Changes: Silithus Field Duty

Revision as of 09:25, 6 October 2009

The Silithus Field Duty quest collection was added in patch 1.9 to the Silithus area. They were designed to provide casual players with the ability to achieve raid-level rewards, and require the character be a minimum of level 60.

The basic format of the Silithus Field Duty quests involves completing a boss encounter with the help of several NPCs. After this boss is defeated, you are offered a choice of combat, tactical, or logistic assignments. When you complete your assignments, you are rewarded with a relevant badge. You can save these badges and turn them in for various items or given to Windcaller Kaldon in Cenarion Hold for a reputation bonus.

The Silithus Field Duty quest chain is only available after your realm completes the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj opening event and the outdoor war across Kalimdor officially ends (there is a server-wide announcement saying the qiraji armies are retreating).

When completing these quests, players must also complete various other quests in Silithus to achieve Cenarion Circle reputation,and the ability to summon the various Abyssal Council members required from certain Silithus Field Duty quests.

Details

The quest line begins at Windcaller Kaldon in Cenarion Hold. He gives you [Unsigned Field Duty Papers], which you use (right-click) to create [Prepared Field Duty Papers] (3-min cooldown). You must then take the papers to be signed by Captain Blackanvil (Alliance) or Krug Skullsplit (Horde). They will sign your papers after helping the NPCs defeat a boss mob (detailed below). Turning in [Signed Field Duty Papers] back to Windcaller Kaldon will give Cenarion Circle reputation and your choice of a Logistics, Combat, or Tactical assignment (detailed further below).

The Alliance Ironforge Brigade is camped just northeast of Hive'Zora and the Horde Orgrimmar Legion is camped northwest of Hive'Regal. Begin the event by talking to Janela Stouthammer or Krug Skullsplit. A large Silithid enemy will attack the camp, and you must aid the NPCs to defeat it.

Horde Field Duty

For the Horde, the NPC is an elite 60 Hive'Regal Hunter-Killer.

Hive'Regal Hunter-Killer's abilities

Approximately 350,000 HP
Hits for around 1000 on cloth
Periodically charges players on its aggro list for around 1000. You can avoid this charge by standing further beyond a 30-yard radius
AoE fear for 5 seconds
Thunderclap for around 200 damage
Cleave for 500-1000 damage

Krug Skullsplit must survive the fight, or the quest can't be completed. There are several ways to do this: Help DPS or fear the Hive'Regal Hunter-Killer, or help to heal Krug Skullsplit.

Alliance Field Duty

For the Alliance, the NPC is an elite 60 Hive'Zora Abomination.

Elite Hive'Zora Abomination's abilities

AoE Enveloping Winds 8-second stun (magic, dispellable)
Short-range AOE poison cloud that does around 300 damage every 2 seconds
Limited number AoE fear, with only 2-4 people feared

If there is no player interaction, NPCs defeat the Abomination, but there is a high chance Captain Blackanvil will be slain, thus preventing players from completing their quest.

Logistics, Combat, and Tactical Assignments

After completing the field duty, return to the quest giver in Cenarion Hold and choose one of the following: Logistics Assignment, Combat Assignment, or Tactical Assignment. These assignments award you a badge of the same type as the quest and a follow-up assignment. There are 2 special quests: Tactical Quest V and Logistics Quest XI; these do not award a badge or a follow-up quest, but instead offer a [Mark of Cenarius] or a [Mark of Remulos], which are required for the epic rewards. These quests are obtained randomly when selecting Tactical or Logistics quests.

After receiving your assignment, you can retake the Field Duty quest and return to camp and fight the elite again to retrieve another assignment. You might get duplicates since you get a random quest. You cannot have more than 1 copy of a particular assignment in your possession at any time, but can have as many different assignments in your possession as your bags, bank, and quest log can hold. Also, you may have any number and variety of unopened letters which contain assignments in your bag. Some are less tedious then others and as it is more efficient to buy the materials for multiple assigments of the same type once you are near an auction house and as the field duty quest to get these assigments has been greatly nerfed it makes sense to defeat the elite bug many times and get a number of copies of assignments of the same type (technically "unopened letters" because of the restriction that there can only be one type of assignment in a bag - the letters can still be opened to see what assignment it contains). Half the quests can be attained directly from doing the Field Duty quest. However, the other half can only be attained by initially completing a quest received from Field Duty. These are follow-up quests, and are denoted as such below.

You receive:

150 Cenarion Circle reputation for completing each Logistics, Combat, or Tactical assignment.
100 Cenarion Circle reputation for completing the [Mark of Cenarius] and the [Mark of Remulos] assignments.

Logistics quests

Collect these items. Some assignments differ for Alliance and Horde (noted).

