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Stave of the Ancients

You must find and destroy these four demonic corrupters:

Simone the Seductress.

Klinfran the Crazed.

Solenor the Slayer.

Artorius the Doombringer.

Destroy these creatures and return to Vartrus the Ancient in Felwood with their heads.

Refer to the Petrified Bark in your inventory for clues as to their whereabouts.

You MUST complete this task by yourself.
Simone's Head
Klinfran's Head
Solenor's Head
Artorius's Head
Provided Item:
Petrified Bark

Description

Agents of the Burning Legion are still active in our world, <class>. These agents corrupt all that they touch. Nature wilts and weeps in their presence.

You must track down these demonic corrupters and destroy them, <name>. Be warned, you must engage them by yourself or they will flee. As long as you are alone, they will try and destroy you. You must strike at them, turning their arrogance into misery.

I grant you a piece of my bark, the inscriptions shall lead you to your targets. Retrieve their heads.

Reward

You will receive:
Ancient Rune Etched Stave

Progress

Do not be fooled by their disguises!

Completion

You have served us well, <name>! Take this stave and combine it with the bow string that Stoma is able to create. Together, they form a most formidable weapon.

Gains

Upon completion of quests, get:
  • 995 experience (59 70 at max. level)

Related

Show comment   Rating: -2 [-] [+]
By Zetha on 05/11/2006 (Patch 1.12.0)
Rating: +12 [-] [+]
By Urog on 05/11/2006 (Patch 1.12.0)
By far the most difficult quest I have ever done. Some quick tips are:

Be dueling a warlock that you trust immensely while fighting Solenor, if you can keep him wing clipped, have aspect of the cheetah up at all times, you don't have to kill beetles. The reasoning for the warlock is for Curse of Recklessness (no fearing from Solenor).

Simone's pet doesn't need to be killed, but you need to loot her head before he kills you.

For Klinfran, if you are specced for Scatter Shot, you can kite to different ends of the Burning Steppes then use Scatter Shot and go the other way. He is leashed to only Burning Steppes, so no Redridge/BRM.
Rating: +4 [-] [+]
By Kaenos on 06/11/2006 (Patch 1.12.0)
Simone - I used Dream Dust on Precious, Had a Hunter friend with me FD during the duration of the fight with Aspect of the Wild up, leaving me with Aspect of the Monkey. Freeze Trap, Aimed Shotted then Conc Shotted Simone, leaving Precious to get trapped... and then Melee'd Simone down (once Precious unfreezed, I used Dream Dust) Loot the Head, FD or Kill Precious with a friend :)

Klinfran - Major Mana Pots &amp; Demonslaying Pots FTW (I've heard he's now bugged post 2.0.1 - so I'm not sure)
Freeze Trap, Aimed Shot, Let him Freeze, Auto Shot, Scorpid
Now, I didn't get a special weapon, I used Thunderwood Poker &amp; Bone Slicing Hatchet (Both with +15 Agil on them) I melee'd about 3-4 times, Wing clip'd, and strafed away.. I listened for the Enrage roar, Scorpid, Melee 3-4 Hits, Wing Clip, Strafe, about 7mins later... loot your head [NOTE!:: Do not get overzealous just because he's low health... keep the cycle up till he's dead or you can/will get killed at 1%]
Rating: +4 [-] [+]
By Kaenos on 06/11/2006 (Patch 1.12.0)
Solenor - I had a guildmate Warlock friend cast Curse of Recklessness on me during the fight, if your in a Duel - Solenor registers your duel partner as a threat to you and will not despawn if you cast during the engage. I used Heal Pots, and Greater Shadow Prot Pots, Aspect of the Monkey incase the Bugs caught me. Unloaded bullets into him through various attacks (Aimed, Arcane, Multi, Serpent) then run up and Wing Clip! rinse, repeat, and be careful... his head will be yours!

