Ghornfell Vaults Walkthrough — Takla, Skeklac, Kletterbuja and Chaktan

Ghornfell's four dragonkin vaults are the mid-game's backbone: power levels 3–4, the first serious guardian rosters, and reward tables that carry players all the way to Fellhollow. This walkthrough covers each vault in recommended order — what's inside, what kills unprepared delvers, and what to take home.

The recommended order

#	Vault	Power	Location	Anchor guardian
4	Takla Kara	3	Fractured Plains	Vault Incinerator
5	Skeklac Kara	4	Fractured Plains (Ashien's Watch)	Vault Corruptor
6	Kletterbuja Kara	3	Bloodblight Swamp	Plague King
7	Chaktan Kara	4	Stormtouched Highlands	Vault Pyroclast

Take Takla first despite its sibling's higher power rating — its reward table is the argument: the Paladin armour set (helm, platebody, platelegs) and the Wild Scout's Shortbow together form the mid-game's definitive kit.

Vault 4 — Takla Kara (Fractured Plains)

The fire school's exam. Takla Kara's halls run the full incinerator curriculum:

• Fire trap gauntlets — timed flame jets at civic scale; the safest route is watching one full cycle, then walking the cool phase. Fire-resistant food and quick heals cover mistakes.
• The Incinerator anchors the deep halls — a heavy flamethrower construct. Never fight it in corridors: its cone attack owns them. Pull it to a pillared hall, circle behind pillars during bursts, and punish the fuel-recovery animation.
• The blurite deposit — Takla Kara is the game's only source of blurite ore. Mine the node before you leave; the smithing recipes it feeds are among the mid-game's best.
• The prize: the treasure chest holds the Paladin armour set and the Wild Scout's Shortbow — and the effigy's lesson rounds out the set.

Vault 5 — Skeklac Kara (Fractured Plains, Ashien's Watch)

The corruptor's warren. Power level 4, and the difficulty step is real:

• Putrid rat swarms replace the standard vermin floor — poison on every bite. Control spells and area damage replace melee heroics; fight them in doorways, never open halls.
• The Corruptor — a debuff-flinging construct that stacks lingering ailments. Kill priority one: its damage is mediocre, its debuffs make everything else lethal. Snare it, burst it, then clean up.
• The layout is vertical. Ledges and broken floors make Windstep more than convenience here; missing the shortcuts turns the run into a rat-feed.

Vault 6 — Kletterbuja Kara (Bloodblight Swamp)

The Plague King's court. The swamp vault trades fire for rot:

• The poison rules from Vertentis Kara apply at double intensity: tainted pools, gas pockets and swarm bites all stack. Fire camps at choke points and short engagements are the whole strategy.
• The Plague King returns from the early vault, bigger and meaner. Kite his lunges along the dry paths, burn him from range, and never — ever — trade in the pools. His lunge has a long recovery; that's your window.
• Reward note: the chest and effigy payouts lean alchemical and swamp-craft — exactly what the region's side quests assume.

Vault 7 — Chaktan Kara (Stormtouched Highlands)

The pyroclast's storm. The highlands' vault mixes the fire school with the region's weather:

• Electric traps debut alongside the fire roster — the delve's full hazard deck at mid-game scale.
• The storm outside leaks in. Certain halls interact with the weather; timing your run between storm peaks makes half the traps quieter.
• The Pyroclast is the Incinerator's bigger, meaner cousin — wider cones, faster cycles, and a tendency to fight near the traps. Bait its bursts into open floor, not scenery; the blast spreads.

General tactics for the Ghornfell tier

1. Upgrade before you enter. Power 4 guardians check iron-tier damage; bronze weapons make every fight twice as long.
2. Bring control spells stocked. Snare and Confuse carry more value per essence here than any damage spell.
3. Farm the rotation. Vermin and chests respawn; Takla and Skeklac are the region's best shard income once cleared.
4. Cores before bosses. Claim pillars as you pass — the deep-hall fights scatter groups, and the cores are the run's insurance against a wasted trip.

What the tier unlocks

With all four cleared you own: the Paladin kit, the Wild Scout's Shortbow, the region's blurite stock, and the trap literacy that Fellhollow's power-5 vaults assume. The northern track — Fellhollow & Umbral vaults — starts where this one ends.

Frequently asked questions

Takla or Skeklac first? Takla. Same region, gentler power, better rewards — there's no argument for the detour.

Is the Plague King required for the story? Kletterbuja isn't story-locked, but its recipes and shards feed the Ghornfell gear checks; skip it only if you enjoy hard modes you didn't choose.

How do I carry blurite safely home? Like any ore — banked at your base before further delving. It's valuable exactly once: when it reaches a smithing bench.