Torghast,
Tower of the Damned
Torghast, Tower of the Damned is a new game-mode in Shadowlands, which allows players to progress through a multi-floor, ever-changing dungeon. Each floor is randomly generated, with various enemies, NPCs, and challenges, ensuring your runs will never be the same.
Torghast has 6 wings with 6 floors each and an endless mode called Twisting Corridors.
You will farm the individual Torghast wings mainly for Soul Ash, a currency needed to forge Legendary items that can be used in the open world.
You will gain access to Torghast after completing an introductory questline in The Maw that revolves around Broker Ve'nari.
Access to Torghast is unlocked on an account-wide basis. Once you complete the introductory questline, an entrance to Torghast will appear at the far back of Ve'nari's Refuge.
As you queue up for Torghast, you will find yourself in the main room area with all the portals called the Torghast Antechamber or the Central Room. From here, you will be able to enter:
the individual 6 wings, where Legendary materials drop (for Runecarving);
Twisting Corridors, the endless mode to get cosmetics;
and an area called Runecarver's Chamber, where you forge Legendary items.
You can freely swap your specialization, gear, and Soulbinds while inside the bubble located on the right side of the Central Chamber entrance.
Torghast is designed to be either solo or group content. It can be entered in group sizes of 1 to 5 Players and the health of enemies will scale accordingly. As you play through Torghast, you will collect Phantasma, a currency used only in Torghast. You will also gain Anima Powers, temporary abilities that increase your power within the Tower. As you ascend the Tower, progress will become more difficult due to Torments, zone-wide effects that increase the challenge.
Torghast employs a few unique mechanics. Along with the dynamic layout and increasing difficulties as you ascend the tower, a specific UI, temporary abilities, and unique encounters make Torghast a fun and interesting repeatable challenge.
The Jailer's Chains in Torghast, Tower of the Damned
As soon as you enter Torghast you will get a debuff, The Jailer's Chains, which prevents you from adjusting Equipment, Talents, and Specializations. This can be countered by a Refuge of the Damned bubble which suppresses not only the The Jailer's Chains, but also the effects of Torments. It also hides you from enemies. There is a Refuge of the Damned in the Torghast entrance way and on each 3rd Floor.
Torghast, Tower of the Damned User Interface
Torghast uses a few specific elements of the User Interface.
Objective Tracker: This will show you main information about your Torghast run: What floor you are currently on (3), how many deaths you or your group have left (4), and how much Phantasma you currently have available (5).
Anima Power UI: This retractable UI shows you how many Anima Powers you have currently collected. You can click on the Anima Powers button to see the slide-out menu displaying the icons of the Anima Powers that you currently have (6). Mousing over an icon will pop-out a brief description (7). The number on the icon indicated the number of stacks of that Anima Power that you have. Instant and single use Anima Powers, like those that grant you free Phantasma, for example, are not displayed on the Anima Power UI.
Anima Orbs and Powers in Torghast, Tower of the Damned
Anima Orbs are your main source of power in Torghast. Anima Orbs will spawn randomly on all floors; interact with them to select an Anima Power from a small menu of powerful traits that will last for the entire run in Torghast. You are able to find Anima Orbs by doing the following:
Anima Orbs can simply spawn on the Floor but are generally protected by Elite Mobs. The ones that spawn in Break Rooms won't be protected.
Empowered Mobs with increased damage and health will spawn at the end of most floors. Killing them always spawns an Anima Orb.
Similarly, Rare Mobs will always spawn an Anima Orb once killed.
Occasionally, enemies and phylacteries in Torghast hold Anima Orbs and drop them once killed or destroyed.
Completing side objectives, such as opening special chests or helping covenant prisoners, will spawn an Anima Orb.
Anima Orbs can be spawned from Plundered Anima Cell, which can be purchased from broker NPCs in Break Rooms.
BEWARE: Not all Anima Orbs are actually Anima Orbs. Very occasionally you will encounter an Anima Orb that is really an Animimic. This looks just like an ordinary Anima Orb but when you click on it it turns into a monster which may, or may not drop a real Anima Orb when you kill it.
Once you click the Anima Orb you can choose one of one to three Anima Powers that you can then make use of for the rest of your run. These Anima Powers are colored to indicate their strength following the same color chart as item quality, with White being the most common powers and Purple being the most powerful ones available.
You can check out the Anima Powers that are available in the Wowhead Guide linked below. Some Anima Powers are available to all, and others are Class specific.
Death Count and the Tarragrue in Torghast, Tower of the Damned
Unlike previous iterations of challenging content, what limits you in Torghast is neither time nor speed, but number of deaths. Dying in Torghast has you respawn at the beginning of the floor you are currently on. You are allowed a number of deaths per run, depending on the size of your party:
Solo: 5 deaths.
2 Players: 8 deaths.
3 Players: 10 deaths.
4 Players: 13 deaths.
5 Players: 15 deaths.
These death counters are for the entire party, ie. in a 5 player group you're only allowed 15 deaths total, not 15 deaths per person. You are able to bank extra deaths if you acquire an Obscuring Essence Potion which increases your death counter for the run.
