Part Four: Bodley's Unfortunate Fate

Speaking to Deliana or Mok'var will start the next piece of the chain, which yet again is the same for both factions. Both NPCs will send players to find Bodley, who has doubtlessly met his end in Blackrock Spire. This is a clue that using the Extra-Dimensional Ghost Revealer reveals him; he's located on the balcony outside the entrance for Upper Blackrock Spire. This is the final set of quests for dungeon set 2 -- you will need your set chestpiece and helm for the upgrade at the end.

The Three Kings of Flame Bodley says that in order to summon Lord Valthalak, the final boss of the quest line, the other two-thirds of the amulet are required -- and to get those, a special brazier and coals are needed. Players will need to kill Lord Incendius in Blackrock Depths, Pyrogard Emberseer in Blackrock Spire, and the Duke of Cynders in Silithus for their respective essences. The first two are relatively easy to get, but the Duke of Cynders is a little harder to muster; you must be wearing a full set of Twilight Trappings and have a Twilight Cultist Medallion of Station to use on a Wind Stone. Even then, there is only a one in four chance that you will get the duke. Alternatively, you can turn in Encrypted Twilight Texts to Hermit Ortell in Silithus and hope that he mails you a Scroll: Create Signet of Beckoning (Fire), but the odds are iffy either way.

The other item required to complete this quest is a Hallowed Brazier. This can be purchased from an Argent Quartermaster, but you must be honored with the Argent Dawn to get it. It isn't cheap, either -- at honored reputation, it's still 120g. Buy the brazier, get the essences and return to Bodley for the next step.

Components of Importance/The Left Piece of Lord Valthalak's Amulet It's at this point in the chain that things get a little tricky. Bodley will randomly offer one of four quests that will require players to retrieve an item; this item will be used to fight a boss. Each item has a specific boss associated with it, but the item you are asked to get can be one of four possible items, chosen randomly:

• Tyr's Hand This quest will send you to Tyr's Hand to kill Scarlet Praetorians in order to retrieve the Brilliant Sword of Zealotry. After you return the sword to Bodley, he will send you to the crimson throne in live side Stralthome to summon Jarien and Sothros, who will drop the amulet piece.
• Purgation Isle This quest will send you to Purgation Isle off the coast of Hillsbrad Foothills to retrieve the Soul Ashes of the Banished from the undead that walk the island. After you return the ashes to Bodley, he will send you to Ras Frostwhisper's chamber in Scholomance to summon Kormok, who will drop the amulet piece.
• Hive'Regal This quest will send you to Hive'Regal in Silithus to retrieve Druidical Remains from the silithid that are in the hive. After you return the Druidical Remains to Bodley, he will sent you to War Master Voone's room in Lower Blackrock Spire to summon Mor Grayhoof, who will drop the amulet piece.
• Starbreeze Village This quest will send you to Frostwhisper Gorge in Winterspring to retrieve a Starbreeze Village Relic from the Frostmaul giants that live in the gorge. After you return the Starbreeze Village Relic to Bodley, he will send you to the Shrine of Eldretharr in Dire Maul East to summon Isalien, who will drop the amulet piece.

Returning the amulet piece to Bodley will trigger the next part of the chain.

I See Alcaz Island In Your Future Bodley doesn't know who has the right piece of the amulet, but he can find out; he just needs some items for the divination spell. This quest will send players to Alcaz Island off the coast of Dustwallow Marsh to retrieve 20 Bloodkelp for the divination spell. The bloodkelp is dropped by the elite naga that litter the island, although you can also find baskets of bloodkelp scattered here and there.

More Components of Importance Remember the randomly generated quest to get components? Right -- Bodley's going to do his divination spell thanks to your bloodkelp contribution, at which point he will pick another of the four "Components of Importance" quests for you to complete. The items and bosses are exactly the same as the four listed above, and whatever boss he chooses will drop the Right Piece of Lord Valthalak's Amulet this time around. Return the amulet to Bodley, and he will set about with the preparations for the final confrontation.

Final Preparations You didn't think you were done gathering items, did you? Think again -- this time, Bodley needs 40 Blackrock Bracers and a Flask of Supreme Power. The bracers drop from orcs in both Lower and Upper Blackrock Spire, although Upper seems to have a slightly better drop rate. Take the bracers and the flask back to Bodley and he'll finish his work.

Mea Culpa, Lord Valthalak Finally! This quest sends you to the Beast's room in Upper Blackrock Spire to summon and kill Lord Valthalak. At level 60, this boss was a beast, largely due to his tendency to heal himself through a chained life-drain spell that hits progressively harder with each new target it jumps to. Added to this are the adds -- Valthalak will spawn Spectral Assassins that target a group member and cast a 10-second stun on the target.

