Announcement Curse of the Black Knights - Return of Dragan Event Guide 2023

CURSE OF THE BLACK NIGHTS - RETURN OF DRAGAN
~Event Guide~

​

Quick Overview

Level requirements	P1 Cursed Pearl	P2 Elemental-charged Pearl	P3 Raven Pearl	Total progress
20 – 55	820	3.380	6.300	10.500
56 – 99	3.200	6.300	7.500	17.000
100	7.890	19.698	48.720	76.308
100 + 5.000 achievement points	12.548	40.268	96.800	149.616

Event Summary

Dragan is back with his evil tricks!
​

He seems to be up to his wicked plans again, building an army of mindless possessed slaves, perhaps… But one thing is for sure, he gathers more and more strong fighters. What is he planning? You must find out and stop him!

Dragan’s Evil Plan!
Head to Kingshill and find the entrance for Castle Ravencaw, click on the portal to start the event, and face the hordes of Dragan the Damned! There is no entrance fee (except for Bloodshed).


On the other side of the portal, you will encounter two NPCs – Shady Jon, the event merchant, selling various useful items to complete your event adventure (more info about him down below), and Janus Fox, a quest keeper, who will provide you with the “Closed Down” quest, allowing you to unlock all four additional event dungeons: Gloomy Pastures, Sulfur Desert, Dragan’s Excavation Site and Iron Forest at night.

The following quest “Preparation for the Unknown” unlocks the new Great Hall dungeon, bringing a lot of surprises. Collect Cursed Pearls from monsters or amphoras in Castle Ravencaw, Elemental-charged Pearls from the four additional dungeons in Castle Ravencaw and two secret ones, and Raven Pearls from defeating Dragan and Ghastly Black Widow on your way and fill the progress bars.

Castle Ravencaw


You collect Cursed Pearls from this map to finish the first progress bar.

Cursed Pearls dropped by difficulty:

Difficulty	Normal	Painful	Excruciating	Fatal	Infernal	Merciless	Bloodshed
Progress	2/3	2/3	3/4	4/5	6/8	8/12	16/18

You will also find the entrances to the four additional dungeons in Castle Ravencaw, to the Black Knights’ Battleground, as well as one entrance that leads you to Dragan himself (Dragan’s Refuge), after interacting with the Offering Brazier (on top of the map) and Great Hall.


How to unlock additional dungeons?
After entering the Castle Ravencaw, go to the Janus Fox and start the quest “Closed down”. He will ask you to take a look and find the portal to Gloomy Pastures, Sulfur Desert, Dragan’s Excavation Site, and Iron Forest at night – you will find, that each portal is now closed. Go back to Janus Fox and receive four new quests: “Pyrrgamor’s Flame”, “Selganor’s Poison”, “Corwyn’s Thunder” and “Varrys’ Ice”. For each quest, you need to find a statue in the castle (they will be marked on the map) and click to interact with it. Each statue requires 1x Empowered Cursed Pearl, so it is recommended to do this quest in a group of at least 4 people – in that way, each person will click only on one statue and use only one Empowered Cursed Pearl. After interacting, you will need to defeat all the spawned enemies to spawn the leader. After defeating the leader, the portal will be open now and you will be able to talk with the Fox Agent near the portal to finish the quest.

Each unlocked area of Castle Ravencaw comes with a set of relic chests. At the end of each quest from Fox Agent: “A Burning Suspicion”, “A Poisonous Influence”, “A Thundering Surprise” and “An Icy Addition”, a relic chest of the area can be opened. These chests can contain different rewards like premium membership, Andermant, Gilded Clover, Darkens, runes, gems, or unique items.

Cursed Pearls are needed for entering each one of the additional dungeons:

Difficulty	Normal	Painful	Excruciating	Fatal	Infernal	Merciless	Bloodshed
Cost	100	110	120	150	180	380	580

Bloodshed difficulty requires also 10x Fragments of Infernal Passages.

Inside these four dungeons, you can farm Elemental-charged Pearls, needed for the second progress bar. In all those four maps, there is also a chance that Cadoc the Belligerent appears with his minions.


You will see a red skull marker as soon as you come close to him. But watch out, he will immediately charge at you!



Cadoc and his minions must be defeated to open a secret portal, leading to Ghastly Grave, Wild Forest at night, or Mystra at night.
Look for Special Force Unit members: Rukh, Pjarn, Claude, Everett, Vernon, and Dyl in these four additional maps in Castle Ravencaw and some of the secret maps. You’ll notice them when you see a boss skull icon, displayed on the mini-map. Defeating them unlocks achievements.