Reaching the maximum number of deaths permitted will not automatically end the run, however. Once you reach it, a 30-second timer will appear on your Torghast UI, and when the timer ends, The Tarragrue will spawn. The Tarragrue is a massive NPC that spawns at the beginning of the floor, and slowly make its way towards the end of the level.
If The Tarragrue reaches your location, you will be instantly killed and sent back to the beginning of the floor, effectively ending your run as you won't be able to get past The Tarragrue at that point. However, you are able to escape The Tarragrue if you reach the end of the current floor and pass on to the next level before it reaches you. Once on a new floor, you will be able to continue, but still at 0 deaths remaining, so your next death will spawn The Tarragrue again unlees you can find an Obscuring Essence Potion.
Torghast, Tower of the Damned Terminology
Torghast is divided into ten areas: six Wings, three Twisting Corridors, and the Runecarver's Chamber.
Run: Your uninterrupted time in Torghast, from when you enter a Wing or Twisting Corridor until you leave or complete your objective.
Floor: The environment that you are in beginning when you port in, and ending with another portal.
Layer: A group of 6 Floors.
Twisting Corridor: A group of 3 Layers.
Wing: A group of 8 Layers.
Break Room: The 3rd Floor of every Layer is a Break Room and offers access to a vendor.
Boss Room: The 6th Floor of every Layer is a Boss Room and also offers acces to a vendor.
Floors 1, 2, 4, and 5 will all end with an Empowered mob guarding the portal.
Torghast, Tower of the Damned Wings
Torghast's Wings are Skoldus Hall, Fracture Chambers, Soulforges, Coldheart Interstitia, Mort'regar, and The Upper Reaches. Only two of the six Wings will be active at a time; these rotate every week.
Each Wing offers different environments, enemies, and bosses and is divided into eight Layers. Each Layer is divided into six Floors. Layer 1 contains Floors 1 through 6, Layer 2 contains Floors 7 through 12 and so on. Completing a Layer will end your run in that Wing and reward you with Soul Ash, a currency that you will need in order to create your Legendary gear.
Once you complete a Layer, it is unlocked and you can talk to the Wayfinder at the start of a new run to teleport directly to that Layer. The higher the Layer and Floor number, the harder the enemies get.
Twisting Corridors in Torghast, Tower of the Damned
The Twisting Corridors will generate three Layers, randomly chosen from the six Wings and stitch them together for an 18 floor run. The Twisting Corridors are the "Challenge Mode" of Torghast and offer cosmetic rewards for clearing certain thresholds. You will not earn Soul Ash in the Twisting Corridors.
The Runecarver's Chamber
Torghast is also home to the Forge of Souls and an imprisoned Runecarver. It is here that you will bring your materials and offerings and ask the Runecarver to allow you to create a piece of Legendary Gear. You will unlock the Runecarver's Chamber during the Torghast introductory questline. The Chamber is easy to find, just turn right when you port into Torghast.
Phantasma, Break Rooms, and Vendors in Torghast, Tower of the Damned
A second Torghast specific currency is Phantasma. Phantasma can be earned from a variety of activities in Torghast, such as killing enemies, destroying various phylacteries scattered around the dungeon, or sometimes generated with certain Anima Powers. All Phantasma earned in a Torghast run disappears after you leave the dungeon, so you cannot save unused Phantasma to use in future runs.
Phantasma is used to purchase augments from Shackled Brokers. Shackled Brokers sell a variety of goods that you can use to augment yourself. Some of these goods are random and may not show up on every Shackled Broker. All items but the Rejuvenating Siphoned Essence are sold in limited quantities.
The 3rd floor of every Layer is a Break Room and has no enemies on it. In these rooms, you will also find a Refuge of the Damned, a few free Anima Orbs, phylacteries, and occasionally Bound Souls. Broker Ve'ken is the Shackled Brokers that will appear in Break Rooms. A second Shackled Broker, Broker Ve'nott, can be found on the 6th and final Floor of every Layer. You can use this Broker to stock up before you encounter the end boss of the Layer.
Torghast, Tower of the Damned Objectives
Torghast is a challenging mega-dungeon that will take everything from you to succeed, so make sure you know all mechanics and be prepared for them!
Phylacteries in Torghast, Tower of the Damned
In an obvious nod to Diablo, the environments of Torghast are liberally decorated with smashable Phylacteries.
You can damage these Phylacteries to break them or interact with them to vandalize them. Most Phylacteries contain a small amount of Phantasma. Some Phylacteries are topped with a black Anima Orb-like decoration. Smashing these will drop an Anima Orb.
Quests in Torghast, Tower of the Damned
Occasionally you will find a NPC offering a Quest or Bonus Objective. These will always start and end on the same floor and will reward you with Phantasma and an Anima Orb.
Puzzles in Torghast, Tower of the Damned
Torghast also holds puzzles, chests, secret runes, and more fun things to figure out. Solving the puzzle may reward you with treasure, or a rare to fight, or it may just open a door.
More resources and information can be found: