Highlights

  • Archaeology in WoW: Cataclysm Classic is a new secondary profession that offers rare items like Ancient Amber and Queen Azshara's Dressing Gown.
  • Players can find unique toys and gear, such as the Blessing of the Old God and Fossilized Raptor, by surveying various zones for artifacts.
  • Completing relics like The Last Relic of Argus and Pendant of the Scarab Storm provides fun effects for players, adding a quirky element to the game.

Harrison Jones, his rival Belloc Brightblade, and the ancient sands of a new zone, Uldum, are all part of the new Secondary profession of Achaeology in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic. Like the other optional professions of Cooking, Fishing, and First Aid, any character can learn Archaeology in addition to their two primary professions.

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The Archaeology skill makes certain places on the map visible as dig sites, and depending on one's skill level, it can also include locations in Outland, Northrend, and some of the new Cataclysm zones. The artifacts that characters can find are mostly of common quality, but occasionally, rare and epic items can be found that can be used as gear or toys.

6 Ancient Amber

Fossil

ancient amber archeology toy in world of warcraft catalcysm
  • Type: Rare Toy
  • Effect: Shrinks the character, stuns them, and encases them in amber for 3 minutes.
  • Cooldown: 30 minutes
  • Pieces To Complete: 100

Ancient Amber is one of the earliest rare Archeology items that most World of Warcraft: Cataclysm players will find because it's a Fossil, which gamers can survey from Journeyman level. Searching for this relic will also help players grind their level because, until level 50, digging up a fragment also yields skill points.

The amber makes the character impervious to any damage, but it's not something that can be used in combat. After the character finds and learns Ancient Amber, it will be filed under the Toy tab in the Collections interface.

5 Blessing Of The Old God

Nerubian

blessing of the old god toy archeology in world of warcraft cataclysm
  • Type: Rare Toy
  • Effect: Turns the player into a Nerubian bug for 20 seconds
  • Cooldown: 10 minutes
  • Pieces To Complete: 140

There could be a whole category of Toys that a character can use to change their appearance, and the Blessing of the Old God is one of the most unique ones. It's a tough one to finish, partly because of the many pieces required, so players will need to prepare to do some traveling. It's also essential to have one's own flying mount and training in Cold Weather Flying.

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Nerubian Archeology sites are only found in higher-level Northrend areas and require a level of at least Grand Master Archeology to survey for them. It might be a more difficult artifact to find, but the effect it offers more than justifies the effort required to acquire it.

4 Queen Azshara's Dressing Gown

Night Elf

queen azshara's dressing gown archeology in word of warcraft cataclysm
  • Type: Epic Cloth Chestpiece
  • Effect: A handy piece of leveling gear for characters level 51 and up
  • Cooldown: N/A
  • Pieces To Complete: 100

To paraphrase this item's description, there's no accounting for taste. Despite Queen Azshara's incredible arcane talents, this ancient relic seems to suggest that her fashion sense wasn't on the same level, but this is still an Epic item that players can actually use.

Despite the personal flaws of the former Night Elf Queen, this "dressing gown" isn't just a fun bit of clothing. It's an actual chestpiece for characters level 51 and up, and it has some decent stats for spellcasters: 258 AC, +27 Stamina, +41 Intellect, and +23 Haste.

3 The Last Relic Of Argus

Draenei

the last relic of argus archeology world of warcraft cataclysm
  • Type: Rare Toy
  • Effect: Sends the player to a totally random location
  • Cooldown: 12 hours
  • Pieces To Complete: 130

Outland Archeology is unique to what can be found in Old Azeroth or Northrend. This fun toy, which has one of the longest cooldown times of any other quirky item that doesn't have a specified use, works like a regular hearthstone, except for the fact that it can't be set anywhere.

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The Last Relic of the Argus will send the player to a random location. However, it doesn't take the player to dungeons, certain PvP areas, or phased-out locations that are part of quests or cinematics, but it's still a hilarious little surprise that serves to spice up the grind.

2 Fossilized Raptor

Fossil

un goro crater raptors in world of warcraft cataclsym
  • Type: Epic Mount
  • Effect: Summons a ridable skeletal raptor
  • Cooldown: N/A
  • Pieces To Complete: 150

There are two mounts of Epic quality that players can find through archeology, and one is a Tol'vir artifact, which is much harder to get. Uldum can only be surveyed after level 450, but Fossils are available at level one, so in theory, it's possible to find the Fossilized Raptor very early.

This mount requires Journeyman riding and a character level of at least 40, a reflection of its availability to lower levels. For a Forsaken toon, it's nice to add yet another mount to the skeletal collection, and for other races, it's a weird novelty.

1 Pendant Of The Scarab Storm

Tol'vir

uldum harrison jones brann bronzebeard uldum in world of warcraft catclsysm
  • Type: Epic Toy
  • Effect: Call a swarm of peaceful scarab beetles
  • Cooldown: 10 minutes
  • Pieces To Complete: 150

For those who prefer the more dramatic toys that change their environment, the Pendant of the Scarab Storm summons a cloud of friendly scarabs to swarm around one's character. It looks impressive, but they can't be used in combat, and although it's described as a "pendant," it's actually a toy, not a necklace.

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This is one of the more difficult relics to complete, and it's not just because it needs a whopping 150 pieces. It requires an Archeology skill of at least 450 to survey Uldum, the only place where it's possible to find Tol'vir artifacts.

world of warcraft box art
World of Warcraft

Platform(s)
PC
Released
November 23, 2004
Developer(s)
Blizzard
Genre(s)
MMORPG