Quick Facts

Screenshots

Videos

Comments

Comment by topsub

The path to the cave starts at 80, 40 and the cave is at 81, 36. (http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=2573)
I am a warrior and I had little trouble, they run far away and pull a lot of guys so for me I hit them with hamstring so it slows them down.

Comment by Ormriss

If you never PvP, the magic-using kobolds in this cave can demonstrate why warriors aren't too fond of fighting mages.

Watch for patrols. The magic users have both static spawn points where they simply walk around a few steps as well as much longer patrol routes. My level 37 warrior died twice thanks to fighting two frostbolting kobolds.

Comment by badg

If you are a miner, also grab all the Lesser Bloodstone Ore you can mine for the "Favor for Krazek" quest (http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=627) you will need a lot of 4 for the quest.
I have also made a bit of gold farming this ore and putting lots of 4 in the AH in Booty Bay for 3g a lot.

Comment by 5909

These Kobolds are in the North East Corner of Arathi and are near the HORDE Outpost Hammerfall. Be on the lookout if your alliance for Gankers. Easy to complete once your there just be aware of your surroundings.

Comment by brianjz

The Irisdescent Shards are on an upper level of the Kobold cave. Just right-click to finish the quest.

Comment by 16419

To get to the Shards first time hug the left hand wall of the cave all the way down

Comment by 35807

Location to start finding Kobolds

Comment by 37128

This quest is really annoying to solo. But as a 36 lock, I did *OK* as soon as I discovered Curse of Recklessness, I managed not aggroing more since they don't run all over the place. XD

Comment by 40724

I completed this as a 33 Rogue with not too much trouble. For those who can't follow coords because they have no idea what they mean (like me) the kobolds are to the east of Hammerfall in the hills.

Comment by 40724

ok, nvm, I thought I completed it, can anyone tell me how to get to the iridescant shards?

Comment by 41329

i finish the quest the princess trapped where i have to go the crystalls? please!!!

Comment by frenky98

If you are a paladin just use the Seal of Justice throw it befor they run and that will keep them with you and do not pull more kobols its easy.

Comment by 45595

This quest can be started by finding the Shards of Myzrael at 62,33.

The cave is at Drywhisker Gorge (82,36).

You hand these up at 84,30 inside the cave.

Comment by 43758

As stated above: The path to the cave starts at 80, 40 and the entrance to the cave is at 81, 36. This quest has a great drop rate. Collect 6 before entering the cave. Once inside you will notice a 3 way fork (check your mini map). The right side will lead to a dead end with a drop off into the middle path but you may find a cest just before the drop. The left path & middle path ways meet a few yards in. If you look up on the left where they meet, you will notice the "Iridescent Shards" on top of a cliff. You will need to continue up the path away from it to the right to reach it. Just follow your mini map and you shouldn't have any trouble. Also found another chest on the way to the Shards. Highest level mob found: 38
Easy to single pull and solo as a 35 Human Mage.

Comment by Endeva

Additional Information - lvl 40 Rare - Geomancer Flintdagger roams this cave. http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=2609#00Rzc

Comment by 56156

Cheaters...want an easier way to do this? It's possible to make your own shortcut to this quest once you're in the cave.

Go though the cave just to the point where you see the crystal up on a ledge. Jump up onto the lighter colored boulder to the left of it, then carefully jump to the right closer to the ledge.

If you place it right, you'll be up on the ledge and circumvent the remaining 20 or so mobs. Easy for a mage or rogue, but I did it as a Disc Priest, so anyone can :)

Comment by 66958

Maybe it's just me, but the drop rate for the motes is terrible. It took me ages to get all 12.

Comment by rsremco

This qeust whas easy for me on lvl 36 (hunter)
the cave whas easy to find for me....
But I didn't know that the end of the qeust, is in the cave.
you must complete qeust in the cave

Comment by 66513

Anyone without the mod for co-ordinates, look for a path that leads straight from the ditch next to Hammerfall and right into the mountain. Follow that, it should be south of the actual entrance.

