The Shadow Crypt

The Shadow Crypt is the 5th quest in the Litany of the Dead Part 2 story arcStory arcs  are chains of quests that make up a story line. Completing everything in a story arc often yields a nice reward..
The first four quests can be completed in any order to unlock The Shadow Crypt.
Tomb of the Shadow Guard • Tomb of the Shadow King • Tomb of the Shadow Knight • Tomb of the Shadow Lord • The Shadow Crypt

Nerezza's resting place is a twisted game of darkness and shadow. North becomes south, East becomes West, nothing is at seems.

Requires access to adventure pack Definition: Adventure Pack A list of all adventure packs  : The Necropolis, Part 2

The Shadow Crypt
Heroic level:	9
Epic level:	None
Duration:	Very Long
Heroic XP:	♣6,690Solo/Casual ♦11,800Normal ♥12,450Hard ♠13,100Elite
Epic XP:	N/A
Takes place in:	The Shadow Crypt
Bestowed by:	The Herald
NPC contact:	The Herald
Quest acquired in:	The Necropolis
Patron:	The Silver Flame
Base favor:	7
Purchase:	The Necropolis, Part 2 or VIP
Extreme Challenge:	No

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Overview

The Herald of the Emerald Claw requires your assistance in stopping Brother Nerezza and obtaining the Twisted Apocrypha. You must discover the treacherous path through the Shadow Crypt to defeat Brother Nerezza.

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Spoiler Warning: Spoiler material below this point!

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Objectives

• Find and speak with Dame Calla
• Acquire 2 Small Blue Gears
• Acquire 2 Small Red Gears
• Acquire 2 Small Green Gears
• Acquire 2 Small Yellow Gears
• Open the way to Nerezza
• Defeat the Shadow Council (defeat 4)
• Slay Brother Nerezza
• Acquire The Twisted Apocrypha
  
• (Optional) Slay Gloom — Bonus (10%): Heroic( ♣669 ♦1,180 ♥1,245 ♠1,310 )
• (Optional) Slay Twilight — Bonus (10%): Heroic( ♣669 ♦1,180 ♥1,245 ♠1,310 )
• (Optional) Slay Login Yapow — no XP
• (Optional) Slay Rhonita Hourd — no XP
• (Optional) Slay Callin Fornan — Bonus (10%): Heroic( ♣669 ♦1,180 ♥1,245 ♠1,310 )
• (Optional) Slay Timoty Jorem — Bonus (10%): Heroic( ♣669 ♦1,180 ♥1,245 ♠1,310 )
• (Optional) Slay Myriel Everborn — Bonus (10%): Heroic( ♣669 ♦1,180 ♥1,245 ♠1,310 )
• (Optional) Slay Dontre Lebram — Bonus (10%): Heroic( ♣669 ♦1,180 ♥1,245 ♠1,310 )
• (Optional) Slay Caligin — Bonus (10%): Heroic( ♣669 ♦1,180 ♥1,245 ♠1,310 )
• (Optional) Slay Dusk — Bonus (10%): Heroic( ♣669 ♦1,180 ♥1,245 ♠1,310 )
• (Optional) Slay Lurid — Bonus (10%): Heroic( ♣669 ♦1,180 ♥1,245 ♠1,310 )
• (Optional) Slay Murk — Bonus (10%): Heroic( ♣669 ♦1,180 ♥1,245 ♠1,310 )

What to Expect

• Maze (3 possible variations)
• Map useful only in individual rooms
• Randomly placed quest items (mandatory: 8 gears; optional: 4 additional gears)
• Spawning/respawning monsters
• Note: All optional encounters are rare spawns. You will generally only encounter 6–9 per instance, and may not enter the same room with them.

Tips and Misc

Some form of underwater action item, or water breathing potions or spells, is strongly recommended, as one quarter of the rooms encountered are (similar) underwater mazes.

The "path" through this quest is very confusing and non-intuitive, with each room seemingly connected at random to other rooms. Read below to familiarize yourself with some of the strategies for successfully navigating the quest.

Dame Calla will give the party a 2-use/rest Dimension Door trinket, Death's Door. This can be used to return you to the starting room. Use it wisely. (This item drops on exiting the quest.)

• After first speaking with the injured Dame Calla, there will be a 10–15 seconds pause before the first fight begins.

Finding the gears

You will find five types of rooms, each in four different colors. Each room has a different solution – combat, maze, or puzzle. There is only one type for each color, 20 rooms altogether, but they are connected via "teleporting" exits/entry points – the layout is not something that can be represented with a standard map.

