Talk:Frontier Caverns/@comment-83.134.99.32-20120726212644

Hey guys, it's possible to enter the Proving Arena without going Post-Dragon and without taking a special quest. Here's what happened in my game (pre-Dragon):

(1) Go to the Encampment nearest to the Quarry and the Shadow Fort

(2) Close to this Encampment is a lake. Go to the other side of the lake.

(3) There, apart from a lot of Goblins and Hobgoblins, you'll find a Dragon (THE Dragon? I don't know) walking about. If you get close enough, it will attack. Engage and defeat the beast.

(4) Now go to the Frontier Caverns, the Proving Arena will be open (but not the northern exit, or the treasure room in the east). Inside is a Cyclops and a bunch of Goblins.

I can't say for certain, but perhaps defeating the Dragon in (3) tricks the game into believing you're in Post-Dragon mode and thus I get the area unlock? This may also explain the fact that any generic NPC I talk to now says pleasant things to me again ("Nice day, innit?" "how are you this fine day, ser?") instead of the doomspeak about the Dragon I was getting before. I'll go and check if the Dragonforged acts differently as well.

Either way, the Proving Arena is open for me now, and I'm still in Pre-Dragon, so there :)