Comment by CoachZ

Very hard for me as a 36 Rogue. The respawn rate on the Kobolds is not a very fair one, and they do run away, quite quickly, and quite early, and they run directly into another group of Kobolds, thus aggroing multiple mobs.

Very frustrating.

Comment by 61828

Alrite itz easy im a druid lv36 and im feral and all u need 2 do is look 4 the cave and a lot of the creatures in the hills and then go in the cave and look 4 the the crystal tht looks like th other crystal tht u got ok

Comment by 55286

This has to be one of the stupidest places to go to cash-in a quest. If you don't have Cartographer your screwed. this is a dumb quest

Comment by 79918

As a level 34 enh shaman I was able to get through this place all the way until the last pull. It's two mages, three if you catch respawn on top of you, that just make this quest not worth it. Do it later or don't do it at all, this is one orange quest to pass on.

Edit: I went back at 37 and it was very easy. I highly suggest if doing solo to wait, even if you've been clearing out orange quests all along. The respawn and the running just makes it rough.

Comment by archimonde

mote of myzrael drops by drywhisker digger to...

Comment by 44233

is a really crappy drop rate....i got abour 15 000 xp from killing the mobbs before i got all 12 shards, and i got about 230 xp for 1 mobb.... 15000 / 230 is 65.217.... so to get 12 shards, i killed about 65 mobbs :/

Comment by 44899

solo'd as a 34 feral druid was hard as hell i recomend having a buddy with you...but if your set on soloing it kill as many outside the cave as you can to get as many of the motes as you can then clear your way to the crystal thing to turn them in. when entering the cave make your way to the left that is where you will find the crystal

Comment by 33946

Now gives 3700xp as of patch 2.3

Comment by 93437

I recently finished this quest with my 35 Druid. The drop rate does seem fairly low and the way the enemies are grouped together in the cave can be quite troublesome, seeing as they often run pulling more.

I found it far easier to kill the mobs outside the cave entrance and just outside of Hammerfall (Horde Base) Then I stealthed in, up to the crystal handed in the quest and ran out.

Comment by 118828

the drop rate was extremely bad for me.. i got like 10 bars of exp in the time i finished the quest

Comment by 100435

one of the worst quests ever. pathetic drop rate, lots of runners and ninja pulls, and imho the worthless rare mob in the game hiding out in the cave, making your life a misery. skip it unless you masochistic.

Comment by Trenk

I soloed this as a lvl 36 warlock draintank spec. It's not too bad, just have your Voidwalker tank and use it's AoE taunt when you get more than one aggro at a time.

Comment by 146966

Soloed as a level 35 Blood Elf mage. Drop rate was not as terrible as some comments had said, but it's not great. Plan to invest some time getting the motes. Getting to the crystal was not terribly difficult, but the respawn times make dying and retreating a pain. Watch out for patrols, as they have a very long range. The casters weren't tough. Frost Ward and Counterspell saved me. As far as the two mobs near the crystal, I polymorphed one, Counterspelled the other, turned in the quest, not the new one, tried to run, and died, but that's okay, cause I was done in the cave anyway. I did not run into the level 40 mob, which I was thankful for. Not a horrible quest, but there are better.

Comment by 27640

For those who like good gear, this is one log chain that'll get you nothing at all exept for experience points. Not one reward is gifted the entire time untill the end, and it's a necklace with +8 stam and +8 spirit. By the time you get there you'll be in the mid 40s atleast.

Comment by MoonLite

the end reward has been buffed since 2.3 patch! (added +11spelldmg/heal)
Pulsating Crystalline Shard

Comment by Sunlar

This quest is seriously hellish, I died two times doing it, as lv 34 lock.. This happens because at about 30% the Kobolds flee and pull other mobs.. And (while inside the cave) if you're not careful, you'll also get the Surveyors after you, since they aggro from quite a long range (they're casters).

If you are a warlock, remember this:

KEEP CURSE OF RECKLESSNESS HANDY!

