Argent Tournament guide, from Aspirant to Champion
The Argent Tournament is a daily quest hub in northeastern Icecrown where the Argent Crusade tests the champions it will send against the Lich King. You join as an Aspirant of your race’s capital city, earn seals from daily quests to rise to Valiant, then beat an Argent Champion in a joust to become a Champion yourself. Champions unlock a new set of dailies that pay Champion’s Seals, which buy mounts, pets, heirlooms and tabards. The same grounds hold the Crusaders’ Coliseum, home of the Trial of the Champion dungeon. This guide walks through every step for Wrath of the Lich King 3.3.5a.
What is the Argent Tournament
Highlord Tirion Fordring and the Argent Crusade set up the tournament on the northern edge of Icecrown, within sight of Icecrown Citadel. The idea is simple: before the final assault, find the best fighters of the Alliance and the Horde and train them. In game terms it is a large camp of tents, pavilions, stables and a jousting field, with its own flight path, and a steady stream of daily quests that reward reputation, gold and seals.
The tournament’s quests are aimed at level 80 characters. Most players start it soon after hitting the level cap, alongside their other Northrend dailies and dungeons. If you are still on the way there, the WotLK leveling guide covers the route through Icecrown.
How to become Champion at the Argent Tournament
Becoming a Champion takes three ranks. Each one is a short chain of quests plus a few days of dailies.
| Rank | How you get there | What the dailies pay |
|---|---|---|
| Aspirant | Sign up at the tournament and pass the training quests | Aspirant’s Seals |
| Valiant | Collect enough Aspirant’s Seals and hand them in | Valiant’s Seals, city reputation |
| Champion | Collect enough Valiant’s Seals, then defeat an Argent Champion in a joust | Champion’s Seals, Argent Crusade and Silver Covenant or Sunreavers reputation |
Becoming an Aspirant
When you first arrive, your faction’s representatives at the tournament start you off. You are given an Argent Lance and taught to ride one of the tournament’s mounts: an Argent Warhorse for the Alliance or an Argent Battleworg for the Horde. You represent the capital city of your own race, so a night elf rides for Darnassus and a tauren for Thunder Bluff.
The first quests send you to the training dummies to learn the mount abilities, then to an Argent Valiant for your first real joust. After that you are an Aspirant and the Aspirant dailies open up.
Rising to Valiant
Aspirant dailies are straightforward tasks around the grounds and the nearby parts of Icecrown. Each one pays an Aspirant’s Seal. Once you have collected enough seals, you hand them in and are promoted to Valiant of your city. This usually takes a few days of dailies.
Valiant dailies are a step up. The best known is The Grand Melee, where you joust other Valiants on the field. These quests pay Valiant’s Seals and reputation with the city you represent.
Becoming Champion
When you have enough Valiant’s Seals, you are sent to challenge an Argent Champion in a joust. Win, and you are named Champion of your city. This is the moment most players mean when they search for how to become Champion at the Argent Tournament, and it unlocks everything the tournament has to offer: the Champion dailies, Champion’s Seals and the vendors that take them.
Once you are a Champion of your own city, you can go back and work through the Valiant ranks for the other cities of your faction. Championing all five is a long goal, and it ties into the tournament’s achievements and titles.
Jousting and the mount abilities
Jousting is the heart of the tournament, and it feels different from normal combat because you fight from a vehicle with its own action bar. To joust, equip your Argent Lance in your main hand and mount one of the tournament’s horses or wolves from the stables. Your normal spells are replaced by four core mount abilities:
| Ability | What it does |
|---|---|
| Thrust | A melee strike with your lance. Use it when you are right next to the target. |
| Shield-Breaker | A ranged throw that strips one layer of your target’s shield. |
| Charge | Rush the target from a distance for a heavy hit. |
| Defend | Raise a shield that reduces the damage you take. It stacks up to three times. |
How to win a joust
The pattern most players use looks like this:
- Keep Defend at three stacks. Your shield fades over time and your opponent will try to break it, so refresh it often. A rider with no shield goes down quickly.
- Break their shield first. Use Shield-Breaker from range until your opponent’s shield is gone.
- Back off and Charge. Charge needs distance, so ride away, turn and charge in. Then Thrust while you are close.
- Repeat. Break shields, get distance, charge, and keep your own shield up.