See Instance Paths for detailed information on paths and rooms.

There are 3 known configurations to this dungeon. Depending on the configuration you get, the directions you take from each room will land you in a different room. Each room is one of 4 possible colors (red, yellow, green or blue), and each room has one chest that contains a gear that matches the color of that room.

• Your base objective is to collect 2 gears per color, 8 total; that is 2 each of red, blue, green, and yellow.

• Optional: To open the "big chest" at the end (which has many of the named items, listed below!), you need to acquire one additional gear per color, for a total of 3 gears per color, 12 total.

A simple approach to finding all the gears is to just go the same direction every time you exit a room. Eventually most of the rooms will be explored. Be aware that although you may exit a room heading one way, say "east", you may enter the next oriented in any direction. Be aware of which way you exit the room on the map.

End Fight

Once you have located the gears you need, you have to find the end-fight.

To get to the end fight, you must find a "banner room", a room which has a pale transparent banner hanging over one of the actual exits (and beyond the archway leading to that exit). The banner in one of these rooms may be hard to spot – look carefully. Once you find any banner, take that exit and look for the next – it will be one of the exits in the next room. After several of these, you will be in a new hallway, and you will be on track for the end-fight.

Minor bug: Low graphics quality can remove the banner, making it impossible to know which room it is. Use Ctrl+o to adjust your graphics quality.

• Tip to find the Banner Room. From the starting room (you can use the Dimension Door trinket), take the South Exit, then the East Exit, then the West Exit, and check the room that you arrive in. If the Banner isn't in that room, dimension door back to the start and then take the East Exit three times and check that room for the banner. Look carefully.
• Once the fight is over, use the altar to teleport directly to the end-chests.

Nerezza will clone himself multiple times when hurt below a certain level. You need to either hurt him fast enough so that he doesn't get to clone, or use Firewall to hurt all the clones. If you can't hurt him before he clones, and you don't have access to the Firewall spell, have all your party members focus on the original Nerezza by keeping him targeted using the Tab key. It used to be that Nerezza still remained targeted after re-appearing, but that is no longer the case.

You can identify the clones by seeing how much damage they take – clones have half as many hit points as Nerezza.

Nerezza also has special DR:

Quote:
Originally Posted by DeadlyGazebo Actually, Nerezza has his vampiric 10/silver, an additional 10/magic ... 2/adamantine. (12/silver, 12/magic, 6/adamantine on hard, 15/silver, 15/magic, and 9/adamantine on elite).

After the quest is complete, you can use the altar once to upgrade:

• a Silver Flame Nugget to a Silver Flame Amulet
• a Silver Flame Amulet to a Silver Flame Pendant
• an Emerald Claw Nugget to an Emerald Claw Amulet
• an Emerald Claw Amulet to an Emerald Claw Pendant

The altar may only be used once per run of the quest (on any difficulty); if you wish to make more than one upgrade, you will have to re-run the quest.

Optional minibosses

This quest has possibly the highest density of optional minibosses of any quest in the game. However, not all minibosses are accessible on all runs, as each is tied to a certain spawn location – some of which are inaccessible for certain instance layouts.

• Rhonita Hourd and Login Yapow almost always spawn in the first fight.
• Caligin may spawn in the Yellow Pyramid room in a Red or Green instance.
• Dontre Lebram may spawn in the Red Maze room in a Green instance, or the Yellow Maze room in a Red or Blue instance.
• Dusk may spawn in the Green Pyramid room in a Red or Blue instance.
• Gloom may spawn in the Red Columns room in a Red or Blue instance, or the Blue Columns room in a Red or Green instance.
• Lurid may spawn in the Red Torches room in a Green or Blue instance.
• Murk may spawn in the Red Torches room in a Green or Blue instance, or the Blue Torches room in a Blue instance.
• Myriel Everborn may spawn in the Red Maze room in a Green instance.
• Twilight may spawn in the Blue Columns room in a Red or Green instance.
• Timoty Jorem and Callin Fornan almost always spawn in the long corridor with eight levers leading to Nerezza.
• Overall, this means a Red or Blue instance may contain up to 9 rare monsters, while a Green instance may contain up to 11 (of a possible 12.)

