Gates of Ahn'Qiraj



The Gates of Ahn'Qiraj (aka opening of the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj or the War Effort) was a server-wide world event that heralded in the opening of the raid instances Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj and Temple of Ahn'Qiraj. The event evolved through different phases and included the gathering of war supplies by both Alliance and Horde players, epic and hardcore quest chains for the elite guilds, and ultimately a ten-hour long war at the Scarab Wall in southern Silithus. The first server to finish the event was Medivh on January 23, 2006.

As of February 6, 2009 (patch 3.0.8a), the Ahn'Qiraj gates will automatically be open on all new future realms. The related quests were removed in Cataclysm.

"An insectoid menace awaits in Silithus in the ancient, brooding city of Ahn'Qiraj that represents a danger to both Horde and Alliance and their place in Azeroth. However, no forces can preemptively deal with the threat unless they can breach the enchanted Scarab Wall and open the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj closed during the War of the Shifting Sands."

The world event quest
Opening the gates was a process that required the cooperation of hundreds of players from all races and factions, involving monsters and quests from all corners of the world map.

The Gates of Ahn'Qiraj were sealed by powerful magic, and to open them, an elite guild had to brave a number of trials to reconstruct a long-lost artifact: the Scepter of the Shifting Sands. This scepter could open the walls, but behind them a mighty Qiraji army waited. To repel it, the combined military might of both the Alliance and Horde had to be ready outside the wall, and to be ready a great number of supplies had to be gathered — food, bandages, metals and herbs. Once all was ready, the player who held the Scepter could open the gates, and the Ahn'Qiraj War began.

Restoring the scepter questline
Restoring The Scepter of the Shifting Sands involved a long series of quests that required the efforts of a well-coordinated raiding guild, supported by other top guilds within a faction. Because of the reputation requirements of a certain farming quest (see step three below), one player from each side was typically designated as that faction's scepter-bearer.

In addition to the scepter, the questline gave epic awards including the legendary mount Black Qiraji Resonating Crystal. Parts of the questline could still be completed after the gates were open, however the mount could only be received during the 10-hour war event.

Here's a list of the quests that gave rewards:

Red shard line

 * Nefarius's Corruption gives
 * Onyx Embedded Leggings or Amulet of Shadow Shielding

Blue shard line

 * Dirge's Kickin' Chimaerok Chops (quest) gives
 * Recipe: Dirge's Kickin' Chimaerok Chops and 20 Dirge's Kickin' Chimaerok Chops
 * The Only Prescription gives
 * Gnomish Turban of Psychic Might
 * The Wrath of Neptulon gives
 * Band of Icy Depths or Darkwater Robes

Green shard line

 * The Nightmare Manifests gives
 * Drake Tooth Necklace or Drudge Boots

Completed scepter

 * Treasure of the Timeless One gives
 * Fang of Korialstrasz or Shadowsong's Sorrow or Ravencrest's Legacy or Runesword of the Red
 * Bang a Gong! gives
 * Black Qiraji Resonating Crystal (and Scarab Lord title post-patch 3.0)

The Bang a Gong! quest (and therefore, the legendary mount) was only available during the main war event which occurred upon the initial ringing of the gong and last 10 hours thereafter. This mount is usable both inside and outside of the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj, whereas other Resonating Crystals are only usable inside the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj. Once the war event was completed, the legendary mount can no longer be obtained by any means.

Treasure of the Timeless One could not be completed until after the war event has finished, at which time an NPC will spawn next to the gong that offered the completion of the questline.

Gathering war supplies
While the elite guilds completed their mission, the entire server had to work together to gather war supplies for the combined army of the two nations. This stage of the gate opening could easily last several (real-time) months due to the number of supplies that had to be gathered:

''In parentheses is the number of signets awarded on "repeats" of the quest. The first time a given quest was turned in by a given player, that player would always be awarded 10 signets.''

