Mastering Tangleroot Gorge

The Tangleroot Gorge wilderness zone has a great mix of challenges; it is the perfect DDO tutor. Plus it has the famous Flowering Plant, a collectible drop that exists nowhere else. The Flowering Plant collectibles can be turned in for health potions that are normally 750 gold each – too expensive for most new adventurers.

Clearing the zone earns between 95 and 110 kills, eleven collectible drops, and takes about ten minutes (some practice may be needed to achieve a ten minute completion). An experienced team can split up and finish faster; it is reasonable to expect the maximum 1500 kills in three hours or less.

Flowering Plant Collectibles

Within the One-Eared Bugbear tavern, the collector Demodris Meele will exchange Flowering Plant drops:

• Lily Petals: three petals = one cure serious wounds
• Woodblossom Nectar: two nectars = one remove disease
• Crimson Nightshade: one nightshade = one remove curse

Walkthrough

Be sure to talk with Eremic Quall before leaving the inn. He gives a quest that will allow your character to teleport directly to Ungarz the Splinterskull quest-giver in the future.

The giant Kroksh is a tough fight if he activates along with all his worgs, but is more manageable when drawn off and fought by himself.

The hobgoblin Gharjat is inside a walled area and cannot be single-pulled. He, along with his accompanying cleric, worgs, and hobgoblin troops, is the most dangerous encounter in the Gorge.

Maps

There are several excellent maps for the area, including an excellent map found in forum thread Dorim’s Map Shop

This walkthrough clears the entire zone, hitting every explorer point and rare encounter. It is NOT the most direct route to Splinterskull. If you are looking for the shortest run to the TR quest chain, follow the path shown here.

Rare Encounters

• XP per encounter: 350
• Bonus XP for solving all encounters: 1575
• Level 4
• You must be in level range 2-7 to get full experience for this quest.

Clamor

Head out of the inn and go southeast. The path will split. Take the right-hand path and continue south until you slay a pack of wolves (5-7 wolves which may include the rare worg Clamor). Inside a walled area is the explorer point Wolf Hunters Fate.

Silkweave

Return to the north and continue past the fork. You will pass through a walled gate (one hobgoblin one wolf) and find a small fortification. This is the explorer point Hobgoblin Scout Post (two hobgoblins).

From the Scout Post, turn left heading due west and go through another walled gate to reach an overlook (one hobgoblin one wolf).

Return to the Scout Post and turn left or north through another walled gate (one hobgoblin, one wolf) continuing until you reach another fork. Take the right-hand fork and continue north (three brown spiders) to the exploration point Webbed Caves'.

Inside is a small two-area dungeon (six brown spiders, 3-4 black widows with may include the rare black widow Silkweave).

Jana the Bar Maid

Leaving the caves return to the fork and continue south until you reach the first rope bridge stretching west. Cross the bridge (two bugbears) to find another rope bridge stretching north. Cross the second bridge (three bugbears). The path ends in a fork. Take the right-hand fork, heading east on a path that winds around back to the north (two bugbears).

The path will bend around again, now heading east (two bugbears). Your first Flowering Plant is on the left side of the path, which now ends at the exploration point Overgrown Fortress.

From the Fortress entrance, bear around to the right (southeast) without falling down to the river. Behind some vegetation you may find a cowering rare human Jana the lost Bar Maid.

Jarek

Return to the Fortress and enter the small two-room dungeon. Clear the room to the left (four bugbears) which will open the door to the second room (three-four more bugbears which may include the rare bugbear assassin Jarek).

Xassak

Leaving the Fortress, to your left is a drop-off falling away to the river. Jump down and you will land at explorer point Submerged Grotto. Enter the Grotto to find a small dungeon. Right away you will notice the second Flowering Plant (3-4 troglodytes).

Swimming down through a pool of water, it is possible to surface in a second room containing the third Flowering Plant (3-4 Troglodytes which may contain the rare troglodyte caster Xassak).

Vilesting

Exit the Grotto and begin slogging through the river to the east. In some cases you can find a dry bank and run but in others you cannot and will be in the river. The water will bend around to the south (3-4 troglodytes) and then to the west, eventually reaching a fork in the river (three troglodytes) where you can find the fourth Flowering Plant.

Continue straight west. The river will peter out into an overgrown dry path that is difficult to see because of all the vegetation – and looks like a river on the map - but carry on until it opens up into a clearing (four-five scorpions) that contains the fifth Flowering Plant, and also the exploration point Bone-strewn Lair.

Enter the Lair to find a one-room dungeon (one Rust Monster and four-six scorpions which may include the rare scorpion Vilesting).

Kroksh

Exiting the Lair, head due south – or right – until the dry path becomes a river again. Take the left bank, and follow it until it opens up into the exploration point Sacrificial Site (three troglodytes) where you will find the sixth Flowering Plant.

Continuing along the river and just southeast of the Sacrifical Site, the river gorge opens up into a small valley. The floor of the valley contains several interesting locations include a shrine in the NW corner (4-6 worgs and possibly the rare giant Kroksh), the exploration point Temple Ruins (2-3 wolves, 1-2 worgs, two brown spiders, one black widow) and the seventh Flowering Plant (along the western edge).

Gharjat

From the Temple Ruins, head north east. The ground slopes upward and eventually a path appears. Follow the path to the north until it reaches familiar territory: the first rope bridge.

Take the bridge east, and then the second rope bridge north, but this time turn left – or west – and continue to a fortified ramp. The ramp leads up to a walled gate (three hobgoblins) and back down on the other side. Just to your right as you jump back down is the eighth Flowering Plant.

The path winds around to the southwest eventually reaching a walled fort with a lookout tower (hobgoblin cleric). Inside the fort (two worgs and three hobgoblins which may include the rare hobgoblin warrior Gharjat) is the explorer point Hobgoblin Battering Ram.

Outside the fort to the south, behind a large rock, is the ninth Flowering Plant'.

Splinterskull Fortress

Continuing south along the path, it will rise and eventually fork into a choice: down/east or up/to the right. Take the right fork where you will find several friendly hobgoblins including the quest-giver Chief Ungurz and also the tenth Flowering Plant.

Speaking with Ungurz completes the quest given to you in the inn by Eremic Quall: in the future, you can talk to Quall and be directly teleported back to this spot.

Continuing south from Chief Ungurz, the path continues through a walled gate and eventually (four hobgoblins, one hobgoblin cleric) ends at exploration point Mouth of Splinterskull.

Kornak

Return to the most recent fork in the path, just east and downhill from Chief Ungurz. Take the eastern fork which quickly leads to a campfire and also the eleventh and final Flowering Plant.

The path winds southeast and then south, and then ends at two trees, widening into a clearing (6-8 worgs) containing the exploration point Lair of Burning Skulls.

Inside, the Lair is a small dungeon appearing to branch to the right (two worgs, one ogre) or left (two ogres) but is in reality a circuit and both paths lead to the only door (2-3 worgs and an ogre that may be the rare ogre magi Kornak).

The big finish

Exiting the Lair, directly east across the clearing is the final exploration point Far Side of the Broken Bridge, from whence you can see the inn where you started. Drop straight down off the bridge (2-3 troglodytes) and head south to the mouth of the river (3-4 troglodytes and one troglodyte shaman).

Just to the northwest of the fallen troglodytes rises a path that will take you back to the One Eared Bugbear Inn where you started.