Bonus XP

• Aggression bonus: 33 or more monsters killed +10% Bonus.( ♣669 ♦1,180 ♥1,245 ♠1,310 )
• Onslaught bonus: 67 or more monsters killed +15% Bonus.( ♣1,004 ♦1,770 ♥1,868 ♠1,965 )
• Conquest bonus: 100 or more monsters killed +25% Bonus.( ♣1,673 ♦2,950 ♥3,113 ♠3,275 )

Loot

• Chests: 3 guaranteed, 1 optional "big chest"
• Collectables: 5 (maybe more)
  • Crude Altar in the entrance
  • Moss in the Green Columns room
  • 2 Adventurers' Packs in the Blue Maze
  • Adventurer's Pack in the Yellow Water room
  • Shadow Scarab (in end chest)
• NPC rewards: Random item

Named Chest Drop

• Shards of Light - 50 +3 Arrows: Infused with Positive EnergyInfused with Positive Energy: This weapon is infused with positive energy. It will apply a Cure Moderate Wounds spell to any target hit. This deals 2d8+3 damage to Undead (Fortitude Save for half damage), but will heal most normal creatures., Returning 75%Returning 75%: This missile will return to the player 75% of the time. (Left End Chest, Big Chest)

Last Edited	Item	Type	Enhancements	ML	Bind	Quests
Update 48.2 3 years and 4 months BugTime	Cloak of Protection  (edit)	Cloak	Spell Resistance +17 Spell Resistance +17: +17 Enhancement bonus to Spell Resistance. Protection +3Protection +3: Passive: +3 Deflection bonus to Armor Class. Green Augment Slot: EmptyGreen Augments Named: Category:Green augments Blue Augments Named: Category:Blue augments AC: Natural Armor Bonus (+1 to +14) or Protection (Deflection bonus) (+1 to +11) ASF reduction: -5% to -15% Fortification: +25% to +100% Good Luck: +1 or +2 Hit points: +4 to +54 Max Dex Bonus (Armor): +1 or +2 Defense (PRR and MRR): +3 to +36 Saves (Resistance bonus): +1 to +11 Dodge: +1% to +14% Tactics DCs (Stunning, Sunder, Trip): +2 to +16 Accuracy: +2 to +22 Positive/Negative/Repair Healing Amplification: +3 to +57 Yellow Augments Named: Category:Yellow augments Deathblock Elemental Resistance: +5 to +45 Immunity: Fear, Blindness Movement: Feather Falling, Striding: +10% to +30%, Swiftness +5% to +15%, Underwater Action Proof Against Disease, Poison: +2 to +10 Spell Focus, Greater Spell Focus (Enhancement bonus) Spell points (Enhancement bonus): +19 to +294 Damage: +1 to +11 Spell penetration: +1 to +9 Colorless Augments Named: Category:Colorless augments Ability (Enhancement bonus): +1 to +14 Ability (Exceptional bonus): +1 Ability (Insight bonus): +5 Skills, except UMD (Competence bonus): +5 to +20	7	Bound to Character on EquipBound to Character on Equip: This item is Bound to Character on Equip	The Shadow Crypt, Optional "big chest"
Update 48.2 3 years and 4 months BugTime	Dusk  (edit)	Docent	+5 Enhancement Bonus+5 Enhancement Bonus: +5 enhancement bonus to Armor Class. DuskDusk: Equipping this item engulfs you in twilight shadows. Attacks from enemies have a 10% chance to miss you due to concealment. Blue Augment Slot: EmptyBlue Augments Named: Category:Blue augments AC: Natural Armor Bonus (+1 to +14) or Protection (Deflection bonus) (+1 to +11) ASF reduction: -5% to -15% Fortification: +25% to +100% Good Luck: +1 or +2 Hit points: +4 to +54 Max Dex Bonus (Armor): +1 or +2 Defense (PRR and MRR): +3 to +36 Saves (Resistance bonus): +1 to +11 Dodge: +1% to +14% Tactics DCs (Stunning, Sunder, Trip): +2 to +16 Accuracy: +2 to +22 Positive/Negative/Repair Healing Amplification: +3 to +57 Colorless Augments Named: Category:Colorless augments Ability (Enhancement bonus): +1 to +14 Ability (Exceptional bonus): +1 Ability (Insight bonus): +5 Skills, except UMD (Competence bonus): +5 to +20	8	Bound to Character on EquipBound to Character on Equip: This item is Bound to Character on Equip	The Shadow Crypt, Optional "big chest"
Update 48.2 3 years and 4 months BugTime	Phase Hammer  (edit)	Maul	+4 Enhancement Bonus+4 Enhancement Bonus: +4 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls. Greater Incorporeal BaneGreater Incorporeal Bane: A bane weapon excels at attacking one type or subtype of creature. Against Incorporeals, this weapon's effective enhancement bonus is +4 better than its normal enhancement bonus. It deals an extra 3 to 18 points of damage against the foe. Ghost TouchGhost Touch: An incorporeal creature's 50% chance to avoid damage does not apply to attacks with ghost touch weapons. AdamantineAdamantine: Adamantine weapons may bypass the damage reduction of certain items and creatures. Red Augment Slot: EmptyRed Augments Named: Category:Red augments DR bypass: Alignment, Material Elemental damage: +1d6 to +9d6 Spell Power (Enhancement bonus): +38 to +153 Colorless Augments Named: Category:Colorless augments Ability (Enhancement bonus): +1 to +14 Ability (Exceptional bonus): +1 Ability (Insight bonus): +5 Skills, except UMD (Competence bonus): +5 to +20	8	Bound to Character on EquipBound to Character on Equip: This item is Bound to Character on Equip	The Shadow Crypt, Optional "big chest"
