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Quest

Desperation Breeds Ingenuity

Quest facts and objectives from the current retail game data.

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The highest voted Wowhead comments for this page. They are community notes, not TheWoWDB comments.

1
Steiner14512+64via Wowhead (opens the original comment in a new tab)

The prerequisite to this quest is Ragged Strips of Silk, which starts from [item=129135].

If you have rank 1 [spell=193292], this will drop randomly while gathering Aethril with a rather small chance. I had about 180 Aethril in my bags when I finally got it, so it takes a while.
I got mine at about 54,17; right next to the withered area. Since the quest has to do with the withered, this might not be a coincidence.
If you're looking to learn Aethril, your best bet is probably to farm Aethril near withered in northern Azsuna.

As for the quest itself, simply go to the marked areas in Azsuna and kill/loot withered, drop rate is very high.

Read all 18 on Wowhead ↗

Quest facts

LevelLevel 10-45
LocationDalaran, Azsuna
CategoryHerbalism
Quest ID40016

Check whether you have already completed this quest in-game: /run print(C_QuestLog.IsQuestFlaggedCompleted(40016))

Description

I believe we may be able to use this clue to our advantage, {name}. The withered are notoriously thirsty for mana, and will stop at nothing to get it. Perhaps we can study how they use the aethril and use the results to improve our own harvesting methods.

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Where to go

Pins are the quest’s own POI points from the current retail client, projected onto the in-game zone map. The game marks one blob as the quest’s turn-in; the rest are objective areas. Points that fall outside a map’s window are dropped rather than guessed at.

Dalaran Quest turn-in 1 mapped point
Dalaran map showing where to go for Desperation Breeds IngenuityTurn-in

In-game waypoint: /way #627 43.0 33.3

Azsuna Objective area 16 mapped points
Azsuna map showing where to go for Desperation Breeds IngenuityObjective areaObjective areaObjective areaObjective areaObjective areaObjective areaObjective areaObjective areaObjective areaObjective areaObjective areaObjective areaObjective areaObjective areaObjective areaObjective area

In-game waypoint: /way #630 51.2 16.6

Coordinates

  • Turn-inDalaran 43.0, 33.3/way #627 43.0 33.3
  • Objective area (centre of the marked area)Azsuna 48.5, 15.7/way #630 48.5 15.7
  • Objective area (centre of the marked area)Azsuna 57.9, 16.5/way #630 57.9 16.5

Map coordinates of the pins above. An area the client draws as a shape is given by the centre of its points.

Nearby on the Dalaran map

Quests whose map markers the client places closest to this one on Dalaran, nearest first. Distances are straight lines between the markers.

Getting there

Flight points closest to the quest’s turn-in marker on Dalaran:

  • DalaranAlliance and Horde · about 240 yards south-east
  • Western SuramarAlliance and Horde · about 1,200 yards north
  • Vengeance Point, Broken ShoreAlliance and Horde · about 1,500 yards east

From the turn-in, the objective areas lie:

  • Objective areaabout 2,800 yards north-west (on the Azsuna map)
  • Objective areaabout 2,400 yards north-west (on the Azsuna map)

Straight-line distances in yards between the quest’s own map markers (QuestPOI) and the client’s flight-point positions (TaxiNodes); flight paths and terrain are not modelled.

Related
Money20 gold22 silver
Experience6,150 XP

Storyline

Legion Herbalism

Part 4 of 5.

Previous: Ragged Strips of Silk · Next: A Slip of the Hand

  1. 1Aethril Sample
  2. 2Spayed by the Spade
  3. 3Ragged Strips of Silk
  4. 4Desperation Breeds Ingenuity
  5. 5A Slip of the Hand

Storyline order is the client’s own QuestLine data from the current retail build.

Where this quest fits

Before this quest

Taken from the storyline's own step order.

  • Ragged Strips of SilkLevel 10-45

    Finely made strips of clothing, torn, tattered, and dirty: telltale signs of the withered. The feral, degenerate outcasts of nightborne society must also be harvesting the aethril... but why?

After this quest

Taken from the storyline's own step order.

  • A Slip of the HandLevel 10-45

    As you harvest the aethril, your hand brushes the flower's pollinating organs against one another, creating a reaction. You may have discovered a new herbalism technique. Your trainer in Dalaran would be a good person to discuss this with.

The storyline at a glance

Legion Herbalism has 5 steps, from Aethril Sample to A Slip of the Hand.

Maps its steps are placed on (steps per map): Dalaran (3), Cathedral of Eternal Night (2).

Other storylines on the Dalaran map

Steps, storylines and map placement from the client’s QuestLine, prerequisite and QuestPOI data; neighbouring quest text is Blizzard’s own (quest API), shortened to its opening sentences.