Elemental Unrest

The Elemental Unrest was a world event that heralded the Cataclysm. The event culminated in elementals attacking Stormwind, Orgrimmar, Ironforge, and Thunder Bluff. Players defeating these elementals and freeing trapped citizens within their entire city were granted access to two special boss encounters. Until the name Elemental Unrest was used by a Blizzard employee on the official forums, the community generally referred to this event as the Elemental Invasion. This alternative name persists in the community, however, and is used by many other fan sites to refer to the same event.

This event ended with the Cataclysm, implemented in patch 4.0.3a.

Prelude
Starting with the release of patch 3.3.0 (8 December 2009 for US realms), earthquakes begin in Azeroth. They are very infrequent and of mild intensity. Many players failed to notice they were even occurring.

Starting with the release of patch 4.0.1 (12 October 2010 for US Realms) the random earthquakes begin to occur more frequently and with much greater intensity. They now have an accompanying sound effect and are very obvious when they occur. In response, the faction leaders of the Alliance and Horde have gathered in Stormwind and Orgrimmar respectively to deal with this turn of events. stands at the entrance of Stormwind Keep's throne room.

On 16 October 2010 the earthquakes have longer durations. Whenever there are earthquakes near the Orgrimmar or Stormwind Auction houses, or the bank in Ironforge, dust comes down from the ceilings.

On 27 October the earthquakes become more frequent.

Phase 1
This phase was released on the 1st of November, 2010. The day the phase started, Zarhym stated "There are four stages of the event. We're on the first."

The following changes are made to the world:

Alliance

 * Doomsday Cultists set up camp at Mirror Lake Orchard.
 * Groups of consisting of both Broken and Wildhammer shaman appear in Alliance capital cities. A second Ironforge group appears in the Hall of Explorers.
 * leads the group in Trade District.
 * leads the group in The Commons, Ironforge. A gryphon, at her side.
 * is added to Stormwind Keep.
 * gather around Captain Anton in Stormwind Keep, and  in Trade District, and  in Valley of Heroes.
 * is added to entrance to Ironforge.
 * appear on Old Town to recruit into to the Doomsday Cult.
 * Elemental Devices appear scattered around Stormwind.

Horde

 * Doomsday Cultists set up camp at Jaggedswine Farm.
 * Groups of consisting of Orc, Tauren and Darkspear Troll shamans appear in Horde capitol cities.
 * and lead the group in Valley of Honor.
 * is added to the entrance to the Ring of Valor.
 * is added to Valley of Honor.
 * is added to the south entrance of Orgrimmar.
 * gather around Blood Guard Torek in Valley of Honor and Blood Guard Kang at the south entrance of Orgrimmar.
 * appear on the Drag to recruit into to the Doomsday Cult.
 * Elemental Devices appear scattered around Orgrimmar.

General
Rifts have begun to form randomly in all questing zones, spawning elementals; the spawn timers are erratic, and not tied to the beginning of the hour. The first phase of the quest chains are now active. Earthquakes are now felt around the world, and not just in capital cities. Doom-preaching cultists and mysterious devices have appeared in Orgrimmar and Stormwind.

To obtain the Feat of Strength Tripping the Rifts, players must obtain a buff from each type of elemental portal that spawns in Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms, Outland and Northrend (Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind). Players do not have to kill rifts of their level to qualify for the achievement. The daily quests Hammering It Out and A Natural Occurrence are obtained from the mysterious devices left after the portals have been defeated. Player level must be within typical honor/experience granting range to receive the quest.

See Prophecies Of Doom to begin the quest chains.

For a full list of Elemental Rift spawn locations, see .

Phase 2
This phase was released on the 8 November 2010 and simply opened up a few more quests in Orgrimmar, Stormwind and Ironforge.

NPCs

 * s walk in areas of Stormwind and Orgrimmar wearing the and are Spreading The Word.
 * , a dwarf explorer appears at Stormwind Harbor. He is injured, and surrounded by the scorched bodies of several Footmen and Twilight's Hammer cultists.
 * , an orc shaman appears by Orgrimmar's western Zeppelin Tower. He is injured, and surrounded by the scorched bodies of several Grunts and Twilight's Hammer cultists.