Update 48.4.3 3 years and 27 days BugTime	Devout Handwraps  (edit)	Handwrap	+3 Enhancement Bonus+3 Enhancement Bonus: +3 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls. MetallineMetalline: Metalline bypasses any metal based damage reduction. (Adamantine, "Alchemical, Silver", Byeshk, Cold Iron, Mithral) Pure GoodPure Good: This weapon is infused with the power of Pure Good. It does an additional 1 to 6 damage to non-good targets and can only be wielded by Good-aligned characters. Red Augment Slot: EmptyRed Augments Named: Category:Red augments DR bypass: Alignment, Material Elemental damage: +1d6 to +9d6 Spell Power (Enhancement bonus): +38 to +153 Colorless Augments Named: Category:Colorless augments Ability (Enhancement bonus): +1 to +14 Ability (Exceptional bonus): +1 Ability (Insight bonus): +5 Skills, except UMD (Competence bonus): +5 to +20	8	Bound to Character on EquipBound to Character on Equip: This item is Bound to Character on Equip	The Shadow Crypt, Optional "big chest"
Update 48.4.3 3 years and 25 days BugTime	Tenebrous Stiletto  (edit)	Dagger	+4 Enhancement Bonus+4 Enhancement Bonus: +4 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls. Ghost TouchGhost Touch: An incorporeal creature's 50% chance to avoid damage does not apply to attacks with ghost touch weapons. DeceptionDeception: This weapon is hard to focus upon and thus provides a +3 enhancement bonus to Bluff checks. In addition, Deception weapons have a small chance to envelop the target in darkness, making them vulnerable to sneak attacks for a short time. AdamantineAdamantine: Adamantine weapons may bypass the damage reduction of certain items and creatures. Hide +11Hide +11: Passive: +11 Competence bonus to the Hide skill. Red Augment Slot: EmptyRed Augments Named: Category:Red augments DR bypass: Alignment, Material Elemental damage: +1d6 to +9d6 Spell Power (Enhancement bonus): +38 to +153 Colorless Augments Named: Category:Colorless augments Ability (Enhancement bonus): +1 to +14 Ability (Exceptional bonus): +1 Ability (Insight bonus): +5 Skills, except UMD (Competence bonus): +5 to +20	8	Bound to Character on EquipBound to Character on Equip: This item is Bound to Character on Equip	The Shadow Crypt, Middle End chest, Optional "big chest"
Update 67 15 days Venus	Witching Hour  (edit)	Quarterstaff	Spellcasting Implement +12Spellcasting Implement +12: Passive: +12 Implement bonus to Universal Spell Power. +4 Enhancement Bonus+4 Enhancement Bonus: +4 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls. Ghost TouchGhost Touch: An incorporeal creature's 50% chance to avoid damage does not apply to attacks with ghost touch weapons. Nullification +54Nullification +54: Passive: +54 Equipment bonus to Negative (Necrotic) and Poison Spell Power. Void Lore +14%Void Lore +14: Passive: Your Negative Energy and Poison spells gain a 14% Equipment bonus to their chance to critical hit. AdamantineAdamantine: Adamantine weapons may bypass the damage reduction of certain items and creatures. Red Augment Slot: EmptyRed Augments Named: Category:Red augments DR bypass: Alignment, Material Elemental damage: +1d6 to +9d6 Spell Power (Enhancement bonus): +38 to +153 Colorless Augments Named: Category:Colorless augments Ability (Enhancement bonus): +1 to +14 Ability (Exceptional bonus): +1 Ability (Insight bonus): +5 Skills, except UMD (Competence bonus): +5 to +20	8	Bound to Character on EquipBound to Character on Equip: This item is Bound to Character on Equip	The Shadow Crypt, Right End chest and Optional "big chest"
Update 37.3 6 years, 2 months, and 15 days Niminae	Silver Flame Pendant  (edit)	Necklace	Negative Energy Absorption - 5 Charges (Recharged/Day: 5)Negative Energy Absorption: This effect absorbs negative energy and energy drain effects. DeathblockDeathblock: The wearer of this item is immune to all death spells and magical death effects.	9	Bound to Character on AcquireBound to Character on Acquire: This item is Bound to Character on Acquire	The Shadow Crypt, altar; upgraded from Silver Flame Amulet
Update 48.2 3 years and 4 months BugTime	Emerald Claw Pendant  (edit)	Necklace	Symbol of Fear Symbol of Fear Caster level: 11 Charges: 3 (3/day) — 3 Charges (Recharged/Day:3) Diplomacy +7Diplomacy +7: Passive: +7 Competence bonus to the Diplomacy skill. Intimidate +7Intimidate +7: Passive: +7 Competence bonus to the Intimidate skill.	9	Bound to Character on AcquireBound to Character on Acquire: This item is Bound to Character on Acquire	The Shadow Crypt, altar; upgraded from Emerald Claw Amulet

