Everything we know about the Torghast roguelike dungeon in WoW Shadowlands

Opposite of Icecrown Citadel and at the center of the Maw lays Torghast, Tower of the Damned. This structure is controlled by the Jailer, a name we’ve heard a lot throughout the pitch for WoW Shadowlands.

Given the similarities and placement, it could be the origin of the Lich King’s home and more, and we’re going to be able to discover and probably battle against its secrets in the next expansion. Here’s everything we know about the roguelike dungeon Torghast so far.

How Torghast works in WoW Shadowlands

Torghast is a level 60 — yes, that’s the new level cap — dynamic 1 to 5 player dungeon that features multiple floors of increasing difficulty. Not only does it scale based on how many players are inside of it, but it constantly shifts in layout. At BlizzCon 2019, the developers made it sound like the dungeon will be procedurally generated — or at least something very close to it. That’s where the comparison to the roguelike genre comes in.

To succeed in Torghast, you’ll need to adapt and react to whatever the dungeon throws at you. Thankfully, it’s not a timed dungeon. You’ll be incentivized to explore it thoroughly to gain abilities that will help you progress deeper into it. With time, you’ll earn materials to help you craft Legendary weapons and armor.

Unlike the Legion Mage Tower or the Horrific Visions of N’Zoth, Torghast won’t require any keys or have limited attempts of any kind — you’ll be able to run it as many times as you want. However, the rewards for running Torghast have been adjusted to keep the tower from becoming too valuable a source of loot, and Torghast will be gated for its first few weeks, unlocking as the expansion continues. The goal is for Torghast to be a fun, viable way for small groups to clear content and get rewards without it utterly annihilating other avenues like raiding or Mythic+ dungeons.

To get to Torghast, you need to reach level 60, pledge to a Covenant, and then visit the Maw and unlock Ve’nari’s Refuge — this also unlocks Torghast. Finishing the questline that takes you to the Maw will also unlock a portal in Ve’nari’s Refuge that will allow you to repeat Torghast at will.

Anima upgrades and abilities in Torghast

Inside of the tower there’s a new resource: Anima. Anima is an energy that you’ll come across as you battle your way through the dungeon. It can give you stat benefits like 10% to your maximum health or 5%  extra Mastery, and it can also give you unique abilities. Look out for the Anima Orbs, they’re how you interact with and gain various Anima Powers. In this blog post, Blizzard gave examples like a move that applies a Shadow damage DOT to a target, or one that blinds a target and reduces their chance to hit you by 75%. The goal of the Anima system is to give you the tools to combat the increasingly difficult foes. Sometimes that’ll require combining abilities, and sometimes that’ll require specializing in some way within your small group.

When you enter Torghast, you gain a debuff that prevents you from respeccing or changing your gear, meaning that if you show up to run Torghast as a Frost DK and start the dungeon as one, you’ll be staying in that spec until you’re done, right? Well, sort of. The Jailer’s Chains are that debuff, but special zones throughout the dungeon named Refuges of the Damned allow you to ignore the debuff and switch things around. These spawn at the entrance to Torghast and every third floor as you ascend. So you can change it up, just only in specific approved locations.

Blizzard said that the Anima rewards will change over time. One week you might get rewards that set you up to deal with a certain level of the tower, but not in others. These will be events — with The Beasts of Prodigum coming within the first couple of weeks of the expansion’s launch. In The Beasts of Prodigum, you’ll be able to summon a Shadow Hound that can stun enemies, and a lure that inflicts AOE damage and silences enemies. However, be warned — some Anima Orbs are in fact disguised monsters called Animimics, and they’ll attack you when you click on them.

For more detail on Anima powers, we have this roundup discussing several of them and their comic (and not so comic) effects.

Soul remnants, Torments, and the Tarragrue

There are several unique mechanics to make life interesting in Torghast. There are the various Soul Remnants — they come in Tortured, Tormented and Bound varieties, for starters — who when freed from their various confinements will offer you the Soul Remnant’s Blessing buff. Or, if you’re feeling a touch like the ends justify the means, you can sacrifice a Soul Remnant for the Soulbound Armaments buff, trading that Soul Remnant for a bonus to damage and healing as well as a haste buff. Sad for poor Casper, but you needed that haste.

As you climb the tower, things get harder for you. The Jailer notices your ascent and increases the difficulty level by inflicting Torment upon you, in a not so subtle nod to the Diablo 3 difficulty level that helped inspire Torghast. Torments are similar to Mythic+ Affixes: they’re extra complications that are inflicted upon you by the Jailer as he becomes more aware of your intrusion.

Finally, there’s the Tarragrue. Think of it as the D&D monster the Tarrasque merged with the infamous Grue that ate people in Zork. Torghast has a mechanic called a Death Count that scales with your group size. Essentially, if you hit too many deaths — 5 for a single player, 15 total for a five player group — the Tarragrue will spawn on the floor you’re on and start chasing you. If it reaches you before you reach the exit to the level, it kills you, and your run is over because the Tarragrue will block the exit and you can’t survive an encounter with it. But if you escape the level before it catches you, you can continue the run.

Remember, you’re still at 0 on the Death Count, so if you die again, the Tarragrue will spawn again and chase you.

How to earn Legendaries in Torghast

As you work your way through the tower, you’ll earn runes. These runes are essentially recipes for Legendaries, and they can be taken to a runeforge to craft Legendary items. Those runes can be slotted in different ways to give you control over how you want your stats weigh out. You’ll get some interesting lore information here too. Blizzard specifically mentioned learning more about the origins of items like the Forstmourne and the Helm of Domination (RIP) here too.

Torghast will come with the expansion’s launch, but it’s not completely clear if it’ll be open on the same day. There are always people who hit max level within the week, so we’ll have to wait to hear more about how we’ll be able to enter in the future.

Originally published 11/26/2019, updated 11/20/2020