Archaedas

Archaedas, the Ancient Stone Watcher, is the final boss of Uldaman. He stands as a stone statue in the vault's deepest chamber, guarding the Discs of Norgannon, until someone wakes him at the altar. Then he calls the dwarf-like earthen and the great Vault Warders out of their alcoves to defend the discs. In Classic he was simply a titan watcher; later lore made him one of the titan keepers, the Titans' highest servants on Azeroth.

Background

In Classic, Archaedas was a guardian of living stone who watched over the Discs of Norgannon, platinum records that tell how the titans made the earthen, the stone ancestors of the dwarves. Any attempt to reach the discs wakes him.

The book World of Warcraft: Chronicle (2016) gave him a much larger role. There he is one of the keepers, imbued by the titan Khaz'goroth with mastery over earth and forging. He helped fight the Old Gods and built the underground prisons that hold them. When the keeper Loken was corrupted, Archaedas fled with Tyr and the watcher Ironaya, stole the Discs of Norgannon from Ulduar and hid them in Uldaman. The earthen there, afraid of the curse of flesh that was slowly turning them into creatures of flesh, asked to be put to sleep. Archaedas and Ironaya later retreated into the vault's lowest chambers and went into hibernation themselves. The earthen who eventually woke and left became the first dwarves.

Abilities

• Awaken Earthen Dwarf: Archaedas wakes an Earthen Custodian (Earthen Custodian) from the alcoves of his chamber every few seconds.
• Awaken Earthen Guardians: at about two-thirds health he wakes the Earthen Guardians (Earthen Guardian), stronger earthen that use Whirlwind.
• Awaken Vault Warder: at about one-third health he wakes the two Vault Warders (Vault Warder), huge stone golems that trample nearby players.
• Ground Tremor: stuns everyone near him.

When he wakes he yells "Who dares awaken Archaedas? Who dares the wrath of the Makers?"

Strategy

The fight is a race against his adds. One player starts it by using the altar in the chamber; that player should be ready, since Archaedas wakes and attacks at once. The tank holds Archaedas in place while the group deals with what he wakes.

The custodians come steadily throughout the fight. They are weak alone but add up, so a second tank or a pet should pick them up and area damage should kill them in groups. The Earthen Guardians at two-thirds health are more dangerous, and the Vault Warders near the end hit very hard. It pays to save cooldowns, potions and crowd control for the last third of the fight, then burn Archaedas down as fast as they can, since killing him ends the fight. Ground Tremor stuns anyone close to him, so healers should keep their distance.

Loot

From our database (patch 1.12):

Stoneslayer is a two-handed sword whose hits can raise the wielder's damage for a short time. The Rockpounder is a slow two-handed mace with extra critical strike chance. The Archaedic Stone is a ring with a random enchantment.

Quests

• The Platinum Discs and The Platinum Discs (The Platinum Discs): after Archaedas falls, players talk to a stone watcher in his chamber and activate the Discs of Norgannon, which tell the story of the earthen and the curse of flesh.
• Restoring the Necklace (Alliance) and Find the Gems and Power Source (Horde): the power source for a shattered necklace, wanted by Talvash del Kissel in Ironforge and Jarkal Mossmeld at Kargath, drops from Archaedas.

Trivia

• Archaedas was voiced by Chris Metzen.
• In Classic, Archaedas used the same generic titan watcher model as other watchers. He received a unique model only in a much later patch.

Sources

• Archaedas, Warcraft Wiki
• Archaedas (tactics), Warcraft Wiki
• WoWDB quest and loot data for patch 1.12