When having defeated all of them, you will be rewarded with the Hunter/Huntress of the Special Force Unit title and 50 achievement points.
The monsters in the four additional dungeons in Castle Ravencaw and two secret ones drop Elemental-charged Pearls, needed for the second progress bar.

Elemental-charged Pearls dropped by difficulty:

Difficulty	Normal	Painful	Excruciating	Fatal	Infernal	Merciless	Bloodshed
Progress	2/4	4/6	8/9	9/10	10/20	20/30	25/40

After entering, you will see another relic chest – to open it, you need to clean at least 80% of the map. This chest can drop 1 or 2 Empowered Cursed Pearls.


Group Chests
They can be found on any of the additional maps available, as well as on some secret maps when playing in a group with at least two players on the same map. Each chest can only be destroyed by the specific class it has been assigned to and requires Spirit Essence to do so, so it is recommended to have a diverse group of 4 classes. The Spirit Essence can be found in merchants’ offers and as a drop from monsters in the four additional dungeons and some of the secret maps, only during group runs.

Spellweaver Chest	Dragonknight Chest
Ranger Chest	Steam Mechanicus Chest

Those chests contain various items, such as amphora keys, spirit stones, group effect runes, Cursed Pearls, and Empowered Cursed Pearls.

Gloomy Pastures

The smell of burned grass fills the air and silence echoes where once the cricket chirped.​

The Gloomy Pastures is a map full of fiery enemies. Quests bound to this map: “A Burning Suspicion”.
After finishing the “A Burning Suspicion 2/3” quest, a Fiery Headless Horseman will able to appear (will be marked with a red skull icon on the mini-map), when you defeat all Fire Brutes in the map (marked by a red dot), with a chance to drop the Fiery Headless Horseman costume. Remember to take every time the repeatable quest “A Burning Suspicion” before entering the map, to have the possibility to open the 4th relic chest.



Map objects locations
(Group chests, Cadoc the Belligerent, entry to the secret map, Cursed amphora)


Sulfur Desert

This place is full of sulfur.​

Be careful and do not inhale too much of the poisonous atmosphere and watch out where you step!​

The Sulfur Desert is a map full of poisonous enemies. Players staying at ground level will receive
a constant debuff called Acid Burn (-20.00% Armor value, deducts 5.00% of your Health Points as Physical Damage, tick rate in seconds: 1.0). Quests bound to this map: “A Poisonous Influence”.
After finishing the “A Poisonous Influence 2/3” quest, a Poisonous Headless Horseman will be able to appear (will be marked with a red skull icon on the mini-map), after defeating Neroun the Spider Master and destroying all Spider eggs, which will appear in the map, with a chance to drop the Poisonous Headless Horseman costume. Remember to take every time the repeatable quest
“A Poisonous Influence” before entering the map, to have the possibility to open the 4th relic chest.


Map objects locations
(Group chests, Cadoc the Belligerent, entry to the secret map, Cursed amphora)


Dragan’s Excavation Site

Recently, strange noises are coming from the Excavation Mine​

and even the air around it seems tense.​

Dragan’s Excavation Site is a map full of electrified enemies. Quests bound to this map: “A Thundering Surprise”.
After finishing the “A Thundering Surprise 2/3” quest, an Electrified Headless Horseman will be able to appear (will be marked with a red skull icon on the mini-map), after the thunder citrines in the map are activated, with a chance to drop the Electrified Headless Horseman costume. Remember to take every time the repeatable quest “A Thundering Surprise” before entering the map, to have the possibility to open the 4th relic chest.



Map objects locations
(Group chests, Cadoc the Belligerent, entry to the secret map, Cursed amphora)


Iron Forest at night

Iron Golems were spotted gathering in the Iron Forest at night.​

The reason is still unknown, but these frosty fellows are not known for their social nature.​

The Iron Forest at night is a map full of frost enemies. Quests bound to this map: “An Icy Addition”.
After finishing the “An Icy Addition 2/3” quest, an Icy Headless Horseman will be able to appear (will be marked with a red skull icon on the mini-map), after destroying all reliquaries in the map, with a chance to drop the Icy Headless Horseman costume. Remember to take every time the repeatable quest “An Icy Addition” before entering the map, to have the possibility to open the 4th relic chest.