At level 80, this boss can still be a pain if the adds are not killed quickly due to the stun and Lord Valthalak's life drain; he'll heal himself from any damage that's done while you sit there helplessly stunned. An easy workaround to this is to down a Free Action Potion when the adds appear. It will make you immune to the stun and allow you to quickly kill Valthalak.

Return to Bodley Lord Valthalak is actually vaguely pleased, in a snarky demonic way, that you've managed to return the amulet to him, and he sends you back to Bodley to return the brazier. In return, Bodley will hand over a Brazier of Invocation, which will allow you to summon any of the bosses you've fought -- Kormok, Jarian and Sothos, Isalien, Mor Grayhoof, or Lord Valthalak himself, enabling you to farm them for loot. Nice work!

Back to the Beginning/Saving the Best for Last Bodley sends you back to your respective faction quest giver to deliver the good news. In gratitude, Delina or Mok'var will upgrade the final two pieces of your dungeon set 1 to dungeon set 2, completing your collection. Congratulations!

You'll notice that in addition to being a long and somewhat complex quest line, there appears to be a long and complex storyline involved with the chain as well. I haven't detailed the storyline here because frankly, the quest chain is incredibly entertaining to read through and get absorbed in, but it doesn't really reflect on any "major moments" in lore or affect anything lore-related in today's expansions. However, I would highly recommend that people complete this quest chain before Cataclysm. It's uncertain whether or not it's been removed in the upcoming expansion, but since the bosses and the zones have changed, it can be assumed that the quest chains are more than likely going away, too.

The complete list of dungeon set 2 upgrades is as follows:

• Beaststalker -- Beastmaster Armor (hunter only)
• Devout -- Vestments of the Virtuous (priest only)
• Dreadmist -- Deathmist Raiment (warlock only)
• Elements -- The Five Thunders (shaman only)
• Lightforge -- Soulforge Armor (paladin only)
• Magister's -- Sorcerer's Regalia (mage only)
• Shadowcraft -- Darkmantle Armor (rogue only)
• Valor -- Battlegear of Heroism (warrior only)
• Wildheart -- Feralheart Raiment (druid only)

Other sets of interest

One other set was obtainable with the dungeon set 2 quest line, but it wasn't a quest objective. The Ironweave set was specifically for priests, mages and warlocks. Oddly, this eight-piece set had an almost absurd level of armor, and the set bonus was a silence an interrupt resist and another +200 armor -- which was quite a chunk back then.

In addition to the Ironweave set, Patch 1.11, "Shadow of the Necropolis" (which introduced the new 40-man raid instance of Naxxramas), added some additional blue sets that can be found only in Scholomance. These four sets have no class restrictions.

• Necrophile Raiment This five-piece cloth set gave an increase, oddly enough, to defense rating -- something that cloth casters absolutely never needed. It also increased resistances by 15 and spellpower by 23.
• Deathbone Guardian This five-piece plate set seemed to be made specifically with paladin tanks in mind, something that was almost unheard of in vanilla. Generally speaking, if you were a paladin in vanilla, you were a healer and a blessing bot.
• Cadaverous Garb This five-piece leather set was good for both rogues and feral druids. Until that point, there was very little in the way of good quality feral leather gear, so the set was a welcome relief to those druids who wanted to try a DPS or a tank spec.
• Bloodmail Regalia This five-piece mail set was good for both hunters and enhancement shaman. Again, as with every other set in Scholomance, this set gave a bonus to defense rating.

Why the boost to defense and the additional armor? Simple -- in the early days of PvP, resilience didn't exist, so the only way to last for any amount of time in PvP was through armor and defense rating. All five of these sets were intended for PvP purposes. Most casual players who wanted to get into PvP had a hard time doing so with quest gear or regular dungeon sets. These sets were introduced to give players an obtainable "first step" in PvP gear that would hopefully cut down on being immediately mowed down in the early battlegrounds and allow them to achieve a rating that would net them the appropriate PvP gear for their classes.

All of these sets are still obtainable, although the Ironweave set does take a little farming. Some pieces drop off regular bosses. Others drop off of bosses that can only be summoned with the brazier from the dungeon set 2 quest line -- which is why having that Brazier of Invocation quest reward is available, in case you missed out on any of the Ironweave drops while killing the dungeon set 2 bosses.

The quest chain for dungeon set 2 may seem a little long, but at level 80, it doesn't really take a long time to complete. It's gathering the old world mats for the quests that seems to take the longest for most players. With their unique coloration and style, these sets provide a fun distraction to collect while waiting for Cataclysm's launch -- and when you're done, be sure to go back and grab another dungeon set 1 if you want both sets!