Shadowlands Alpha - Torghast Abilities


Shadowlands Preview - Torghast, Tower of the Damned
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
At the heart of the Maw lies Torghast, Tower of the Damned, a cursed otherworldly prison where the wickedest souls in the universe are locked away. Highly replayable and inspired by roguelike games, heroes are invited to explore its ever-changing halls and chambers and do battle with the minions of the Jailer, Torghast’s vile ruler. Those who brave its trials can claim legendary treasures and help free the heroic spirits wrongfully trapped within.

The Torghast experience is in a true alpha state. It is not yet feature complete and many design decisions are still being made. Due to our desire to get pointed feedback on class-specific Anima Powers, we are only testing a few classes at this time. The following classes are currently available for testing: Demon Hunter, Mage, Priest, and Warlock. We will keep you updated on when other classes are introduced.

Torghast is an otherworldly place, with an ever-shifting interior. There are many areas to discover, and at this time players will be able to explore Skoldus Halls and Fracture Chambers.

Skoldus Hall
Warden Skoldus oversees this wing of Torghast. He is a cruel warden who uses rats, dogs, and other beasts to torment his quarry.

Fracture Chambers
Prisoners from Maldraxxus are held here, their bones broken over and over again. With the player's help, they escape their cells and assault their captors.

Your Mission

With every floor, enemies will become stronger but you’ll also become more powerful by using temporary skills called Anima Powers. Levels will also become more complex the higher you climb—the first few floors will have a simple layout, but higher up you’ll be dealing with traps, puzzles, and locked doors that will require keys held by ruthless enemies.

Always Changing

These dynamic wings change their layout each time you step inside, and they can also be influenced by the Jailer’s command—changing the types of enemies you encounter and the Anima Powers available for you to choose between.

Every time you enter the tower you will need to explore it; don’t rely on memories of past ventures lest you get lulled into trap or ambushed by a horde of enemies!


The Power of Anima

Anima Powers grant you the incredible strength needed to take on the Jailer’s more challenging allies. They will often directly improve one of your Covenant class or signature abilities, modifying it with powerful properties for you to wield. Anima Powers can be found hidden in corners, tucked away in phylacteries, or carried on the bodies of the Jailer’s servitors. Keep an eye out for powers that interact with one another in interesting ways!


Anima Powers can also be found while discovering an area, be on the lookout for floating anima orbs as you make your way to the next floor.

Phantasma and Vendors

Sometimes enemies will drop Phantasma, a currency that is unique to Torghast. You may also find Phantasma from Anima Powers or breakable objects. Your Phantasma all disappears as soon as you leave Torghast. Occasionally, you may find a Broker, a Phantasma vendor within Torghast, who will allow you to spend your Phantasma to buy Anima Powers, along with other consumables that will aid you on your run.

Deaths and the Tarragrue

By and large, your failures in Torghast are measured in deaths, not with a timer. Dying repeatedly alerts the Tarragrue, a lumbering iron-clad creature that will appear at the level’s entrance and slowly move toward its end. If he sees any heroes, he will chase down and kill them. If he reaches the end of the level or kills all the players in the level, your run ends and you are thrown out of Torghast.

The Tarragrue cannot be defeated, but there are whispers that it is possible to slow him—if only for a moment.

Legendary Rewards

As you climb the tower, you may discover a floor that contains a Legendary chest. Inside you’ll discover reagents to craft legendary items that can be taken to a mysterious rune sage who will help you build legendary items. You are in full control—you can choose which type of equipment you’ll make and what powers will go in them to make them truly your own.

We look forward to sharing more information as development continues, and we hope this preview prepares you for the trials of Torghast!

What kind of Anima Powers would you like to see? Join the discussion on the forums.

Torghast is still in development and subject to change. Legendary items are still being worked on and are not currently available in alpha. Check back for periodic updates on worldofwarcraft.com as we approach the release of Shadowlands.
This article was originally published in forum thread: Shadowlands Preview - Torghast, Tower of the Damned started by Lumy View original post
Comments 77 Comments
  1. Axxil's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by ZyntosAran View Post
    Its not solo content, its dynamic content. Can be done by 1 or up to 5 people.
    SO what you're saying is it's solo content.
  1. Biggles Worth's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by restomental View Post
    I liked the RNG legendaries. Gives the games old school mmo flavor. Sure there were BiS that ppl absolutely needed to make some specs viable for high end raiding but thats only like 1% of players. Being able to just craft your BiS legendaries takes the fun out of it for me personally.
    I respect your opinion since it's your own. How you acquired legendaries in Legion made me quit until pre patch of BFA. Terrible design.
  1. DechCJC's Avatar
    Gettin’ Binding of Isaac vibes, hope it plays out similarly
  1. Maxilian's Avatar
    The more i read about Torghast, the more i realize this is a Slay the Spire without cards.
  1. Raetary's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Softbottom View Post
    Everything here looks really good so far. No timer which is HUGE. Do it at your own pace woohoo.