Both factions need to gather:
 * 90,000 x Copper Bar (1 Signet)
 * 26,000 x Purple Lotus (7 Signets)
 * 80,000 x Thick Leather (7 Signets)
 * 17,000 x Spotted Yellowtail (7 Signets)
 * 400,000 x Runecloth Bandage (10 Signets)

The Alliance needs to gather in the Military Ward of Ironforge:
 * 28,000 x Iron Bar (5 Signets)
 * 24,000 x Thorium Bar (10 Signets)
 * 20,000 x Arthas' Tears (10 Signets)
 * 33,000 x Stranglekelp (3 Signets)
 * 180,000 x Light Leather (1 Signet)
 * 110,000 x Medium Leather (3 Signets)
 * 20,000 x Roast Raptor (5 Signets)
 * 14,000 x Rainbow Fin Albacore (3 Signets)
 * 800,000 x Linen Bandage (1 Signet)
 * 600,000 x Silk Bandage (5 Signets)

The Horde needs to gather in The Valley of Spirits in Orgrimmar:
 * 22,000 x Tin Bar (3 Signets)
 * 18,000 x Mithril Bar (7 Signets)
 * 96,000 x Peacebloom (1 Signet)
 * 19,000 x Firebloom (5 Signets)
 * 60,000 x Heavy Leather (5 Signets)
 * 60,000 x Rugged Leather (10 Signets)
 * 10,000 x Lean Wolf Steak (1 Signets)
 * 10,000 x Baked Salmon (10 Signets)
 * 250,000 x Wool Bandage (3 Signets)
 * 250,000 x Mageweave Bandage (7 Signets)

Each item had its own NPC for turn-in. On the Alliance side, all turn-ins were in the Military Ward in Ironforge, while the Horde turn-ins were in the Valley of Spirits in Orgrimmar. Each turn-in required a full stack of the item (10 or 20, depending on the item), and awarded 10 Commendation Signets and a box of the first time you hand in one stack. For the second hand-in of the same item, the amount of signets was dependent on the level of the item - high-level items still gave 10 signets each time, mid-level items gave 7 signets, and 5 signets from the third hand-in on. Low-level items only gave 1 signet starting with the third turn-in.

Boxes of Ahn'Qiraj War Effort Supplies contained various items appropriate to the turn-in level (eg. a lvl 23 green for silk bandages, a lvl 40 green for thick leather) and several types of scrolls. The Commendation Signets could be turned in for more supply boxes or for reputation with one of the five major factions. The five commendation officers, one for each race in the faction, was located in the same area as well as one in each capital city.

Finally, there was an NPC patrolling the area ( for the Alliance, for the Horde) that accepted Commendation Signets in return for a larger batch of supplies. He could also update the player on the progress being made in all of the turn-ins. An NPC for the opposite faction ( in Ironforge, in Orgrimmar) that could tell you about progress on that side. The progress was also tracked on an offical website created for the event.

Opening the gates
Once all the necessary war supplies had been gathered, the combined forces of the Alliance and the Horde began transporting NPCs, equipment and supplies to Silithus. Five days passed while the supplies were sent by zeppelin (this couldn't actually be seen occurring); as the days passed, the stockpiles of supplies that had been accumulating slowly diminish until everything was in place, at which point the holder of the Scepter could ring the mighty gong to cause the Scarab Wall to open. This caused a ten-hour-long continent-wide event to begin, preceded by a global message to everyone on the server:


 * emote
 * emote
 * emote
 * emote
 * emote
 * Yell

The most immediate effect, of course, was that the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj opened and powerful monsters and bosses began pouring out. General Rajaxx appeared, along with a number of very large Anubisath and Qiraji epic monsters that the combined player and NPC armies had to defeat. Once this was done, raiding guilds could proceed into the 20- and 40-man instances at their leisure. In addition, anyone with a complete Scepter of the Shifting Sands who rang the gong again during this event received a Black Qiraji Resonating Crystal that is used to summon a cross-faction, fast legendary mount.

