After being lazy for so long, I decided to finally get the hidden appearance for my [Ashbringer] and the entire process was a bit challenging... For my nerves...
Back in October, when I wrote about how I obtained [Lost Edicts] for [The Silver Hand] I mentioned a guide for obtaining the [Heart of Corruption]. Although we are deep into this expansion and those bothering to read my blog already obtained it, this post will be more of a summary than a guide so, here are my two cents about the whole process.
The entire quest chain follows an in-game "urban legend" where Prince Tortheldrin knows the location of the Ashbringer and that he will reveal it's location to adventurers who prove themselves.
1st step is obtaining two books. [Nat Pagle's Guide to Extreme Anglin'] which can be looted from dead players in Arathi Basin battleground and [A Thoroughly Read Copy of "Nat Pagle's Guide to Extreme Anglin'."] which can be looted from A Dusty Tome in Dire Maul. I got both books from the first try. For Dire Maul farming, I recommend using a Demon Hunter because of his Double Jump, Dash, Moving Speed and mobility. I got my book from the second spawn point shown in the video.
2nd step makes you venture into Blackwing Lair so you can kill Nefarian and obtain [Head of Nefarian]. It is IMPORTANT not to complete the quest obtained while looting the head or you will be forced to wait for raid lockout to end and do the raid again. Like 1st step, this is easily obtainable on first run. BWL is a LVL60 raid instance and a walk in the park, facerolling through the place 1shotting everything on your way... I completed this during Patch 7.1.5 before Razorgore the Untamed was nerfed. The encounter required a bit of a coordination to avoid the room getting blown up. Even though we are LVL110 and this is Vanilla raid, failing the encounter still resulted in you being instantly killed. As of Patch 7.2.5, his ability to destroy the Eggs has been nerfed and made instant cast making his encounter much easier and faster.
3rd step. It's important to note that you need Artifact Knowledge LVL6 before going further. If Paladin is your main character, you are way past this however if you are doing this on your alt, you can't proceed further. Get your AK to LVL6 and then proceed to next step.
4th step requires you to talk to your Head Archivist and Keeper of the Ancient Tomes, Sister Elda. She is the one that helps you acquire Knowledge about your Artifacts and updates Libram of Ancient Kings with new Lore about them. She manages to reassemble the Guide to Extreme Anglin' and gives you [A Complete Copy of "Nat Pagle's Guide to Extreme Anglin'."].
For 5th step, you need to go back to Dire Maul and talk to Prince Tortheldrin. It is important not to kill
Immol'tharbecause that will make Prince hostile to you. He tells you that a Female Dwarf / Male Tauren recently passed through with the same question as yourself and that, should you wish to learn more, you should find them.
Immol'tharbecause that will make Prince hostile to you. He tells you that a Female Dwarf / Male Tauren recently passed through with the same question as yourself and that, should you wish to learn more, you should find them.
So... 6th step takes you to Alexia Ironknife at Chillwind Camp / Bardu Sharpeye at Tirisfal Glades. They send you to Hearthglen in Western Plaguelands and tell you about a Scarlet Crusade Mage that has been creating powerful weapons.
7th step. Go to Hearthglen and read Grand Inquisitor Isillien's Journal located at coordinates 42.36 18.73. The Journal tells the story how the Mage has been killed and his body dumped near Thondroril River so that his body can be eaten by particularly large slime.
AND THIS IS WHERE THE AGONY BEGINS.
AT THE VERY END...
AT THE VERY END...
Step 8. Large Vile Slime. An NPC that is easily killed with respawn timer ranging from 3 to 30 hours... I have been camping this Vile creature for 5 days without luck... Some people report that they have been camping even longer...
Now, don't paint me crazy. I wasn't sitting at my computer 5 days in a row and it never spawned. Because of Real Life obligations, I could only spare a couple of hours per day, during peak hours where the chance that he has been spawned and killed just before I logged in is rather high. So, for those 5 days, I came from work, logged in, placed WoW in background and then watched movies and catching up to missed episodes of some TV Shows that I followed.
On the 5th day, I forgot to log out and fell asleep while watching the movie from the comfort of my bed. When I woke up at 6AM the next day, as I was preparing myself to go to work, I looked at the login screen and decided to take a peek and I did not regret the decision...
Logged in, saw it spawned, killed the damn thing, looted the [Timolain's Phylactery], turned off my computer and went to work happy with myself.
Step 9. After coming back from work, I used the Phylactery and the Lich told me that he threw the crystal into the river hoping that someone would eventually find it.
Step 10. Fishing out the [Shard of Darkness]. RNG based drop with a chance lower than 1%. People have been debating which step was more mind numbing, 8 or 10. Some people reported about getting it within a few dozen casts while others talk about spending hours and hours fishing with no luck with casting numbers ranging from around couple hundreds to even several thousands.
Personally, I got the shard in less than 15 minutes with my fishing leveling up from 34 to 81. 47 casts. Not bad, considering the reports...
Final Step. Go back to your Order Hall and talk to Lord Maxwell Tyrosus. If he is not around the table, wait for him to return from the mission. He'll give you a quest, sending you to (Legion) Acherus: The Ebon Hold to seek the assistance of Death Knights so you can bind the Shard to your weapon, bringing the whole ordeal to an end...
In retrospect, the entire chain apart from Camping and Fishing was fun and interesting to do. Since I love the Lore it was informative for me. In my honest opinion, Camping part could have been replaced by some kind of challenge, some kind of logical mechanism you need to figure out so you can get to the Slime, or even gathering/grinding for materials in order to summon it. Just sitting in one place and camping is mind numbing and excruciatingly boring and it could have been done better. Overall, it is a nice flavor thing to have.
