BWL plan
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SHORT ANSWER
Farm 15 Blackwing Abyss Cores for the recommended Druid setup.
10 for all eight DragonChaser armor pieces + 1 for Cloak of Draconic Mastery + 4 for Neltharion’s Tear. Bugliar’s Hand costs zero BWL cores. Do not add the 8-core Staff of Shadow Flame unless you intentionally want it as a backup or quest piece.
Core totals by category
If you also transform Staff of Shadow Flame: add 8 cores, bringing the total to 23. Shadow Wing is a cheaper 2-core fallback, but Bugliar’s Hand is the better target for Chef.
DragonChaser armor: exact 10-core bill
DragonChaser is the complete Blackwing tier set shared by Hunter and Druid. Chest and legs cost two cores; every other slot costs one.
| Order | Slot | Item | Normal drop | BWL cores | Why this order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chest | DragonChaser’s Breastplate | Nefarian · Black spire-2 | 2 | Largest armor slot |
| 2 | Legs | DragonChaser’s Legguards | Glinthor/Sephidor · Black spire-2 | 2 | Second large slot |
| 3 | Head | DragonChaser’s Helm | Noyxia · Princess’ Lair | 1 | High-value slot |
| 4 | Shoulder | DragonChaser’s Spaulders | Gorthos · Black spire-2 | 1 | High-value slot |
| 5 | Hands | DragonChaser’s Gauntlets | Naz · Black spire-1 | 1 | Damage slot |
| 6 | Feet | DragonChaser’s Greaves | Razorgore · Black spire-1 | 1 | Complete strong six-piece shell |
| 7 | Wrist | DragonChaser’s Bracers | Gor the breeder · Black spire-1 | 1 | Smaller slot |
| 8 | Waist | DragonChaser’s Belt | Vaz the Corrupted · Black spire-1 | 1 | Smaller slot |
| Full set | 10 | All eight transformed | |||
Set bonuses you are preserving
+50 STA and +150 Shadow Resistance.
+200 Shadow Resistance, +500 STR & AGI, Nature Guard +15% attack speed.
+3% Critical Chance and +20% Critical Damage.
Cloak, trinket, and weapon
Cloak of Draconic Mastery
Item level 85, Druid-compatible. Drops from Gorthos in Black spire-2. This is the cloak to transform, not the weaker item-level-80 Cloak of Firemaw.
Neltharion’s Tear
Epic item-level-85 caster trinket from Naz in Black spire-1. Effect: +120 Hit & Expertise; abilities can grant +600 Spell Power for 6 seconds.
Bugliar’s Hand
Legendary item-level-90 quest weapon. +8% damage dealt and a high-chance Fire proc equal to 80% of primary stat. This is Chef’s recommended pre-AQ weapon target.
Staff of Shadow Flame
Epic item-level-89 staff from Nefarian. Useful as an alternate and in Yrel’s quest chain, but do not spend eight cores on it before completing the 15-core armor/cloak/trinket package.
Firelord Essence for Bugliar’s Hand
QUEST ITEMFirelord Essence
Firelord Essence I0010029
The quest prose says Ignavarr, while the current boss table displays Nefarian. The actual current drop rows put Firelord Essence on the final Nefarian encounter in Black spire-2.
If normal Black spire-2 is easier, Nefarian’s normal rows also list Firelord Essence. Abyss is better when you can clear it because it also places the BWL core in the drop table.
The farming order
- 1
[Abyss] Black spire-2 first
Nefarian: Firelord Essence, Breastplate, Staff; Gorthos: Spaulders and cloak; Glinthor/Sephidor: Legguards. This wing covers 7 of the recommended 15 core spend and the quest blocker.
- 2
[Abyss] Black spire-1 second
Naz: Neltharion’s Tear and Gauntlets; Gor: Bracers; Vaz: Belt; Razorgore: Greaves.
- 3
[Abyss] Black castle / Princess’ Lair
Noyxia for DragonChaser’s Helm and more Blackwing Core chances.
- 4
Transform in impact order
Chest → Legs → Head → Shoulder → Hands → Feet → Wrist → Belt → Cloak → Neltharion’s Tear.
Is DragonChaser current pre-AQ best in slot?
Before Ancient Temple
DragonChaser is the complete item-level-80 Blackwing armor tier for Druid/Hunter, with an eight-piece crit package. Together with Bugliar’s Hand, Cloak of Draconic Mastery and Neltharion’s Tear, it is the correct pre-AQ target set.
Ancient Temple / AQ
The next Druid/Hunter armor is the five-piece BattleGear / Beastmaster tier at item levels 91–94. It uses Ancient Temple Abyss Core I0030055, not Blackwing cores.
| AQ piece | Item level | AQ cores |
|---|---|---|
| BattleGear Helmet | 91 | 1 |
| BattleGear Shoulderplates | 91 | 1 |
| BattleGear Chestguard | 94 | 2 |
| BattleGear Legguards | 94 | 2 |
| BattleGear Boots | 94 | 1 |
| Total next-tier armor | — | 7 AQ cores |
Investment ceiling: because AQ is now live, stop BWL spending at the recommended 15. Do not spend another eight BWL cores on Staff of Shadow Flame unless you need it for a specific quest/loadout. The AQ five-piece will replace DragonChaser head, shoulder, chest, legs and feet; DragonChaser wrist, hands and belt remain useful filler while the transition happens.