Wailing Caverns

Wailing Caverns is a sprawling cave system under the Barrens. The night elf druid Naralex set out to heal the Barrens through the Emerald Dream and fell into a nightmare instead. His dreams twisted the caverns' wildlife into deviate beasts, and his own followers, the Druids of the Fang, fell to the nightmare too. Their four leaders, the Fanglords, now rule the caves.

It's a long run for characters in their late teens, and it pays off. Four pieces of the Embrace of the Viper leather set drop from the Fanglords, Horde players carry a stack of quests, and the run ends with an escort event that only unlocks once all four Fanglords are dead.

The caverns open into the hills southwest of the Crossroads, in the Barrens. Walk into the huge cave mouth and follow the outer caverns to the instance portal. Deviate beasts roam the approach, so don't arrive on half health.

The Barrens are Horde territory, but Deviate Hides, Deviate Eradication, Smart Drinks and Trouble at the Docks are open to both factions, so Alliance groups have plenty to do here too.

Horde groups come for Leaders of the Fang: bring the Gems of Cobrahn, Anacondra, Pythas and Serpentis to Nara Wildmane in Thunder Bluff. Those are the four Fanglords you kill anyway for the final event. Hamuul Runetotem and Nara Wildmane are the short speak-with steps that lead to it.

Pick up the rest before you zone in. The Glowing Shard comes later, from Mutanus himself:

• Serpentbloom: 10 Serpentbloom for Apothecary Zamah in Thunder Bluff. Horde only.
• Deviate Hides: 20 Deviate Hides for Nalpak, who waits in the Wailing Caverns.
• Deviate Eradication: kill 7 each of Deviate Ravagers, Deviate Vipers, Deviate Shamblers and Deviate Dreadfangs for Ebru, also in the Wailing Caverns.
• Smart Drinks: 6 portions of Wailing Essence for Mebok Mizzyrix in Ratchet.
• Trouble at the Docks: take the bottle of 99-Year-Old Port back from Mad Magglish, who's hiding in the caverns, for Crane Operator Bigglefuzz in Ratchet.
• The Glowing Shard: Mutanus drops the Glowing Shard that starts it. Take the shard to Ratchet, find someone who can tell you what it is, and deliver it where you're told.

• Druids of the Fang are the dangerous pulls. They cast Druid's Slumber and heal with Healing Touch: kill them first and interrupt the heals.
• The Druids of the Fang are Humanoids, so Sap and Polymorph hold them. The deviate raptors, wind serpents, vipers and adders are Beasts: Hibernate, Polymorph and Scare Beast all work. Deviate Shamblers are Elementals and Evolving Ectoplasms have no creature type, so none of those work on them.
• Damage breaks all of that crowd control, so keep AoE off controlled targets.
• The caverns branch and loop. Clear toward one Fanglord at a time and keep the group together.

The Fanglords carry the set, and the optional bosses carry some of the best single pieces:

• Leather: four Embrace of the Viper pieces, Leggings of the Fang from Cobrahn, Belt of the Fang from Anacondra, Armor of the Fang from Pythas and Footpads of the Fang from Serpentis. The set bonuses add Intellect, then Attack Power.
• Healers: Living Root from Verdan and Robe of the Moccasin from Cobrahn.
• Tanks: Kresh's Back from Kresh, and Mutant Scale Breastplate from Mutanus, a mail chest with Strength.
• Hunters: Venomstrike from Serpentis.
• Everyone: Snakeskin Bag from Anacondra, a 10-slot bag.