Sorry for the caps, but seriously, do not forget using that curse. It prevents mobs from running away and aggroing the whole cave. Another thing you can also do is to just sacrifice your VW by where the rare elite is (http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=2609#00Rzc) and just run to the Shards to finish this quest, and ress at the Spirit Healer. It's much preferrable to try killing all of the mobs in this cave, due to their VERY fast respawn time.

Edit: Spelling.

Comment by 65960

Soloed this as a 37 afflock, wasn't too bad. At the entrance to the cave, got four kobolds and had a l-o-n-g corpse walk. With all the mage-like kobolds, the felhunter is the best minion for this quest. After you enter the cave, you'll fork to the left, follow the path up and you'll see the quest end, a large crystal, on your left high on a ledge. Keep following the path curving to the left up, and you'll have a small pool in front of you, and the ledge with the crystal on the left. There are three mage kobolds, but the first is pullable alone when it is farthest from the two right at the Shards. Then I pulled them, dotted them up, and brought them down, only to find I only had 11/12 motes. So I went back to the pool and fished, getting a half dozen mithril head trout. By that time, one more mage kobold spawned and gave the last mote. Turned in the quest, hopped off the ledge and fought to the cave entrance. At that point, go to the right of the large rock in front of the entrance, down the mountain, with Hammerfall right in front of you. On to the next step!

Comment by 173101

This quest can be brutal and tiring if your below level 35. The cave is easy enough to find, but once you get there, fighting the mobs of enemies is a whole other story. It can be difficult to be fighting one enemy, and avoid aggroing many of the others around, especially at the cave of the mouth, so just be watchful of that.

For hunters, fighting some of the mobs is not as difficult as it is for other classes. For instance, if your fighting three Kobolds at once, simply trap one, have your pet aggro another, and then you can quickly dispatch of the last. Then Take out the last one with your pet.

If you get into too hairy a situation, feign death is an excellent solution, especially for the mage patrols, because eventually the patrols will walk off and then you can spring up and take care of any nearby kobolds before the patrols return, then you will be ready for them.

All in all, it may be slow, but just keep inching your way into the cave.You will get there! (Hopefully)

Comment by Mousa

Drop rate suuuuucks :(
Took me about 55-60 mobs to gather all of them!
Good luck on yours!

Comment by 203775

getting motes is just time consuming but pulling them 1 at a time is easy and getting 1 add 3 seconds before it dies isnt a problem

Comment by toastmaster7727

I almost ran through the entire cave without killing a single kobold but when I got to the end I still had about 10 on me and they mowed me down. Used lifeblood, pally bubble, three pots, Lay on Hands, and a few other cooldowns.

Comment by 204726

Solo'd as a 34 hunter with a Dragonhawk pet. The hardest part was finding the entrance to the cave, and the drop rate wasnt as bad as people make it sound. The cave was pretty much cleared as I went in, I had to kill a few mobs, but most of the work was done for me. I will admit that the running away is VERY annoying and at one point I had to fight 5 of the mobs back to back.

Comment by Lisawild

if anyone is wondering, each person in your group must have 12 of the motes, it is not a group accomplished quest.

Comment by 322260

Actually the exact coord to the cave is 82.3 , 36.9 later :)

Comment by Eximius

Solo'd as a 33 Rogue but... it took the P1$$. Long long time of sapping, gouging, Pot Popping and 3 corpse runs.

In the end i got close to the two 38 mages, vanish for extra stealth, sapped one, handed in the quest then legged it. I died close to the exit but, IT'S DONE!

Could've waited but... i'd already spent a while getting the 12 shards.

Comment by Crymoar

This quest makes me think that the Blizzard developers may have seen The Dark Crystal one too many times.

Comment by 456562

For any druid recomendable not to pick up a fight with the kobolds because you can only kill one at a time because their strong and if they start loosing alot of life they go and get more and doom you so you*d better put on cat form and prowl through the cave until you reach the cristal.Dont prowl to close to the koblods the tend to smell you and kill you (only drywhisker surveyors can do this)
The cave can be found if you look for a big tree then behind it is a path that will lead you to the cave entrance.

