Daily Quest: Intercepting the Mana Cells

I’m not always the most diligent at completing daily quests. Occasionally, I’ll go for stints where I complete the BEM quests for Simon Says, Bombing, and Nether Ray Wrangling for a week or so and then stop until raid repairs and consumables have eaten through most of my surpluses. Patch 2.4 introduced a whole new set of dailies for me to neglect, including some with the potential to grant Heroic Badges! One such quest is called Intercepting the Mana Cells and is given by Exarch Nasuun on the Terrace of Light in Shattrath City. Once you have the quest, you’ll have to fly up to North-central Blade’s Edge Mountains, to an area marked on your map as Bash’ir Landing. The most convenient flight point is Evergrove which is southeast of your destination (but labeled "Ruuan Weald" on your map).

Once you arrive at Bash’ir Landing, you’ll need to kill the resident monsters until one of them drops a [Bash'ir Phasing Device]. Restoration- and Balance-specced Druids should avoid the Unbound Ethereals. They’re immune to arcane damage (Moonfire and Starfire), so you’re better off killing the Ethereals whose names start with "Bash’ir." As far as I’m aware, none of them are claw or tooth immune, so kitties and bears can kill anything they want. The drop rate for the Phasing Device seems pretty high, and it shouldn’t take more than a few kills to get one.

Activate your Phasing Device, the world will go all blue and wibbly-wobbly, similar to the effect experienced by Mages when they cast Invisibility. At this point, all the Ethereal mobs will disappear, and you’ll be able to see small glowing cubes called [Smuggled Mana Cell]. The objective of this quest is to collect 10 of these cubes, but the spawn point for each is guarded by one or more Phase Wyrms. As with most collect quests of this nature, it can be very frustrating to be clearing the mob guarding a Mana Cell only to have another player come in and nab the item for himself. Luckily, I’ve discovered a foolproof technique for protecting yourself from these shenanigans! To easily and efficiently collect your 10 Mana Cells:

1. Shapeshift into Flight Form.
2. Fly up a little ways so that you’re outside the aggro range of the Wyrms but can still see the box spawn points.
3. When you find an unclaimed Mana Cell, fly down directly on top of it. Chances are, you’ll aggro its guardian Phase Wyrm.
4. Cast Cyclone on the Wyrm. As it’s casting, spin your camera so that your cursor turns into the gold activation cog over the Mana Cell.
5. As soon as your Cyclone goes off, ctrl+right click on the Mana Cell (or whatever key combination you have specified for auto-loot). The Wyrm should just break free a second or two after you’ve acquired the Mana Cell.
6. Kill the Wyrm and repeat. Note: Should you die while collecting, you’ll lose your Phasing Device and have to acquire a new one!

Using this technique, it’s practically impossible to be "scooped" by another player, making what might otherwise be a frustrating and odious quest (especially for Restoration Druids) a quick and easy way to acquire a bag of [Shattered Sun Supplies]! And remember, always use your powers for good, not evil; don’t take Mana Cells from other players. The QQ in the official forums has finally subsided to the merest trickle of tears. Let’s not garner any further ill will from the lesser classes!

For a more extensive write-up on the Daily Quests in 2.4, I invite you to read Part 1 of the new series that my friend Runycat from Unbearably HoT is working on!

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