Steel Gate Patrol

Quest Giver: Steel Gate Chief Archaeologist — Steel Gate, Howling Fjord (southern rim of the dig site)

Objective: Patrol Steel Gate in a flying machine and slay 8 Gjalerbron Gargoyles.

Quick Facts

• Level: 71
• Type: Daily
• Faction: Alliance
• Chain Position: 3 of 3 — See to the Operations → I’ve Got a Flying Machine! → Steel Gate Patrol (daily)

Walkthrough

Board the Flying Machine

• Accept the quest from the Chief Archaeologist on the southern edge of Steel Gate, then hop into a nearby flying machine. This time, the machine is fitted with weapons instead of the grappling hook from the previous quest.

Find and Kill the Gargoyles

• The targets are Gjalerbron Gargoyles, Scourge constructs that patrol the airspace around the dig site. Once airborne, they appear as red circles on your minimap. They’re scattered across the area, with a heavy concentration directly above the excavation pit.
• The flying machine has two weapons:
  • Rocket (button 4): Burst damage, best used as an opener.
  • Machine Gun (button 3): Channeled sustained fire, use after the rocket to finish targets off.
• You do not need to be directly facing an enemy for your attacks to connect. Open with the rocket, then channel the machine gun for efficient kills.

Return and Turn In

• After killing 8 gargoyles, land near the Chief Archaeologist and dismount to turn in. The quest resets daily.

Efficiency Tips

• This pairs well with Break the Blockade, the other Howling Fjord Alliance daily given by Cannoneer Ely at Westguard Keep’s zeppelin docks. Both are quick, so knock them out together on your daily circuit.
• The gargoyle density is high enough that you won’t need to hunt far. Circle the dig site, and you’ll have 8 kills in a few minutes.
• As a daily, this provides repeatable Explorers’ League reputation if you’re working toward that grind.

Lore Context

• The gargoyles are specifically from Gjalerbron (pronounced “Shalerbron”), a vrykul fortress in the mountains north of Steel Gate, where the Scourge is awakening slumbering vrykul and raising the dead. The gargoyles harassing the excavation are just the leading edge of that threat.
• The full Gjalerbron quest chain (Dealing With Gjalerbron, Necro Overlord Mezhen, Queen Angerboda, etc.) picks up from Westguard Keep and takes you directly into the fortress.

Explore Howling Fjord’s hidden easter eggs, lore mysteries, and connections across Warcraft history in Vikstone’s Howling Fjord Chronicles, along with the complete quest storyline.