Map objects locations
(Group chests, Cadoc the Belligerent, entry to the secret map, Cursed amphora)



Black Knights’ Battleground

Ring the Battle Gong and let the battle begin!​

Enter the Black Knights' Battleground to face the strong knights of Dragan! But be warned, this special challenge can be played only when being solo and must be completed without dying! If you die, you lose everything and you need to re-enter the dungeon. The dungeon can be played only on difficulties infernal, merciless, and bloodshed, needing an Empowered Cursed Pearl to enter (and 10x Infernal Fragments of passage, needed for Bloodshed difficulty). The battle is divided into 3 phases:

1. Phase I – fight with Black Knight Commander (leader) and normal monsters, six waves in total.
2. Phase II – fight with Black Squire (champion), four Bad-tempered Black Knights (guardians), and normal monsters.
3. Phase III – fight with Battlewise Black Knight General (sentinel) and meteors constantly falling from the sky.

If you manage to complete the dungeon for the first time, you will automatically be granted the Amulet of the Black Knight unique item, due to the event achievement for each difficulty. It can also drop from the final boss of the dungeon or be crafted.

Dragan’s Refuge

Do not expect mercy – you will be in Dragan’s own Refuge, where he is invincible!​

You will need an Empowered Cursed Pearl to offer into Offering Brazier. In group play, it is enough that only one player has the pearl.



After offering the pearl, you will be attacked by Humfrye the Wrathful and his minions. After defeating them, the entrance will finally open, but remember there is a time limit! The entrance will close again in 60 seconds.

Dragan rewards Raven Pearls needed for the third progress bar:

Difficulty	Normal	Painful	Excruciating	Fatal	Infernal	Merciless	Bloodshed
Raven Pearls	16	24	32	40	65	120	250

The Damned one can also drop Mysterious Scroll, needed for the “Preparation for the Unknown” quest.

Great Hall

Enter the Great Hall of Castle Ravencaw and find out what Dragan is planning there!​

The Great Hall can only be entered after completing the “Preparation for the Unknown” quest, given by Janus Fox after unlocking all 4 areas of Castle Ravencaw. The dungeon is full of surprises, have this in mind! Empowered Cursed Pearl is required to enter, along with the needed Infernal Passages (if going on Bloodshed). The dungeon is only accessible when being solo, to face the real challenge against Dragan and his knights. On your first completed run there, you will receive the whole Dragan’s Rageful Armor set, Dragan’s Protective Armor set, Dragan’s Incensed weapon, and Dragan’s Grim Signet Ring.



You can also get the Dragan Doll, an uncommon one from Dragan and an extraordinary one from achievement. Just imagine how mighty you would look with having the Damned fighting along with you, even if it is in pocket size.

He is dreadful, merciless, wicked to the bone, and... he is damned. Beware of Dragan in pocket size. He will prick you while you sleep and whenever you take a walk. A living nightmare, that will never stop.

Rarity	Uncommon	Magic	Extraordinary	Legendary
Effect	+4.00% attack speed +4.00% damage	+8.00% attack speed +8.00% damage	+12.00% attack speed +12.00% damage	+16.00% attack speed +16.00% damage

You can also get the Empowered Headless Horseman Costume from there.



Raven Pearls are dropped by Dragan and Relic chest:

Difficulty	Normal	Painful	Excruciating	Fatal	Infernal	Merciless	Bloodshed
Raven Pearls	50+50	75+75	100+100	125+125	180+180	300+300	600+600

Wild Forest at Night

Summon and defeat Fire Brutes!​

To be able to summon and defeat the five Fire Brutes, you must defeat all the Fire Sprites in that area, which will be marked as red dots on the mini-map as soon as you approach them. The map is divided into 5 areas:



Mystra at Night

Face the evil hordes of skeletons, but watch out for the evil-spewing volcano!​

Keep in mind that some of the monsters will spawn after you pass the spawn point. If the relic chest is unclickable after defeating all visible enemies, walk through the map to trigger the hidden mobs.

Ghastly Grave

Beware of the Ghastly Black Widow!​

The Ghastly Black Widow will appear only after defeating the two leaders on the two ends of the map. She will try to wrap you in her cobwebs. Cut her spiderwebs and defeat her together with her brood and receive one item from Dragan's Protective Armor set as a guaranteed reward or get the Black Widow mount and show your might when traveling around Dracania!

Ghastly Black Widow also rewards Raven Pearls, needed for the third progress bar:

Difficulty	Normal	Painful	Excruciating	Fatal	Infernal	Merciless	Bloodshed
Raven Pearls	50	75	100	125	180	300	600

Progress bars

Levels 20 – 55


Levels 56 – 99


Level 100, less than 5.000 achievement points


Level 100, at least 5.000 achievement points




Glimpse of the Past
Only the bravest and most powerful heroes can withstand the might of Dragan’s Past! Head to the Ghastly Grave, Wild Forest at Night, or Mystra at Night and defeat opponents to receive Tainted Souls. This challenge is available only for heroes at level 80 and above (no achievement points requirement).

