Excavation Site: Wetlands, the dungeon guide for WoW Forever

The Excavation Site is one of the new dungeons of WoW Forever. The Explorers’ League found titan ruins southeast of Whelgar’s Excavation Site in the Wetlands and set up a new camp there. Raptors and a titan guardian stand in the way. Four bosses and twelve quests wait inside.

At a glance

Levels	26-31 according to Blizzard
Entrance	The Wetlands, on a hill southeast of Whelgar’s Excavation Site
Bosses	4: Saltspine, Shadetooth, Highland Horror, Relic Guardian
Quests	4 for the Horde, 8 for the Alliance, all from level 24
Loot	New blue items, the Titan Relic for two chains
New in Forever	The whole dungeon

The beta of WoW Forever goes up to level 30 since 1 October. Wowhead updates its guide as testers clear the dungeon, so details can still change.

Getting there

New roads lead up the hill to the entrance; in Classic this part of the Wetlands could not be reached.

Alliance. Menethil Harbor is close, and it now has a boat to Stormwind through Auberdine. Running through Loch Modan works too.

Horde. A longer trek on foot through Hillsbrad Foothills and the Arathi Highlands. Pick up the flight paths in Tarren Mill and Hammerfall on the way.

The quests

Horde

Quest	Where it starts	Level	Reward
Changing Tastes	Orgrimmar, The Drag: Borstan, the Meat Vendor /way 57.3 53.3	24	5 Twice-Spiced Raptor Slice, Recipe: Twice-Spiced Raptor Slice and Satchel of Potions 3,150 experience
Open the Maw	The Wetlands: Deathstalker Agent, behind a small hill /way 51.4 59.2 Dragonmaw Rumors from Zaruk in Hammerfall, Arathi Highlands /way 74.4 35.6 leads to her.	24	Bloody Map, plus Dirt-Heavy Bracers or Knife-Polishing Rag 3,150 experience
Elder Knowledge	Inside the dungeon: Titan Relic, a drop from Relic Guardian	24	630 experience
Earthen Echo	Follows Elder Knowledge	24	Furs of the Earthen Ring, Heavehammer or Healer’s Staff 3,150 experience

Changing Tastes

Borstan sells meat on the upper floor of The Drag in Orgrimmar, in the same hut as Zamja, the Cooking trainer. He wants 4 Thicket Raptor Meat. It drops from the raptors in the Stalker’s Thicket behind the first boss: Thicket Hunters, Thicket Lurkers and Thicket Stalkers. Bring the meat back after the dungeon.

Open the Maw

This quest needs a stop in Hammerfall first, which lies on the way to the Wetlands anyway. Zaruk gives Dragonmaw Rumors, which sends you to the Deathstalker Agent near the dungeon. She hides behind a small hill and hands out Open the Maw. Inside, kill 2 Dragonmaw Saboteurs and 4 Dragonmaw Warders, and loot the Dragonmaw Dispatch from a Dragonmaw Thaumaturgist. It drops 31% of the time according to its tooltip.

Turn the quest in with the Deathstalker Agent on the way out. Besides the usual reward you get the Bloody Map, a soulbound map with Dwarvish text and a place marked with an X. What the map is for is not known yet.

Elder Knowledge and Earthen Echo

The Horde version of the Titan Relic drops from Relic Guardian, 25% of the time according to its tooltip. It starts Elder Knowledge, which sends you to Bashana Runetotem in a tent on the Elder Rise of Thunder Bluff, /way 70.8 33.7. She then gives Earthen Echo: take the relic to Muln Earthfury on the Skywatcher Plateau in Mulgore.

The Skywatcher Plateau is new in Forever and links Thunder Bluff to Zephras Isle of the Skyborne. Leave Thunder Bluff to the north and keep going north until a path climbs into the mountains around /way 40.3 17.6. Muln Earthfury stands in the largest tent on the plateau, /way 33.4 22.5.

Alliance

Quest	Where it starts	Level	Reward
Songblade Search	Redridge Mountains, Lakeshire: Dorin Songblade /way 25.6 46.6	24	3,150 experience
Fallen in the Fen	Inside the dungeon: the body of Daewyn	24	Daewyn’s Girdle 3,150 experience
Lost in the Thicket Things	The Wetlands, Menethil Harbor: Caitlin Grassman /way 11.9 58.8 Seeking Caitlin from Llana in Astranaar, Ashenvale /way 35.0 48.5 leads to her.	24	2,500 experience
Heartwoven	Follows Lost in the Thicket Things	24	Swiftness Potion and Satchel of Potions, plus 4 Greater Healing Potion or 4 Mana Potion 3,150 experience
Highland Hides	The Wetlands, Menethil Harbor: James Halloran /way 8.6 55.7 Complete Young Crocolisk Skins first.	24	1,150 experience, 50 reputation with Stormwind
Horrors in the Highland	The Wetlands: Rethiel the Greenwarden /way 56.3 40.3 Complete Tramping Paws, Fire Taboo and Blisters on the Land first.	24	Hornbeam Heft, Ironwood Destroyer or Curl of Life 3,150 experience
Lost Relic Carry	Inside the dungeon: Titan Relic, a drop from Relic Guardian	24	630 experience
Prehistoric Prism	Follows Lost Relic Carry	24	Explorer’s League Dustcover, Heavehammer or Healer’s Staff 3,150 experience

Songblade Search and Fallen in the Fen

Dorin Songblade, the Armorer in Lakeshire, wants you to find his brother Daewyn in what he calls Whelgar’s Excavation Site. He means the dungeon, not the area of the same name in the Wetlands. Daewyn lies dead in a tent in the Dragonmaw camp, shortly after Shadetooth. Click his body to finish the quest and to pick up Fallen in the Fen, which you hand in with Dorin after the dungeon.

