| Name | Desecrated Temple of Vol Quest Guide |
| Category | Quest |
Vampires are one of the toughest creatures to fight against in DDO. If you have done the level 9 quest called The Church and the Cult, you have an idea how tough they can be, especially since they are able to regenerate fast. So if the tanks' damage-dealing efforts are not enough, it's up to the casters and the clerics to do the job. With the release of Module 5: The Accursed Ascension, players will now have to deal with stronger, meaner, and more annoying Vampires. They lurk at the Orchard of Macabre and have come to wander around the Desecrated Temple of Vol. The said place is also the name of a new level 14 quest at The Necropolis.
BACKGROUND
In a dream, Holton Kisane saw Vol and one of the High Priests. The High Priest is said to be buried beneath the Desecrated Temple of Vol. If Holton is to free this High Priest, and is proven he is worthy, then Vol's chosed would aid in the battle against the Black Abbot. The problem is that Sir Rohine Stiedra did not believe Holton and refused to release him from his post. That's why Holton is asking you to go to the Desecrated Temple and find the High Priest.
PREPARATION
The Temple is filled with different types of creatures, including Clay Golems, Shadows, Quells, Maruts, Bats, Vampires, and Wheeps. You will need Deathward to avoid negative levels. Firewall works well on most of these creatures. The Wheeps hit pretty hard so try to not get their aggro if you are not a tank (or have low hit points). It's also important to have Fire, Cold, and Electric Resistance. It won't hurt to cast Freedom of Movement a well because of the Acid Fog being cast by Quells. There are also blade traps, flaming darts and closing doors. With that, you will want to bring a cleric, casters, tanks and a rogue. It's pretty much a standard party makeup, but any other combination will work as long as you have the necessary buffs, resistances, as well as firepower.
The final fight will involve fighting with Vampires. Firewall has always been an effective spell and it ensures that even when the vampires turn into their bat state, they will get hit when they transform back into Vampires. Of course, there's also the Cleric's Heal spell, which deal as much damage, especially when Maximized or Empowered. The idea here is to take them down fast enough so that the vampires don't get the chance to regenerate.
GUIDE
Upon entering, you will see that the only way to get to the other side of the temple is to jump down and across the platforms. Make sure you have a feather fall item on. When you land, you will see the seal made by the Black Abbot. The catacombs are sealed by two intricately locked boxes on each side, together with a lever. You need to get the keys to the Abbot's seal. If you pull the levers, doors will appear on each side of the hall. At the end of the hall is a chest that holds the gold key that will open one of the locked boxes. Before you get to the end of the hall, you will have to get past blade traps and flaming darts that come shooting from end to end. They are pretty easy to dodge, but to save on healing and lessening the risk of dying from the said traps, you can either ask the Rogue to disable the traps then proceed, or send anyone with high AC or with evasion to go past the traps and get the key from the chest. Other party members can just wait by the seal.
The other passage is similar, but you have to go for a short swim to get there. Once you get the keys, head back to the seal and open the lock boxes on either side. The seal or the barrier will disappear enabling you to drop down. Don't forget your feather fall item as it is quite a long drop.
Clay Golems will be waiting for you at the bottom. Disintegrate and Adamantine or Transmuting weapon work well on these golems. You can also cast Web to slow them down further. While they are quite is to take down, the real tough fight will be against the three Quells, one of which is the Seal Keeper. It's not advisable for your Wizard or Sorcerer to cast Firewall as it might cause confusion. The Quells are known to cast Firewalls, Otto's Irresistible Dance and Acid Fog. So if you can hold off casting these spells, it will be beneficial. And let everyone know that it's not your firewall so they can quickly step back and avoid more damage.
After defeating the Quells, the hallway leading to Vampires will open up. If you get to the middle hall, you will see on your map that there's a way to the left and to the right. And each will have a path that further divides to the right and left side. The party can choose to go to each side one at a time, killing a bunch of bats, vampires, wheeps, and shadow. If you do it this way, make sure that you don't break urns. If you do, Shadows will spawn. Also, there are gates that will close behind you and they are random. There's no telling which gate closes.
The other way is using the pulling technique. Have a buffed-up tank pull all the bats, wheeps and vampires in the middle hall where Firewalls, Blade Barriers, Solid Fog are awaiting the creatures. This is proven to have saved spellcasters and clerics from mana drain. So this is usually the strategy employed in this part of the quest. After you kill everything, go to the hall where the High Priest is.
But before you finish the quest, there's an optional room where a chest spawns after killing some Maruts. If you head to the eastern end of the hallway, just across from where the shrine is, you will find a portal that will lead you the Maruts. The room is dark and filled with fogs and hulking Maruts. Firewall works on these Maruts so quickly cast a couple of them before the Maruts start hitting hard and fast. If someone dies in that room, he or she will not be able to get the chest. And once the Maruts are defeated, the entire party will be teleported back to the Temple where a chest now awaits. So make sure that the dead party member is resurrected before the Maruts or killed, otherwise the dead person will have to recall to the tavern and make his or her way back into the portal then to the chest room.
After looting the chest, head back to the Vampire hall. Don't talk to the High Priest just yet. Lay down as much Firewall and Blade Barrier as you can because there will be bodyguards that will come attacking. It's much easier this way rather than hacking and slashing. Once the crowd control is put in place, talk to the High Priest to start the final battle. The creatures will be burned to the ground with all the Firewalls and you can complete the quest in under 20 minutes.
Upon completion, an end chest will spawn. There's a chance you will get one of the Sigil pieces. You need 8 different Sigil pieces to start the pre-raid for the Black Abbott raid. The usual Sigil piece that drops in this quest is the Right Wing. The chest also drops a named item, if you get lucky.
Finish out and talk to Horton to get your end reward.
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