrance. They all hit pretty hard. Crowd Control will make things run a little more smoothly. Casters and clerics in the party should not have to worry about using their spell points as there's a shrine outside the quest entrance.
There's another way to get to Hobgoblin Encampment and that's by teleporting to the Stormeye Encampment. You can only do so if you have successfully completed the Prison of the Planes quest. Either route you choose, you will face the mobs at the quest entrance. The shrine resets after five minutes, so you can use it before starting the quest.
PREPARATION
The creatures you will face in the quest are mainly Hobgoblins. They are Cloven Jaw Warlords, Arzag-Khor Shamans, Cloven Jaw Scouts, Cloven Jaw Veterans, and Arzag-Khor Loremasters. Glacier Wolves will also make several appearance in the quest. These wolves will hit you with cold spells as well as trip you. The casters and Shamans are the deadliest in the pack, so the faster you take them down, the smoother the run will be.
Greater Hobgoblin bane, Axiomatic, and Pure Good weapons work well in this quest. Paralyzing weapons will definitely slow the hobgoblins down and make for a good secondary crowd control tactic. Note that the fighting in the quest happens every so often, at every corner and in each of the rooms. As for Crowd Control spells, Otto's Sphere of Dancing, Solid Fog, Blade Barrier and Symbol of Persuasion work. Another great tactic is to Charm several hobgoblins so that they will fight for you. This works well because these hobgoblins hit pretty hard, and if they fight alongside you, that means they can take down other uncharmed hobgoblins in no time. Using this tactic has a downside when the charm effect wears off. It could mean a swift death for the Wizard or Sorcerer who cast the Charm Monster spell.
Hobgoblin casters are known to cast Glitterdust, Searing Light, and Sleet Storm. It's best to have Freedom of Movement and True Seeing. Greater Heroism, Barkskin and Stoneskin will keep you alive a little longer even when mobbed by nasty hobgoblins. Also, these hobgoblins cast displacement on themselves, so you can only hit them after so many attempts.
It would be ideal to bring in a Wizard or Sorcerer (for Crowd Control) and a Rogue with high search and disable device skills for the trapped chest early in the quest. Clerics will have to use some offensive spells like Comet Trip and Holy Smite to add to Crowd Control just because the mobs can be too overwhelming when they corner you and your party. For quick hobgoblin death, Phantasmal Killer and Finger of Death are the spells to use.
WALKTHROUGH
Upon entering the quest, buff up with Fire, Acid, Cold resists as well as True Seeing, Freedom of Movement, Greater Heroism and other buffs that you would normally put on you and other party members. After buffing, head down the straight path which leads to your first Hoblgoblin encounter. There are about 6 Hobgoblins (Scouts, Veterans, Loremasters) that will try to stop you as you turn right. Crowd Control is not yet needed at this point as the Hobgoblins are easy to take down. After silencing them, a party member should talk to Gardak Bruntsmash.
Gardak will ask for your help. According to him, King Bendix thinks that the Reaver prophecy is a hoax and thus ordered all hobgoblins to evacuate the premises immediately. However, a group of Arzag-Khor conspirators do not agree with King Bendix. As such, they want to kill the King and leave the hobgoblins to fight with the Stormreaver. Gardak promises to leave Gianthold if he conspirators are dealt with. As a sign of goodwill, Gardak promised to disable all the traps in the Hobgoblin Lair. And with that, you give your word that you will extend your help so that they would depart Gianthold as soon as possible. After talking to Gardak, he will then go to a secret tunnel, not to be seen for a little while. You can then proceed to the closed door, which leads to more Hobgoblin encounters.
Moving north, you have to clear the area of hobgoblins with Glacier Wolves. Casters will have to start placing Solid Fog and Wall of Fire to control the hobgoblins. These encounters will go on. If you keep moving north, you will have to take left turn leading to stairs. There will several hobgoblins here too. At the end is gate that can be opened from the other side if you have high enough jump skill. However, you can head right to find a doorway leading to that very same room. Before opening the door, put Solid Fog and Otto's Sphere of Dancing as there will be hobgoblins and Glacier Wolves that will immediately attack once you open the door. There is also a named Hobgoblin called Olos Norbac (CR 16). He casts Sleet Storm, among other things. There is also one spear-throwing Hobgoblin atop the ledge near the far right wall. Range him as it will take a while to get to where he's at.
There is a secret door on the wall that houses a trapped chest. This is one nasty spike trap that come from up top, on the sides, and several that slants inward. What's more, there is a cold trap that can render you dead almost immediately. Only a rogue (or those with evasion) can evade these traps. The DC for the trap currently stands at 61. So, a rogue with a really high search, open lock and disable device is the only way to get to that chest. Otherwise, proceed to the next room.
The door will lead you to the closed gate you've previously seen. There will be a lot of hobgoblins in this hallway, being supported by wolves. Crowd Control is a must. Without it, one member can get major aggro that can lead to a party wipe. Always let one person draw aggro and lead the mobs to the carefully placed Solid Fog, Otto's, Web, Blade Barrier, etc. There will be several encounters along the hallway until you reach the path that splits to the left and right. Taking the right turn will lead you to a room where the shrine is. A hobgoblin named Maksin together with his band of hobgoblins will give you a good fight. It's not necessary to use the shrine now. The important thing is to clear it so that when the time comes to use the shrine, there won't be any more problems. Mark the shrine on your map for future reference. Note that this is the only shrine in the quest. You can always recall to use the shrine outside, that is if you don't mind losing some XP.
Taking the left side of the split will lead to similar Hobgoblin encounters. You will find displaced hobgoblins atop a pedestal shooting spears at you. There's a ladder you can use to get to where they are, or if you have a high Jump, you can easily get to it. A named hobgoblin called Kivol will cast Glitterdust and Burning Blood. He also heals other hobgoblins so it can get a bit frustrating. This room will have the same layout as the next couple of rooms you will need to clear. One is to the north end. There are ladders on each side, which leads to two more rooms up top. Just always place Solid Fog, Otto's, Web (or any other Crowd Control spells) on both doors. The two named bosses on each room are Vokur and Mikahi. The encounter is very similar to Kivol and his cohorts.
When all rooms are cleared and all named bosses are killed, you can head back to the main hallway until you get to the steel door that leads to a short hallway. This door will automatically open and you will be greeted by a set of hobgoblins (with displacement). The door will not open if there are areas that are not cleared. After killing the hobgoblins, proceed to the stairs that lead to the next closed door and prepare for the final fight. Behind this door is King Bendix, Gardak (yes, the hobgoblin who you talked to at the beginning), and a bunch of hobgoblins and healers. Before opening the door, place several layers of Solid Fog and Otto's Sphere of Dancing. DO NOT use Blade Barrier this time. This is because the Hobgoblins sometimes cast their own Blade Barriers. There's no way to tell which one is the friendly Blade Barrier if your Cleric casts one. Have one tank draw aggro and pull them to the fog. Kill the healers first because they do a good job of healing King Bendix. Even though King Bendix is only CR 17, if he regenerates fast, it'll be very tough to kill him. Tanks will have to do most of the damage-dealing on King Bendix as he usually saves on Phantasmal Killer and Finger of Death. A Maximized Wall of Fire will help speed up the King's death, but that alone will not be enough. It has to be a team effort to take him down. You can focus your attention to Gardak once King Bendix is slain. After killing both bosses, you can loot the chest next to the throne. There is another chest just on the left corner of the room. Even if you don't get good loot, you can at least get an Elven Relic.
Finish out and head back to Gianthold and speak to Darsak for your end rewards. He can be found standing next to Jorgundal ar'Grund just a few steps away from the tavern.
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