Siege on Harrogath

This first quest in the Act is about as straight-forward as a quest can be. You must find Shenk the Overseer, and kill him.

Quest One: Siege on Harrogath

• Quest Name: Siege on Harrogath
• Triggered By: Reaching Act Five
• Given by: Larzuk the Blacksmith
• Location: Bloody Foothills
• Reward: Larzuk will socket an item of your choice; discounted prices in town.
• Quest Priority: Not mandatory, but has a nice reward and Shenk is on your way.

When you first enter town, if you approach Larzuk the Blacksmith. He will have the "!" over his head, and if you click on him he gives you his introduction speech, and then offer the following:

"If you're here to defeat Baal, you must prove it!"

As we speak, Harrogath is under siege by Baal's demons. Catapults rain death just outside the town walls.

Baal himself travels up the sacred mountain, having left in charge here one of his most vicious generals, Shenk the Overseer. A ruthless taskmaster, he lashes his own minions into suicidal frenzies on the battlefield.

If you wish to prove yourself to us, destroy the monster, Shenk, that commands those infernal catapults outside Harrogath. If you manage to do this, return to me."

Your mission accepted, you set out into the Bloody Foothills. Shenk is always found near the end of the long, rectangular level. If you already had the Frigid Highlands waypoint and wanted to go right to Shenk, you could just take that waypoint, and then run back into the Bloody Foothills, and Shenk would be right there.

Shenk, overseeing.

There isn't any great strategy needed to kill Shenk, he's just a bigger, stronger Overseer. The first of his kind you see, but you'll see dozens more in the levels to come. He is surrounded by a few dozen minions, and he will lash several of them each time into an explosive rage, but with the ledges around him and the narrow stairs, you can take them on one or two at a time, or get to a corner and devastate them with any ranged attack. Sorceresses and Bowazons love the Bloody Foothills. Shenk has a decent amount of hit points, but doesn't hit that hard, so you shouldn't have too much trouble on any difficulty level if you can avoid the charging explosive minions.

Upon Shenk's death, dozens of catapult shots rain down on the area. This doesn't do anything in terms of damage to you, but it's colorful and fun to see, if it doesn't cause you incredible machine lag, especially if Shenk spawns with the multiple shots modifier (only applicable in Nightmare and Hell difficulty).

Reward: After Shenk is dead, when you next return to town Larzuk will offer to add a socket(s) to an item, and will discount his prices to you. The socketing quest is just like the imbue quest in Act One, you can wait and do it as much later as you want to, and it will remain an option when you click Larzuk until you use it.

The quest adds the maximum number of sockets possible to the item you choose to socket. You can only use this quest reward once on a given item.

Sockets added:

• Normal Items: From 1-6, the max allowed for that particular item. Check our Items section for the exact number for every type of armor and weapon.
• Magical Items: One or two sockets, randomly. In the beta they could get up to three, but this was turned down as Bliz felt it was overpowered.
• Rare/Set/Unique/Crafted Items: One socket only. (Crafted get up to 3 in the beta, but this is a bug that will be fixed.)
• No Sockets Added: RuneWord items, items that have already been socketed, item types that can't have sockets added at all, are not allowed to be placed into the selection box.

Quest Dialogues

Activation

Larzuk

If you're here to defeat Baal, you must prove it!

As we speak, Harrogath is under siege by Baal's demons. Catapults rain death just outside the town walls.

Baal himself travels up the sacred mountain, having left in charge here one of his most vicious generals, Shenk the Overseer. A ruthless taskmaster, he lashes his own minions into suicidal frenzies on the battlefield.

If you wish to prove yourself to us, destroy the monster, Shenk, that commands those infernal catapults outside Harrogath.

If you manage to do this, return to me.

After Activation

Anya

You've proven your skill at rescuing fair maidens...but how are you at killing vicious beasts?

Deckard Cain

I believe that stopping the siege on Harrogath is the only way for you to earn the trust of these people.

Larzuk

Uh...Did I mention there were catapults?

Malah

Qual-Kehk and his men have been fighting to break the siege for some time. Where many have failed, you may succeed.

Nihlathak

After so many have died, who are you to think you can accomplish what our proud warriors could not?

Qual-Kehk

About to face Shenk the Overseer and stop the siege, are you? You should ask Malah to perform your last rites before you go, stranger.

Return

Anya

Those demons have been out there since before your arrival. Can you do nothing to stop them?

Your task is a simple one, warrior. Find Shenk and destroy him.

Deckard Cain

I understand your reluctance, but now is the time to strike.

Larzuk

What's the matter, hero? Questioning your fortitude? I know we are.

Malah

This may not be very encouraging, but you have fared better than the others who passed through those gates.

In regards to Shenk the Overseer, remember: a general is nothing without his men.

Nihlathak

What are you still doing here? I thought you were going off to die.

Go...Be quick about it.

Qual-Kehk

So, you still live. You're either quick or a coward.

Completion

Anya

I was starting to wonder how long it would take you to stop those beasts.

Good job.

Deckard Cain

Those catapults were like nothing I have ever seen before. You have prevailed against Shenk, my friend, but Baal is still far ahead of you.

Larzuk

You're an even greater warrior than I expected...Sorry for underestimating you.

As a token of my appreciation, I will craft sockets into an item of your choosing, and from now on, you'll get the best price for all my wares.

Malah

Oh...At last, the siege is ended. You truly are an angel.

I thank you.

Nihlathak

Ending the siege does not earn immediate respect, outsider.

Respect only comes with sacrifice -- something I'm sure you know nothing of.

Qual-Kehk

So...You managed to stop the siege.

You are more powerful than I gave you credit for. You have rightfully earned my respect.