EverQuest 2 - Trial of Harclave

In my opinion, the coolest of the Splitpaw quests, hands down.  You'll earn a nice amount of experience (around 28% at 42, but I'll update this to address the 7/8 nerf), a lot of loot (alone worth over 10g, again at level 42), and if you've completed other Splitpaw quests there's a good chance you'll earn your Splitpaw Den teleport shard here.   This zone takes about 2 hours to complete and is repeatable.

Note that this is a solo zone; you can't bring your buds with you..  I wouldn't attempt Harclave until you've succeeded in the solo arena.  For the first part of the quest, you'll need decent solo capabilities, and the arena- specifically the Champion challenge- is the best place to hone these in a short amount of time.  I know there's still some play balance issues for some classes in the arena, nevertheless it is beatable for most priest and melee players, and a decent percentage of mages and scouts.  Check out a few hints and tips I've compiled for the solo arena here.

Note that you may also be able to invis / stealth your way through the first part of this quest.  I haven't heard of anyone doing so, but there's no reason why this strategy shouldn't work.

Getting the Ark of Harclave quest is not done in the traditional "hail and click" manner.  Head to Sarchel the Storyteller in the southeast part of Splitpaw Den and listen to what he has to say.  This is ambient chatter, it is not part of a dialogue.  DO NOT hail Sarchel without asking players around Sarchel is he's "in progress."  If he is in progress, have a seat and listen.  Sooner or later you'll get a popup asking you if you want the "Ark of Harclave" quest, hit "Yes."  This can take a little while; some players were saying up to 30 minutes but mine popped in just under 5.  It just depends which story he's telling and at what point you venture in.

Go to the Harclave teleporter in southwest Den and head in.  First thing, right click and grab the torch mounted on the wall to your left; this is necessary to light the eight braziers to proceed to part 2.  Each brazier is guarded by a single mob, and there's several roaming mobs (including 1 or 2 groups).  Take absolute care to eliminate roamers first, and be patient when pulling them.  They roam in long, long loops and sometimes are in close proximity to one another, and its really easy to get adds.  Always pull to an area you're sure is clear of aggro for each of the longish fights.

Head down through the corridor, and you'll come to your first brazier.  Defeat the mob guarding it (no roaming mobs here), right click and light the brazier, then lay the plank across to the next platform.  Pull the mob guarding the second brazier to the near the edge to fight; be careful of roamers in the doorway and a static group to your front.  Light #2, then buff up and take care of the group of gnoll mobs, pulling them well back into the lefthand corner behind the doorway.  Leave the mushrooms across the way for the moment, they're too tough at the moment anyway.

Next, take care of the roamers.  There's a lot in the next room, some come up through the doorway, others make a long loop around the next two areas.  Braziers #3 and #4 are in the next room, fight the guarding mobs against the wall in case you missed any aggro.  Go up through the lefthand corridor for braziers #5 and #6.

Stack up three boxes, one on top of another stairstepped-fashion to reach #7 and #8 on the raised platform.  When you've lit #8, equip your highest dmg weapon, and click the Ark.  Immediately you'll be attacked by a group of heroic-con mobs, which is ok.  Why you ask?  Because you've been imbued with the Spirit of Harclave, a mega-buff for your HP, Power, Defense, and Offense plus a damage shield and speed buff.  If you have any of these buffs working and can replace these with stat buffs, do so beforehand. 

Enjoy slicing through these mobs, but if you start to run low on HP at any point, go for a jog.  You'll be healed to full by your enhanced regen in no time as long as you're running away from mobs (and not into other adds!).  Also, get out your best encounter-damage and solo damage spells regardless of mana cost.

Do your best to only take on one group at a time, and you should never need to run.  Proceed out the way you came, and stack two planks on one another to reach the mushrooms you skipped earlier.  Slice and dice your way to the Zygomyd Spore King, make sure you fight him alone (he's dangerous with adds).  When you've taken care of the King and gotten the update, its time to go after Rosch Val Gornas in the depths of Harclave.

Wind your way downward (remember, one group at a time!) until you get to a skeleton area.  Undead gnolls are guarding boxes around the periphery.  You'll need 3 boxes eventually, so pick the most convenient ones.  Be very careful of the Dreadsnout group aggro on the few pedestals in the area, clear these first.  Rosch is on a raised area along the left wall after the turn that you can pull him down from without stacking boxes.  Fight him ONLY when you have a clear open area, mobs in his group tend to get stuck in the walls.  Killing him just might get you your TP shard.

When you're ready to complete the quest, stairstep three boxes up to the area you pulled Rosch from and click the Throne to zone out.  Congrats! but unfortunately you don't get to keep the Harclave buff!