Phase 3
This was phase released on 12 November 2010.

NPCs

 * Cultist Infiltrators appear scattered throughout Stormwind and Orgrimmar. They are (poorly) stealthed, and attempting rituals to summon powerful elementals to destroy the cities.
 * and are being held up at the gates to their respective cities by city guards.
 * In Stormwind, s appear in a vacant tavern in the Park, the unused Argent Dawn building in Cathedral Square, and the Ironforge "bank" in Dwarven District.
 * In Orgrimmar, s appear outside the Inscription building in The Drag, behind Hall of the Brave in Valley of Honor, and east of the building housing near the western entrance to Orgrimmar.
 * The Alliance leaders have ended their meeting and left for their various home cities. has left the throne room to meet up with Thrall.
 * Thrall has also ended his meeting and as he stated he would, has arrived at the Throne of the Elements in Nagrand. He is in a meeting with  and Gavan Grayfeather.  They are surrounded by a large number of level 1.
 * and have returned to their usual spots within Grommash Hold.
 * now stands at the Warchief throne.
 * s have been penned in The Stockade in Stormwind (guarded by s).
 * In Ring of Valor in Orgrimmar, only one Detained Cultist appears (next to Warden Gartok Ragefist), while several s are held within the arena itself, guarded by s.

Phase 4
This phase was released on 15 November 2010. The elemental rifts in Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms now spawn with very high frequency, about every 10–15 minutes.

Preparing for the invasion
Before every invasion event starts, city guards will yell, warning players and citizens about incoming danger. , s, s, and will periodically spawn in buildings of their respective cities and run to the main entrance or nearest Evacuation Portal (the portals won't actually appear until the invasion begins, though the citizens will continue to spawn after it does. After 5 minutes have elapsed, the battle against the invasion begins.

Combating the invasion


When the attack begins, all NPCs and interact-able objects within the city will despawn. This means flight masters, signposts, fires, mailboxes, bankers, auctioneers, trainers, questgivers, and more will be inaccessible for the duration of the attack. In Stormwind and Ironforge, the Deeprun Tram cannot be entered. Instance portals to The Stockade and Ragefire Chasm are also unavailable, as are the two-way portals in Stormwind's Wizard's Sanctum (evacuation portals exist within the Sanctum, so those inside and those teleporting to Stormwind can get out, but there is no direct path to the outside while the invasion is active), and all portals to the Blasted Lands. City guards will be replaced with level 80 versions (regular city guards are level 75), and additional guards will spawn at key choke points. Boxes containing (Stormwind),  (Thunder Bluff),  (Ironforge), or  (Orgrimmar) will appear throughout the city as well. At this time, players are instructed to grab barriers from stockpiles around their city (marked by green arrows) and place them in the designated regions (marked by red arrows).


 * In Ironforge, moves to the entrance of to the bank. She acts as an.
 * In Ironforge, hovers over Stormcaller Mylra, occasionally circling the Commons, the Gates of Ironforge, and the rest of the city.
 * In Ironforge, holds his position by the Gates of Ironforge.


 * In Stormwind, appears in center of Trade District. He acts as an.
 * In Stormwind, holds his position in Valley of Heroes, to warn approaching players of the danger they would face.


 * In Orgrimmar,, his , and the captured Doomsday Cultists in the Ring of Valor remain in place.
 * In Orgrimmar, relocates to the entrance of the Valley of Strength. He acts as an.
 * In Orgrimmar, holds his position guarding the southern entrance to the city.


