Guide to Charasis: Vault of Eternal Sleep

By Brasse

Location: This is a dungeon accessed in the bottom of a canyon in Jarsath Wastes.
Recommended levels: 74+ (healers can afford to be somewhat lower level)
Instanced zone: Up to 6 people in one group allowed per instance. Minimum lockout 18 hours, maximum 1 day, 11 hours.
Printable map linked here.

Notable mobs:
Keeper of Dreams 79^^^
Keeper of Nightmares 79^^^
Guardian of Eternity 80^^^
Torpid, Entranced, Dormant, Languid Guardian 79^^^(these do not drop loot)
Praetor of the Phylactery (boss mob) 80^^^
All other mobs are 77-78 and ^^ if grouped, or ^^^ if solo.

Additional features: No respawn, a multitude of pit traps, only one of which can be disabled via a lever.


The Vault of Eternal Sleep is a challenging dungeon if your groupmates are not paying attention... and even if they are! It is littered with pit traps that spawn heroic Haunting Spirits or Sepulchre Spirits that can kill the unwary very quickly.

Strategy will vary somewhat from group to group, depending on class arrangement and levels, and this is intended as a general guide only. I have been on successful runs with the most unlikely groups, proving that innovation wins over conventional thought often.

Instruct the group to stick to the walls when moving around the dungeon. There are only two places where the pit traps are unavoidable, and no excuse to fall in elsewhere, aside from sloppiness.

Due to the heroic nature of the creatures in the Vaults, I recommend that the tank pull back to the group to prevent adds. If the tank is familiar with the map, they can avoid pulling the mobs next to traps, which in turn will help avoid groupmates falling in when they are positioning themselves for the battle.

The first challenge comes with the drop right after the secret wall, hidden behind a large tapestry. Have your group drop down as close as possible from the ledge above, to avoid setting off the trap that lies in the eastern part of the room. There will be mobs near the north doorway as well, and they may aggro if someone jumps down too close to that entrance. The tank goes first of course! Wait for them to say when they've gathered enough aggro for your safety before following over the edge.

Hall of the Sleeping Heroes.


Stick to the left wall until you reach the Hall of Sleeping Heroes. At this point, you can turn north and take the right wall to the Lock of Dreams, or turn south and take the left wall to the Lock of Nightmares. You'll end up visiting them both in any case.

Let's do the tough one first – the Keeper of Dreams has a really nasty trick that can defeat a group many times over if the players are not paying attention. At 66% health and again at 33% health, the Keeper of Dreams will cast a powerful AoE power drain that will catch you even if you are out in the Hall of Sleeping Heroes. It will empty your blue bar faster than you can imagine.

If you have a lot of DPS in the party or are loaded with power regen (enchanter, bard, hearts, shards or potions), you can simply mash through the drains and kill the mob.

For the rest of you... you'll have to avoid attacking the Keeper of Dreams as soon as it reaches the points where it casts its spell. This means that at 68%, the tank has to call a halt to all offense. Heals, wards, regens and buffs may continue to be cast. Let your main tank (or a smart dps class) give the Keeper a few sharp hits to take them to 66% while watching their health closely.

How to avoid doing damage:
- Turn off attack. Duh – this seems obvious, but often someone simply forgets. Tell them to turn their t.v. off and pay attention!
- Mind your pets (they should be called off early or not used at all)
- No DoT (damage over time) spells; they are best avoided altogether or held until after the mob's second shielding ends.
- Remove all equipment that can proc damage, and have melee characters turn away from the mob to avoid riposting.
- If you are lagging a lot, stop your damage early to avoid overlapping the shielding sequence.

Let me tell you, covering all those bases is not easy. Someone will always leave an item on that violates the rule!

When the spell recedes, the main tank can call assist again till 35% health, when again, everyone but they should stop hitting. Once the shield recedes for the last time, throw everything you have at the Keeper.

When the Keeper is vanquished, a star-shaped pillar will rise from the floor. You'll be coming back to that soon enough.

Head back south in the Hall of Sleeping Heroes and prepare to jump as a group into the pit trap shown on the map. Kill the specters that spawn there, then ride the platform up and hop across to the hallway.

Designate one person to flip the switch on the wall to disable the pit trap you just crossed. If more than one person tries it, you won't know if it's on or off.

Head down the winding hall and place your party at the foot of the stairs east of the t-junction. Of old, you could pull the Keeper of Nightmares from his room to kill him without adds, but in March '08, this was changed such that the encounter resets if he is pulled from his room.

The Keeper of Nightmares is still a straightforward kill with no special strategy required, other than handling the adds that spawn in the room. A star-shaped pillar will rise from the floor in his room as well.