The common mistake is standing still in melee and trading Thrusts. Moving, turning and charging is what wins. It takes a few fights to get the feel of the mount, so do not worry if you lose your first jousts.
Argent Tournament dailies
Your daily quests change as you rank up, and the Champion dailies are the ones most players keep doing for weeks. They include more jousting against other champions, mounted and on-foot fights against the Scourge across Icecrown, and quests for the Argent Crusade near the citadel.
A few tips for doing Argent Tournament dailies efficiently:
- Do them every day you play. Seals are capped by how many dailies you can complete, so steady play beats long sessions.
- Group the mounted quests. Several dailies need you on a tournament mount. Do them together so you are not getting on and off.
- Pick up the Black Knight’s story. As a Champion you can follow a quest chain about a mysterious Black Knight. His story continues in the Trial of the Champion dungeon, and the chain is one of the better pieces of storytelling at the tournament.
- Keep your other dailies running. The tournament fits well alongside Northrend’s other daily hubs, covered in the WotLK reputation guide.
Champion’s Seals and what they buy
Champion’s Seals are the tournament’s main currency. The vendors around the grounds sell a wide range of rewards for them, often with a reputation requirement as well:
- Mounts. Each capital city sells its own mounts to its Champions, and the Silver Covenant and Sunreavers sell mounts at Exalted. The Argent Crusade has mounts of its own too. Mount collectors spend a lot of time here, and the achievements and mounts guide covers how they count towards mount achievements.
- Pets. Each city sells a small pet themed on its home zone, such as the Elwynn Lamb or the Durotar Scorpion. There is also the Argent Squire for the Alliance and the Argent Gruntling for the Horde.
- Heirlooms. Heirloom items can be bought with Champion’s Seals, which makes the tournament one of the best ways to prepare for leveling an alt.
- Tabards and pennants. Each city has a tabard for its Champions, along with other cosmetic items.
Prices vary by item, so check the vendor before you plan what to save for. Many players buy heirlooms first if they have alts in mind, then work on mounts and pets.
Argent Crusade and city reputations
The tournament ties into several reputations at once:
- Argent Crusade. The Champion dailies pay Argent Crusade reputation, which is also earned elsewhere in Icecrown and Zul’Drak.
- Silver Covenant (Alliance) and Sunreavers (Horde). These two Dalaran factions run pavilions at the tournament, and Champion dailies are the main source of their reputation. Their mounts need Exalted.
- The faction cities. Each city you ride for gains reputation from its Valiant and Champion quests: Stormwind, Ironforge, Gnomeregan Exiles, Darnassus and the Exodar for the Alliance; Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff, Undercity, Darkspear Trolls and Silvermoon City for the Horde.
Becoming Exalted with the Argent Crusade and an Exalted Champion of every city of your faction earns the Crusader title, a long-term goal for many tournament regulars.
Trial of the Champion dungeon
Trial of the Champion is a five-player dungeon inside the Crusaders’ Coliseum at the tournament grounds, available on normal and heroic difficulty at level 80. It is short, has three encounters, and is a good source of gear for a fresh level 80. The WotLK gearing guide explains where it fits on the way to raids.
- The Grand Champions. The fight starts on horseback: each player takes a mount and jousts the opposing faction’s champions, using the same abilities as the tournament. Then the champions fight again on foot. Practice at the tournament pays off here.
- The Argent Champion. You face either Eadric the Pure or Argent Confessor Paletress, chosen at random each run.
- The Black Knight. The figure from the tournament’s quest chain returns for the final fight, which has three phases as he is brought back each time he falls.
The coliseum also holds the Trial of the Crusader raid, the next step for groups heading towards the Icecrown Citadel raid.
Ride in the tournament on Lasthavens
Lasthavens is a free Wrath of the Lich King 3.3.5a realm with twice the normal experience from kills, quests and exploring, so you reach level 80 and the tournament grounds sooner. It is one PvP realm, and the real 3.3.5a client runs in your browser on Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook, iPhone, iPad and Android, with no 17 GB client and no launcher. The first visit downloads about 50 MB to reach the login screen, where you make an account with Create Account. At character select, the AddOn Library lets you switch on curated addons such as Questie and Deadly Boss Mods; see the best WotLK addons for more. When you are ready, play Lasthavens and take up your lance.