Artorius - He was my bane, you have to be careful with him, set him up at the bottom of the hill of his patrol path... get 2-3 friends and Add Distraction Insurance, Aimed, Serpent, then take off on your run.. I used the jump shot method... ran him to the road, then headed towards South WS.. all the while jump shot, Arcane Rank 1, jump shot Serpent Highest Rank.. shoot him ever 3-4 seconds so he doesn't Evade bug.. patience will grant you your stave!
Rating: +2 [-] [+]
By wutaio on 07/11/2006 (Patch 1.12.0)
I found personally the best strategy for all the bosses are having a warlock close for blood pact and health stones, a priest for resurrecting incase you die to increase amount of tries before despawn, and a hunter with track humans on to watch for opposing factions to despawn the demon intentionally. It is also very important that your group watches for additional mobs and aggros them with a single shot and kite them away from your path one additional mob can equal game over.

Solenor- The best strategy used for solenor I foudn was the set of ruins of the AQ gates by the western part of his path. Spawn him and kite him up the ruins, wingclip him at the middle of the ramp to the East of the ruins near where you spawn him. At the topmost edge wingclip again and jump down. (This forces the bugs to walk around and you can easily turn and pelt him with auto shot and AOe the bugs with volley when they do come. Repeat this tactic from level to level until you are back on the ground and repeat usually by time your back on the ground he is almost dead.
Rating: +10 [-] [+]
By Hownow on 10/11/2006 (Patch 1.12.1)
Solenor - A nice little tip for Solenor is when he starts off, drop a explosive trap and have him run into that. Then wing clip him and bolt outta there. The trap should to AoE damage to everything around him, and if you have curse of Recklessness on you, you shouldnt need to worry about the fears, so for the time the explosive trap lasts, you should have no problem with the bugs either. Just unload into him for when you can, but be sure you have a few mana pots on you and a shadow protection pot on you to keep the damage off you. Once the bugs start poping, and your trap wears off, when he's wing cliped git up volley rank 1 when you have all the bugs in a group. this should finish off the little suckers with use of the least mana as possible. This guy was the biggest pain for me personally, but that really just depends on what you're good at.

Artorius - The main problem you WILL run into here, is getting around corners, and mana. So, when you start a turn, any turn at all, be sure to hit him in the face with a concussive shot, but dont get too far ahead of him in the process. Also, keep rank 1 arcane shot out like Kaenos said, and hit him with that every now and then between serpent stings to stay on his aggro list. I only shot him with the sting once every 3-5 seconds, because if you spam him, it will only stack up to 5 times, and your just wasting mana. The main thing to remember here besides the wait time on serpent sting is that rank 9 serpent sting DOESN'T work. One of my guildmates found this out the hard way, and only did minimal damage to him. This may have been updated in 2.0.1, but to the best of my knowledge, stick to sting rank 8.

Simone - Basically easy to kill, i got her pet down first, and the killed her, but as long as you have nature protection pots and some mana pots on you just in case, you should be able to kite her around, even without killing her pet if you want to. Having another hunter follow you around with aspect of nature on is really good, because that allows you to keep aspect of the hawk on, which can really add to your DPS.