 * In Thunder Bluff, stands guard at the southwestern lift to warn approaching players of the danger they would face.
 * In Thunder Bluff, stands guard at the northern lift to warn approaching players of the danger they would face.
 * In Thunder Bluff, appears in center of middle rise. He acts as an.

s also spawn through the city. Speaking to one of them, players can obtain an. Each city also provides an avenue of rapid escape in the form of Evacuation Portal maintained throughout the city by (among the first orc mages seen before Cataclysm) in Orgrimmar, Forsaken Mages  (undead) in Thunder Bluff, s (gnome and dwarf- among the first dwarf mages that aren't Dark Iron dwarves seen before Cataclysm) in Ironforge, and s (human) in Stormwind. These Evacuation Portals can be used to teleport directly outside the main entrance to the city. Low-level players and those unwilling to defend the city are advised to evacuate through an Evacuation Portal. Although low-level players are able to participate in the event, the invading elementals have area of affect attacks that will likely instantly kill less powerful players if they are caught within them. Alliance and Horde heroes will appear in some districts as well.

During the invasion, Stormwind and Thunder Bluff are hit by powerful rainstorms as they are invaded by Air and Water elementals. Orgrimmar and Ironforge are set ablaze as they are invaded by Fire and Earth elementals. During the initial phase, the elementals will attack any player, or city defender in range. Unlike the elemental invasions outside of the major cities, the elementals attacking the cities are not subject to immunities or resistances. The elementals will sometimes trap their targets in place. When this happens, an must be used to free the player or NPC (or simply wait the stun out). Freeing players and NPCs in combat will grant the First Responder buff, and will not place you in combat. Each target within the area of effect of the totem will apply one stack of the buff, so freeing several targets at once will apply multiple stacks. When all barriers are in place, the second phase of the invasion begins.

Elemental Rifts appear in each of the major districts of the cities, with each Rift spawning new elite elementals. Elite elementals that are killed are replaced with new ones by the rift. Every elite elemental has about 320,000 HP and every rift will spawn elite elementals until 32 are destroyed. As with elemental rifts outside the cities, only kills in which a player participates will count for damaging the rift (guards cannot close the rifts by themselves). The elite elementals are passive to players unless attacked; however, their area of effect abilities are still hazardous to nearby players and can one-shot lower-level characters. Any elementals remaining from the previous phase will still attack any player it sees unless already engaged in combat. Numerous s are in need of rescue within the attacked districts and must be freed using the. Freeing citizens will also grant the First Responder buff. On the top of the screen, the player can see how many districts in the city are still under attack, how many rifts remain in the current district, and how many civilians remain trapped in the current district. The zone map will also display flags in the districts that haven't been cleared yet and Horde/Alliance symbols in the ones that have.

After players defeat 32 elementals surrounding a rift, the rift will close and a buff will be applied to all nearby players within line of sight:

These buffs do count for.

Players must clear the city of every rift and rescue every citizen within an hour in order to win the event.

Summary of Invasion
''These tables are somewhat incomplete. Some numbers may be higher than recorded. The quote lists below are also incomplete.''

Ironforge

 * 49 to be placed.

Quotes

 * Warning: yell
 * Warning: yell
 * All Wall Fortifications in place: yell
 * Military Ward secure: yell
 * The Commons secure: yell
 * King Magni Bronzebeard and Muradin Bronzebeard may yell one of the following while fighting near another player:
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell

Orgrimmar

 * 58 to be placed.

Quotes

 * Warning: yell
 * Warning: yell
 * All Barricades in place: yell
 * Valley of Strength secure: yell
 * Valley of Spirits secure: yell
 * Valley of Honor secure: yell
 * Victory: yell yell (Hellscream charges into the nearest portal.)
 * Garrosh Hellscream and Rexxar may yell one of the following while fighting near another player:
 * yell
 * Vol'jin may yell one of the following while fighting near another player:
 * yell

Stormwind City

 * 70 to be placed.

Quotes

 * Warning: yell
 * Warning: yell
 * All Sand Bags in place: yell
 * Trade District secure: yell
 * Cathedral Square secure: yell
 * Mage Quarter secure: yell
 * Victory: yell yell (Wrynn charges into the nearest portal.)
 * Hero NPCs may yell one of the following while fighting near another player:
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell

Thunder Bluff

 * 54 to be placed.

