12.1.5 Aqir Invasion - Complete Guide
What the Aqir loop actually is
12.1.5 ties a story, a world event, and a single-boss raid to the same insectoid push. The Aqir are in Eversong, Zul'Aman, and Silvermoon. The event is how you farm the new faction. The story is how you learn why they are here. The raid is where that story ends.
The invasion is not a rare spawn you wait on. It starts at the top of every hour, in one of the two zones, and that zone does not change until the weekly reset. If it is Eversong on Tuesday, it is Eversong until next Tuesday. Then it ping-pongs.
The story campaign
The campaign is the reason the invasion exists. Ula'tek's defeat woke something that had been held down. On the journal text, Kith'ix was restrained in the Vaults of Ula'tek by Ula'tek herself. With her gone, the C'Thraxxi general is back, and he is not only here for the Amani.
The PTR pass walks that into Eversong, Zul'Aman, and Silvermoon, then down into the vaults. The campaign achievement on the 12.1.5 build is The Promise of Tomorrow. The reward title is Light's Faithful. The last step of the story is the Kith'ix kill, and that quest is what pays the campaign chest.
- Hero item, neck or ring.
- Reputation with Zul'jarra's Forces.
- 10 Hero Mistcrests.
- Hiveborne Hearthstone.
Story mode counts. You do not have to clear Mythic to finish the quest. If you only want the hearthstone and the hero slot, kill him on the difficulty you can actually clear.
The Unbinding of Kith'ix
This is not a wing. It is a single-boss raid, journal instance The Unbinding of Kith'ix, fought with Lady Liadrin. On the build notes the door sits deeper in the vaults the story just walked you through. Difficulties are the normal raid set: Raid Finder, Normal, Heroic, Mythic, plus the story-mode kill for the quest.
There is no Glory meta and no extra raid feat in the 12.1.5 journal pass. The achievements that do exist are the kill credits.
| Achievement | What it is |
|---|---|
| Kith'ix | Kill on any difficulty |
| Heroic: Kith'ix | Heroic kill |
| Mythic: Kith'ix | Mythic kill |
| The Promise of Tomorrow | Finish the story. Title: Light's Faithful |
How an hour is built
Two phases. Phase one is the map. Fly to an invasion point, finish the objective, and the next point lights up. That chain runs for 10 minutes and it is hectic on purpose. You are not meant to park on one pack.
An objective is either combat or non-combat. Combat fills a bar by killing. Non-combat fills it by using the objects on the point. Only the combat points carry an affix. Once the 10 minutes are gone, phase two starts: a miniboss somewhere in the zone, up for 5 minutes, then gone.
You can ignore the objectives and just fly the rings in the air. A ring is 1 reputation, or 1–2 Voidlight Marl. The better play is to take the ring on the way into the point, so you get the fly-over and the objective. Completing the objective is about 35 reputation with Aqir Research Enclave. The ring is a snack. The objective is the meal.
Objectives and affixes
The 12.1.5 scenario list is six types, three combat and three non-combat. Combat points roll an affix. These are the ones that showed up on the PTR pass, with the build names next to them.
| Affix | What you actually do |
|---|---|
| Void Protection | A shield mob, the Voidweaver, covers every aqir near it. Kill that one first or the pack does not die. |
| Aqir Burrower | Circles crawl the ground. Stand in one and you get thrown. If you have no slow fall, glide, or toy, you die on the way down. |
| Void Sphere | Red orbs travel the point and fire. This is a dodge check, not a DPS check. |
| Swarms! | The aqir shrink. The bar fills fast. This is the free one. |
| Void Infestation | Mobs explode at a health threshold. Step out or eat the hit. |
| Astalor's Anguish | Anguish Crystals damage the aqir and you. Do not stand in the crystal just because it is also hurting the pack. |
| Aqir Elites | Fewer bodies, much harder. Do not pull the point like it is a swarm. |
| Web Weavers | Interrupt or get webbed. A missed kick is a dead objective timer. |
The 5-minute miniboss
When the chain ends, a miniboss spawns in the active zone and stays up for 5 minutes. Each one has its own kit. On the pass that was a self-shield with adds, a heavy AoE blast on a timer, and ground storms. Do not treat them as the same click. Read the first cast, then commit.
If the 5 minutes expire, that hour's boss reward is gone. You can still have farmed the objectives. You cannot go back for the boss. Be at the spawn when the chain ends, not in a city.
What a clear pays
Objective credit is about 35 reputation with Aqir Research Enclave. The miniboss is the payout.
| Clear | Reputation | Voidlight Marl | Crests | Extra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First of the week | 100 | 150 | 10 Champion Mistcrests | Aqir Research Satchel |
| Same day or same week again | 100 | 150 | 10 Champion Mistcrests | Aqir Research Token, no satchel |
| Air ring only | 1 | 1–2 | — | Take it on the way in, do not farm it alone |
| Objective | ~35 | — | — | Combat or object. Next point lights up. |
Aqir Research Satchel
Weekly. One per week. This is the cache people will log for.
- Champion gear, 1/6.
- 100 Coffer Key shards.
- 250 Voidlight Marl.