Logistic assignments

2 [60] Boots for the Guard 3 Ornate Mithril Boots
4
- [60] The Ironforge Brigade Needs Explosives! 6 Oils of Immolation, 5 Goblin Rocket Fuel, 10 Dense Blasting Powder
- [60] The Orgrimmar Legion Needs Mojo! 6 Powerful Mojo, 6 Flask of Big Mojo, 8 Oil of Immolation
5 [60] Scrying Materials 1 Large Brilliant Shard, 1 Large Radiant Shard, 1 Huge Emerald]
6
- [60] Arms for the Field (Alliance) 2 Moonsteel Broadswords
- [60] Arms for the Field (Horde) 3 Massive Iron Axes
7
- [60] Armor Kits for the Field (Alliance) 8 Rugged Armor Kits, 8 Heavy Armor Kits
- [60] Armor Kits for the Field (Horde) 8 Rugged Armor Kits, 8 Heavy Armor Kits
10 [60] Bandages for the Field 30 Heavy Runecloth Bandages, 30 Heavy Silk Bandages, 30 Heavy Mageweave Bandages

Followup Logistic assignments

1 [60] Desert Survival Kits 4 Globes of Water, 4 Powerful Anti-venom, 4 Smoked Desert Dumplings
3 [60] Grinding Stones for the Guard 10 Heavy Grinding Stones, 10 Solid Grinding Stones, 10 Dense Grinding Stones
8 [60] Uniform Supplies 1 Mooncloth, 2 Bolts of Runecloth, 1 Ironweb Spider Silk
9 [60] Extraordinary Materials 2 Enchanted Thorium, 2 Enchanted Leather
10 [60] Bandages for the Field 30 Heavy Runecloth bandages, 30 Heavy Silk Bandages, 30 Heavy Mageweave Bandages
11 [60] The Ultimate Deception 3 Abomination stitchings, 1 Skin of Shadow, 1 Twilight Cultist Robe - Yields [Mark of Remulos] needed for Revered reward

Combat quests

Combat quests require killing 30 of some variant of Silithid bug. As of patch 2.3, all the hive bugs for the combat quests are no longer elite, making the quests much easier to solo. Out of the three types of quests, they take by far the longest time to complete, as all the bugs are typically strewn amidst other bugs. All bugs can also be found above ground, although some are more rare than others; it is worth your time to venture into the cave.

There are quests available for 4 out of the 5 bugs located at each hive. You will receive a dossier containing all four combat assignments for a single hive. You do not receive a follow-up for combat quests because you receive 4 quests in one Field Duty run.

The difficulty of each bug varies considerably; check the links below for more information regarding strategies for each species. Hive'Ashi and Hive'Regal have stealthed bugs that can make these quests much more difficult.

Hive'Ashi Dossier

Combat Task Briefing I (Target: 30 Hive'Ashi Defenders)
Combat Task Briefing II (Target: 30 Hive'Ashi Sandstalkers)
Combat Task Briefing III (Target: 30 Hive'Ashi Workers)
Combat Task Briefing XII (Target: 30 Hive'Ashi Stingers - uncommon)

Hive'Zora Dossier

Combat Task Briefing IV (Target: 30 Hive'Zora Reavers)
Combat Task Briefing V (Target: 30 Hive'Zora Hive Sisters)
Combat Task Briefing VI (Target: 30 Hive'Zora Waywatchers)
Combat Task Briefing VII (Target: 30 Hive'Zora Tunnelers - uncommon)

Hive'Regal Dossier

Combat Task Briefing VIII (Target: 30 Hive'Regal Ambushers)
Combat Task Briefing IX (Target: 30 Hive'Regal Spitfires)
Combat Task Briefing X (Target: 30 Hive'Regal Slavemakers)
Combat Task Briefing XI (Target: 30 Hive'Regal Burrowers - uncommon)

Tactical quests

Tactical quests involve aboveground operations against the Twilight's Hammer and their elemental masters, or retrieving a report from a scout deep inside a hive. Object of Beckoning can greatly speed up completion of quests 1-5 by allow the player to select which element type he summons; however these are expensive and are usually a waste of valuable Encrypted Twilight Texts.

Tactical assignments

1: [60] Azure Templar
3: [60] Earthen Templar
6: [60] Hive'Zora Scout Report
7: [60] Hive'Regal Scout Report
9: [60] Twilight Marauders (Kill Morna and 2 Twilight Marauders)

Followup Tactical assignments

2 [60] Crimson Templar
4 [60] Hoary Templar
5 [60] The Four Dukes (Yields the [Mark of Cenarius] required for the Exalted reward quest)
8 [60] Hive'Ashi Scout Report
10 [60] Twilight Battle Orders (Obtain [Twilight Battle Orders] from Twilight Prophet)

Rewards

The various badges can be saved up and turned in for various items. The quests require several of each badge type and a certain level of Cenarion Circle reputation. All four quests are immediately available, can be completed in any order and are repeatable.

