The Forgotten Tower is a quest in Act 1. This is not a mandatory quest, and most characters skip it. It became more popular with v1.08, as the Countess began to drop a Rune nearly every time.
| Given: | Given by finding the Moldy Tome in the Stony Field. |
|---|---|
| Triggered By: | Reading the Moldy Tome, found in the Stony Field |
| Location: | Find the Forgotten Tower ruins in the Black Marsh |
| Tips: | Search the Stony Field for the tome and locate the tower in the Black Marsh. |
| Description: | The Tower Tome recounts a story of a Countess who was buried alive. Her castle in which so many cruel deeds took place fell rapidly to ruin. Rising over the buried dungeons, a solitary tower is all that remains. The Countess’s fortune was said to be divided among the clergy, although some say that more remains unfound, still buried in the tower.
The levels of the Forgotten Tower are larger in Nightmare and Hell difficulty levels. |
| Rewards: | Killing the Countess on the fifth level of the tower releases dozens of stacks of gold and numerous items from the magical chest. Multiplayer Reward: Free-For-All. |
The Moldy Tome recounts a story of a Countess who was buried alive. The castle in which so many cruel deeds took place fell rapidly to ruin. Rising over the buried dungeons, a solitary tower is all that remains. The Countess’s fortune was said to be divided among the clergy, although some say that more remains unfound, still buried in the tower.
The trigger, reading the Moldy Tome, is not required for this quest. You can just find the ruins of the tower in the Black Marsh, and descend into it. It’s a very nasty area, one of the hardest in Act I, with small rooms and numerous boss and champion monster packs. The levels are very small though, and on the fifth and lowest level there are two rooms with dozens of stacks of gold in each, and several chests. The end of the fifth level has a room with a glowing golden chest guarded by The Countess, a melee-fighting Corrupt Rogue.
You must kill her to finish the quest. When she dies she expires in a cloud of smoke, and then the golden chest opens and erupts showers of gold, potions, and items, literally dozens of them spouting out one at a time. It’s fun to try and pick up the goodies as quickly as they fall. There are seldom any valuable items, just magical stuff and a Rune of varying value, but it’s nice gold for a new character.
Beware the tower, the tiny rooms and small levels leave you no room to retreat, other than up the stairs, and there are tons of boss packs, mostly of Goatmen and Specters. Often when you come down to the next level you’ll find monsters very near the stairs, so be ready.
Prior to v1.08, the Countess would stay in the last room until you entered it, but her minions would wander around and come outside the room, and you could pick them off one by one. She no longer stays inside, but rushes out as soon as you are in the area, making this quest harder.
Since v1.09 the Countess has begun dropping a rune almost every time she is killed. Her rune drops were improved further in v1.10, and as a result she’s now one of the most popular “item run” monsters in the game, especially for players who are Rune Hunting.