Rite of Passage (Quest)

Quest icon

"You are approaching the very summit of Mount Arreat. I have never dared venture there." - Qual-Kehk

Rite of Passage is the fifth and penultimate quest of Act V. It is initiated by talking to Qual-Kehk after Betrayal of Harrogath (quest) has been completed, or when players first enter The Ancients' Way. Before gaining entrance into the Worldstone Keep, adventurers are tested by the spirits of legendary Barbarian warriors known as The Ancients: Madawc the Guardian, Talic the Defender, and Korlic the Protector. If the adventurer manages to best the Ancients in combat, they are found worthy of gaining entrance into the Keep, wherein lies the Worldstone.

The quest is completed after the last of the Ancients has been defeated. The player is rewarded with a substantial experience gain, often resulting in Leveling Up. In addition players may now enter the Worldstone Keep where they will face the Lord of Destruction, Baal.

Additional Tips and Information

Past the Frozen Tundra you will find The Ancients' Way; follow this until you find the way towards the Arreat Summit. In the center of the Summit the Altar of the Heavens can be found. When the player first approaches the Arreat Summit, the player should not activate the altar right away. Instead, the player should open a town portal going back to Harrogath and purchase plenty of extra healing and mana potions that they can't carry on their belt, then return to the Arreat Summit and drop them around particularly at the altar. This strategy is a way to simply replenish any potions used during the fight, since if the player runs low they can easily pick up potions dropped previously rather than go into their inventory. Casting a Town Portal will revert the Ancients back to their statue pedestals which forces the player to restart the fight with the Ancients at full health and having different modifiers.

After activating the Altar of the Heavens, the thee statues of the Ancients come to life and attack the player. The three Ancients each utilize different Barbarian skills; Madawc uses Double Throw and Shout, Talic uses Whirlwind and Korlic Leap. The immediate focus should be on Madawc the Guardian (double throw Barbarian) since of the three he is the fastest ranged attacker and can send the character into hit recovery/dodge animation/blocking animation much faster than the others, effectively stunning long enough for the remaining two to land fatal blows. If the hero is a melee character, it is especially advised not to directly start attacking neither Talic the Defender nor Korlic the Protector until felling Madawc. This is due to Madawc's Shout ability which will increase the enemies defenses to radically high levels, thus making a physical hit much harder to land. Once Madawc is slain, focus should then shift to Korlic the Protector (leap attack Barbarian). This is because though Madawc is the only one of the three with an actual ranged weapon, leap attack acts a pseudo ranged attack and will be the source of many unexpected random hit recovery/dodging/blocking animations while fighting the remaining Barbarian. After Madawc and Korlic are defeated, Talic the Defender should be much more manageable.

Pillar trick

If you hide behind the pillars on the summit, Madawc will keep throwing axes at you but they can't hit you because of the pillars, so you can easily take care of Korlic and Talic first. If you have trouble fighting all three of them at the same time, try to separate them by running across the summit, with some luck they will stuck at the corners, allowing you to fight one at a time.

Note that if you happen to leave before all three are killed, their mods will change. At times, they spawn with immunities to different elements. If you feel as though the odds are against you, simply leave and return. Keep in mind that the Ancients can also be aura enchanted and elementally enchanted as well.

Note: opening a Town Portal mid-fight will reset the Ancients to full health and different modifiers, forcing you to fight them again from scratch. Town Portals that were opened before activating the Altar will disappear when the Ancients awaken.

Defeating the Ancients grants the player access to the Worldstone Keep. More importantly, it gives a huge boost of experience. There is a limit of 1 level-up during this process.

The exact amounts of experience gain are:

• Normal: 1,400,000
• Nightmare: 20,000,000
• Hell: 40,000,000

Furthermore, there is one more limitation - the reward is given only if the player is at least level 20 in Normal, level 40 in Nightmare, and level 60 in Hell.