Gothic Remake: Solve Xardas’ Sunken Tower and Get the Old Camp Rune

Xardas’ Sunken Tower contains two high-value travel runes: one returns to the tower itself, while the other teleports you to the Fire Mages in the Old Camp. The latter is the Teleport Rune to Old Camp under its in-game naming. To reach both, enter through the submerged southwest opening, collect Tower Stone 1 before descending, activate the elemental seal with fire, ice or water, and wind magic, then search the lower pedestal rooms before leaving.

The tower is compact, but it punishes incomplete runs. Missing the upper chest can leave you without the puzzle tools, while skipping the right-hand grate in the lower level means missing Tower Stone 2 and the treasure tied to it. Plan for a 20-30 minute clear when prepared; a first run with mid-game gear can take closer to an hour because of underwater navigation and undead combat.

Enter the Sunken Tower at the Right Point in the Story

The intended window is Chapter 4 or later, after Xardas is fully involved in the main quest and you have visited his newer tower. You can reach the old tower earlier, but the sealed door and undead encounters make it inefficient without basic spell access and enough damage to remove skeletons quickly.

A character around level 10-15 or higher is a practical baseline. Bring a dependable one-handed weapon, bow, or crossbow; several healing items; and access to the three elemental effects required for the magical seal. Scrolls are sufficient, so a dedicated mage build is unnecessary.

• Fire: Fire Bolt, Fireball, or Rain of Fire.
• Ice or water: Ice Block is the usual spell for this step.
• Wind: Storm Fist. A Storm Fist scroll is available within the tower, but bring one if you already have it.
• Combat: a weapon or ranged setup capable of killing skeletons and zombies without exhausting all healing supplies.
• Lockpicking: enough skill or tools to open the lower-level grate chest containing Tower Stone 2.

Warning: the elemental door cannot be forced open with melee damage or repeated interaction. Do not start the dungeon assuming the spell requirement is optional.

Reach Xardas’ Old Tower From His Current Tower

From the Old Camp, take the route toward the Orc Graveyard and continue toward Xardas’ current home. After leaving his tower, walk down the exterior stone stairs and turn left into the rocky passage that leads through the Stone Golem cave.

1. Pass through the Stone Golem cave, clearing the golem if it was skipped earlier or has returned.
2. When the cave opens outdoors, take the rising path on the right.
3. Continue uphill and turn right at the ridge or fork.
4. Approach the circular lake. The ruined stone structure projecting from its center is Xardas’ Sunken Tower.

The world-map approach reaches the same area from the south-central section of the Colony. From the crossroads leading toward the Mountain Fortress, head north and climb toward the lake. The tower remains difficult to spot until you are close because most of it is below the waterline.

Use the Underwater Southwest Entrance

The visible upper ruin is not the main entrance. The functional entry is underwater, on the southwest side of the tower. Circle the outer wall until you see the broken spiral staircase attached to the structure, then dive directly beneath it.

1. Swim from the shore to the tower and move around its southwest edge.
2. Locate the damaged spiral staircase visible near the surface.
3. Dive underneath the staircase segment.
4. Enter the gap in the tower wall and swim into the flooded hall.
5. Use the inner arches and stair remnants to orient yourself before moving upward or descending deeper.

The flooded hall is the tower’s central navigation point. It connects the upper dry study area to the lower dungeon levels. If the southwest staircase is hard to identify, follow the outer water current until you find a submerged portcullis leading into an inner chamber; from there, turn right and work back toward the same internal route.

Common failure point: searching the exposed tower walls for a normal doorway wastes time. Stay underwater until you find the staircase-side gap or the submerged portcullis.

Loot the Upper Study Before Going Deep

Before committing to the lower chambers, reach the dry upper floor. You can climb onto the section of tower above the lake and enter from there, or swim through the flooded hall and surface in the upper room. This is Xardas’ former study, marked by windows, desks, and an accessible chest.

Search the desk area and the unlocked chest thoroughly. The important pickup is Tower Stone 1, which is required later alongside Tower Stone 2. This upper section also provides spell resources relevant to the magical seal, including the wind magic needed for the final elemental activation.

Do not treat the upper room as cosmetic loot. Tower Stone 1 is easy to miss because the route visually encourages a downward dive from the flooded hall. Taking it first prevents a return trip through the lake after you have already cleared the lower dungeon.

Open the Elemental Door With Fire, Ice, and Wind

The sealed door is the tower’s core puzzle. Its locks respond to elemental magic, so the correct solution requires one fire effect, one ice or water effect, and one wind effect. Use the elemental spell on its matching magical focus rather than attacking the door itself.

1. Activate the fire focus with Fire Bolt, Fireball, or another available fire spell.
2. Activate the ice or water focus with Ice Block or the equivalent spell effect.
3. Activate the wind focus with Storm Fist.
4. Wait for each activation to register, then interact with the opened route and continue into the lower chambers.

