Moving Through the Jungles of Khyber

Perhaps one of the most widely run quest in DDO is The Jungles of Khyber, or better known as VON 3.  The Jungles of Khyber is also known as VON 3 because when the quest story line for the Vault of Knight (VON) first came it out, the quests had to be run in a certain order to properly flag for the raid and this quest was the third in that sequence.  This particular quest is run pretty heavily because it gives a large amount of experience at both the heroic and epic levels.  Not only does it have a large amount of base experience but it also has a large number of optional objectives that just add to experience totals.  Also, if you happen to know your way through the quest, it doesn’t take a large amount of time, even though it is considered to be a long quest.

To make your way to The Jungles of Khyber, you first have to make it through the mini-quest, The Gateway to Khyber.  The main goal of the quest is to track down another member of Marek’s old crew, Veil.  Veil is currently in hiding because a Marut is after her.  In order to protect herself, Veil has retreated into a complicated series of caverns and has enlisted the help of her drow tribe as well as forming some alliances with the Blackheart Trolls and a clan of beholders.

Erdrique making his way through the trolls.

After you defeat the encampment of trolls in the mini-quest, you begin the next quest at the start of a cavern entrance.  It doesn’t take long until you start running into the scorpions, drow scorpions, and drow of Veil’s tribe.  In fact the majority of forces you will encounter are drow, drow scorpions, and scorpions.  As you make your way through the tunnels, you need to take a few precautions.  There are a number of cunning traps set up the drow, primarily at door entrances.  Some of these traps can be pushed through while some others can be quite deadly.  You also need to be careful in some instance of the cavern where some drow rangers and casters will be perched on some upper reaches and will hammer down on you while you are engaged with more drow rushing from below.

Sttollen staring down the caverns of the Jungles of Khyber.

As you continue to make your way through the drow forces, you catch glimpses of the Marut and its destruction while it is on its own path to find Veil.  Eventually, you run through the end of the drow territory and come across an area with some huge mushrooms that are home to the beholders.  This area is behind a set of locked doors.  After you defeat the beholders, in which case you could come across two optional named beholders, you have to activate some runes to proceed further into the caverns.

At this point, you will make your way to another optional fight above a waterfall and then to an air jet that will push you over a rock wall to land in the middle of a final stand of drow and trolls that come in waves.  After the waves are defeated, you then get the pleasure to deal with champions of the three clans: a named drow, a named beholder, and a named troll.  Of the three of them, the named beholder is the hardest to deal with.  Many people will try to fight the three champions one at a time and will try to “pull” a single champion.

Erdrique battling through the drow and scorpions.

Once you defeat the three champions, the way to Veil opens up.  You find Veil in a protective ring and then you discover that not only is she a drow but she is a also a vampire.  This is why the Marut is after her.  She then tells you that she will rejoin Marek’s group if you can destroy the Marut.  Shortly later, the Marut arrives knocking down another magical barrier with its attack.

The Marut can be a very tough foe.  Not only does it regenerate but it has considerable damage reduction which requires a chaotic weapon to bypass.  The Marut likes to attack with sonic, lightning, and blinding type of punch attacks.  Fighting him in melee can be a little irritating but not impossible.  Once he goes down, the quest completes.

There are three shrines in the quest.  One just after some serious traps and drow archers hitting you from an overhang.  The second is just before the beholder territory and the third is just prior to the fight with the three champions.  With all of the optional enemies, this quest can also have a large number of chests.  In heroic, there isn’t an end quest for the Marut, but there is one for killing the three champions.  In epic, you do get an epic chest after the Marut is defeated.

If you haven’t tried VON 3 yet, take a chance on it.  It is a fun quest, with a number of little quests.  Just be wary of those beholders and have a weapon suitable for the Marut.  Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting!!