- 20 Hero Crests.
- 40 Champion Crests.
Matildeux Osril and the renown token
Matildeux Osril stands in Silvermoon next to the reputation vendor, on the new insectoid map icon. She is the catch-up, not the Enclave vendor. One Aqir Research Token buys 2,500 reputation with one of the five Midnight renown factions.
The five vouchers on her window:
- Silvermoon Court Voucher
- Amani Tribe Voucher
- Hara'ti Voucher
- Singularity Voucher
- Zul'jarra's Forces Voucher
Spend the token on the faction you are behind on, not on the one you already capped while doing the story. Zul'jarra also gets a bump from the Kith'ix quest, so it is often the wrong dump if that campaign is already done.
Aqir Research Enclave
This is the old bar. Neutral, Friendly, Honored, Revered, Exalted. The thresholds are short. The faction text on the build: bound by oath to Silvermoon, paladins studying the Aqir so the city is not caught unprepared.
| Step | Rep needed | Running total | What turns on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friendly | 500 | 500 | Dormant Brood Egg, Nourished Brood Eggs, pet Aqir Winggreaver |
| Honored | 1,000 | 1,500 | Dormant Brood Egg Cluster, Nourished Brood Egg Cluster, pet Aqir Scuttler |
| Revered | 1,500 | 3,000 | Dormant Clutch of Brood Eggs, Nourished Clutch of Brood Eggs, pet Aqir Razorwing |
| Exalted | 2,000 | 5,000 | Aqir Hunter's Trophy, Curse of the Aqir, mount Corrupted Swarmer |
Reaching the rank opens the row. Estelia Archtender in Silvermoon is who you pay. On the housing pass her pin is /way #2393 39.3 80.3, and the currency on her window is Voidlight Marl. Rank without Marl does not put the mount in your collection.
Curse of the Aqir
The exalted toy summons Aqir eggs. Breaking an egg releases scarab followers. The player in the group with the most followers turns into K'zithra the Ravager. It is a group toy, not a solo transmog button.
Corrupted Swarmer
Exalted mount. The mount text on the build: the Aqir swarmers feast on heroes and cowards alike to grow their ranks. Flying. This is the reason the faction exists for collectors.
Estelia Archtender, page by page
Prices from the PTR vendor window. Eggs are cheap. The pets, the toy, and the mount are the Marl sink.
| Item | Rank | Marl |
|---|---|---|
| Dormant Brood Egg | Friendly | 250 |
| Nourished Brood Eggs | Friendly | 250 |
| Aqir Winggreaver | Friendly | 1,000 |
| Dormant Brood Egg Cluster | Honored | 250 |
| Nourished Brood Egg Cluster | Honored | 250 |
| Aqir Scuttler | Honored | 1,000 |
| Dormant Clutch of Brood Eggs | Revered | 350 |
| Nourished Clutch of Brood Eggs | Revered | 350 |
| Aqir Razorwing | Revered | 2,000 |
| Aqir Hunter's Trophy | Exalted | 1,000 |
| Curse of the Aqir | Exalted | 2,500 |
| Corrupted Swarmer | Exalted | 2,500 |
Buying the whole window is 11,700 Voidlight Marl. The boss pays 150 a clear, the weekly satchel pays another 250, and the air rings pay 1–2 if you bother. Decor is a side purchase. The mount is the grind.
Pet text on the build, if you collect the journal lines: Scuttlers are the numerous ones. The two winged pets share a line about being fast, agile, and useful on a warm afternoon. Winggreaver is the Friendly pet. Razorwing is the Revered one.
Achievements
From the 12.1.5 achievement pass. The meta is the title.
| Achievement | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Aqir Research Associate | Exalted with Aqir Research Enclave | Exalted credit |
| No Hives Left Standing | All 6 scenarios at least once | Scenario credit |
| Driving Back the Swarm | Complete 10 invasions | Volume credit |
| Bane of the Swarm | Meta | Title: Bane of the Swarm |
Ten invasions is not ten hours of afk rings. Complete the hour, boss included, and it counts. Six scenarios means you cannot live on Swarms! and call the meta done. Take the ugly affixes when they are up.
How to actually run the week
- Finish the story through the vaults. Kill Kith'ix on story mode if that is all you need. Take the hero neck or ring, the Zul'jarra rep, the 10 Hero Mistcrests, and the Hiveborne Hearthstone.
- On reset, see which zone is live. Park there. The other zone is a waste of a flight path until next week.
- Be in the zone before the hour. Put a glide or slow fall on the bar for Burrower.
- Chain the points for 10 minutes. Fly the ring on the approach so you get both. Skip a dead travel if the next icon is already up.
- At 10 minutes, go to the miniboss. Five minutes is the whole window.
- First clear of the week: open the satchel. Champion 1/6, 100 Coffer Key shards, 250 Marl, 20 Hero Crests, 40 Champion Crests.
- Later clears: turn the token in to Matildeux before the 7 days run out. 2,500 into the renown you are short on.
- Buy eggs whenever. Save Marl for Winggreaver, then Scuttler, then Razorwing, then the 2,500 toy and the 2,500 mount once Exalted opens them.
