Shard of the Black Empire — Transmog Set Guide

Shard of the Black Empire is an epic one-handed dagger added to World of Warcraft in the Battle for Azeroth expansion (patch 8.3 "Visions of N'Zoth"). It is a raid weapon from the expansion's final raid, Ny'alotha, the Waking City.

The blade is steeped in Old God aesthetics: its core is a massive spike of dark, organic tissue laced with crimson and violet veins. Distinctive "eye" growths run along the length of the blade, and bony spurs splay out from the crossguard — the weapon looks less forged than grown from N'Zoth's own flesh. A cold glow around the grip underscores the item's otherworldly nature.

The Shard of the Black Empire drops in the raid Ny'alotha, the Waking City from the eleventh encounter, "Carapace of N'Zoth." Technically the drop is tied to the in-game entity Fury of N'Zoth, which serves as the primary target of that fight.

Key drop details:

• Location: the raid Ny'alotha, the Waking City, 11th encounter ("Carapace of N'Zoth").
• Difficulty: the item drops on every mode — from Raid Finder to Mythic — and the transmog appearance is shared across them.
• Drop chance: roughly 13–14% per kill with personal loot.
• Attempt limit: one kill per character per week on each difficulty.
• Binding: the item becomes soulbound on pickup and cannot be sold at the auction house.

How to enter the raid:

• The entrance to Ny'alotha sits in the air above either Uldum or the Vale of Eternal Blossoms — depending on which zone is currently being assaulted by the Black Empire in the active phase.
• For solo farming, the current level cap is enough — the raid clears without trouble on any class and specialization.
• Before the "Carapace of N'Zoth," you must defeat the ten preceding raid bosses: the hall of the penultimate encounter only opens once every prior fight has been cleared.

• It fits perfectly into sets themed around the Old Gods and corruption — a leather or cloth set from Ny'alotha itself reinforces the look.
• It works well with dark armor that has violet or crimson accents — the blade supports the color scheme rather than clashing with it.
• It looks striking against bright, "holy" sets: a rogue in a white outfit wielding this dagger looks like a fallen paladin.
• It suits Black Empire cultist and Whispering adept looks — especially paired with hoods and masks from the matching sets.
• It belongs in sets with an underwater, Cthulhu-esque theme — for example, with outfits from Nazjatar and Uldum.