Arena of Champions

The Arena of Champions (AoC) is an alternative arena system to the traditional arena. In the traditional arena players push endlessly through wave after wave with monsters getting harder the farther they push. In contrast, AoC is limited to 50 waves with some breaks in between waves that offer two modifiers for the player to choose from. Wave 50 culminates in a boss fight against one of three Champions.

Accessing AoC

The Arena of Champions is found in Champion's Gate, which is found in the Divine Era. To reach it, travel to The Wengari Fortress waypoint then head west. Upon reaching a crossroads go south and enter Kolheim Pass. From here travel southwest until reaching another crossroads, then head west. This will lead you to Champion's Gate.

In order to enter AoC you also need either an Arena Key or Arena Key of Memory.

Obtaining Arena Keys

Arena keys drop in a number of ways including random world drops, but the best way to farm them is clear. The Echo reward for an Echo in the Monolith of Fate has a chance to be an Arena Key (or Arena Key of Memory at higher levels). This is a very reliable source of keys and the random world drops that are pretty common in the Monolith make it even better.

For more information on the Monolith of Fate and Echo rewards check out our Monolith Beginner Guide.

Difficulty

AoC scales difficulty through tiers and modifiers while the 'roguelike' aspect of each run also increases the challenge and the risk.

Tiers

AoC has 4 tiers with tier 1 being the easiest and tier 4 being the hardest but also the most rewarding. Higher tiers have higher level enemies and larger modifiers.

Modifiers

Tiers 2-4 have modifiers that increase enemy health and damage but also provide additional rewards for completing the arena. Also for all tiers at waves 10, 20 and 30 players choose another modifier to add on from 2 options. This means that by the time players reach the boss they have 3 modifiers on tier 1 and 4 modifiers for tiers 2-4.

You Only Get One Shot…

There are no extra attempts in the Arena of Champions. If you die at any point you lose all of your progress and need to use a new Key to try again. You need to balance the risks of starting over with the rewards offered to you in order to maximize your AoC experience.

If you see this, you've lost your key and you'll have to start the entire Arena over again

Modifiers Rewards

The modifiers that are chosen increase difficulty but also add to the reward pool for completing the arena. The starting mods chosen when selecting a tier change daily while the rest are chosen randomly from a pool of modifiers for that tier and wave. Example: Tier 2 wave 10 rewards are different from tier 4 wave 10, and tier 4 wave 10 are different tier 4 wave 30.

Tier 1 Reward Modifiers

Tier 2 Reward Modifiers

Tier 3 Reward Modifiers

Tier 4 Reward Modifiers

Unique Rewards

There are three Champions, all with their own Unique. Which champion spawns for each Arena run is random:

Alfrig Wolfmaw drops Omen of Thunder
The Crimson Blade drops Penumbra
Vaion the Arsenal drops Vaion's Chariot

Champions can drop their Unique at any tier, but higher tiers have increased drop chance.

Bosses

The final wave of AoC is a boss fight with one of the three champions. Each has its own mechanics that mimic playable classes which also requires a different strategy for every fight. Alfrig Wolfmaw is a Primalist, The Crimson Blade is a Rogue and Vaion the Arsenal a Sentinel.

Mechanics

Alfrig summons 8 Umber Wolves to attack the player. Each wolf has a melee attack that deals low Physical damage.

Strategy

The boss strategy is dependent upon which boss is encountered each run, however none of the champions are mechanically challenging in the way some other bosses in the Monolith and Dungeons are. Each has a few attacks to avoid but ultimately the fights are more of a 'gear check', so having a good build with appropriate defenses is the most important part. Here are some tips for each champion:

Alfrig Wolfmaw

He uses Physical, Cold, and Lightning abilities so cap those resistances. Physical and Cold are the most important.
Kill Cave Bears and Umber Wolves quickly when they are summoned to keep the fight from getting overwhelming and preventing the bear from applying Frenzy to allies.
Avoid Avalanche. It's his highest damage attack.

The Crimson Blade

She uses Physical, Poison and Fire damage so cap those resistances.
Avoid Acid Flask so you don't get Poisoned.
Take out the Decoy as soon as it spawns to avoid the explosion.

Vaion the Arsenal

He uses Physical and Fire damage so cap those resistances.
Avoid Forge Strike if you can. The AoE is large and the attack is quick so save your movement ability for this.
Avoid Smelter's Wrath. This is his highest damage attack.

At low tiers these bosses will be trivial, but at high tiers they will test your defenses with a lot of moderate attacks that are difficult to avoid, so the most important thing is to make sure your build and gear are up to the task!

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Summary

Arena of Champions is an alternative Arena mode with a limited number of waves and a boss (known as a Champion) at the end.
Accessing AoC requires either an Arena key or Arena Key of Memory
Difficulty scales through tiers and modifiers.
Rewards are added with modifiers plus each of the three champions has their own Unique that can drop.
The Champions each mimic a playable class and use similar skills to that class. They have some dangerous abilities but largely serve as a 'gear check'.

Accessing AoC

Obtaining Arena Keys

Difficulty

Tiers

Modifiers

You Only Get One Shot…

Modifiers Rewards

Tier 1 Reward Modifiers

Wave 10

Wave 20

Wave 30

Tier 2 Reward Modifiers

Start

Wave 10

Wave 20

Wave 30

Tier 3 Reward Modifiers

Start

Wave 10

Wave 20

Wave 30

Tier 4 Reward Modifiers

Start

Wave 10

Wave 20

Wave 30

Unique Rewards

Bosses

Mechanics

Strategy

Video

Summary