Klinfran - Best thing to use here is rank one for wing clip. It gets the job done without wasting mana. The strat here can really be based on your weapon speed. Since each weapon has a specific attack speed (2.4s or whatever) once you scorpid sting him, you run up and attack him for 10 seconds. Your weapon can help time this, because if you have a 2.0 second attack speed, just hit him 5 times, wing clip and start running away. Try not to use raptor strike, because this fight is gonna be the longest one, and you will need the mana. When the fight starts off, hit him with concussive shot, frost trap, whatever you got to slow him down, and once he enrages hit him with scorpid. Then, start the attack cycle of running up, hitting him so many times, wing clip, run away, wait for enrage, and hit him with scorpid sting again. From there rince and repeat for roughly 7-10 minutes. Keep some mana pots with you for this fight specifically, and be sure to have a tuber or two for some health incase you slip up and he nails you once or twice. when you get far enough away from him after wing clipping him, you can hit him with an auto shot or two to add to some damage, but never try to aimed shot him. Also, don't use counterattack if it comes up. Imp wingclip can be helpful, but keep in mind you need to wait 10 seconds after you wing clip him for the enrage to come back up, and if you counterattack him, hes only stuck in place for 4 seconds, so he will be charging at you for 6 seconds, until he enrages, which most likely means hes gonna enrage within your minimum range. The most useful thing to use if this does happen though is scatter shot, then get away from him and hit him with a scorpid sting. You might get hit once or twice, but you should be able to survive 2-3 hits, and then just pick up where you left off and learn from your mistakes.
Show comment   Rating: -2 [-] [+]
By Biscuits on 10/11/2006 (Patch 1.12.1)
Rating: +2 [-] [+]
By Alinnarel on 12/15/2006 (Patch 2.0.1)
Some notes about this quest: 1) Solenor's chill from Frost Trap isn't working. 2) Klinfran won't unenrage. 3) It is possible for 2 hunters to group up and have a more experienced hunter kill the demon and the other loots.
Rating: +2 [-] [+]
By Seks on 07/02/2007 (Patch 2.1.2)
As of patch 2.0.10, the quest is still bugged (see notes above).

Additionally, you can still kill the demons in humanoid form and be able to loot the heads. This benefits the hunter in two ways:

1) Solenor will not fear you nor spawn bugs. I was able to kite him easily without any shadow protection pots or a curse of recklessness on me.

2) Attempting the demons in humanoid form will not reset their 15 min timer. You can attempt them over and over again without fear of them despawning.

I haven't tested if having a friend helping you dps the demon in humanoid form is possible.
Show comment   Rating: -2 [-] [+]
By cron1000 on 10/03/2007 (Patch 2.2.2)
Show comment   Rating: -2 [-] [+]
By t0m45 on 06/02/2008 (Patch 2.4.2)
Show comment   Rating: -2 [-] [+]
By souljah90 on 05/18/2008 (Patch 2.4.2)
Show comment   Rating: -2 [-] [+]
By Razzle on 10/05/2008 (Patch 2.4.3)
Rating: +2 [-] [+]
By Yolandryll on 05/08/2008 (Patch 2.4.1)
Does 'doing it on your own' allow you to use Truesilver Boar Trinket and Mechanical Yeti?
Rating: +40 [-] [+]
By Cursedhoof on 02/10/2008 (Patch 2.3.3)
If you use Snake Trap, the demons will run away.
Rating: +28 [-] [+]
By Kwitch on 01/01/2009 (Patch 3.0.3)
As an important note, you CAN NOT use your pet during any of the encounters whatsoever. Failed two separate spawns before figuring out when they meant 'alone' that included your pet.
Rating: +2 [-] [+]
By Netheral on 02/14/2009 (Patch 3.0.9)
Well all this help about the demons, tactics and everything needed is all well and good, but I am yet to find out if I can actually delete the petrified bark after I finish the quest.
Rating: +34 [-] [+]
By bootybayorbust on 03/23/2009 (Patch 3.0.9)
If ANYTHING besides you registers on a demons aggro list, it's game over.

No pets, no snakes, no trinket pets, no engineering tricks, no direct interferance from other players of any sort, nothing. period.
Rating: +2 [-] [+]
By Wooticus on 07/13/2009 (Patch 3.1.3)
It appears there is an easy way around this quest, or at the very least it worked with Franklin the Friendly. After successfully killing him right as I died while wandering alone, I got my Hunter friend who had been having trouble with him and burst him down, before dying this time thankfully. My friend got the quest reward without even touching him. :)
Rating: +2 [-] [+]
By rb4havoc on 07/15/2009 (Patch 3.1.3)
As a level 63 hunter specced into marksmanship, I was able to kite all four of the demons just using Concussive Shot, Serpent Sting, and Chimera Shot and Aspect of the Cheetah and just using an occasional Mana or Health potion. Just make sure you clear a path to any possible roads, and in the case of Simone, any patrolling Devilsaurs. Ironically, the only one that wasn't a first time go was Artorius since I got aggroed by some Chimaera and bears I forgot to clear. Got him the second time though :D
Rating: +4 [-] [+]
By Hoegen on 12/07/2009 (Patch 3.1.3)
I haven't written this guide myself, so I wont take credit for it.
It is however incredibly well written, so I thought I'd post the link here:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/534914/47641 http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/534914/47641

