Looking at the Hobgoblin Lair

Gianthold has long been considered by many players to be one of the best content packs in DDO, and that was before the epic versions of the quests were developed and released.  Many players also enjoy running around the explorer area as well as completing the quests.  One of the “flagging” quests to get into Gianthold Tor is the quest A Cabal for One.  Historically this wasn’t always the case.  A Cabal for One is the replaced The Crucible as one of the three flagging quests to get into Gianthold Tor when epic version of Gianthold was released.  This led to a number of debates on the forums but the decision held.  In this blog I want to go over the heroic version of the quest A Cabal for One.

Tuhnn starting the quest A Cabal for One.

A Cabal for One takes place in a specific location in the Ruins of Gianthold known as the Hobgoblin Lair.  The Hobgoblin Lair is located in the Stormfist Encampment in the northeastern region of Gianthold.  The Hobgoblin Lair is located in the remnants of an old fortress that is set within the mountain ranges of Gianthold.

Battling hobgoblin casters, warriors, and archers in the Hobgoblin Lair.

Out of the three flagging quests for Gianthold Tor (A Cabal for One, Madstone Crater, and Prison of the Planes) A Cabal for One is the easiest, at least in my own opinion.  The quest is pretty straightforward and unlike the other two it doesn’t have any special mechanics to get through it.  In Madstone Crater you have to protect the Seers long enough to shatter their crystals while in the Prison of the Planes you have to activate various dimensional prisons with special orbs and then defeat the cells inhabitants to gain more orbs that are then used to summon forth the enemy boss.  In contrast, A Cabal for One is simply a straight forward hack and slash of all enemies until you loot the end relic.

Battling the Cloven Jaw hobgoblins in the lair.

Although A Cabal for One is a straight forward quest, unlike the other two flagging quests, you do have two different options in how you complete the quest.  You can either accept Gardak’s offer in the beginning of the quest where he plots with you to defeat King Bendix or decline his offer and fight Gardak in the beginning and dealing with all of the traps he originally offers to disarm for you.  I always tend to accept his offer but this does make the end fight much harder because Gardak will betray you and fight with King Bendix.

Coming across Gardak in the beginning of A Cabal for One.

However, before you get to that point you have make your way through the Hobgoblin Lair.  As I mentioned before, it is a pretty straight forward layout.  The inside of the fortress contains the typical block walls and floors with a number of closed doors that need to be opened as you progress forward into the lair.  In the beginning of the quest, after a brief encounter with some hobgoblins you come across Gardak who offers to either help you by disarming the traps or to fight you right then and there.  If you choose to fight Gardak at the beginning then you will have to disable the traps he offers to disable for you as you make your way through the quest but you will also get his additional chest.  If you accept his offer, the majority of the traps will be disabled but you will have to deal with him at the end of the quest and you won’t get his additional chest.

Coming across something other than hobgoblins.

Battling a winter wolf and noticing one of the traps that Gardak disabled.

Battling a champion and casters in the Hobgoblin Lair.

The enemies you encounter include hobgoblin casters, archers, and warriors.  You will also encounter their pets, and unlike other quests where wolves or worgs are the pets of the hobgoblins, this time you encounter winter wolves.  To make your way to King Bendix, you have to take out four other conspirators, who are traitors to the King.  These include Kivol, Maksim, Mikahi, and Vokur.  Kivol and Vokur are Arzag-Khor casters (lore masters I believe) while Maksim I believe is like a hobgoblin avenger and Mikahi is an archer.  Mikahi actually guards the room to the sole rest shrine in the quest.  There is also another conspirator but he is an optional objective kill, Olos Nobroc.  Olos is an a room that can be bypassed if somebody has a high enough jump to get over a spiked wall that has a gate in center of it.  On the other side of the wall is the lever that opens the gate.  However, most adventurers will take the path around the wall which leads into his room which contains himself and a few other hobgoblins and winter wolves.

Battling the first of the conspirators, Kivol.

Tuhnn coming across another of the conspirators.

Tuhnn encountering Vokur.

The shrine room is now clear.

Fighting in the Olos Nobroc’s room.

Another special note about the room Olos is located in.  It contains a hidden door which conceals a small alcove that has a chest in it.  Inside the alcove is also a trap, one of the few traps that doesn’t get disabled by Gardak.  When this quest first came out, this trap used to be one of the hardest to disable at level and finding the trap box was extremely challenging, especially on elite.  This has changed since then but it is still worthy of notice.  The only other traps you will encounter, if you accept Gardak’s offer, are a few breakaway floor pieces that conceal some spikes in a small pit.

Dealing with a hallway full of hobgoblins.

After you defeat the four conspirators you can then get access to King Bendix, Gardak (as he betrays you if you didn’t kill him in the beginning), and the king’s protectors.  Gardak is a hobgoblin infiltrator who likes to use dual swords with quite a bit of efficiency.  The best strategy is try to fight Gardak and King Bendix separately, primarily because King Bendix is a cleric and tends to heal quite effectively as well as to drop blade barriers and comet falls quite often.  Gardak is actually not that problematic on his one.  It is also a good idea to take out the hobgoblin casters that are part of king’s protective party, as their glitterdust spells and their healing ability makes things very annoying as well.

Perhaps one of the most annoy spells ever…glitterdust…

Tuhnn coming across some of the king’s protectors.

There are a few named items that can be obtained from this quest.  These include the adamantine knuckles, the madstone skull, and the shamanic fetish.  You will also get a ancient elven relic as well, which can be used purchase augment crystals or elfcraft armor from vendors in Gianthold.

More protectors to the king.

The king and his bloody blade barrier.

One on one with the king.

Time to claim the relic.

Overall, this quest is pretty short and pretty straight forward.  It is a fun quest to run and is typically a nice little run, especially if you are limited in time because it is quick to get to and to complete.  If you have anything against hobgoblins, try this quest out :).  Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting!!