Wailing Caverns
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CheezeyDungeon Overview
Wailing Caverns is open to players up to a max level of 24 in Hardcore mode, and the recommended level is 20+. The caverns are located in the Barrens in the oasis west of the Crossroads and are inhabited by the wicked Druids of the Fang. While the dungeons up to this point have had obvious paths and routing, Wailing Caverns is maze-like and offers several different routing options. Many consider WC to be confusing, and this guide seeks to offer you a clear and safe path and strategy for clearing the dungeon with no deaths.
Estimated Completion Time: 60-90 mins
Recommended Classes
Shaman - Have Tremor Totem to break sleeps
Undead of Any Class- Can break sleep with Will of the Forsaken
Priest - Can dispel sleeps
Paladin - Can dispel sleeps
Getting There
As a Horde player, getting there is simple. Just travel west from the Crossroads.
As an Alliance player, you have 2 options. You can swim from Westfall down to Booty Bay staying along the fatigue line in STV. Be careful of Murlocs close to shore and sharks. Fortunately, both are easily avoidable.Once in Booty Bay, take the boat to Ratchet and run to Wailing Caverns.
The second Alliance option is to travel through Darkshore and into Ashenvale. The main risks with this route are Ashenvale can be a little risky to run through below level 22 and the horde guards at the entrance to the Barrens. The guards can be avoided by entering the Barrens off of the road to the east.
Recommended Dungeon Route
After entering the dungeon, clear out the upper area of the center room along the west side until you reach Lady Anacondra then drop down into the ravine and head westward. Clear until you reach Lord Cobrahn. Head back to the center area and head through the ravine eastward. This area is a bit of a maze, but Blizzard devs left you an easy breadcrumb trail. Follow the mushrooms you see on the ground and they will lead you through the Caverns with little issue. The mushrooms will take you through the remaining bosses up to Verdan. Once Verdan has been dealt with, drop down into the pool of water behind him and head to the dungeon entrance and start the escort event. Follow the Tauren and complete the event and leave with all your new loot!
Things to Look Out For
The blue raptors, Deviate Guardians, at the start of the dungeon cry for help when they reach low health. It is imperative that you pull them back before killing them as the cry for help can reach across the room and can chain pull several packs leading to a dangerous situation.
Druids of the Fang are commonly found throughout the dungeon and have Druid’s Slumber which puts target to sleep for 15 seconds. The ability can be interrupted, dispelled by magic dispel (Priest or Paladin), or dispelled using a Shaman’s tremor totem. They have high nature resistance, so earth shock will be resisted frequently.
Verdan the Everliving is well known and feared in the Hardcore community. Make sure you have a tank on the higher end of the level range as receiving critical hits and crushing blows from this boss can one shot low level tanks.
Quests
Trouble at the Docks - 
This quest is picked up in Ratchet from Crane Operator Bigglefuzz and requires you to kill Mad Magglish in the pre instance elite area of Wailing Caverns. He has several spawn locations throughout the early part of the cave and is stealthed, so be sure to look carefully.
Deviate Eradication -
This quest is picked up in the tricky to reach outcropping above the entrance to Wailing Caverns pre instance elite area. You need to kill 7 of 4 different types of mobs found within the dungeon. This quest is easily completed by following a normal route through the dungeon.
Rewards:
Deviate Hides -
This quest is also picked up in the outcropping above the entrance to Wailing Caverns pre instance elite area. The 10 slot bag reward is highly sought after. You have to obtain 20 deviate hides which can drop from the mobs both inside and outside the dungeon. The drop chance is low, so it is best practice to choose only 1 or 2 party members to complete the quest as getting 100 hides for everyone to complete is incredibly unlikely, and if everyone is picking up hides throughout the dungeon, no one will be able to complete it.
Rewards:
Smart Drinks -
This quest is picked up in Ratchet and has you collect 6 Wailing Essence that drop off the various slimes throughout the dungeon. In order to unlock this quest, you must complete Raptor Horns.
Serpentbloom -
This quest is picked up in Thunder Bluff and requires you to pick up 10 serpentbloom that are found within the pre instance elite area and inside the dungeon itself. Pro Tip - the location of serpentbloom can be tracked with herbalism.
Reward:
Leaders of the Fang -
This is the big quest for Horde and provides incredibly powerful weapon upgrades. This quest is a part of a medium length quest chain beginning with The Forgotten Pool. To complete Leaders of the Fang, you must collect the 4 gems off the 4 Druid of the Fang bosses throughout the Wailing Caverns. Be sure you loot every boss as it is easy to miss one and fail to complete the quest. Help your groupmates out and remind them to loot the boss!