Tainted Souls dropped by difficulty:

Difficulty	Normal	Painful	Excruciating	Fatal	Infernal	Merciless	Bloodshed
Tainted Soul	10	15	20	25	30	50	80

Progress bars



Mythical Set – Black Warlord Regalia


The mythical set contains three equipment items: Cloak of the Black Knight, Helmet of the Black Knight, and Shoulder of the Black Knight. They can be only crafted with the following items:

• Cloak of the Black Knight:
  • 200x Cape of the Black Knight – an ingredient dropped by Battlewise Black Knight General on Black Knights’ Battleground map
  • 400x Dragon Bones – an ingredient dropped by Mortis (if the player used Dragon Bone Elixir), also a common reward from various events
  • 1x generic cloak
  • 1x Dragan’s Soul – this ingredient is obtainable only from progress bars
• Helmet of the Black Knight:
  • 200x Helmet of the Black Knight – an ingredient dropped by Dragan in Dragan’s Refuge
  • 400x Dragon Bones – an ingredient dropped by Mortis (if the player used Dragon Bone Elixir), also a common reward from various events
  • 1x generic helmet
  • 1x Dragan’s Soul – this ingredient is obtainable only from progress bars
• Shoulders of the Black Knight:
  • 200x Shoulders of the Black Knight – an ingredient dropped by Dragan in Great Hall and from the relic chest in Great Hall
  • 400x Dragon Bones – an ingredient dropped by Mortis (if the player used Dragon Bone Elixir), also a common reward from various events
  • 1x generic shoulders
  • 1x Dragan’s Soul – this ingredient is obtainable only from progress bars

The ingredients from Battlewise Black Knight General, both Dragans and relic chest drop only on merciless and bloodshed difficulty. You will receive 1x ingredient on merciless and 2x on bloodshed. There are two Dragan’s Souls on the Glimpse of the Past event progress bar, the last one can be found on the main event progress bar (for level 100). The player can obtain 3 Dragan’s Souls in total per event, so it is possible to craft the whole set in one event. Due to limited tries, it is suggested to use 145-level generic items for crafting, as the item level of the result item will be defined by the item level of the generic item you’re using to craft the mythical set. Also, the base values and enchantments’ of the result items will be always 100%.

Class	Bonus for pieces of equipment belonging to the same set
Dragonknight
Ranger
Spellweaver
Steam Mechanicus

Event Merchants Offers
Shady Jon



Gnob (skins)


Grima



Unique and Set items
All the unique and set items can be crafted. First, you need to collect 100x burned flesh from Dragan or the Black Widow to unlock the achievement “Sour Breath” and receive the crafting manual.

Item	Part of the set	Drop
Dragan’s Bellicose Helmet	Dragan’s Rageful Armor	Dragan
Dragan’s Bellicose Boots	Dragan’s Rageful Armor	Dragan
Dragan’s Bellicose Gloves	Dragan’s Rageful Armor	Dragan
Dragan’s Grim Signet Ring	-	Dragan
Dragan’s Battleworn Cloak/Banner	Dragan’s Protective Armor	Dragan, Black Widow
Dragan’s Battleworn Pauldrons	Dragan’s Protective Armor	Dragan, Black Widow
Dragan’s Battleworn Jerkin/Mail/Robes	Dragan’s Protective Armor	Dragan, Black Widow
Armor of the Black Knight	-	Common drop
Gloves of the Black Knight	-	Common drop
Boots of the Black Knight	-	Common drop
Amulet of the Black Knight	-	Battlewise Black Knight General, reward from achievement
Dragan’s Incensed Sword/Staff/Shotgun/Bow	-	Dragan

Event Attire

Bonus: 5% chance that enemies in Castle Ravencaw drop additional Cursed Pearls 2% chance that Dragan drops an Empowered Cursed Pearl 50% increased Elemental-charged Pearl drop stack size 10% increased Raven Pearl drop stack size

Event items

Cursed Pearl


This is the currency needed for completing the first progress bar and entering the four additional dungeons in Castle Ravencaw. Can be obtained through the Shop or as a drop from monsters in Castle Ravencaw and amphoras or from the Pearl Box and the Bigger Pearl Box.

Elemental-charged Pearl


This is the currency needed for completing the second progress bar. Can be obtained through the Shop or as a drop from monsters and amphoras in the four additional maps in Castle Ravencaw and some of the secret maps.

Raven Pearl


This is the currency needed for completing the third progress bar. Can be obtained through the Shop or as a drop after defeating Dragan the Damned or the Ghastly Black Widow.

