Hydrospawn

Hydrospawn is a water elemental in Dire Maul East, the only one of its kind in a wing full of satyrs, imps and twisted trees. For ages it lived calmly in a pool below a satyr's sacrificial altar, until the satyr Zevrim Thornhoof began bending it to his will. In Classic it was a short, sometimes chaotic fight: Hydrospawn throws players around the room and splits off smaller elementals that wipe out the tank's hold on it.

Background

According to the game's Adventure Guide, Hydrospawn once rested peacefully in the water beneath Zevrim Thornhoof's altar. The satyr wanted to control the elementals and ancients of Dire Maul for his masters in the Burning Legion, and his blood rituals above the pool made the elemental restless. Year after year he fed it the energy of his victims, until it struck out at everything around it and slowly came under his command.

Two quests disagree with that story. Both the mage quest from Lorekeeper Lydros and a later quest describe Hydrospawn as an anomaly that doesn't belong in the city, and that idea was never followed up.

Abilities

• Riptide: knocks back everyone within 10 yards, deals frost damage and disarms them for a few seconds.
• Submersion: lowers the Stamina of nearby players.
• Massive Geyser: summons a geyser that hurts and throws everyone near it.
• Summon Hydroling: at half health, two Hydrolings join the fight. Their Hydrojet knocks a player back and wipes out that player's threat whenever they hit in melee.

Strategy

Hydrospawn's knockbacks and the Hydrolings' threat wipes are the whole fight. The tank stands with their back to a wall so Riptide and the geysers don't throw them out of range, and the healer and casters stay well outside 10 yards. When the Hydrolings appear, the group kills them quickly, since every hit they land on the tank resets its threat and sends Hydrospawn onto someone else. Frost resistance and a healthy Stamina pool make the rest easy. Warriors lose their weapons briefly to the disarm, so having a backup plan for threat (shouts, taunts) helps.

Loot

Waveslicer is a two-handed axe. The Ace of Elementals is the top card of the [Elementals Deck], a Darkmoon Faire deck. Cores of Elements, added with Naxxramas in patch 1.11, could be turned in to the Argent Dawn at Light's Hope Chapel in [[forever:quest:9128]].

Quests

• Arcane Refreshment (mages only): Lorekeeper Lydros in the Athenaeum of Dire Maul West asks a mage to bring back the [Hydrospawn Essence], and teaches Conjure Water in return.

Sources

• Hydrospawn - Warcraft Wiki
• Arcane Refreshment - Warcraft Wiki