Transmog yourself into an Avenger!
6 blue posts to read before Diablo 3's launch
Cross-realm zones coming soon
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsArchaeology grants group-wide buffs in Cataclysm 5-man dungeons
by Mathew McCurley 
Dec 16th 2010 at 2:00PM
- Blackrock Caverns Dark Iron Contingency Plan: Reduces elemental damage done to you by 5 percent; requires a Dwarf Rune Stone.
- Throne of the Tides Waters of Elune: 10 percent bonus damage against Naga; requires a Highborne Scroll.
- Stonecore Might of the Earthen: Reduces physical damage taken by 5 percent; requires Dwarf Rune Stone.
- Grim Batol Vengeance of the Wildhammer: 5 percent damage increase; requires Dwarf Rune Stone.
- Vortex Pinnacle Whispers of the Djinn: Heals your wounds and replenishes mana slowly; requires Tol'vir Hieroglyphic.
- Lost City of the Tol'vir Tol'vir Secrets: 10 percent bonus damage against the Neferset; requires Tol'vir Hieroglypic.
- Halls of Origination Map of the Architects: Increases movement speed; requires Tol'vir Hieroglyphic.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.Filed under: Cataclysm, Archaeology
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Noselacri Dec 16th 2010 2:05PM
This is my new favorite thing ever.
Thank you, Blizzard.
cortezgroup Dec 16th 2010 2:05PM
How does one attain the keystones for the different zones?
HHUK Dec 16th 2010 2:13PM
You get them randomly while gathering that race's archeology, I've picked up quite a few Night Elf ones.
deweymaverick Dec 16th 2010 2:15PM
Through the trade skill.
Once you hit the journeyman (I think) level, you have a chance of digging up not only fragments for the various arch. projects, but also these keystones.
You can only get dwarf keystones from dwarven dig sites, troll keystones from troll sites, etc.
xvkarbear Dec 16th 2010 2:15PM
They drop randomly when you loot an archeology find.
neogramps Dec 17th 2010 7:45AM
They don't BoP so i assume that they will now appear on the AH, making archaelogy profitable at any level - yay!
Hipponaut Dec 16th 2010 2:09PM
What's the "appropriate level" then?
G01851 Dec 16th 2010 2:10PM
very cool.. I started discovering these things last night... they are on AH now :)
Nitride Dec 16th 2010 2:12PM
Too bad arch is the most boring thing ever to level up. So far I found a rock, and a voodoo doll.
BigFire Dec 16th 2010 2:16PM
For the price of the keystone on my server's AH (2k per keystone), this is not really an option.
Fierna Dec 16th 2010 2:52PM
They are fairly common to find when leveling archaeology, don't buy them off the AH.
Eudeyrn Dec 16th 2010 10:18PM
The problem is, if other people are willing to pay 2k for keystones on the AH, then you're essentially giving up 2k in opportunity cost to use your keystones for these buffs. If I had the choice between 2k gold, and a small buff to my 5 man group, I'd take the gold.
Cor Dec 17th 2010 1:23PM
Keep in mind those prices are temporary. Once more people hit 85 and start looking for other stuff to do the supply of those stones will go through the roof.
Sell them today and when the prices fall use them for buffs.
Shinhan Dec 20th 2010 6:07AM
@Cor
Tol'Vir archeology sites are really rare. I dont think they will ever be cheap. They'll drop under 1k in a while, sure, but cheap enough to waste them on a small buff? No way.
Other racial keystones? Sure, they'll get cheap enough. But Tol'Vir is just so hard to find, and so many nice rare items come from it, that it'll be much smarter to either sell Tol'Vir keystones or use them on your own artifacts.
8stone Dec 16th 2010 2:19PM
This is neat, but they keystones are pretty valuable. I mean, you can get 3 from one site, or go all day without getting even ONE of the correct type, since the sites you can investigate are chosen at random. So if you need, for example, Tol'vir keystones, its going to take a lot of luck or a lot of time to find them, just to burn them on a dungeon buff, instead of a rare relic. Maybe I'm wrong, but there's no precedent in the game I am aware for giving a group buff in a dungeon with this kind of price tag attached.
And what happens in a random if some tool drops party 30 seconds after you spend the keystone? Does his replacement get the buff instead?
Bottom line, I think the cost outweighs the benefit. Make it cost 6-12 arch fragments of a specified type (treated as currency) and I think it will be worth it.
Thatacus Dec 16th 2010 3:25PM
To answer your question, yes his replacement will get the buff. It's more of an area buff like the ICC buff, where once someone applies it, it shows up even after death, even after someone drops group. I haven't had any problems with finding keystones but at the same time I usually don't just do use my keystones for any random runs. I usually save mine for guild runs or something to make it faster.
Eirik Dec 16th 2010 5:12PM
It costs a keystone. It thus costs the equivalent of 12 fragments. Simply perform archaeology and don't use the keystones you find and you'll collect them.
Dig sites are random, but the ones you dig at are only slightly random, and highly subject to influence. That is, if you dig in EK, you'll more often find troll and dwarf keystones; Karana, Night Elf. Northrend, Vrykul. Etc. Sure, you'll eventually have to pony up and do a fossil bed to get another dwarf digsite to emerge, but you do control which dig sites you visit, and whether or not you spend your keystones on artifacts or on dungeon quests.
Patrick Selvey Dec 17th 2010 9:31AM
You have to think long-term here. Sure, right now everyone is stoked about the new profession and you can't find keystones fast enough, but what about further down the line when a larger portion of the playerbase has maxed it out and would (otherwise) simply forget about it? The added functionality given to keystones ensures that Arch will remain a useful/valuable skill even outside the realm of crafting artifacts.
sprout_daddy Dec 16th 2010 2:19PM
So this does this buff only last for one dungeon run, or EVERY time I go back to Blackrock Caverns? If it's a one-time buff, the cost of this more than outweighs the benefit. If it repeats every time I come back, I'll be buying my keystones today.
Eirik Dec 16th 2010 5:15PM
Look us up again, once you've started on your fourth round of completing all the (eg) dwarf artifacts. :)