I just got my Rhok'Delar for the 3'rd time and thought I'd share the guide I've been using.

60 Draenei hunter - Moonglade
Show comment   Rating: -2 [-] [+]
By hunterking on 08/29/2009 (Patch 3.1.3)
Show comment   Rating: -2 [-] [+]
By Aarchangel on 09/26/2009 (Patch 3.1.3)
Show comment   Rating: -2 [-] [+]
By dwpsycho on 11/28/2009 (Patch 3.1.3)
Rating: +8 [-] [+]
By KharakDhul on 12/27/2009 (Patch 3.1.3)
I'm assuming this quest isn't available unless you start with the ""Ancient Leaf"" quest? If so, then you need to run Molten Core to start this chain?
Rating: +6 [-] [+]
By damgnomes on 01/12/2010 (Patch 3.1.3)
remember when your freezing trap cools down, concusive shot when they're free, disengage between trap CDs, only advice i can give
Show comment   Rating: -2 [-] [+]
By Frezzz on 02/22/2010 (Patch 3.1.3)
Rating: +6 [-] [+]
By Rallen666 on 03/19/2010 (Patch 3.1.3)
I found that i can use my pet (I'm a 70 orc hunter when i have done this) by sending it in, letting it die then picking up the attacks from my dead pet. You must understand: YOU CAN NOT in any way buff your pet after it has gained the demons aggro or he will reset. Same goes for you attacking first then sending pet in and getting a buff (like the wolf howl.) If this doesnt work for all, then sorry that i got everyones hopes up.

Also, they hit my pet for HUGE damage with a AoE. having it use lick your wounds helps for keeping it alive for a few more seconds.
Show comment   Rating: -6 [-] [+]
By Sathi on 06/21/2010 (Patch 3.1.3)
Show comment   Rating: -2 [-] [+]
By Immadbro on 07/21/2010 (Patch 3.1.3)
Show comment   Rating: -2 [-] [+]
By bazzio on 08/17/2010 (Patch 3.1.3)
Rating: +2 [-] [+]
By BillyRayJimBob on 08/20/2010 (Patch 3.1.3)
k killed them all and this is how. talk to them to make them stop moving then plant explosive trap at their feet then get them to show their true self at which point the trap goes off and u start swinging. they die pretty quick and thats it for all same trick.
Show comment   Rating: -2 [-] [+]
By Qunek on 08/20/2010 (Patch 3.1.3)
Rating: +2 [-] [+]
By Eilonthay on 11/09/2010 (Patch 3.1.3)
So, I'm going to state the obvious, since no one else has (not even another hunter), but these guys, despite appearing in non-threatening forms, can only be tracked as demons. Because that's what the really are, don'tcha know? Don't be silly like me and forget and start tracking humanoids. =P
Rating: +2 [-] [+]
By webfox on 10/16/2010 (Patch 3.1.3)
If you have this quest still in 4.0.1, don't abandon it. Vartrus will not offer the quest back (his buddies still offer the other two parts).

When talking to a GM about this, I was told (after two others had insisted I needed to repair/remove addons/delete all macros and keybindings) that the quest had been removed from the game in light of the Cataclysm expansion on the horizon and there's nothing I can do to get the Stave at this point.

EDIT: A day after being told it was unobtainable, the quest was miraculously obtainable again, and the notices were posted that it was fixed. Glad I didn't delete anything!

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