Excavation Site: Wetlands

Quests: level 28–31

Quest parties taking the Wetlands excavation jobs pass through Saltspine's lake and Shadetooth's raptor thicket, with a detour for Horrors in the Highland. Collect your faction's quests before entering; the run ends by activating the Relic Guardian and recovering a Titan Relic for the Alliance or Horde delivery quest.

Preparation

Lost Marsh

Follow the lake edge and clear a pull position before engaging the patrolling Saltspine. Fight it apart from the surrounding packs: Tendon Rip limits retreat, while Dust Storm makes attacks miss when the tank needs to regain control.

Saltspine combines Dust Storm's attack misses with a slowing Tendon Rip and a Fatal Bite that restores its health.

Abilities

  • Dust Storm

    Kicks up dust, inflicting 35 Physical damage to enemies within 10 yds and reducing hit chance with attacks by 25%.

    Keep ranged attacks outside the dust when possible. If the tank is missing attacks, delay burst damage until Saltspine is secure again.

  • Fatal Bite

    Keep healing on the bite target. The drained health also heals Saltspine, so avoid extending the fight with additional pulls.

  • Tendon Rip

    Choose cleared ground before pulling; a player slowed by Tendon Rip cannot rely on running away from Saltspine.

Tank
Pull Saltspine alone to cleared lakeside ground before Tendon Rip restricts movement. Watch whether Dust Storm is making your attacks miss before calling for burst damage.
Healer
Keep Saltspine's bite target healthy and in range. Move with a Tendon Rip victim rather than expecting them to run back to you through the slow.
Damage
Ranged players should attack from beyond Dust Storm's reach. Ease off if the tank is struggling to land attacks in the dust, then resume once Saltspine is secure.

Stalker's Thicket

Clear the tall grass beside Shadetooth's patrol path before the pull. Terrifying Roar can send players off the cleared path into concealed packs. Check the party's Thicket Raptor Hide and Thicket Raptor Meat objectives before leaving the thicket.

Shadetooth tests fear control beside concealed grass packs while Rend and Enrage increase pressure on its melee target.

Abilities

  • Terrifying Roar

    Causes nearby enemies to flee in fear for 5 seconds.

    Clear the grass around the pull first. Fear Ward can prevent a fear on the tank, and Tremor Totem can remove fear from party members within its reach.

  • Rend

    Inflicts Physical damage to an enemy every 3 sec. for 15 seconds.

    Heal the bleeding target before Terrifying Roar takes away control; Rend continues to deal damage while players are feared.

  • Enrage

    Use a defensive for the stronger, faster physical attacks and commit remaining damage cooldowns to finish the fight.

Tank
Pull Shadetooth onto ground already cleared beside the thicket. Arrange Fear Ward or a nearby Tremor Totem when available so Terrifying Roar does not send you into the grass; keep a defensive for Enrage.
Healer
Bring the Rend target out of danger before a fear can stop your healing. Shadetooth's Enrage adds faster, stronger physical attacks on top of that bleed, so reserve healing capacity for the overlap.
Damage
Clear the grass next to the fight before engaging Shadetooth so a fear does not bring in another pack. Save damage cooldowns for Enrage rather than moving the fight into uncleared grass.

Excavation Site: Wetlands

Include Highland Horror when someone needs Horrors in the Highland, and collect the Horrible Rootcore before continuing to the guardian. Finish the searches for Daewyn and Ardin Grassman during the expedition. For Open the Maw, complete the Dragonmaw kills and collect the dispatch before leaving their packs behind.

Creatures

  • Dragonmaw WarderElite Humanoid

    Focus the Dragonmaw Warder when Mortal Strike reduces healing on its victim. Avoid adding another pull while that wound is active; Net can also leave the tank unable to reposition.

    • Mortal Strike

      Inflicts 300% weapon damage and leaves the target wounded, reducing the effectiveness of any healing by 50% for 5 seconds.

    • Net

      Immobilizes an enemy for 10 seconds.

Highland Horror pins nearby players with damaging roots while Wild Regeneration restores its own health.

Abilities

  • Entangling Roots

    Entangles nearby enemies in roots, inflicting 12.469746 Nature damage every 3 sec and immobilizing them for up to 15 seconds.

    Dispel the roots when a player needs to move, and heal their periodic Nature damage rather than treating them as movement loss alone.

  • Wild Regeneration

    Remove Wild Regeneration with an offensive magic dispel when available; otherwise keep damage on Highland Horror through its self-heal.

Tank
Separate Highland Horror from adjacent packs before Entangling Roots prevents repositioning. Keep the fight on that cleared ground while Wild Regeneration is active.
Healer
Remove Entangling Roots from players who need to reposition and heal the roots' periodic Nature damage. A rooted player still needs healing even when Highland Horror is attacking someone else.
Damage
Use an offensive magic dispel on Wild Regeneration if your abilities allow it; otherwise concentrate damage through the healing. After the kill, collect Horrible Rootcore for Horrors in the Highland.

Site of the Guardian

Finish the nearby quest checks and gather the party before using the control panel to activate the Relic Guardian. Leave the space in front of the construct to the tank. After the fight, check for the Titan Relic that begins your faction's delivery quest before departing.

The Relic Guardian tests whether the group can preserve safe positioning around Arcing Smash while its knockbacks and War Stomp disrupt movement and casting.

Abilities

  • Thunderclap

    Keep ranged players outside the nearby attack. Expect slower attacks and movement on affected players rather than relying on a quick reposition.

  • Arcing Smash

    Lashes out in a vicious arc, inflicting damage to enemies in a cone in front of the caster.

    The tank should point the frontal arc away from the party; everyone else attacks from its side or rear.

  • Knock Away

    Inflicts normal damage plus 30 to an enemy and knocks it back.

    Expect the target to be knocked back. Let the tank return to position before committing burst damage, without walking into Arcing Smash's front.

  • War Stomp

    Healers and ranged damage should stand beyond the stomp's reach so its knockback and stun do not stop their casts.

Tank
Keep Arcing Smash facing away from the party. After Knock Away, recover the same facing before damage resumes; Thunderclap can slow the attacks and movement you need for that recovery.
Healer
Heal from beyond War Stomp's reach so the stun does not interrupt your recovery after Knock Away. Keep the tank in range without moving into the frontal Arcing Smash.
Damage
Attack from the side or rear to avoid Arcing Smash. At range, stay clear of Thunderclap and War Stomp; pause burst after Knock Away until the tank is back in position.
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