Dun, da dun dun, da da da!  Dun, da dun da! Dun da da da da!

So first off, let’s begin with the basics, what is Archaeology (within World of Warcraft at least), and what purpose does it serve? Archaeology is the new secondary profession that gives players who aren’t so interested in instancing or raids something else to sink their time into aspire to complete.  Thus far, what information I do have on Archaeology has essentially led me to believe that through Archaeology players can gain experience, different easter eggs, and possibly even powerful gear!

Sounds great!  So how does it work?
Well I’m glad you’re interested!  Players can obtain the Archaeology skill at level 20, but they may run into some problems.  You see, the great part about Archaeology is that you in no way have to compete with other players!  No longer must you hope to find a mining node before another player, or fish up something from a pond with a limited number of uses.  Archaeology is solely based upon you.

The downside to this is that digs are spawned somewhat randomly around Azeroth (and eventually Outlands), which can amount to a lot of travel time.  The shovels on my map are zones that I currently am able to prospect!  Depending on the location of the available dig, you will receive different artifact fragments.  For example, in Ashenvale you will find Night Elf fragments, where as in Un’Goro Crater you will find fossils.  More on fragments in a moment however.  It should be noted checking your map after every dig despawns is a good idea, the new spawn can be right next to you!

Okay, I found a spot, what do I do now? A good question, perhaps we should bring in a specialist?

Seriously though, it involves a lot of digging and patience.  When you enter a currently available digsite you want to use your “Survey” ability.  Doing so will spawn a telescope and colored light, as seen below.

Professor DigDug, Master of Excavation.

Note the direction of the telescope, and the color of the light next to it.  The direction of the telescope will point you towards your fragment.  The color of the light determines your distance from the target.  Red means you’ve got quite a ways to go, yellow means you’re getting warmer, and green means you’re not far, maybe 5-7 character lengths (in length, not height) from the goods. If your telescope suddenly switches to the opposite direction, you’ve simply gone a few paces too far.

One thing to watch out for is when your light is red, the fragment isn’t necessarily in a straight line following the telescope.  I’ve once had a red one, gone forward for a few seconds while mounted, and then surveyed again to have the direction change by 90 degrees.  It tends to happen when you’re near the edge of the digsite, and you’ll just get a feel for it after awhile.  Another important note is that, as of my current 300+ digs, I’ve never had a fragment end up underwater, even in digsites where the available area was almost entirely composed of a body of water.  Eventually you’ll survey up a fragment, and then you’re in business.

Fragments, What’s All This Then?! Right then, so as I mentioned earlier depending on the area you excavate, you’ll recieve a fragment.  Actually, you will recieve 1-6 fragments per dig, and each location has a total of 3 possible digsites before excavating there is no longer available for the time being.  Anyways, there are all sorts of them, and every fragment you find will be cataloged within your Archaeology tab (simply click on the Archaeology button to pull up said log).  Now, with these fragments you can “Solve”, which essentially means redeem, ancient artifacts of whatever race you currently have selected.  Let’s have a look below to get an idea of what I’m talking about.

As you can see, the panel shows what race you have selected, the rarity of the artifact you can currently solve, and how many fragments you need until you can solve it.  In other words, I’m currently working on a Common Night Elf artifact, and I currently have 2 out of the required 35 fragments I need to obtain it.  Now perhaps you’re thinking to yourself: “Wow, that’s going to require a lot of digging to fully skill up!”  Well, you’re right, it will require a lot of digging, but luckily there are some shortcuts.

Solving an Artifact actually gives you 5 points in Archaeology rather than the standard 1, which Surveying will give up to Skill Point 100.  Let me make this very clear, past 100 you will recieve no more skill points from obtaining fragments, only by Solving them will you be able to progress.  Thus, its fairly obvious that it is recommended to not solve anything until you naturally hit skill point 100.  You’re going to be doing a ton of digging after 100 anyways, so you might as well get some skill points out of it.

Another great shortcut at your disposal is Keystones.  You will naturally find keystones while excavating fragments, and you will soon come to love them for their purpose.  See that empty hexagon under the progress bar in the above picture?  By placing the proper keystone into the socket, the number of fragments you will use to solve an Artifact will be lowered.  These are very handy when dealing with uncommon or rare artifacts, which can require hundreds of fragments!  (They do also tend to have multiple keystone slots available, so you can save more than just 12 fragments.)  Nifty, huh?

In Conclusion… Well, that about sums it up.  You now have a basic understanding of how Archaeology works, and what few helpful tips I could give.  While Archaeology is clearly a huge undertaking, a lot of fun can be had with it too.  Its a great thing to do when you can only play for a short period of time, or just want to relieve stress.  Not to mention the payload!  Those with a high enough sense of determination and endurance can expect to find fun easter eggs (like a mirror that creates a clone of yourself), tons of easy experience points, gear, and even mounts!  I hope you found this guide helpful, and I encourage you to comment if you have any thoughts or questions.  With that, I’m off to study for a Chemistry Final.  If only my exams had in depth guides…

TL:DR Tips!

• Archaeology is the newest secondary profession that gives cool rewards and great experience.
• The direction your Telescope is facing is the direction that the Fragment is from your location.
• Red = Far Away, Yellow = Getting Warmer, Green = You’re Close, Move Around Just A Bit.
• Sometimes your facing may “randomly” change if the artifact is far away and near a border.
• Don’t “Solve” any Artifact until Skill Point 100.
• You will receive certain Fragments based on what zone/location you’re digging in.
• Check your map after you finish excavating a location, a new one may have spawned not far away.
• You won’t find anything Underwater, try searching islands or strips of land near the sites’ border.
• Use Keystones to conserve Fragments.
• Have fun, its not hard!