SlotAll slotsNeckShoulderBackChestHandsWaistLegsFeetFingerOne-HandTwo-HandOff HandRangedOther

Armor typeAll armorClothLeatherMail

Weapon typeAll weaponsBowOne-Handed MaceStaffDaggerWand

Usable byAny classWarriorPaladinHunterRoguePriestShamanMageWarlockDruid

QualityAny qualityUncommon or betterRare or better

30 items

Wailing Caverns loot

Item	Slot	Type	Item level	Req. level	Source	Drop
Cobrahn's Grasp (Rare)	Waist	Mail	22	17	Lord Cobrahn	18%
Leggings of the Fang (Rare)	Legs	Leather	22	17	Lord Cobrahn	17%
Robe of the Moccasin (Rare)	Chest	Cloth	22	17	Lord Cobrahn	55%
Belt of the Fang (Rare)	Waist	Leather	21	16	Lady Anacondra	9.6%
Serpent's Shoulders (Rare)	Shoulder	Leather	23	18	Lady Anacondra	43%
Snakeskin Bag (Uncommon)	Bag		25		Lady Anacondra	4.7%
Snake Eye Kaleidoscope (Rare)New in Forever	Neck		22	17	Lady Anacondra
Kresh's Back (Rare)	Off Hand	Shield	23	18	Kresh	13%
Worn Turtle Shell Shield (Rare)	Off Hand	Shield	21	16	Kresh	67%
Cloak of Hermitic Bliss (Rare)New in Forever	Back		22	17	Kresh
Stinging Viper (Rare)	One-Hand	One-Handed Mace	24	19	Lord Pythas	30%
Armor of the Fang (Rare)	Chest	Leather	23	18	Lord Pythas	55%
Slither Cord (Rare)New in Forever	Waist	Cloth	22	17	Lord Pythas
Glowing Lizardscale Cloak (Rare)	Back		23	18	Skum	45%
Tail Spike (Rare)	One-Hand	Dagger	21	17	Skum	47%
Skum's Bucket (Rare)New in Forever	Held In Off-hand		22	17	Skum
Venomstrike (Rare)	Ranged	Bow	24	19	Lord Serpentis	17%
Serpent Gloves (Rare)	Hands	Cloth	23	18	Lord Serpentis	19%
Footpads of the Fang (Rare)	Feet	Leather	22	17	Lord Serpentis	21%
Savage Trodders (Rare)	Feet	Mail	23	18	Lord Serpentis	23%
Seedcloud Buckler (Rare)	Off Hand	Shield	24	19	Verdan the Everliving	39%
Living Root (Rare)	Two-Hand	Staff	23	18	Verdan the Everliving	38%
Sporid Cape (Rare)	Back		22	17	Verdan the Everliving	20%
Slime-encrusted Pads (Rare)	Shoulder	Cloth	25	20	Mutanus the Devourer	30%
Mutant Scale Breastplate (Rare)	Chest	Mail	23	18	Mutanus the Devourer	22%
Deep Fathom Ring (Rare)	Finger		24	19	Mutanus the Devourer	31%
Glowing Shard (Common)			15	15	Mutanus the Devourer	68%
Firebelcher (Rare)	Ranged	Wand	23	18	Deviate Faerie Dragon · rare	42%
Feyscale Cloak (Rare)	Back		21	16	Deviate Faerie Dragon · rare	45%
Gloves of the Fang (Rare)	Hands	Leather	19	14	Trash mobs	2.4%

Item sets

Embrace of the Viper

All 5 pieces drop here

• Leggings of the FangLegs · Lord Cobrahn 17%
• Belt of the FangWaist · Lady Anacondra 9.6%
• Armor of the FangChest · Lord Pythas 55%
• Footpads of the FangFeet · Lord Serpentis 21%
• Gloves of the FangHands · Trash mobs 2.36%

• Kill all four Fanglords before you talk to the Disciple of Naralex. He won't start the ritual until they're dead.
• Kresh, Skum and Verdan are optional. Skip them if your group is short on time: the event only needs the Fanglords.
• Assign interrupts before every Fanglord pull. Kick, Shield Bash and Earth Shock all stop Healing Touch.
• Druid's Slumber and Mutanus's Naralex's Nightmare are Magic effects: a Priest's Dispel Magic, from 18, wakes the sleeper.
• Loot the Glowing Shard from Mutanus: it starts a quest for both factions.