    My only concern is that you will only be able to get to higher floors of the tower with Phantasma perks and not by skill/gear (Thinking how visions are). Completing higher mask runs without being heavily into the skill tree was just not possible. I just really hope the abilities aren't a make or break to get into higher up floors.
    Torghast is a rogue-like feature.
    Obviously you'll need anima powers for the later stages.

    Collecting powers to defeat stronger foes on later stages is the core part of the system.
  1. Softbottom's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Arafal View Post
    Torghast is a rogue-like feature.
    Obviously you'll need anima powers for the later stages.

    Collecting powers to defeat stronger foes on later stages is the core part of the system.
    Yea; maybe ill log into alpha and try it out once it's testable.
  1. Nfinitii's Avatar
    Sounds fun, I wonder how things r going to scale as players get more geared.
  1. Dr Assbandit's Avatar
    Honestly this sounds way more interesting and a high potential cap than island expeditions ever did.

    Hopefully they can do this content justice and make it as fun to play as it sounds.
  1. Williamgood's Avatar
    Hoping runs aren't limited like Horrific Visions. Sounds fun otherwise.
  1. THEORACLE64's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Axxil View Post
    SO what you're saying is it's solo content.
    No - stop being so dense. What he’s saying is that it’s not exclusively solo, as it can be done with 1,
    2, 3, 4 or 5 people. The original comment he replied to suggested that it was just solo content, when it’s not.
  1. kamuimac's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by THEORACLE64 View Post
    No - stop being so dense. What he’s saying is that it’s not exclusively solo, as it can be done with 1,
    2, 3, 4 or 5 people. The original comment he replied to suggested that it was just solo content, when it’s not.
    so can be visions - yet nearly anyone chooses to do them solo .
  1. Acidbaron's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by iosdeveloper View Post
    what a situation we have here: mmorpg's future is decided by it's solo content quality
    People have less time available and so raids are no longer the only thing people want or can play.


    As others have said looks good on paper, also liking the design choice that playing smart over playing fast takes priority.

    I really liked the Legion artifact challenges so more of this is really something that could get me back into WoW.
  1. Nobleshield's Avatar
    It sounds pretty interesting. It seems to indicate if the Tarragrue spawns you still have a chance to beat the level, which I'd assume resets your death counter. I hope it works out this sounds great for those ultra casual people who may only play with their S/O or friends/family and give them something challenging and interesting to do without doing pugs.
  1. DechCJC's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Williamgood View Post
    Hoping runs aren't limited like Horrific Visions. Sounds fun otherwise.
    Echoing this, if it is limited I’d rather it was on the scale of nethershards for the Legion mage towers.

    3-4 attempts per week is madness and not fun, it’s very frustrating.
  1. Triggered Fridgekin's Avatar
    Should do a cross promotion and make the Tarragrue a giant Tonberry.
  1. azkhane's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Zypherz View Post
    Echoing this, if it is limited I’d rather it was on the scale of nethershards for the Legion mage towers.

    3-4 attempts per week is madness and not fun, it’s very frustrating.
    they are limited(kinda suck) but they said that not as hard as visions are, what i think sucks is they said you can take your time inside that it wasnt timed and now they introduce that shit mechanic tarragrua to artifially limit the run, that is shit and i dont need to even test it to say it needs to go, let people take their time.
  1. Kobor's Avatar
    Similar to a normal Rift in D3.
  1. relaxok's Avatar
    Sounds pretty cool but isn't it sort of just like that suramar 'solo instance' (with the withered) on steroids?

    Not complaining exactly, I liked that. Especially completing everything felt like an accomplishment and not a steamroll.
  1. Patoneil94's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by azkhane View Post
    they are limited(kinda suck) but they said that not as hard as visions are, what i think sucks is they said you can take your time inside that it wasnt timed and now they introduce that shit mechanic tarragrua to artifially limit the run, that is shit and i dont need to even test it to say it needs to go, let people take their time.

    The way its written it seems more like that guy only comes out if you die too much, which is an alternative to just kicking you out once you die 1 or 2 times.
  1. themaster24's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by azkhane View Post
    they are limited(kinda suck) but they said that not as hard as visions are, what i think sucks is they said you can take your time inside that it wasnt timed and now they introduce that shit mechanic tarragrua to artifially limit the run, that is shit and i dont need to even test it to say it needs to go, let people take their time.
    There has to be some sort of fail state. By default, as they describe it, people are allowed to take their time. The Tarragrue, based on the description, appears if you die multiple times on the same floor. Only then does a sort of timer start, which, as it comes off, can be cleared if you finish the floor before Tarragrue sees you or reaches the end of the floor. So ultimately, it's set to not allow you to spend 10 hours face pulling a floor your clearly can't beat, which I think is fair enough.

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