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Monsters

Name ( picture )	CR	Type	Race
Brother Nerezza ( view  • edit )	♥13Hard ♠16Elite	Undead	Vampire
Caligin ( view  • edit )	♦9Normal	Magical Beast	Spider
Callin Fornan ( view  • edit )	♦9Normal ♥11Hard ♠14Elite	Undead	Wraith
Dontre Lebram ( view  • edit )	♥11Hard ♠14Elite	Undead	Spectre
Dread Wraith ( view  • edit )	♠18Elite ●♦25Epic Normal ●♠34Epic Elite	Undead	Wraith
Drifting Scourge Mage ( view  • edit )	♦9Normal ♥11Hard ♠14Elite	Undead	Spectre
Drifting Scourge ( view  • edit )	♦8Normal ♥10Hard ♠13Elite	Undead	Spectre
Dun Butcher ( view  • edit )	♦8Normal ♥10Hard ♠13Elite	Humanoid	Human
Dusk (spider) ( view  • edit )	♦9Normal ♠14Elite	Magical Beast	Spider
Gloom ( view  • edit )	♦9Normal ♥11Hard ♠14Elite	Undead	Shadow
Login Yapow ( view  • edit )	♦9Normal ♥11Hard ♠14Elite	Undead	Shadow
Lurid ( view  • edit )	♦9Normal ♥11Hard ♠14Elite	Undead	Shadow
Murk ( view  • edit )	♦9Normal ♠14Elite	Undead	Shadow
Myriel Everborn ( view  • edit )	♥11Hard ♠14Elite	Undead	Spectre
Phase Spider ( view  • edit )	♦7Normal ♥9Hard ♠12Elite	Magical Beast	Spider
Rhonita Hourd ( view  • edit )	♦9Normal ♥11Hard ♠14Elite	Undead	Shadow
Shadow (Mabar) ( view  • edit )	♦7Normal ♥9Hard ♠12Elite	Undead	Shadow
Shadow Guard ( view  • edit )	♦10Normal ♥12Hard ♠15Elite	Undead	Wraith
Shadow King ( view  • edit )	♦10Normal ♥12Hard ♠15Elite	Undead	Wraith
Shadow Knight ( view  • edit )	♦10Normal ♥12Hard ♠15Elite	Undead	Wraith
Shadow Lord ( view  • edit )	♦10Normal ♥12Hard ♠15Elite	Undead	Wraith
Shrouded Terror Mage ( view  • edit )	♦9Normal ♥11Hard ♠14Elite	Undead	Wraith
Shrouded Terror ( view  • edit )	♦7Normal ♥9Hard ♠12Elite	Undead	Wraith
Spectre of Calla ( view  • edit )	♦11Normal ♥13Hard ♠16Elite	Undead	Spectre
Timoty Jorem ( view  • edit )	♦9Normal ♠14Elite	Undead	Wraith
Twilight (monster) ( view  • edit )	♦9Normal ♥11Hard ♠14Elite	Undead	Shadow