Augury Rock to Dunes of Despair

Running through the desert can be quite hazardous to your health, so group with some player characters, or at least bring along henchmen, as many of the mobs encountered are very difficult. You can get to Dunes of Despair in two ways.

Through Prophet's Path and Heroes' Audience
Leave from Augury Rock into Prophet's Path. Head west towards the teleporter but turn south before reaching it, and you should come to a rather large area of dunes, complete with desert griffons, roaming minotaurs, devourers springing up from the ground, and masses of sand golems. Bear southwest until you note the southern edge of the map. It is a big impassable hill of sand so it should be hard to miss.

Follow this west and south as you can. You will find a narrow channel containing Sand Elementals leading south to the portal to Vulture Drifts. Note that if you need to put Heroes' Audience on your map, you may want to detour before zoning into Vulture Drifts. A short walk west from here is Heroes' Audience.

Once in Vulture Drifts, head south. When you can, turn east and follow the southerly wall of sand around to the south until it turns west. Continue heading south around the rocks until you come across some enchanted armors and other monsters near a teleporter. Use it, and you merely need to run a short distance south down the ramp and turn to your right to zone into Dunes of Despair.

Travelling with Groups
Take the red path in the map to the right. From Augury Rock, take the Skyward Reach exit and head to the teleporter to the southeast. You may have to fight small groups of Hydras before you can use the transporters. The teleporter takes you close to the portal to the Vulture Drifts.

In the Vulture Drifts, go roughly southward to the first teleporter. You will have to fight at least one group of Griffons to get to the teleporter. Beware of a patrol of two Griffons that runs by the teleporter every few minutes. On the other side of the teleporter, go through the monoliths, heading roughtly southwest, until you get to the next teleporter. If you're lucky, you will encounter no foes; if you are unlucky, you'll fight one or two Sand Wurms and two patrols of Griffons. Do not engage all of them at once.

Stay sharp as you go through the second teleporter, as there are groups of Enchanted waiting to greet you. The portal to the Dunes of Despair is a short run away. Fight the Enchanted or make a run for it (watch out for Hamstring and Pin Down) &mdash; your choice.

Running
When running to the Dunes, it is best not to bother with the teleporters and risk being cornered. Take the green path on the map. The path is longer, but it is a continuous run until you get to the last set of teleporters. Here you have to be quick. First lose any trains of Griffons following you. Then, keeping a close eye out for patrols, activate the teleporter and step through. Do not get close to the monoliths, or you might pique the curiosity of a Sand Wurm. They will knock you down, so having Balanced Stance is a must.

Running into an Enchanted Sword or Bow can be disastrous. Always carry a Mend Ailment.