WoW Earthcrawl Mines Delve Guide

The War Within's release brings a variety of new features. One of them is the Delves system, which we have been waiting for since its announcement. It serves as a dynamic, role-flexible mode for 1-5 players to participate in. In this article, we have prepared a detailed WoW Earthcrawl Mines Delve guide to cover the first of 12 of them.

What is Earthcrawl Mines in The War Within?

Earthcrawl Mines is the only Delve that players will have to complete as a part of The War Within campaign. It serves as the introductory activity to let you get acquainted with the mode’s basics. Just like other Delves, Earthcrawl Mines has three variants rotating every day in real time:

• Kidnapped Earthen
• Precious Ores
• Fiery Grounds

Despite having a strict rotation, all three variants have the same theme. They are built around dodging Nerubs’ web. Touching it will make your character move 50% slower and summon 1-3 spiders every 3 seconds if you keep standing in it. The main enemies you will encounter within Earthcrawl Mines are Nerubians and other arachnids.

Earthcrawl Mines Location

Earthcrawl Mines location can be found in the far south of the Isle of Dorn, near Freywold Village. You can easily get there by following these coordinates – 38.5, 73.9. Being an introductory Delve, it is impossible to miss out on this activity if you are moving through the main storyline. Later on, we will add a map showing how to find Earthcrawl Mines Delve.

How to Do Earthcrawl Mines in The War Within

While Earthcrawl Mines is the very first Delve you encounter, it has a few intricate mechanics. Depending on what variant is in the rotation, your tactics will change slightly. In the following part of the guide, we explain how to do Earthcrawl Mines in each of the three variants.

Note: Remember that the difficulty and rewards obtained depend on the chosen tier. The higher the tier, the better the loot. Your choice also influences the gameplay, as enemies will have more HP and deal higher damage.

Later in our Earthcrawl Mines guide, we will describe all the tiers available and the requirements for choosing each one. BLOG20

Kidnapped Earthen

You are given a Webbed Hookshot, allowing you to grapple to various hook points scattered throughout the Delve. The main task is to rescue kidnapped Earthen trapped by Nerubians. Once freed, they will climb into a cart and slowly move deeper into the mine along the tracks.

In this version of the Delve, there will be no roaming enemies during the first two of the four stages. Instead, the area is filled with passages and twists made of indestructible Nerubian webbing. This is where you can experiment with the strategies, such as: 

• Complete the Delve quickly by rushing through the web and tanking all enemies spawning.
• Carefully progress through the Delve, avoiding each web and actively using the Webbed Hookshot to avoid enemies spawning.

No matter what tactics you choose, there will be a few scripted ambushes. Dealing with them is a part of the Earthcrawl Mines walkthrough, and it is impossible to avoid these encounters.

Next, you are tasked with escorting the cart with the rescued Earthen to the surface. The tunnel ahead is teeming with Nerubians that must be cleared to make a path to the exit. After dealing with them, you will encounter the final boss, Web General Ab'enar. Periodically, he will cover the entire arena with webs, except for the tracks, and summon a blazing cart along one of two paths. Defeating him completes the Delve while opening a room with a reward behind his corpse.

Precious Ores

This variant of Earthcrawl Mines The War Within might seem more difficult compared to the previous one. You will encounter numerous Nerubian eggs and actively moving miner carts that deal significant damage and can knock players down. Getting hit by these carts can kill both players and Nerubians. Stepping on the eggs will cause them to burst, revealing Nerubian webbing that disappears after 20 seconds.

The explosion of one egg can trigger a chain reaction, bursting nearby eggs, and after the webbing vanishes, all the eggs will reappear. Since each egg is considered a separate target, you can cycle through them by pressing the "Tab" key. It can make the fight with multiple enemies even harder.

The objective here is to mine ore, which is vital for the Earthen since ore equals food. Throughout the stages, you will encounter several patrolling groups of Nerubians, but not as many as in the third version of the Delve.

Compared to the first variant of the Delve, you do not see these many eggs here. Instead, you encounter a ton of impassable clumps of Nerubian webbing. Next to each of them, you will spot a living Earthen. Saving them is only possible if you have freshly mined ore serving as food for them.

Keep moving further until you reach the final boss, Web General Ab'enar, again. His mechanics remain unchanged. Once you slay the boss, the Delve is considered complete. Go ahead and reap the rewards waiting for you in a separate room!

Fiery Grounds

In the final variant of the Delve, you are given a Sacred Torch Flamethrower, allowing you to burn away webs. The story of this expedition involves rescuing captured Lamplighters who chased the Nerubians and nearly reached the surface. The flamethrower is a channeled ability you can activate by pressing an additional action button. It has no cooldown and can be used while moving at full speed. It burns all webs in front of the character and significantly damages all enemies in a cone.

For the first two stages, the tasks are straightforward:

• Burn X% of the webbing in the areas
• Beat all Nerubians on your way
• Survive a few Nerubian ambushes

In the next stage, you need to do the same but also free the Lamplighters trapped in webbing, either manually in 1.5 seconds or instantly with the flamethrower. Keep slaying Nerubians and burn the webbing until you reach Web General Ab'enar, the final boss of the Delve. Just like before, he features the same mechanics and abilities to play around.

Earthcrawl Mines Tiers

Depending on how well you are prepared, you can tackle different Earthcrawl Mines tiers in The War Within. Entering higher tiers requires a specific ilvl of gear. In return, you can get better rewards and more Companion Experience. Leveling up your Delve buddy is the key to completing harder tiers in the future.

As the developers promise, completing the tiers higher than 8 does not grant better loot. You might want to finish them for achievement purposes only. Thanks to our complete Earthcrawl Mines walkthrough, you will reach this threshold in a jiffy. BLOG20

Earthcrawl Mines Rewards

Earthcrawl Mines rewards are tied to specific tiers and can never be predicted in advance. So far, we only know about several treasure categories waiting for you at the end of each Delve. Here is a list of possible Earthcrawl Mines loot you can expect to get:

• Gold
• Cosmetics
• Resplendent Keys
• Other currencies

By opening Resplendent Chests with Resplendent Keys, you can earn the most valuable rewards, including gear. While this equipment is weaker compared to what you can get from group activities, it is worth your attention. It can be compared to gear you earn from Heroic Raids or M+ keys. The maximum ilvl of gear you can obtain in Delves is capped at 616 in Season 1 of The War Within.

Earthcrawl Mines Achievements

For completing Earthcrawl Mines, you can get several achievements tied to this Delve:

• Earthcrawl Mines Stories – Complete all three variants of Earthcrawl Mines.
• Earthcrawl Mines Discoveries – Uncover and open all Sturdy Chests scattered around Earthcrawl Mines.

The first achievement from the list will count toward Delve Loremaster: War Within. The latter is also a must-have requirement for Glory of the Delver. Finishing this chain of achievements will grant you access to the unique Ivory Goliathus mount.

Conclusion

To sum up our WoW Earthcrawl Mines guide, it looks like a promising Delve made in a Nerubian theme. Thanks to the three variants available, it offers space for replayability for players of all gear levels. Despite being an introductory Delve, it offers generous rewards as you progress through the tiers. As we learn more details, we will update this article to provide you with a detailed strategy for each Delve’s variant. This is it for now, heroes, and we will see you in Azeroth!

F.A.Q.