How to Complete Awakening the Machine in WoW: The War Within

Awakening the Machine is a new weekly activity available to max level characters in WoW‘s latest expansion, which offers rewards like Resonance Crystals and potentially even a mount! You’ll want to be completing this as soon as you can, so here’s how to unlock and complete the Awakening the Machine activity in WoW: The War Within.

How to Unlock Awakening the Machine in WoW: The War Within

To access Awakening the Machine, you’ll need two things. Firstly, a level 80 character and secondly to have reached rank 3 with the Assembly of the Deeps Faction. This is an easily available faction reward, so you’ll likely achieve it simply by finishing the story campaign in the Ringing Deeps.

Once you’re ready, you can start the activity simply by talking to Speaker Kuldas in front of the inn in Gundargaz. He’ll be standing next to a marquee, possibly with some chests in front of it, and near to an unmanned Earthen mech.

How does Awakening the Machine work in WoW: The War Within

After beginning the activity you’ll be teleported into the arena. Speaker Kuldas will stand in the center and you can speak with him to begin the waves. These start slow but ramp up,pausing for a break every 5. Depending on your class, spec, and gear level you should be able to clear at least level 15 easily enough. Below is a list of each of the enemies and when they begin to spawn.

In the first five waves you’ll meet these basic enemies:

• Swarmbots – These should be aggro’ed to stop them attacking Kuldas, but are otherwise not a priority.
• Corrupted Machinist – Casters who channel a damaging beam against Kuldas, interrupting them kills them instantly so do it as soon as possible.
• Explosive Bomberbot – As you might imagine, these explode. Try not to damage them or move too close until you gather enemies up into a group around them, as their explosive AoE can help do your job for you.

Then from wave 6-10, new mobs appear:

• Automatic Ironstrider – These large Earthen mecha are fairly tough and hit hard, as well as debuffing you with Volatile Magma. This is a DoT effect that drops a pool on expiry, so make sure you’re well away from Kuldas when it goes off. If you dispel it, it still drops the pool but also sends out magma waves in a cross pattern, so mind your positioning.
• Malfunctioning Pylon – A static enemy that channels a beam towards Kuldas, but this time they’re not interruptible. You’ll need to kill it fast, but can also stand in front of the beam to block it if you’re able to tank the damage. Enemies caught in the way will also block the beam, but this can be tricky to line up and you may be better served just killing them instead.

Then from 11-15 you’ll encounter:

• Nullbot – These enemies set up and shield others, making them invulnerable. In busier waves they’ll often shield something useless like a Swarmbot, but it’s best to kill them quickly just in case.
• Medbot – These enemies are actually quite useful to have, because they drop a potion on death that heals both you and Kuldas for 10% max health when walked over. They also channel a heal for enemies enemies, but it has a short range and you can kite the main group away from them. Still, if things get hectic it may be difficult to keep track of them so getting them out of the way is never bad.

Finally, on wave 20 you’ll meet:

• Awakened Phalanx – This is the ‘boss’ of the encounter that appears at the final wave. It can use Bellowing Slam to deal damage and spawn lots of AoE’s, as well as use a charge that can stun you. His charge is fairly slow, however, so if you get some distance you should be able to move out of the way in time. Burst him down and the maximum reward is yours.

If you struggle, you can also find Toolboxes in snuffling patches (purple glowing bits of dirt around the Deeps) once you’ve reached level 7 with the Assembly. These are consumables that allow you to pick a powerful buff for the activity, though they are one-time use only.

What Rewards can you get from Awakening the Machine in WoW: The War Within?

Upon clearing waves 5, 10, 15, and 20 chests will appear outside by Kuldas. These chests contain the general purpose currency Resonance Crystals, Assembly of the Deeps reputation, Valorstones for upgrading gear, and Carved Harbinger Crests for the season. You also have a chance to earn gear, transmog pieces, and even a mount called Machine Defense Unit 1-11, one of the Earthen mech suits, so to maximize your chances you’ll want to finish this each week on all of your eligible characters.

If you enjoyed this guide or found it helpful, please check out some of Siliconera’s other guides like How to Clear the Stonevault Dungeon, or How to Open the Dusty Prospector’s Chest Treasure.

WoW: The War Within launches on August 22, 2024, for owners of the epic edition and August 26, 2024, for owners of other editions. The main game is immediately available for PC and Mac.