Head north, then east, following this side hallway back to the Hall of Heroes. Clear the mobs along the way and any within sight in the main hall, and then lead the party into the large pit trap that blocks the hall. Kill the ambushing spirits and ride the platform up the north side. Yes, you can run all the way around the other direction, but where's the fun in that?

Park the group on the east side of the hall, facing the hallway that leads west. You will be able to see a number of spirits and a bottomless feaster. Bide your time and pull the feaster when you are least likely to get adds, or you may find yourself waking up in the entrance lobby once more, with dented armor.

A multi-pull just waiting to happen.


It is almost impossible to take on the spirits singly, so be prepared to have at least two at a time. Once they fall, proceed carefully up the hall, kill the paired golems, and the final group of spirits.

The door to the vault is locked until both the Keeper of Dreams and Keeper of Nightmares are defeated. Good thing you've done that already!

Use the wheel on the right side of the door to open it, and then pull the skeletons from within. These will usually all come at once.

Open the door again, and have your party all enter. Take a moment to discuss strategy for this very challenging room, "The Twin Pillars". There are four clay golems around the perimeter, and an iron golem in the middle between the pillars. Choose a party member to be the "reader"; next to each clay golem is a scroll on a stand. When the golem reaches 1% health, it casts an impermeable stoneskin on itself. At this point, the reader must right click on the stand to "read" the scroll, in order to make it possible to kill the golem. The tank must keep the golem far enough away to avoid having its AoEs interrupt the reader.

Read faster!


Your battle will start with the first golem to the left, the Torpid Guardian. As soon as you enter the room, he will aggro, while the rest stay perfectly still. The moment he falls, the Entranced Guardian will spring to life, so the tank needs to be ready to switch targets fast. Continue in sequence through the Dormant and Languid Guardians.

After the last clay golem is defeated, the Guardian of Eternity will stand and attack. Keep in mind that you've now been fighting for a long time. Mana conservation is essential to this fight. If you have nothing left for the big guy, you're in trouble.

I died right after taking this picture. They don't mess around here.


As the master golem falls, the pillars will lower enough to enable two group members to pick up the blue and purple crystals. Players can only carry one at a time, and cannot open doors while carrying them, so have someone else open the door to the hallway for them.

The blue crystal needs to be placed on the pillar in the Lock of Dreams, while the purple crystal must be carried to the pillar in the Lock of Nightmares. Ensure that the people chosen to carry the crystals know how to avoid stepping into traps on the way. Approach the raised pillar and hop on it, unless you are very tall. Place the crystal on the glowing yellow sparkles and a reaction will take place.



The rest of the party should take up station on the north side of the Hall of Sleeping Heroes, facing the door leading to the Altar of the Dragonslayer. There is an urn on either side of the door, glowing pale yellow. As the crystals are delivered, these urrns will begin to glow blue and purple, indicating that the door is unlocked. Congratulations, you are now ready to take on the final encounter!

Keep the party on the north wall while the main tank opens the door and single pulls the Ganak's Tomb Guardians, which stand to the left and right, just inside. Kill these in the hall one at a time, and then move in.

Your welcoming committee peers out at you.


There are two more guardians stationed inside that must be dealt with, and then there is just the Praetor of the Phylactery himself, smirking at the far end of the tomb.

He smirks because, you see, he has a secret. When you fight him down to 80% health, he will summon two skeletons called an undertaker supplicant to aid him. They start out at the east and west sides of the hall, and begin to move toward the Praetor. Should they reach him, he will be healed 100% and the encounter breaks.

There are several ways to deal with these adds. You can have a high level enchanter or bard mez one (there are those that say it's not possible, but I've seen it done), you can have two rooting classes assigned to control a supplicant each, or assign two tough melee classes to keep them busy (brawlers work very well for this). Any combination of tactics may work for you, as long as it means that you can take down the Praetor without his minions spoiling the party.

Make them keep their distance!


After the Praetor falls, you must kill the adds as well. Then reap the rewards; The Praetor drops some very nice items when he is in a good mood.

You may exit the Vault via the teleporter to Jarsath located off the Twin Pillars, via self-gate or player-made portal. You cannot exit the way you came in (due to the unscaleable drop wall), unless you allow the spirits in a pit trap to kill you, as the respawn point is near that entrance.

Good luck to you all!
~Brasse

Why we all go to these places, risking life and linb:



Thanks go to the many people I've made this run with, including Wren, Jorn, Ecoah, Ragoth, Abasher, Fero, Pando, Rikid, Seelenschrei and many others.