While the fray at the Gates was underway, large floating obelisks called Resonating Crystal Formations reportedly appeared in Silithus, Tanaris, Feralas, The Barrens, Darkshore, Thousand Needles and Un'Goro Crater. These obelisks would alternately mind-control player-characters in their vicinity and spawn various Anubisath Warbringers and silithid.


 * Colossal Anubisath Warbringer, Qiraji Lieutenant General & Imperial Qiraji Destroyer - Silithus
 * Supreme Anubisath Warbringer & Supreme Silithid Flayer - Silithus
 * Greater Anubisath Warbringer, Qiraji Brigadier General & Greater Silithid Flayer - Un'Goro Crater
 * Anubisath Warbringer, Qiraji Major & Silithid Flayer - Tanaris, Feralas
 * Lesser Anubisath Warbringer, Qiraji Captain & Lesser Silithid Flayer - Thousand Needles
 * Minor Anubisath Warbringer, Qiraji Lieutenant & Minor Silithid Flayer - Barrens
 * Eroded Anubisath Warbringer, Qiraji Officer & Faltering Silithid Flayer - Barrens


 * Silithus
 * Might of Kalimdor


 * Orgrimmar Elite Shieldguard
 * Orgrimmar Elite Infantryman
 * Orgrimmar Elite Cavalryman
 * Darkspear Shaman
 * Tauren Rifleman
 * Tauren Primalist


 * Stormwind Cavalryman
 * Stormwind Infantryman
 * Stormwind Archmage
 * Kaldorei Marksman
 * Priestess of the Moon
 * Ironforge Infantryman
 * Ironforge Cavalryman

After nine hours, the forces of the Alliance and Horde meet at the southern exit of Cenarion Hold, where High Overlord Saurfang rallies them to battle against the Qiraji at the Scarab Wall.


 * Say
 * Say
 * Say
 * Say
 * Say
 * Say
 * Say
 * Say
 * Say
 * Say
 * Say
 * Say
 * Yell

Saurfang then leads the combined armies to the Scarab Wall, where waves of Colossal Anubisath Warbringers begin attacking. After an hour of battle, the crystals and their spawn disappeared, bringing the Ahn'Qiraj War to an end.


 * emote
 * Yell

From this point forward, the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj will remain open.

Time-limited opening quests
There were 3 time-limited delivery quests available in Cenarion Hold during the 10-hour opening event that became available following the death of a Colossus mob at each of the 3 hives in Silithus. Each of these quests, and the related quest giver, vanished at the end of the opening event. Each quest rewarded, as well as Colossal Bag of Loot.


 * Colossus Researcher Eazel - Secrets of the Colossus - Regal
 * Colossus Researcher Sophia - Secrets of the Colossus - Zora
 * Colossus Researcher Nestor - Secrets of the Colossus - Ashi

Organization
Some servers coordinated the efforts through their realm forums, and some even had dedicated websites to help organize their efforts.


 * First 5 U.S. Completed Realms:
 * Medivh (Gate opened on: 22/Jan/2006)
 * Mannoroth (Gate opened on: 27/Jan/2006)
 * Zul'jin (Gate opened on: 31/Jan/2006)
 * Hyjal (Gate opened on: 02/Feb/2006)
 * Icecrown (Gate opened on: 07/Feb/2006)


 * First 5 EU Completed Realms:
 * EU-Kael'thas (Gate opened on: 30/Jan/2006)
 * EU-Magtheridon (Gate opened on: 30/Jan/2006)
 * EU-Archimonde (Gate opened on: 02/Feb/2006)
 * EU-Azshara (Gate opened on: 06/Feb/2006)
 * EU-Destromath (Gate opened on: 11/Feb/2006)

Re-opening the gates
When patch 3.0.2 was released, the gates of Ahn'Qiraj were briefly closed due to a bug that reset the gates on each server, and gave all characters of the same race and class as the original opener the ability to speak Draconic. All mobs spawned during the event were respawned as well. The supplies did not need to be gathered, and if the quest chain was done previously one would need to simply turn it in and re-open the gates, giving them the mount and Scarab Lord title.

