World of Warcraft Guide: Battered Hilt

The Battered Hilt is an epic random drop which begins a quest. If a player completes the quests for this item they will receive a sword or mace with an item level of 251. 

The Battered Hilt only drops from the three Icecrown Citadel dungeons on heroic mode; Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron and Halls of Reflection. The item is a completely random drop and can drop of any mob in any of the three dungeons. Therefore some groups insist on killing all the trash in the Pit of Saron to increase the chance of a Battered Hilt drop.

The Quest Chain

If a player is lucky enough to gain a Battered Hilt, they can begin the quests as soon as it is clicked on. The first part of the quest is to travel to Quel'Dalar's Rest in Icecrown - just south of the Argent Tournament Grounds - and speak to an NPC. There are both Horde and Alliance NPCs here so both factions go to the same place. The player will then be asked to travel to the Wyrmrest Temple in Dragonblight and speak to Krasus there as the second part of the quest chain. The next part of the quest chain requires the player to travel to Dalaran and seize the opposite faction's plans, for example the Horde seize the Silver Covenant plans and the Alliance take the Sunreaver's plans. The player will then be instructed to obtain a tabard of disguise from a relevant NPC. The next quest will be to use the tabard and enter the opposite faction's zone in Dalaran: a horde player will enter the Silver Enclave with the disguise and an Alliance will enter the Sunreaver's Sanctuary. Whilst in disguise a player will obtain a book to complete the quest. Once the player has the book they will rake it back to Quel'Dalar's Rest.

The Dungeon Quests

Once all these quests are done, a player will need to complete a further quest chain which requires dungeons. The first of these will be to collect Infused Saronite from the Pit of Saron dungeon, and then obtain the Forgemaster's Hammer from Garfrost and use that along with an anvil to reforge the sword. The player will then return to Quel'Dalar's Rest for the next quest which takes place in the Forge of Souls, the player will need to complete the dungeon and after killing the Devourer of Souls will be able to use the crucible in there to temper the sword. Once this is done the next quest will take place in the Halls of Reflection where the sword will be thrown into the centre and a boss will spawn which needs to be killed. After this has been completed the player will need to travel to the Isle of Quel'Danas and speak to an NPC who will be outside the entrance to the Sunwell Plateau. The player then needs to take the sword to some remains near the Dead Scar on the Isle of Quel'Danas, and a player will have to obtain a blessing from the remains to wield the sword. The player will then be asked to enter the Sunwell where the sword will be immersed. Finally the player will bring the sword back to Dalaran and that will be the end of the quest chain.

The Rewards

The player will be able to choose one weapon as a reward for completing the entire quest chain. They can choose from one of four swords or from one of three maces depending on what weapons they can use. The rewards are swords or maces because that means every class will receive a weapon they can use. The stats for all of the weapons cover all roles as well, from tanking swords to healer/caster maces.

Although the Battered Hilt starts an immensely long quest chain the weapon reward at the end certainly makes it worthy to do. Plus player can simply use the Random Dungeon Finder tool to complete the dungeon quests. The player will also receive a Feat of Strength achievement for completing the quest chain also.