Rewards:
The Glowing Shard -
This quest is started by the Glowing Shard which drops off the event boss Mutanus the Devourer. After clearing all of the leaders of the Fang, the Tauren druid at the beginning of the dungeon will start an escort that leads to the summoning of Mutanus the Devourer. The shard takes you to Ratchet to talk to Sputtervalve who then sends you to the top of the mountain above the Wailing Caverns to speak to Falla Sagewind. Falla will send you to Thunder Bluff if Horde and Darnassus if Alliance for a quick turn and a choice of the following rewards.
Rewards:
Bosses
Lady Anacondra
Lady Anacondra is an elite level 20 Night Elf. She has similar abilities as the basic Druids of the Fang, so she can cast sleep, lightning bolt, and healing touch. Just keep tremor totem down or dispel the sleeps and interrupt her casts. Her item drops are unremarkable. Usually a set of white quality shoulders drops which can be useful for the tank’s survivability on Verdan. Be sure to pick up the gem if on the Leaders of the Fang quest. She has several different spawn locations in the large room in the center of the Caverns. You may have to clear a few packs to reach her.
Abilities:
Loot:
Kresh
Kresh is an elite level 20 turtle that patrols in the ravine of the large room in the center of the Caverns. A simple tank and spank. It has a chance to drop 2 different shields with the blue quality version being iconic and strong for fights where a shield is necessary.
Loot:
Lord Cobrahn
Lord Cobrahn is the Serpent Lord typically killed next. To reach him, you must travel into the ravine in the center room and head west. Clearing your way up the path, you will find him at the end with a few non elite cobra adds. He can cast sleep and also transform into a cobra. He drops a Gem for the Leaders of the Fang quest, so be sure to loot him if you are on that quest. His drops range from amazing to terrible as the belt and pants could be used well into the 30s and the chest piece has poor stat distribution.
Abilities:
Loot:
Lord Pythas
Lord Pythas is an elite level 21 Night Elf found when you head east through the ravine in the center of the Caverns. Like the other druids, Pythas can cast sleep, healing touch, and lightning bolt. Uniquely, he has a thunderclap that can do large amounts of damage and catch a group by surprise. There is a deviate shambler and a druid of the fang near him, but if pulled correctly, you can pull the shambler without pulling the boss and the druid of the fang. It is safer to just assume you will get all 3 and plan accordingly. He drops a Gem for the Leaders of the Fang quest, so be sure you loot him if you’re on the quest. He has a chance to drop one of the most iconic maces in the game, the Stinging Viper.
Abilities:
Loot:
Skum
Skum is a lightning lizard creature found after continuing past Lord Pythas. It is basically a tank and spank but does have a low damage chain bolt ability that can bounce between party members. Skum does have a notable drop with the Glowing Lizardscale Cloak being highly sought after by many classes.
Abilities:
Loot:
Deviate Faerie Dragon - Rare Spawn
The Deviate Faerie Dragon is a rare spawn that you may encounter on the eastern side of the Wailing Caverns. It is essentially a tank and spank with base high magic resistance. It has a chance to drop a nice blue quality wand.
Loot:
The Ledge Boss
The Ledge Boss has led to many deaths throughout WoW’s history. Just don’t miss the jump or you may find yourself back at level 1 in Mulgore!
Lord Serpentis
Lord Serpentis is an elite level 21 Night Elf that is found on the eastern side of the Wailing Caverns near Verdan the Everliving. Like the rest of the druids, Serpentis can cast healing touch, lightning bolt, and sleep. He drops a Gem for the Leaders of the Fang quest, so be sure you loot him if you’re on the quest. His most notable drop is Venomstrike which is a bow that can be used well into the 30s as a hunter.
Abilities:
Loot:
Verdan the Everliving
Verdan is an elite level 21 large root elemental and is feared by many hardcore players. He can hit VERY hard. If you have party members with a pet, it is recommended to begin the fight with the pet tanking and have the true tank pick up threat after the pet dies or can’t keep up on threat. He does cast an AoE root around him that can make it difficult to kite him.
Abilities:
Loot:
Mutanus the Devourer
Mutanus is an elite level 22 huge murloc that is summoned at the end of the escort event. The event itself can be a bit tricky. To begin the escort event, talk to the Disciple of Naralex.
Once you reach the end and the Tauren begins channeling his spell, a wave of elite cobras will spawn. Following the cobra wave, 8 to 12 non elite oozes will spawn. BE CAREFUL WITH AOE. These oozes will become immune to certain schools of magic including frost (so frost nova won’t save you if you’re a mage and you pull threat). Finally, Mutanus will spawn. He can fear, mind control, and thunderclap. The mind controlled target will not attack and will stand there for a long period of time. If they take one point of damage, then the MC will break, so the recommended strategy is to hit them with a low rank spell to free them. Mutanus is also SHADOW IMMUNE which can severely reduce the amount of damage dealt by warlocks and shadow priests.
Abilities:
Loot:
Ragefire Chasm
The Deadmines
Shadowfang Keep
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