Fire Bolt is usually the most efficient fire choice because it spends the least resources. Save stronger spells for groups of undead or emergencies. The point of the sequence is activating the tower’s three magical conditions, not dealing damage, so using a high-damage spell provides no extra benefit.

If the door remains sealed, verify that all three distinct elements were used. Recasting the same fire spell repeatedly will not replace the ice or wind activation. Check that the spell struck the corresponding elemental focus and that the wind step was completed after obtaining Storm Fist access.

Clear the Lower Chambers and Find Tower Stone 2

Past the sealed route, the tower shifts from navigation puzzle to combat-and-loot cleanup. Skeletons and zombies can close distance quickly in narrow rooms, so pull them into open sections instead of fighting with your back against a wall or flooded passage.

Use ordinary weapon attacks or ranged shots for isolated enemies. Reserve stronger magic and the Death to the Undead rune for clusters, where its anti-undead effect provides the most value. Keep at least one full heal available for the final demon lord encounter rather than spending every potion on the first few skeletons.

The key detour is in the lower chamber: look to the right for a locked grate. Pick the grate, loot the chest behind it, and collect Tower Stone 2. This is the tower’s most consequential side-room pickup because the second stone unlocks access to the remaining reward mechanism.

Continue searching every connected side room after taking Tower Stone 2. The lower area contains several chests, and the route to the tower pedestals can make it appear that the main objective is complete before the teleport rewards have been collected.

Get the Teleport Rune to Old Camp and the Other Major Rewards

The rune chest is in the pedestal area or its immediately connected chamber. Search both spaces before using the exit route. It contains the two travel rewards that make future visits far easier:

• Teleport Rune to Sunken Tower: returns you directly to Xardas’ old tower for revisits, undead experience, or missed loot.
• Teleport Rune to the Fire Mages: this is the Teleport Rune to Old Camp. Its wording points to the Fire Mage area inside the Old Camp rather than displaying “Old Camp” as the item name.

Use both Tower Stones at the tower pedestals before departing. Tower Stone 1 comes from the upper study and Tower Stone 2 comes from the locked lower grate, so a complete run requires both levels of the dungeon. The associated reward chest can contain high-tier rune loot, including Death to the Undead, plus other necromancer-focused equipment.

The most valuable armor reward is Xardas’ Dark Arts Robe, sometimes presented as equivalent necromancer attire. It is a major early gear improvement for magic-oriented characters because it strengthens the defensive and mana-focused side of the build. Physical fighters can still benefit from the runes and teleport utility even if the robe does not suit their preferred setup.

Handle the Demon Lord Without Resetting the Run

The final demon lord is the tower’s last combat check. Clear nearby side rooms first, collect the runes and pedestal loot, then enter the encounter with healing supplies still available. This prevents a death during the boss fight from turning into a second full underwater navigation run just to recover missed rewards.

Keep the fight controlled rather than trying to burst it down in a confined room. Maintain spacing, use melee or ranged attacks during clear recovery windows, and avoid spending every offensive scroll before the demon lord appears. Fire, ice, and wind magic are required primarily for the seal; they should not be treated as a substitute for having enough ordinary combat damage for the dungeon’s enemies.

One-Run Route for the Full Sunken Tower Clear

1. Reach the lake from Xardas’ current tower through the Stone Golem cave route.
2. Swim to the southwest side of the ruined tower and dive beneath the broken spiral staircase.
3. Reach the dry upper study and collect Tower Stone 1, spell resources, and all visible chest loot.
4. Return to the flooded hall, proceed to the magical seal, and activate fire, ice or water, and wind effects.
5. Clear the undead in the lower chambers while preserving healing supplies.
6. Open the right-hand locked grate and take Tower Stone 2 from its chest.
7. Search the pedestal room and connected chamber for the Teleport Rune to Sunken Tower and the Teleport Rune to the Fire Mages in the Old Camp.
8. Use both Tower Stones to access the remaining reward chest, including the Dark Arts Robe or equivalent necromancer gear.
9. Finish the demon lord only after the side rooms and reward containers have been cleared.

What to Check Before Leaving

• Tower Stone 1 collected from the upper study.
• Tower Stone 2 collected from the right-hand lower grate chest.
• Elemental seal opened with fire, ice or water, and wind magic.
• Teleport Rune to Sunken Tower collected.
• Teleport Rune to the Fire Mages in the Old Camp collected.
• Pedestal rewards looted, including the Dark Arts Robe or equivalent necromancer equipment.
• All connected lower side rooms searched before the demon lord encounter is completed.

The practical reward is permanent route compression. Once the Old Camp rune and Sunken Tower rune are both in your inventory, the tower stops being a long swim-and-climb detour and becomes a useful return point for remaining loot, undead combat, and spell experimentation.