Chapter Five
The next morning, within the subterranean Barrow Deeps of Mount Hyjal...
Mission Objectives
- Main Quest - Awaken Druids
- Discover the location of the Barrow Deeps
- Tyrande Whisperwind must survive
- Furion Stormrage must survive
- Main Quest - Free Illidan
- Locate Illidan's Prison
- Tyrande Whisperwind must survive
- Optional Quest - Bear Necessities
- Get water from the Fountain of Life
- Return the filled vial to the Furbolgs
Strategy
You start out with Furion, Tyrande, 3 Dryads, 2 Druids of the Talon, 2 Huntresses, and 2 Archers. The enemies in the cave are easy enough, but there are a few groups that are capable of taking out one or more of your units if you aren't careful. Save often; load if you lose a unit.
Take your starting group south, making sure to keep the Huntresses and your heroes in the front, and when you get to a big stalagmite in the middle, you have three options. You can go either west or east first, it doesn't matter. West, you'll find a group of Kobolds and a Kobold Tunneler. He drops a Potion of Healing. East, you'll find a Wendigo and an Elder Wendigo. The big guy drops a Scroll of Healing. Go south, take out the two Spiders and the Brood Mother here, then continue on.
Go west between the obelisks. Here you'll meet a few Skeletons and a Frost Revenant. The Blizzard spell he casts causes a good deal of damage if left ignored, so move your units before they get pummeled. Continue west, take out Skeleton Archers and more Frost Revenants. One of them drops a Wand of Lightning Shield. Slightly to the north there is a Potion of Greater Healing sitting on the ground.
With the Revenants and Skeletons dispatched, head east. There will be plenty of little Spiders found throughout the dungeon; I won't mention every one of them. They're easy to take care of. Continue east until you hit a pool with a toadstool growing in the center of it. Go north, take care of the Giant Spider, and claim a Spider Ring. Go east again, but hug the northern wall until you're actually going north. Kill the Spitting Spider and its hatchlings, then destroy the eggs on the left. You'll get some more spiders and a Scroll of Healing. Head south until you hit a Defiled Fountain of Life.
Here is the first real challenge to keep all your units alive. You'll be attacked by 2 Brood Mothers and a bunch of little Spiders. It's easy to get overwhelmed, so keep on your toes; pull back units that are getting overly bombarded. Eggs to the SW of the Fountain contain Spitting Spiders, a Giant Spider, and a little Spider. Heal up after all the fighting, if you are able, then head south to pick up your first Optional Quest (Bear Necessities) from a Furbolg Ursa Warrior.
The Furbolg tasks you with saving his tribe's Shaman, and gives you a vial with which to retrieve a life-saving dosage of healing water. This quest is quick and easy. Go west. You can choose to kill the Skeleton Archers and the Skeletal Marksman if you wish. Past them, to the NW, is a trio of Ghosts. As you saw from the previous mission, they have the ability to possess your units. But not your heroes. Quickly dispatch them with Tyrande and Furion. (Or avoid them entirely.)
Go due west, and fight through the pack of Lightning Lizards guarding the Fountain of Life. You can heal up your units here for free, so do it. Fill the vial and promptly return it to save the Shaman's life. You'll be rewarded with a Talisman of the Wild, which summons a Furbolg to fight for you for 3 minutes. Buttonhook around the icecaps and head south along the path. When you reach fork in the path, you'll be given a cinematic where Tyrande splits from Furion's group in search of the enigmatic Illidan. Furion will be left with 3 Dryads and 2 Druids of the Talon. As he cannot get through the door, you must take your units down the only available path.
Here the level takes a decidedly creepy turn. Past the corrupted ground, to the east, you'll hit a Sludge Monstrosity. Dispatch it. But remember: You have fewer units now, so be careful not to let any one of them take too much damage (You can always use Furion's Tranquility spell or any remaining Scrolls of Healing, however). Continue along the path. You'll encounter a pair of Skeleton Archers and a Wraith in front of a mausoleum. When you get to the Circle of Power, go north and kill a pack of Kobolds and Kobold Geomancers.
Secret Path: Before you step on the Circle of Power, head south. Nowhere to go, right? Use Furion's Force of Nature spell to clear away the toadstools. (If you didn't know already, these toadstools serve as the underground equivalent of trees.) You'll come upon a rather large ground of Skeleton Archers and Skeletal Marksmen. Use your newly formed Treants as tanks, and you shouldn't have any trouble keeping your regular units alive. A Skeleton drops a Scroll of Healing for you. But that's not all!
- Go back east, as if you're about to head north to the Circle of Power. Instead, go south and use Furion's Force of Nature spell on the toadstools here and you'll reveal a second, smaller Circle of Power. Step on it, and you'll be transported to a vault, where an Ice Revenant and a pack of Skeleton Archers are guarding a Waygate. Again, use your Treants as tanks while your regular units deal damage from afar. This would be a very useful time to summon a handy Furbolg (if, of course, Furion is holding the Talisman). It's very easy to lose units here, so pay close attention if you don't want to lose anyone. The Ice Revenant drops a Robe of the Magi +6. Take the Waygate back to the big Circle of Power and step on it.
Travel across the crystal bridge that appears and confront the trio of Watchers communing around a table. Remember to use the toadstools to summon Treants for tanks, if you need them. They're invaluable for keeping your other units alive--especially if you have Furion use Tranquility while they're soaking damage. One of the Watchers will drop a Claws of Attack +9.