Quotes

 * Warning:
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell


 * All Wind Breaks in place:
 * yell


 * Hunter's Rise secure:
 * yell


 * Spirit Rise secure:
 * yell


 * Middle Rise secure:
 * yell


 * Failure:
 * yell


 * Hero NPCs may yell one of the following while fighting near another player:'''
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell

Tips

 * This event is not phased. Characters not participating can and will be targeted by the elementals. Most NPCs will vacate the area, including flight masters, auctioneers, bankers, and innkeepers. Mailboxes will disappear.
 * Unlike events such as Battle for the Undercity, Operation: Gnomeregan, or Zalazane's Fall, players are not buffed into invulnerability against these powerful mobs. Those attempting to assault a rift on their own or with a few players without a healer present should only attack one elemental at a time and eat before attacking another.
 * Bring an unbinding totem provided by the Earthen Ring Defenders. If allies get trapped by an elemental, they must be freed or healed immediately else they might die within the time of the prison's stun.
 * The elementals' prisons are cast in a frontal AoE cone. It has a very short range, so it is possible to avoid it by simply running away during the cast.
 * Racial leader NPCs can't be killed. They will remain at 1 HP and continue fighting. Opportunistic players of the opposite faction will find that attacking them during the event is useless. Other hero NPCs can die during the attacks, but will respawn later.
 * In some areas, hero NPCs or city guards will be able to kill an elemental. These kills do not count for damaging the Elemental Rift, but if a player uses an ability that would normally "tag" a mob, the kill will count. Thus, low level players can stand behind hero NPCs or guards and attack elementals to help with the kill counter. The hero NPCs and guards will do most of the work, but the player is the one who makes the kill count. Even abilities that miss (as is often the case with extreme level differences) will tag the elemental and count for kill credit.

After the invasion
If an hour has elapsed since the start of the event, Earthen Ring Defenders will intervene and suddenly halt the invasion, removing all elementals from the city. However, players will not benefit and will have to wait until the next event occurs.

If players successfully secure a major city, two types of portals to special boss encounters open up for thirty minutes. The portals are always paired with their counterparts. In Orgrimmar, immediately upon victory, Garrosh will lead a counter attack, running directly into the portals. The NPCs and objects then respawn and the city continues to function as normal until the next attack. (The city leader also appears at his normal spot in addition to his appearance in the dungeon.)
 * In Orgrimmar they are located in the Valley of Strength, near the main entrance, at the entrance to the Valley of Honor, and in the Valley of Wisdom outside of Grommash Hold.
 * In Stormwind they are located in the center of Trade District, by the Wizard's Sanctum in Mage Quarter, and in the center of Cathedral Square.
 * In Thunder Bluff they are located in Spirit Rise, Hunter Rise, Middle Rise (upper section), and middle rise (lower section).

These encounters are also available via the Dungeon Finder for the same period of time. Inside, players find the leader of the city that has been secured and one boss representing the elementals that have been banished:
 * (Fire Portal inside Blackrock Depths)
 * (Earth Portal, inside Maraudon)
 * (Water Portal, inside Zul'Farrak)
 * (Air Portal, inside the Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj)

The leader offers a non-repeatable quest to kill the boss and then report back to the capital city with news. However, the boss can be killed as often as desired during the thirty minute window for a chance at item level 251 epic loot.

There were multiple bugs with the event on many realms, particularly in Thunder Bluff and Ironforge. Bugs included Trapped Citizens being out-of-phase and unable to be freed, duplicate NPCs and chat messages, Trapped Citizens remaining visibly trapped even after being freed, Elemental Rifts no longer spawning elementals but not closing. These bugs would occur during some invasions but leave others untouched. Often the bugged invasions would make it impossible to access the bosses. These bugs may have been the reason the portals were later "locked" into being permanently open on November, 22, 2010 (the final day before the Shattering).

Loot
All of the elemental bosses drop items of level 251, equivalent to ICC10 loot.