Karaz-a-Karak

Karaz-a-Karak

The towering gates of Karaz-a-Karak, Capital of the Dwarfs, in Return of Reckoning.

Karaz-a-Karak is the Dwarf Capital city in Return of Reckoning, and was one of two cities started by the original developers and later finished exclusively by the RoR Team.

The city includes all the same vendors and services as the Empire Capital, Altdorf, but also includes additional mount color options and exclusive quests and pocket items useful for all characters.

Lore

Karaz-a-Karak, which translates roughly as Everpeak, or the Pinnacle of Mountain is the Dwarf capital city, and High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer's seat of power. This is the mightiest and most populous of all Dwarf cities, the capital of the Karaz Ankor and is the stronghold of the High King. Here, amongst its ancient temples to the Ancestor Gods, High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer holds court in a vaulted Great Hall large enough to engulf a Human town.

The forest of pillars that form the mile-long nave of the hall tower high into darkness. Despite suffering attacks beyond number, Karaz-a-Karak has never fallen to an invader. Here are kept the Great Book of Grudges, the Book of Remembering and countless hoarded treasures, each an object of awe and veneration to any Dwarf. After a great deal of bluster and grumbling, even the most independent of Dwarfs from one of the far-off holds will ultimately admit to a fierce pride of Karaz-a-Karak. Although their empire may have crumbled, here at the stony heart of their realm, its power and splendour endure.

City Sections

A map of the interior of Karaz-a-Karak.

Karaz-a-Karak is divided into six primary sections, which are color-coded on your map. These sections are:

• High King's Hold: The seat of Thorgrim Grudgebearer, High King of the Dwarfs.
• Order Headquarters: Rooms for the Dwarfs' Empire and High Elf allies, as well as the Oathbearers.
• War Room: The Guild Hall, equivalent to Altdorf's Sigmar's Hammer.
• Warrior's Stand: The location of many Gear and Renown Vendors, similar to Altdorf's War Quarters.
• Ancestor Temples: The Career and Renown Trainers are located here.
• Merchant's District: The Craft Supply Merchants, as well as all Gathering and Crafting merchants, are located here.

In addition to these, the far Western section of the city houses The Blessed Anvil, the location of the Invader, Warlord, and Sovereign Vendors.

The East and Southeast part of the City is where you'll find the Tavern District and the Feast Hall, which you'll navigate to get the exclusive Refreshing Pocket Keg Pocket item.

Special Quest Rewards

Even RvR-focused players can benefit from the 25% Renown Potions, and HP Regen Pocket item, earned via quests in Karaz-a-karak.

There are a number of special quest rewards within Karaz-a-Karak that are worth doing on any character:

• Arguably the most important of these is the short quest line for the Refreshing Pocket Keg, which grants HP regeneration and is useful for all characters in all situations.

• Additionally, players can earn a number of Potion of Acclaim, a 72 hour Renown Boosting potion, by completing quests within the city.
  • The City Quest version is called Fleeting Renown Potion, but these two potions are essentially the same and do not stack.

• There's also a special 5% Gold Increase Pocket item that can be earned, which boosts a player's gold earned.

The RoR Team created a huge amount of new quests that you can find within the city, so feel free to explore to find them all! Or, if you'd like:

For a full guide to these quests, please click here.

The Middle Deeps

The Karaz Middle Deeps, located beneath the main city.

Near the Southwest corner of Karaz-a-Karak, you'll find the entrance to The Middle Deeps.

Located below the main section of Karaz-a-Karak, The Middle Deeps is an expanded section of the city and houses:

• The Ungdrim Grimazul, or "Steel Underway" Train Station to the North, a huge depot that also includes Mount Vendors for all races.
• The Crypts to the West, where High Kings of the Dwarfs are entombed and includes Career and Renown trainers.
• The Engineer's Guild and the Cannon Foundry in the East, where the Dwarfs forge their weapons of war and additional quests can be found.
• Grungni's Citadel in the South, a walled fortress that defends the city from any attacks through the Underway, and the nearby Mines.
  • Vanquisher/Oppressor Armor and Renown Weapons can be purchased on the northern cliffsides here.

While more common before the currency unification, players who want to convert Subjugator Weapons to another weapon type for their class can do so at the Smuggler Vendor, located near the Mount Vendors in the Ungdrim Grimazul.

Special Mounts

Dwarfs, Humans, and High Elves all have 3 additional mount color options exclusive to Karaz-a-Karak.

All standard level 16 and level 38 Mounts come with 3 additional color options that can only be found in Karaz-a-Karak.

To purchase these, head to the Middle Deeps section of the City, then make your way North to landmark Ungdrin Grimazul, the Train depot. Head West within the Depot to find the mounts.

• Like Altdorf, these Mounts cost 10 Gold for a level 16 variant, and 100 gold for a level 38 variant.
• Notably improved from Altdorf, you can visibly preview all Mount options here to see exactly which color you'll get before purchasing. You'll find each located near the Vendor who sells them.

Helpful Tips

• The War Room Guild scrolls from Karaz-a-karak have a unique cooldown from the Sigmar's Hammer scrolls. (If you use these a lot, carry both.)
  • These scrolls also cool down in just 60 minutes, half that of regular guild scrolls.

• There are special weapon skins hidden within some of the quest lines in Karaz-a-karak. Fashionhammer fans, take note!

Trivia

New art was created for Karaz-a-karak, like this tapestry of the historic Battle at the Gates of Kislev.

• Completing Karaz-a-karak took almost two full years of work by multiple staff members.

• The Central area of Karaz-a-Karak was started by Mythic, but unfinished. From those empty rooms the RoR Team built new NPCs, Quests, Items, Models, and more to bring them to their finished state.
  • The entire Karaz Middle Deeps section was built from scratch.

• There are over 60 Quest Lines and 250+ total quests within Karaz-a-karak, including 12 hidden quest lines.

• There are a number of easter eggs hidden with Karaz-a-karak by the RoR developers. Eagle-eyed adventurers may find many, including a tabletop Warhammer reference.

Development

Despite being one of the first cities created by Mythic the original Karaz-a-karak was eventually removed from the game client before entering Open Beta.

There are many memories like this, ones that I feel comfortable sharing now – including the fact that we do have two of the four remaining fully built cities (Karaz-A-Karak and Karak Eight Peaks which are truly truly beautiful but would take months and months of optimization before they could match the changes we made to the game along the way).

—Carrie Gouskos (Producer), http://www.warhammeronline.com/

During early development and particularly the production podcasts the Dwarf vs Greenskin paring was used as an example, which in presentations featured the Dwarf and Greenskin cities. Karaz-a-Karak was the only other racial city we have been as it was briefly present in Closed Beta.