Outside the cave are :

° Drywhisker kobold lvl 35,36

Inside the cave are:

° Drywhisker surveyor lvl 37,38
° Drywhisker digger lvl 36,37

Comment by Vaulkuur

This quest is frankly loathsome. Perhaps I'm blind as a bat, but once I did find the tree, I aimlessly stumbled my way into a cave full of "you are going to die." Even with my big beefy voidwalker drawing all the aggro, the mage kobolds proceeded to make sure nobody experienced any joy, ever.

If you really want 3700 xp or some pocket change, by all means.

If you want your sanity or dignity or some hours to maybe do laundry or go in instances with your pals, spare yourself the injustice of this grueling little number. It's not like that princess even cares. :D

Comment by 520600

The entrance is along the mountains' edge, directly to the right of the last "L" of Hammerfall's name on your map.
Look for the blue/grey tree and walk around it to find the path going up.

Comment by 227761

Crystal in the Mountains is a breadcrumb-like quest leading to this chain.

Doing this quest does NOT prevent you from doing the breadcrumb.

Comment by TeddyZipper

This quest chain dose count towards loremaster of eastern kingdom.

Comment by Zieda

For those of you without cords and can't find the gray rectangle on the minimap, the path is right to the left of the word "Hammerfall" on the world map.

Comment by 775972

I just completed the quest on 1/29/11, running 4.0.3. Therefore, while the note at the top of the pay says the quest is obsolete, I think the note is obsolete. Quest was very easy with a 37 Demo Lock. Actually, the quest was greyed-out for me. I just completed to get the Arathi Quests achieve.

So bottom line: quest is still completable!

Comment by Sagmon

Although the header on this site for this quest now states, "This quest was marked obsolete by Blizzard and cannot be obtained or completed.", it can be obtained (at Refuge Pointe in Arathi Highlands) - and completed.

Perhaps Blizzard had thought to kill it and resurrected it by the time I came across it in Vers. 4.1.

Comment by Jazzehness

As of 2016 (WoD), this quest is live and able to be completed. To reach the cave, you have to hug the mountains east of Hammerfall, as the map suggests. There are some kobolds outside of the cave, but you MUST enter the cave to complete the quest so you don't necessarily need to farm those. Once you've found the kobolds, find the tree pictured in the screenshots and walk behind it. There is a barely noticeable path that leads you straight to the cave.The path curves to the left, but it shouldn't be too hard to find once you make it past the tree. Once you're inside, there are more kobolds and a stone, which you'll need to interact with to turn in the quest and receive your next quest.

Comment by drpimento

I did the quest and got the yellow question mark up in the mountains and have spent about an hour going to all the way-points mentioned here at all elevations and approaching from all angles, There is no cave and after completing the quest all the kobolds disappear.At first I thought Blizz had done something to put the Q in some sort of phase, but now it looks like they've just taken another step in killing off the quest without finishing it off all the way. Annoying as hell.

Comment by aessag

As of today, 12 /17/17, this question is still available.

Comment by Zugetz

As of today 5/12/20 this quest is still available.

Links

The Princess Trapped

This quest was marked obsolete by Blizzard and cannot be obtained or completed.

Gather 12 Motes of Myzrael, then bring them to the Iridescent Shards in Drywhisker Gorge.

	Mote of Myzrael (12)

Description

My name is Myzrael. I am a princess of the earth, and my captors, the giants, have trapped me deep beneath the Arathi Highlands. These crystal shards are the only way I can speak with the surface world.

Please help me. Allies of the giants, the Drywhisker Kobolds, have a shard like this one in their Drywhisker Gorge, to the east. To power the cluster, you must gather Motes of Myzrael from the kobolds and apply them to it.

I beg you, <name>, aid me!

Progress

Completion

Gains

Upon completion of this quest you will gain:

See if you've already completed this by typing:

/run print(C_QuestLog.IsQuestFlaggedCompleted(642))

The Princess Trapped

Description

Progress

Completion

Gains

Related

Contribute