Warder Stilgiss

Warder Stilgiss is a Dark Iron mage who guards the Black Vault, the treasury of Blackrock Depths, with his darkhound Verek at his side. He was a rare spawn in Classic: some runs find him standing at the door of the coffer room, others find three ordinary dwarf guards in his place. He and his dog are fought together, and between them they drop gear for almost every class.

Background

The Adventure Guide, written long after Classic, says Stilgiss earned his post through years of service to Emperor Dagran Thaurissan, who trusted him with the clan's coffers. His close friend Houndmaster Grebmar marked the promotion by giving him one of his most vicious dogs, the red darkhound Verek, and Stilgiss keeps it beside him to scare off thieves.

The Black Vault is the Dark Irons' bank, in Shadowforge City between the Domicile and the Hall of Crafting. Its coffer room holds twelve relic coffers that open with Relic Coffer Keys taken from the city's dwarves. Opening all twelve calls out Watchman Doomgrip and four golems, and beating them gives up the Heart of the Mountain, a treasure the gnome Maxwort Uberglint wants for The Heart of the Mountain. Stilgiss stands at the threshold of that room.

Abilities

Stilgiss is a frost mage:

• Frost Nova: frost damage to nearby players, rooting them for up to 8 seconds.
• Frostbolt: frost damage that slows the target for 4 seconds. Interruptible.
• Frost Armor: raises his armor and slows melee attackers who hit him.
• Frost Ward: a shield that absorbs 120 frost damage.

Verek is a melee fighter:

• Curse of Blood: a curse that makes the target take extra physical damage.
• Thrash: sometimes attacks two extra times in one swing.
• Enrage: raises his physical damage by 10% and his attack speed by 30% for 2 minutes.

Strategy

A common plan is to kill Stilgiss first. He has little health for a boss and does most of his damage with interruptible Frostbolts, so a kick or a stun on each cast keeps him from doing much. Verek can be tanked or stunned in the meantime; he is stunnable, while Stilgiss is not. Because Frost Nova roots the whole melee group, it pays to stay spread out and let the tank pull Stilgiss away from the healer.

Unlike the dungeon's other dogs, Verek is not especially good at spotting stealthed players. Rogues on solo or stealth runs could sneak past the pair, then pull them into the coffer room once the way was clear.

Loot

From our database (patch 1.12). Stilgiss and Verek each have their own drops:

The [Boreal Mantle] gives a large bonus to frost spell damage, making it a frost mage's item. The Dark Warder's Pauldrons and Verek's Leash were added in patch 1.10.

Quests

No quest asks for Stilgiss himself, but groups hunting for the Heart of the Mountain for The Heart of the Mountain pass him on the way to the vault's safe.

Sources

• Warder Stilgiss - Warcraft Wiki
• Verek - Warcraft Wiki
• Black Vault - Warcraft Wiki