How to start and complete the Azerothian Archives event in WoW Dragonflight

Let's start digging!

Draenei standing next to a telescope and looking at the camera
Image via Blizzard Entertainment

Azerothian Archives is a public event in World of Warcraft Dragonflight that takes place every hour in Traitor’s Rest. Here’s how to start and complete it.

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Unlike past Dragonflight world events and public scenarios, Azerothian Archives is a place to get transmogs and other cool cosmetic features, not catch-up gear. It’s not mandatory. If you don’t enjoy it, you can simply skip it. But if you’re up for the grind, you can get a new reputation called The Azerothian Archives (even though they are a part of Dragonscale Expedition). 

The Azerothian Archives event in WoW Dragonflight explained

The Azerothian Archives is a new event that features an introductory questline, the Big Dig event, world quests, and reputation. You first have to unlock it by completing the introductory questline, then you can jump straight into completing world quests, the Big Dig event, and farming your reputation. 

Complete the Big Dig event at least once a week, and then complete world quests to farm up reputation and get rewards. 

How to start the Azerothian Archives event in WoW Dragonflight

Quest scroll in Valdrakken and Zandalari Troll standing in front of it
Quest scrolls are found all over Valdrakken. Screenshot by Dot Esports

The Azerothian Archives event starts where everything begins this expansion—in Valdrakken. While in the capital city of dragons, look for flyers (or scrolls). They can be found scattered across Valdrakken (you can also see them on your mini-map). The quest is called Azerothian Archives! I found my quest in a building near Kaestraz in Cascade’s Edge, at 48.11, 81.63 coordinates. From what I’ve seen, the scroll disappears once you pick it up.

How to complete the Azerothian Archives event in WoW Dragonflight

Once you accept the Azerothian Archives! quest, head out to the Azerothian Archives area in Thaldraszus, under the Algeth’ar Academy subzone. Reach a big building and talk to Lead Archivist Eadweard Dalyngrigge inside at coordinates 61.51, 31.28. 

You can complete both weekly and world quests, and you first start with the following: The Big Dig: Traitor’s Rest, Excavation 101, and Technoscrying 101.

While The Big Dig: Traitor’s Rest is a weekly quest that sends you to Traitor’s Rest, Excavation 101 and Technoscrying 101 are right outside the building where you picked them up. These introductory quests are supposed to get you started on the base mechanics you’ll be using on your excavations. Complete these quests to unlock Azerothian Archives world quests on the Dragon Isles. 

This then unlocks Azerothian Archives event, reputation, and other quests.

All Azerothian Archives quests in WoW Dragonflight

Introductory questline

  • To the Archives!
  • Excavation 101
  • Your First Find
  • Hands-On Experience
  • Technoscrying 101
  • A Practical Test
  • I Can See Through Time!

World quests

There are three types of quests you’ll complete during Azerothian Archives—Technoscrying, Excavation, and Research. While Technoscrying asks you to put on specialized goggles and search for specific objects, Excavation has you using a fire totem and digging for big old chests. Finally, for research quests, you need to fly around the assigned area and find ghosts of the past. 

How to start and complete the Big Dig in WoW Dragonflight

Map of the Azure Span, showing the exact location of the Big Dig
The Big Dig takes place the Azure Span every hour. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Big Dig is an event in Traitor’s Rest in the Azure span every hour. The event starts, for example, at 11:30 and then 12:30. It’s marked by a big battle horn on the map in the Azure Span. Normally, it lasts 10 minutes.

Your goal at the Big Dig is to complete Eadweard’s tasks. You’ll be running errands for him, like digging, delivering items to NPCs, clearing out the area, you name it. You have to collect 1,000 pages, which you can track at the top of your screen. You can collect more than 1,000 pages per Big Dig. 

You can get the following rewards for completing tasks during the Big Dig:

  • Dusty Centaur Tome, Dusty Djaradin Tome, Dusty Dracthyr Tome, Dusty Drakonid Tome, Dusty Niffen Tome
  • Preserved Djaradin Tome, Preserved Dragonkin Tome, Preserved Isles Tome
  • Epic: Immaculate Tome

Each of these dusty old tomes can award you reputation or Mysterious Fragments.

A boss will spawn and you have to defeat it to get the following rewards:

  • Mysterious Fragment
  • Dragon Isles Supplies
  • Azerothian Archives reputation
  • (hopefully) a transmog item

Azerothian Archives rewards in WoW Dragonflight

Mounts

  • Clayscale Hornstrider Mount
  • Explorer’s Stonehide Packbeast Mount

Transmogs

  • Historian’s transmog items:
    • Historian’s Hefty Habersack
    • Historian’s Utility Belt
    • Historian’s Fingerless Gloves
    • Historian’s Dapper Cap
    • Historian’s Trousers
    • Historian’s Fitted Vest
    • Historian’s Striders
    • Historian’s Sash
  • Excavator’s transmog items:
    • Excavator’s Dusky Fedora
    • Excavator’s Glovelettes
    • Excavator’s Boots
    • Excavator’s Pack of Findings
    • Excavator’s Work Shirt
    • Excavator’s Trusty Satchel
    • Excavator’s Rugged Pants
  • Additional Cosmetic Rewards:
    • Archivist’s Reading Spectacles
    • Archivist’s Rose-Tinted Glasses
    • Archivist’s Elegant Bag
    • Archivist’s Magnifying Mace
    • Archivist’s Rockpuller
    • Archivist’s Pathfinder
    • Archivist’s “Light Touch”
    • Archivist’s Stone Chisel
    • Archivist’s Improvised Cudgel
    • Archivist’s Extravagant Lantern
    • Archivist’s Spelunking Torch
    • Archivist’s Sturdy Hook
    • Archivist’s Mining Pick
    • Archivist’s Super Scooper
Author
Image of Izabela Tomakic
Izabela Tomakic
Staff writer and World of Warcraft lead
Staff Writer & World of Warcraft lead. Izabela has a long history with writing and games like World of Warcraft, League of Legends, Fortnite, and The Sims. Before finding her home at Dot Esports in 2021, Izabela was an English teacher and a freelancer at Hotspawn, GGRecon, and Gameranx. In her free time, you’ll find her writing novels, wandering Azeroth, or inting on Summoner’s Rift.