Lost in the Thicket Things and Heartwoven

Caitlin Grassman lives in a house in Menethil Harbor and asks you to find her husband Ardin in the dungeon. For a little extra experience, first pick up Seeking Caitlin from Llana, the reagent vendor in Astranaar. Ardin stands on a wooden structure near the Site of the Guardian, the arena of the last boss. Hand in the quest with him; he then gives Heartwoven, which only asks you to visit Caitlin again.

Highland Hides

James Halloran in Menethil Harbor has a small chain about crocolisk skins. After Young Crocolisk Skins he wants 4 Thicket Raptor Hide from the raptors in the Stalker’s Thicket around Shadetooth: Thicket Hunters, Thicket Lurkers and Thicket Matriarchs.

On the beta this quest is bugged at the moment. It does not count as a dungeon quest and only gives a little experience and a few silver.

Horrors in the Highland

Rethiel the Greenwarden, a moss elemental in the middle of the Wetlands, only gives this quest after three others:

1. Tramping Paws. Kill 15 Mosshide Gnolls and 10 Mosshide Mongrels in the south of the Wetlands, along the central river.
2. Fire Taboo. Bring 9 Crude Flint. They drop from the stronger gnolls in the middle of the zone, Mosshide Brutes, Trappers, Fenrunners, Mistweavers and Alphas, but not often.
3. Blisters on the Land. Kill 12 Fen Creepers. They are stealthed and keep to the rivers and pools of the Wetlands, so listen for the sound of stealth.

Then comes Horrors in the Highland: kill Highland Horror, the third boss of the dungeon, and bring the Horrible Rootcore to Rethiel. It drops 60% of the time according to its tooltip.

Lost Relic Carry and Prehistoric Prism

Loot the remains of Relic Guardian for the Alliance version of the Titan Relic, which drops 28% of the time according to its tooltip, and use it to start Lost Relic Carry. Bring it to Prospector Whelgar in a cave in Whelgar’s Excavation Site, the dig next to Menethil Harbor, /way 38.8 52.3. He gives Prehistoric Prism, which sends you to High Explorer Magellas in the Hall of Explorers in Ironforge, /way 69.4 19.1.

On the beta Prehistoric Prism cannot be completed at the moment. Whelgar gives the quest but not the item Magellas asks for.

The level is the lowest level at which the quest can be picked up, according to Wowhead. The rewards come from the quest data of the beta and can still change.

The tall grass

The most dangerous part of the dungeon is the area before Saltspine and Shadetooth. Thicket Lurkers do not wait in stealth: they spawn when you walk through the tall grass long enough. Thicket Matriarchs call Lurkers to their aid when their health runs low.

Stay on the narrow path and out of the grass, and fight in open spots. When a Matriarch is in a pull, kill the other monsters first, so there are as few left as possible when the Lurkers arrive.

The bosses and their loot

The loot per boss comes from Wowhead.

Saltspine

A simple fight once the area around it is clear. Tendon Rip slows the tank heavily, and Dust Storm lowers the chance to hit of everyone within 10 yards by 25%, so casters keep their distance.

Item	Slot
Glinteye Slippers	Cloth feet: Stamina, Intellect and Spirit
Saltscale Girdle	Mail waist: Strength and Stamina
Supple Bellyskin Leggings	Leather legs: Strength and Stamina

Shadetooth

An unforgiving fight with two Thicket Hunters at his side. Their Infected Wound has to be dispelled quickly. Crowd control both adds for the whole fight, or one while you kill the other. Shadetooth uses Rend and Terrifying Roar, a fear of 5 seconds that cannot be dispelled and easily sends players into the grass. At 30% health he enrages; he can be slowed and stunned.

Clear the crocodile cove on the left first and fight there. The Thicket Hunters cannot swim, but do not drag the fight back to the area of the first boss, or he resets.

Item	Slot
Raptorclaw Greaves	Mail feet: Strength, Stamina and Intellect
Raptor’s Gaze	Off-hand: Stamina, Intellect and up to 5 spell damage and healing

Highland Horror

The third boss stands between Shadetooth and Relic Guardian. Alliance players need it for Horrors in the Highland: it drops the Horrible Rootcore. Its abilities and its loot are not known yet.

Relic Guardian

Start the fight with the Archival Panel on the right of the inactive guardian. Relic Guardian is a check on gear and level: a big health pool and heavy hits on the tank. Thunderclap slows everyone within 10 yards; the tank is knocked back now and then and sometimes stunned for 5 seconds. The guardian can be stunned and slowed.

Item	Slot
Ring of Power Regulation	Ring: Stamina and 2 mana every 5 seconds
Golemsight Long Gun	Gun: Agility
Reliquary Mantle	Mail shoulders: Stamina and Spirit
Titan Relic	Alliance: starts Lost Relic Carry
Titan Relic	Horde: starts Elder Knowledge

What is not known yet

• Highland Horror: its abilities and its loot.
• What the Bloody Map leads to, the reward of Open the Maw.
• When Highland Hides and Prehistoric Prism are fixed: both are bugged on the beta.
• The drop rates of the boss loot, apart from the Titan Relic.
• Changes after the level cap of the beta rises: Wowhead keeps its guide up to date.