Volunteer's Battlegear - Rare Rewards
Friendly	5 Combat 3 Logistics 7 Tactical	[Gloves of Earthen Power] [Band of Earthen Wrath] [Earthweave Cloak]

Veteran's Battlegear - Rare Rewards
Honored	7 Combat 4 Logistics 4 Tactical	[Grace of Earth] [Band of Earthen Might] [Earthpower Vest]

Stalwart's Battlegear - Epic Rewards
Revered	15 Combat 20 Logistics 17 Tactical 1 Mark of Remulos	[Deeprock Bracers] [Earthcalm Orb] [Rockfury Bracers] [Might of Cenarius]

Champion's Battlegear - Epic Rewards
Exalted	15 Combat 20 Logistics 20 Tactical 1 Mark of Cenarius	[Fist of Cenarius] [Wrath of Cenarius] [Earthstrike]

If you do not want any of these item rewards, but instead are trying to gain Cenarion Circle reputation, you may also turn in the badges to Windcaller Kaldon for the Allegiance to Cenarion Circle quest. This requires one of each type of badge and results in 1000 reputation.

Silithus Field Duty questline hints

The initial Field Duty quests are easily soloable by healers, who can keep Krug Skullsplit (horde) or Captain Blackanvil (alliance) alive. As of patch 2.3, even nonhealers should have little trouble soloing this because the giant bug was greatly nerfed. If you are not a healer yourself and have trouble soloing it, try to complete as many as possible when grouped. In you are a healer, doing multiple field duty runs is mostly important so that you have the required Combat and Tactical quests.

As of patch 2.3, the alliance Field Duty quest's giant bug moves around much more, increasing the chance that a player or their pet may aggro the nearby nonelite wasps. Try to pull the giant bug well away from the wasps.

It is possible, using an epic mount, Carrot on a Stick, Mithril Spurs on your boots, and a minor mount speed increase enchant on your gloves to get your papers signed, ride quickly back to Cenarion Hold, retake the quest and ride back in time to get your papers signed again before the event resets. This yields you two assignments of your choice and 50 rep. The window is small however(5-10 seconds), so one has to be quick. Be sure to have your papers prepared before you start the bug event, as they have a 2 or 3 minute cooldown.

The only tactical quests that require you to enter the silithid hives are 6, 7 and 8. All of these are easily soloable by Druids and Rogues using stealth. The remaining tactical quests are above-ground. Therefore, rogues and druids can make best use of their quest logs and bag space by not bothering to load up on tactical quests unless they are in a group that is specifically working on the Abyssal Templars and Dukes. Alternatively, stealth classes can collect tactical quests, complete any Scout reports they find, and save up the followups. Other classes will need groups to do these quests and should have the appropriate combat quests for the hive as well. While it is much slower and more frustrating, non-stealth classes can use a naked corpse run to avoid durability loss, and complete the quest that way in a pinch.

Dossiers take up one bag slot each, until you open them. It is best to therefore have all three types of dossiers in your bags, unopened. When you group up, only open and take quests for the particular hive you are working on.

As a general rule, leave the "envelopes" that the assignments come in unopened for tactical and logistics quests also. While their contents are Unique, you can have multiple envelopes with the same quest in it as long as you don't take the quest out. Try to take quests only when you are ready to actually complete them (especially for logistics quests).

Combat quests now come in dossiers with all four quests for a given hive. Since the bugs are all mixed together, try to work all four quests for the hive you are working on to completion.

Hive'Zora Tunnelers and Hive'Regal Burrowers are less common neutral bugs than the other quest bugs so you may want to skip those quests or do the other bug quests multiple times while still working on the burrowers and tunnelers.

Although neutral, Hive'Zora Tunnelers, Hive'Regal Burrowers and Hive'Ashi Workers will attack if they come close when you are attacking another bug. Wait until they are well away before attacking.

Hive'Zora is the only hive that has no stealthed bugs so its quests are somewhat easier. Stealth detection items or abilities are very useful in Hive' Ashi to detect sandstalkers and Hive'Regal to detect ambushers.

Most of the Hive'Ashi Stingers are south of Cenarion Hold while the other three quest bugs are north.

When doing combat quests, you can increase your damage by 5% for 30 minutes by doing a [Silithyst] run. Be aware that this flags you briefly for PVP.

For tactical quest 9 to kill Morna and 5 Twilight Marauders, it is easiest to wait with one of the groups of four Cenarion Outriders for Morna and the marauders to attack them. Once Morna attacks, kill her first and be sure to damage the marauders so you get credit for the kill. One group of Cenarion Outriders sits on the road midway between Cenarion Hold and Valor's Rest.

As of Patch 2.3, Morna has only 2 Twilight Marauders.

One of the quickest ways to get the Logistics badges is to keep doing Field Duty until you can get a couple of assignments that require items you can make or buy in the AH. For example, Logistics Task Briefing X - is 30 of three types of bandages, very easy to do.

You do not need to pick up any quests for class gear or battle gear until you actually have what is required.

Notes

The Field Duty quest chain is only available after your realm completes the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj opening event, and the outdoor war across Kalimdor officially ends (there is a server-wide announcement saying the Qiraji armies are retreating). This event has been completed (and thus this chain is available) on all servers.

Wowpedia