Go south of the table into a little cove. At the center will be a Fountain of Mana guarded by a group of Skeleton Archers and Skeletal Marksmen. Kill them, get a Scroll of Mana, and recharge your group at the fountain before heading north of the Watchers' table.
Head toward the natural causeway and take care of the Black Dragon Whelplings. When you reach a precipice lined with torches, it'll cut to a cinematic. Your Druids no longer have Faerie Fire on auto-cast. It doesn't make much difference, though, because the Druids aren't hostile targets (although they do attack you if you get too close). Travel down the ramp and into the valley-trench.
Have your Druids of the Talon selected as your primary units in the group so you can use their Cyclone ability without having to fumble around with clicking too much when you're being attacked. Wait for the first bear to patrol to the east and disappear for a moment. Cross his path and kill the Giant Spider to the north. Its eggs are empty. Go north, avoiding the bear to the NE. The eggs around the Spitting Spider here will yield a Scroll of Mana. From here, there is a Fountain of Mana to the SW being guarded by Sludge Minions and a Flinger. The big guy will drop a Wand of the Wind, which will allow your hero to also cast Cyclone.
Go north through the archway at the top of the 4-way fork. Avoid the bears all along the way; it doesn't require a lot of effort. The path will narrow, and you'll meet a pair of sleeping bears blocking your path. Lift one or both of them with Cyclone and pass through unmolested. The crates behind them hold nothing. Continue SE along the path. You'll see a group of little Spiders and a Brood Mother. You can avoid them if you want, but the Mother drops a Potion of Mana. Head north up the ramp and kill the Sludge Flinger.
Continue along the path until you meet a group of Sludges guarding a gate. Kill them, break down the gate, and proceed to the Circle of Power on the other side. You'll be presented with a cinematic of Furion Stormrage blowing his horn at a junction connecting all the tunnels in the dungeon, waking the Druids of the Claw from their feral slumber. The first Main Quest is completed. You'll now be given control of Tyrande, who seeks to free Illidan from his prison.
At once you'll be attacked by a Watcher and 2 Wardens. They're easily defeated. Go south, defeat the Sentry on the path and smash through the gate to the south. You'll awaken a tiny rock guardian. Defeat it and go east, into a library occupied by 3 Mystics. Kill them and open up a barred gate in the NW corner of the room, where you'll find a Mystic apparently dabbling in summoning magicks. Take him out. Then destroy the pedestal for a Tome of Knowledge. Go back out the way you came, and head through the archway to the west. Check the archery room to the south, and break the crate in the SW corner to free a Skeleton Archer.
Head out and to the SW. Kill the Warden behind the desk, then kill the Sentry beyond the open gate. Go south past the gate to free a Huntress and 2 Archers. Go up the ramp north of the suit of armor and step on the Circle of Power. Now return to the gate where Tyrande started and head north. When you come to a bend that forces the path SW and then west, you'll find a bunch of crates scattered about. They contain nothing useful, but one is home to a Skeleton Archer.
In the next room, there are 3 Watchers on the far side of the causeway. You'll find a stack of Healing Wards in one of the crates near the Huntress statue. Go south and activate the second Circle of Power. The gate below will swing open, and you'll be free to pass through.
There's nothing in the room north of the bend; continue along the path until it bends and goes west. Go south into a room with 3 sleeping Wardens. If you attack anything in this room, they will wake. Attack them first and kill them. Destroy the gate in this room to have your Huntresses gain access to the Moon Glaive ability, which makes their attacks bounce. Good deal.
Go west, then head north at the archway. A Watcher will charge you. Take care of him. There is a Ring of Regeneration in the prison cell on your left, but be careful; 3 Skeleton Archers and a Burning Archer will spawn once you break down the gate. The cell on your right contains 3 Archers; the eggs contain 2 Giant Spiders, while 3 little Spiders roam freely. Dispatch them and free your sisters. Go north to find two more cells. The one on the right contains only a Warden, while the one on the left contains 2 more Huntresses and a wolf named Loki.
Go north through the forested area, dispatch the 4 Corrupted Treants that appear, and go on through the Waygate to the north. You'll be teleported a short distance to the east. Go south along the path, heal at the Fountain of Health if need, and continue west. Go south at the suit of armor to an area with swinging cages. Kill the Skeleton Archers here, and gain access to a gated vault of Goblin Landmines.
The next area, west of the suit of armor and then north, is being patrolled by a few Watchers. Don't go north down the ramp. Use an Archer to pull one Watcher off the path at a time. When he follows you down into the forested area, kill him quickly. Repeat until they're all dead. Take either path north, they both converge eventually and there's nothing to be found on either one. At the Huntress statue in the pool, you'll be attacked by 2 Wardens and 2 Watchers.
Head north, past the pits of blue fire, and meet Califax, a Keeper of the Grove who is keeping watch over Illidan's prison to make sure no one tries to free him. He is flanked by 2 Watchers. Watch out for his abilities; they're similar to those used by Furion. He'll send Treants at you and probably root Tyrande to the ground. Keep your attention on him to bring him down, then finish off the Watchers.
Approach Illidan's cell and enjoy the cinematic!
Treasure
Potion of Healing - Kobold Tunneler Scroll of Healing - Elder Wendigo Wand of Lightning Shield - Frost Revenant