Elemental Invasion

The Elemental Invasions were recurring world events in the original World of Warcraft, added in patch 1.4 in April 2005. Every few days, portals to the Elemental Plane tore open in one of four high-level zones of Kalimdor, invaders of fire, earth, water or air poured through, and an elite elemental lord appeared to lead them. The invasions were never announced in advance, so the players who happened to be nearby, or heard the leader's challenge across the zone, raced to gather a group before it was over.

Background

The official description spoke of reports of elemental incursions in different parts of Kalimdor, growing more frequent. Every few days, a new wave of elementals blasted its way into Silithus, Un'Goro Crater, Azshara and Winterspring, seemingly only to test how far it could push before the Horde or the Alliance drove it back. No quest explained who sent them. The invaders came from the Elemental Plane, the realm where the elemental lords such as Ragnaros were bound long ago.

How an invasion worked

An invasion began with glowing portals floating just above the ground. Invaders came through them in numbers two or three times greater than the zone's normal elementals, and a little stronger. At some point the leader appeared and shouted a challenge to the whole zone. While the leader lived, more invaders kept coming; once it was destroyed, no new ones arrived, though those already out remained until killed.

Each leader had its own voice. Baron Charr circled the volcano, mocking the "so-called heroes" who were too scared to come out and play; Princess Tempestria promised mortals a quick and painful death; Avalanchion, a hulking rock elemental, spoke in broken threats like "Me find you!"; and the Windreaver arrived with a gale that swept across Silithus.

Rewards

The leaders were elite, and a group of level 60 players was needed to bring one down. Each dropped elemental reagents, such as cores and essences of its element, and a blue item of its own:

Tempestria and the Windreaver could also drop the [[forever:item:21548]], a tailoring recipe for gloves with Nature resistance.

The most valuable drop was a playing card. From patch 1.6, every leader could drop the [Ace of Elementals], the first card of the Elementals Deck of the Darkmoon Faire, whose other cards dropped elsewhere in the world. A finished [Elementals Deck] could be turned in at the Faire in Darkmoon Elementals Deck for the trinket [Darkmoon Card: Maelstrom], so the invasions drew card collectors as well as curious passers-by.

Later history

• The invasions ran until the Cataclysm reshaped the world in patch 4.0.3a in 2010, when the leaders were removed. Avalanchion later returned in Deepholm as a servant of Therazane.
• A different, larger event of the Cataclysm pre-launch, the Elemental Unrest, is also often called the elemental invasion.
• World of Warcraft Classic brought the invasions back with patch 1.13.3 in December 2019.

Sources

• Elemental Invasions (Classic), Warcraft Wiki
• Baron Charr, Warcraft Wiki
• Elementals Deck, Warcraft Wiki
• WoW Classic Patch Notes 1.13.3, Warcraft Tavern