It seems you've picked an interest in spitting in the dirt for a while. With that said I hope this guide and the lists following it will provide a basic view on what to expect when you dive into the world of Archeology! (Or actually, dig into the world of Archeology!)
What NOT to expect;
- Epics falling from the sky.
- A simple profession to 'grind' through.
What you CAN expect;
- Fun frills, nothing game-breaking.
- A growing level of patience. (I'm not kidding)
- Awesome rewards in the end.
Now that you've mentally prepared for your journey, that will make you soar through the skies of Azeroth like never before, let's begin!
Guide Contents;
– Getting started
– At the dig site
– Solving
– The Rare Artifacts
– Zone & Fragment list
- Getting started -
First off all, head to your favorite (or nearest) Archeology Trainer;
Now that you've got the skill to search for fragments and solve artifacts, let's take a look at the Archeology tab. Open the Profession tab ('k' by default) and click Archeology. The following tab will pop up;
As you gain skill levels, you'll be able to search for different fragments, eventually allowing you to solve artifacts from different races.
When you first learn Archeology, you'll be able to hunt for 4 different fragments;
- Dwarf
- Troll
- Night Elf
- Fossil
This will be extended at skill level 300 with;
- Orc
- Draenei
That will once again be extended at skill level 375 with;
- Vrykul
- Nerubian
And last but not least, at skill level 450, it will be extended with;
- Tol'vir
After learning the Archeology skill, you can see where dig sites are hidden by opening up your map ('m' by default). So open up your map and look for a small icon that looks like a shovel, like this;
Clicking on the zone (or flying to the zone) will open up the zone map, showing you exactly where your digsite is, like this;
You can recognize digsites by the red/orange 'dot' or 'circle' on your map!
If you hadn't already, mount up and fly over to a dig site!
- At the dig site -
It seems you've safely arrived at the dig site, great! Open up the Profession tab and press 'Survey' while being inside the dig site it's boundaries.
Tip; Put the 'Survey' button somewhere on your bars, you'll be pressing this one a lot!
There's 3 indications of just how far away you are from a fragment;
Red – Far away
Yellow – Getting closer
Green – Close by
The idea behind tracking your fragment down is by Surveying and then following the direction your telescope is pointing. Depending on the color, you should either move a decent lot (Red), not so much (Green) or something in between (Yellow). This may seem a bit weird to figure out the first few times, but the longer you're working on Archeology, the easier you can pinpoint where you should re-survey for a closer result.
Personally, I found the easiest way to hunt fragments is by landing anywhere within the dig site, Survey and follow the telescope. Others prefer scouting via the borders of the dig site, though I believe it'll eventually come down to following your telescope regardless.
Interesting facts;
– You can dig up to 3 times per dig site
– You start off by finding 2 fragments per dig, this will increase to 3 at skill level 150.
– As your skill level increases, you will be able to find up to 6 fragments per dig. (This is however, random!)
– Archeology nodes are personal, this means no one can steal your nodes! Even if someone seems to be stalking you.
- Solving -
After you've collected several pieces, you can 'solve' the fragments into! Junk, most of it anyway. Common artifacts aren't really worth more than 5 silver a piece, up to maybe 5g for Cataclysm Commons.
Sometimes, you can solve a Rare artifact, these take much more fragments to complete but the rewards are obviously not so much 'junk-full'.
These are called keystones and can help speed up solving certain artifacts. If you can use them, a hexagon will be visible under your fragment progress bar. (Check the Solving Menu image to see it in action!) These smart keystones are worth 12 fragments per keystone.
Interesting facts;
- Not all artifacts allow these keystones to be used!
- Most rares can use up to 3 keystones per solve.
- The Fossil tree does not have any keystones!
And that's not all! In the new Cataclysm dungeons you can use these keystones to buff your group in the form of a daily quest. And if that wasn't enough, they're not Bind on Pickup, meaning these can be sold at the Auction House!
- The Rare Artifacts -
As I explained before, most artifacts you'll find are.. junk! However, there's several nice goodies out there, be aware of spoilers if you prefer to find these out yourself;
Points of note;
1. Several zones have more than 1 type of fragment. You can plan ahead of time which fragment you'll encounter by looking at the area the dig site is at.
For example; Tanaris has both Fossil and Troll fragments, you'll find the Troll fragments near the ruins on the map, while you'll find the Fossils if the dig site is in the middle of the map near the bones.
2. A good thing to do is to plan a 'trail' to follow ahead of time. You wouldn't want to fly from Plaguelands to Stranglethorn Vale and then back to Burning Steppes!
This is a simplified list of which fragments can be found in which zone, as stated above you can generally figure what dig site you'll be getting my looking at the map!
Kalimdor
Azshara – Night Elf Fragments
Darkshore – Night Elf Fragments
Southern Barrens – Night Elf, Fossil & Dwarf Fragments
Desolace – Night Elf & Fossil Fragments
Feralas – Night Elf Fragments
Felwood – Night Elf Fragments
Tanaris – Troll & Fossil Fragments
Un'goro Crater – Fossil Fragments
Silithus – Night Elf Fragments
Mount Hyjal – Night Elf Fragments
Uldum – Tol'vir Fragments
Dustwallow Marsh – Fossil Fragments
Winterspring – Night Elf Fragments
Ashenvale – Night Elf Fragments
Stonetalon Mountains – Night Elf & Fossil Fragments
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