Scourge Tactics

Quest Giver: Crusade Commander Entari — Argent Vanguard, Icecrown [87, 75]

Objective: Free 8 Webbed Crusaders from nerubian cocoons in the Valley of Echoes.

Quick Facts

• Location: Valley of Echoes, just west of the Argent Vanguard [~83, 74]
• Chain Position: 2 of many in the Crusaders’ Pinnacle chain. One of three quests available simultaneously after Honor Above All Else.
• Pairs With: Defending The Vanguard and Curing The Incurable, both active in overlapping areas.

Walkthrough

The Cocoon Mechanic

• Webbed Crusaders are scattered across the field west of the Argent Vanguard around [83, 74]. They look like nerubian cocoons stuck to the ground.
• Cocoons have only 1 HP, so any hit will break them open. However, not all contain crusaders. Many spawn a hostile Forgotten Depths Ambusher instead, and others are simply empty.
• A successful open spawns Webbed Crusader Freed, the NPC your counter tracks.
• When an ambusher spawns, you’ll be knocked back. The ambushers are manageable but annoying if you’re chain-opening cocoons.

Identifying Cocoon Contents

• Shadow trick: With Shadow Quality set to High, cocoons containing nerubians cast a larger, spidery silhouette on the ground. Crusader cocoons have a smaller or more humanoid shadow. At lower settings, size differences may still be visible.
• Hunters: Use Track Undead. Ambusher cocoons will show as undead on your minimap; crusader cocoons will not.
• Paladins: Sense Undead works the same way as Track Undead for hunters.
• Druids (Feral): Faerie Fire on a cocoon will pop an ambusher out without the knockback. If a crusader is inside, it counts as freeing them.
• Mages: Living Bomb provides a tell. If the cocoon explodes instantly on application, it’s an ambusher. If the DoT ticks normally first, it’s a crusader or empty.
• Warriors: Attempt to Charge the cocoon. If it fails with “no path available,” it’s likely an ambusher.

Freed Crusader Buffs

• Successfully freed crusaders cast a healing spell on you (roughly 5,000 to 7,000 HP) and grant a class-appropriate Blessing:
  • Melee: Blessing of Might (~350 AP)
  • Casters: Blessing of Wisdom
  • Some report receiving Blessing of Kings (+10% all stats) instead
• These buffs last 30 minutes and stack with your own class buffs.

Efficiency Tips

• The fastest approach: run between cocoons hitting each one once, then keep moving. If an ambusher spawns, ignore it and move on. The freed crusader’s heal will pull aggro from any trailing mobs.
• The freed crusader’s Holy Light puts you in combat, so mount or stealth before that cast finishes.
• Pet classes (Hunters, Warlocks, Death Knights): Set your pet to Passive before opening cocoons. If your pet breaks the cocoon instead of you, the crusader may not count as freed. You must land the hit yourself.
• Ranged is not just safer, it changes the result. A cocoon that aggros you before your hit lands tends to open on an ambusher, which is why closing to melee produces so many spiders. The working rule is that the cocoon must die in one hit and must not aggro first. Channeled spells and damage-over-time effects fail both tests, so Siphon Life and similar abilities free nobody. Instant single-hit abilities from range are the answer, and even a low-skill ranged weapon works because the cocoon is level 1. Paladins can use Hand of Reckoning.
• The 30-minute buff from freed crusaders is strong enough that some players intentionally delay turning in this quest, returning to open cocoons for a free buff before tackling harder content in Icecrown or Storm Peaks.
• Complete this alongside Defending The Vanguard and Curing The Incurable, as all three operate in the Valley of Echoes area.

Lore Context

• The Forgotten Depths Ambushers hiding in the cocoons are Anub’ar nerubians, surfacing through underground tunnels connected to the kingdom of Azjol-Nerub. Their ability to emerge behind Crusade lines is a recurring problem throughout the Valley of Echoes and Scourgeholme quest chains.
• The Scourge’s tactic of using living prisoners as shields to silence Argent artillery is a calculated strategy, not mindless undead aggression. It reflects the Lich King’s intelligence as a military commander and sets the tone for Icecrown as a zone where the enemy adapts and counters.

Easter Egg

The quest name plays on Scare Tactics, the Sci Fi prank show.

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