Arrival of the Naaru

Arrival of the Naaru is a rare archaeology artifact of the draenei race, added to World of Warcraft in the Cataclysm expansion (patch 4.0.3, November 23, 2010). It is a magical crystal projector that, when used, plays a short scene: a naaru appears in the air, and several eredar slowly approach it. According to the item's description, the recording was made in a "language you cannot fully decipher" and presumably captures the first meeting of the eredar with a naaru — the event after which part of the eredar people embraced the Light and became the draenei.

Unlike ordinary archaeology artifacts, which turn into gray "junk" for sale after being studied, Arrival of the Naaru goes into your Toy Box and stays in your collection forever. The effect is purely cosmetic, with a 3-minute cooldown on use.

• A unique lore scene. This is one of the few toys that don't transform your character or grant an emote, but literally play a mini-scene from Warcraft history. For fans of lore and the draenei race, it's a must-have exhibit in your collection.
• Account-wide status. After a single creation through archaeology, the toy unlocks for your entire account. All of your characters receive it in their Toy Box, with no need to farm it again.
• Boosts your collection counter. It counts toward all collector meta-achievements: It's a Toy, Toy Soldier, and the larger achievements for 200 and 300 items.
• Part of a "paired" set of rare draenei artifacts. The second rare draenei find is the Last Relic of Argus, which teleports you to a random point in the world. If you've taken up the draenei branch of archaeology, it makes sense to close out both rarities in one digging run.
• Bonus — side loot. Digging in Outland at the maximum Midnight level (90) goes one strike at a time with no mob resistance and simultaneously yields ordinary draenei artifacts to sell, as well as Draenei Tomes, which speed up the completion of future projects.

The toy is obtained only through the Archaeology profession — it cannot be bought at the auction house, looted from a mob, or traded. Arrival of the Naaru belongs to the "rare find" category: it appears in your project list at random as you accumulate draenei fragments.

Step 1. Level Archaeology to 300

Rare draenei artifacts require an Archaeology skill of 300 or higher. You can raise it with any Archaeology trainer in the capitals of the Alliance or Horde and then by digging. At the maximum Midnight level (90), a character levels Archaeology from 1 to 300 in a couple of hours of focused work — the old continents require no effort, and mobs and combat don't get in the way.

If you're only just starting the profession, it's most convenient to level across the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor continents (night elf, troll, dwarf, and fossil fragments), and from 300 — move on to Outland for draenei digs.

Step 2. Fly to Outland

Draenei dig sites are located only in Outland — other continents yield no draenei finds. The dig map constantly changes: up to four sites per character are open at once within a single "macro-region," and once one site is exhausted it closes, while a new one appears somewhere on the map.

The Outland zones in which draenei dig sites appear:

For speed, open a portal to Shattrath — this city sits in the center of Outland, and from it you can conveniently fly around several zones at once. A mage or your own hearthstone bound to Shattrath through the inn saves dozens of minutes.

Step 3. Excavate every available dig site

Each dig site contains 6 nodes per digging session, after which it disappears and is replaced by a new one. Use the Survey ability to triangulate the find location and dig until the dig site is exhausted.

Each successful dig yields 3–6 draenei fragments, and sometimes a Draenei Tome. This book is a key that replaces 12 fragments when completing a project. Save them for rare artifacts.

Coordinates for a typical dig site in Shadowmoon Valley (the exact location changes):

Step 4. Complete the rare project

"Arrival of the Naaru" appears in the Archaeology window at random once you have accumulated 124 draenei fragments or more and the project "rolls" among the ordinary ones. The chance of a rare project on each roll is small (around 10–15%), so on average players complete 5–15 ordinary draenei artifacts before a rare one comes up.

To save fragments, use Draenei Tomes — in the completion window you can insert up to three keys, each replacing 12 fragments. With three books, Arrival of the Naaru is solved in just 88 fragments instead of 124.

When the project appears — complete it with the "Solve" button. The toy drops into your inventory as a BoP item; activate it with a right-click to add it to your Toy Box.

• Effect: a naaru appears in the air in front of your character, three eredar approach it, and then the scene fades. The effect is purely visual; no buffs or debuffs are applied.
• Scene duration: about 10–12 seconds.
• Cooldown: 3 minutes. The cooldown is individual, not shared with other toys.
• Where it works: in the open world, cities, and dungeons. On battlegrounds and arenas the effect may be suppressed, like most cosmetic toys.
• Stacking: it doesn't conflict with other cosmetic toys — it can be combined with transformations or other scenes.
• In the Toy Box forever: after the first activation the toy stays in your Toy Box and is available to all characters on the account.