Empowered Cursed Pearl


It is used for entering the Black Knights' Battleground, Great Hall, interacting with the Offering Brazier, on top of the Castle Ravencaw for entering the Dragan’s Refuge and for completing the “Closed Down” quest, given by Janus Fox, when first entering in Castle Ravencaw, allowing you to unlock all four additional event dungeons.

Can be obtained:

• through the Shop (Shady Jon – unlimited times, Grima – 25 times),
• as a possible drop from amphoras or the Relic Chests in the Castle Ravencaw, additional dungeons and secret maps,
• as a possible drop from Group chests,
• as a reward for the daily challenge (defeating Dragan),
• as a reward from progress bars,
• as a reward for the “Unobstructed View” daily quest,
• as a possible reward from Pearl Box and Bigger Pearl Box,
• as a possible drop from Dragan (only if wearing event attire).

 

Administrator’s Chest



Can be obtained from amphoras and Grima’s shop. Contains one part of Dragan's Incensed weapons:

• Mysterious Weapon Pattern
• Dire Ore
• Dragan's Sigil
• Dragan's Breath

Combine all four parts on the workbench to create Dragan’s Incensed weapon. The level of the item scales to the player level, which means it’s capped at a maximum of level 100.

Foxarrific Chest of Elemental Intel


Can be obtained from amphoras and Grima’s shop. Contains one weapon enchantment stone:

• Fire Stone
• Lightning Stone
• Poison Stone

Each type of enchantment stone is used for adding effect to Dragan’s Incensed weapon. You need three of them to create Dragan’s Fiery Incensed weapon (3x Fire Stones needed), Dragan’s Electrified Incensed weapon (3x Lightning Stones needed), and Dragan’s Toxic Incensed weapon (3x Poison Stones needed) on the workbench.

Mysterious Scroll


Can be obtained from amphoras or as a drop from Dragan the Damned. It is used for completing the “Preparation for the Unknown” quest that is given by Janus Fox, after unlocking all 4 areas of Castle Ravencaw, to enter the Great Hall.

Elemental Horseman Chest


Can be obtained from the progress bar. Contains one random Headless Horseman costume.

FAQ
Q: I defeated the Dragan, but the progress doesn’t count, why?
A: You need to fill up the first two progress bars first.

Q: I need to drop Dragan’s order in the Sulfur Desert, but I didn’t receive it after many runs! Is this quest bugged?
A: No, the quest is not bugged. Keep in mind there are only four monsters on the map, dropping mentioned item.

Q: Why I can’t click on the statue in Castle Ravencaw?
A: You don’t have Empowered Cursed Pearl.

Q: How can I obtain the first 4 Empowered Cursed Pearls to unlock the four additional dungeons?
A: There are some pearls on the first progress bar. You can also buy it from Grima. We highly recommend doing this quest in a group.

Q: Why do I have different progress bars than my friend?
A: The progress bars are different for different levels. Also, there are two variations for level 100, depending on how many achievements points the player has.

Q: Why there is no Glimpse of the Past event?
A: Either event didn’t start yet, or you don’t have level 80, required for this challenge.

Q: Is there a difference in amphoras drop in terms of map difficulty?
A: No.

Q: Is it worth buying Mysterious Scroll from Grima?
A: You should try to defeat Dragan a couple of times since the chance to receive the scroll from him is quite high. We recommend doing it in groups since only one player is using Empowered Cursed Pearl.

Q: Why there are no Group chests on the side maps?
A: You need to be in a group with another player. Also, you need to be together on the map.

Q: What does it mean “map 3, map 001”?
A: Map 1 or 001 is Gloomy Pastures, map 2 or 002 is Sulfur Desert, map 3 or 003 is Dragan’s Excavation Site and map 4 or 004 is Iron Forest at night.

Q: Why I don’t have the “Preparation for the Unknown” quest available?
A: You didn’t open all of the additional four dungeons.

Q: Why I don’t have the “Unobstructed View” quest available?
A: You didn’t open all of the additional four dungeons.

Q: What is the best way to obtain Cursed Pearls?
A: Go to Dragan’s Excavation Site map (the shortest), on the lowest difficulty (lowest fee) with a full, class-diverse group (you can defeat all Group chests). Remember to take the repeatable quest from the fox agent.

Q: Why I am not getting the Cursed Pearls from chests after clearing side maps?
A: You can find them in relic chests in Castle.

Q: My friend received premium membership from the very first relic chest he opened, but I received something else. Is this a bug?
A: No, the rewards are the same, but the order of them is random.

Q: How to farm marks for the “Preparation for the Unknown”?
A: It is recommended to give the Mysterious scroll to Janus Fox right after unlocking the additional dungeons. In this way, you can farm the marks and do the quests from fox agents.