Permanent "closure" of the event
On February 6, 2009, sometime after patch 3.0.8a, Bornakk posted on the forums that the Ahn'Qiraj gates will automatically be open on all new future realms. He would also later clarify in the thread that there are no plans to have an alternative method to obtain the Black Qiraji Battle Tank.

On February 11, 2009, a day after patch 3.0.9, Server:Nesingwary US was the world's first realm to be opened in this way.

The final step of closure came with the release of patch 3.2.0. The commendation officers in all major cities were removed.

However, in patch 3.3.0, the resource collectors and quests were unexpectedly brought back. Though it was simply a glitch and has been fixed, it shows the programming for the AQ War Effort still existed.

The underlying programming was finally been removed by the Cataclysm expansion. All servers now have the gates open, and Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj was retuned into a 10-player raid.

Quests
The following is a list of quests associated with the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj world event. Once the gates have been opened on your server these quests will no longer be available.


 * Five Signets for War Supplies
 * Ten Signets for War Supplies
 * Fifteen Signets for War Supplies
 * Twenty Signets for War Supplies
 * Thirty Signets for War Supplies


 * The Alliance Needs Arthas' Tears!
 * The Alliance Needs More Arthas' Tears!
 * The Alliance Needs Copper Bars!
 * The Alliance Needs More Copper Bars!
 * The Alliance Needs Iron Bars!
 * The Alliance Needs More Iron Bars!
 * The Alliance Needs Light Leather!
 * The Alliance Needs More Light Leather!
 * The Alliance Needs Linen Bandages!
 * The Alliance Needs More Linen Bandages!
 * The Alliance Needs Medium Leather!
 * The Alliance Needs More Medium Leather!
 * The Alliance Needs Purple Lotus!
 * The Alliance Needs More Purple Lotus!
 * The Alliance Needs Rainbow Fin Albacore!
 * The Alliance Needs More Rainbow Fin Albacore!
 * The Alliance Needs Roast Raptor!
 * The Alliance Needs More Roast Raptor!
 * The Alliance Needs Runecloth Bandages!
 * The Alliance Needs More Runecloth Bandages!
 * The Alliance Needs Silk Bandages!
 * The Alliance Needs More Silk Bandages!
 * The Alliance Needs Spotted Yellowtail!
 * The Alliance Needs More Spotted Yellowtail!
 * The Alliance Needs Stranglekelp!
 * The Alliance Needs More Stranglekelp!
 * The Alliance Needs Thick Leather!
 * The Alliance Needs More Thick Leather!
 * The Alliance Needs Thorium Bars!
 * The Alliance Needs More Thorium Bars!


 * The Horde Needs Baked Salmon!
 * The Horde Needs More Baked Salmon!
 * The Horde Needs Copper Bars!
 * The Horde Needs More Copper Bars!
 * The Horde Needs Firebloom!
 * The Horde Needs More Firebloom!
 * The Horde Needs Heavy Leather!
 * The Horde Needs More Heavy Leather!
 * The Horde Needs Lean Wolf Steaks!
 * The Horde Needs More Lean Wolf Steaks!
 * The Horde Needs Mageweave Bandages!
 * The Horde Needs More Mageweave Bandages!
 * The Horde Needs Mithril Bars!
 * The Horde Needs More Mithril Bars!
 * The Horde Needs Peacebloom!
 * The Horde Needs More Peacebloom!
 * The Horde Needs Purple Lotus!
 * The Horde Needs More Purple Lotus!
 * The Horde Needs Rugged Leather!
 * The Horde Needs More Rugged Leather!
 * The Horde Needs Runecloth Bandages!
 * The Horde Needs More Runecloth Bandages!
 * The Horde Needs Spotted Yellowtail!
 * The Horde Needs More Spotted Yellowtail!
 * The Horde Needs Thick Leather!
 * The Horde Needs More Thick Leather!
 * The Horde Needs Tin Bars!
 * The Horde Needs More Tin Bars!
 * The Horde Needs Wool Bandages!
 * The Horde Needs More Wool Bandages!