How to start and complete Awakening the Machine quest in WoW The War Within

The Awakening the Machine is a world event players can now join in the Ringing Deeps zone of World of Warcraft: The War Within. In this new event, you’re going to battle waves of enemies, all the while keeping Speaker Kuldas alive.

While this may sound easy, but it’s actually quite tough. And, there’s been confusion about how to start and complete the event. Here’s what you need to know.

How to start the Awakening the Machine world event in The War Within

To start the Awakening the Machine world quest in The War Within,  you must be at least Renown Three with the Assembly of the Deeps. Once you are, you can begin this quest by speaking with Speaker Kuldas outside of the Gundargaz Inn in the Ringing Deeps. More specifically, you’ll find him at the coordinates 47 and 31.

By speaking with the Speaker, you’re going to learn more about the Awakening the Machine event and can then choose the option to “begin maintenance,” which takes you to the instance where you’ll begin this world event.

How to complete the Awakening the Machine world event in The War Within

To complete the Awakening the Machine world event, protect Speaker Kuldas from waves of enemies. If Speaker Kuldas or you die, the event ends. (You can return and try again.)

There are 20 waves you’ll need to fend off, split into four sections. After every five waves, you can rest, recover, and either continue with the WoW waves or exit. If you choose to continue, the next set of waves will be progressively harder.

While completing this event, I found the hardest mobs to be:

• Malfunctioning Pylons—Their beam ability can’t be interrupted, and they can deal considerable damage to Kuldas. To stop this, stand in front of the beam and tank the damage, lure a mob to stand in the beam, and then take it down.
• Nullbot—It casts a Nullification Barrier on your enemies so they won’t take damage.
• Awakened Phalanx—This is the boss you face in the final wave. It slams into the ground which causes damage to you and Speaker Kuldas and causes cave-ins in the instance. So, kill him as quickly as possible.

It can be difficult to complete this event, so be sure to equip AoE abilities and interrupts. And if your class has minions and summons, you’ll find this event much easier to complete because they can deal damage or be used as fodder for the malfunctioning pylons.

Awakening the Machine Awakened Cache rewards

The rewards you earn during the Awakening the Machine get progressively better with every section you clear. There are four reward caches. Even better, they’re cumulative, meaning if you clear all 20, you’ll get all four chests, but if you clear 10 waves, you’ll only get two.

In all four chests, you’ll earn Valorstones and reputation with The Assembly of the Deeps, and in the waves five and 15 chests, you’ll also earn Resonance Crystals. Any chest has a chance of dropping the Machine Defense Unit 1-11 mount and if you clear all 20 waves in one run, you’ll get the “It’s Not Much, But It’s Honest Work” achievement.

Unable to start Awakening the Machine

If you can’t start the Awakening the Machine event, check your reputation level with the Assembly of the Deeps; ensure your Renown is at least level three. If it isn’t, complete more quests and find more treasures in the Ringing Deeps.

Players have also reported they can’t start the Awakening the Machine event if they’re completing the Renown 11 quest in Hallowfall. This is because it takes you to the Ringing Deeps and Speaker Kuldas, the NPC you must speak with to start the Awakening the Machine. So, if you want to enjoy the Awakening the Machine world event, avoid this renown quest and earning Renown with the Arathi until this bug’s fixed.