Melee Specialist Rune – Season of Discovery (SoD)

Author: Luxrah
Date: October 1, 2024
Updated: October 1, 2024
Expansion: WoW Classic

This guide will cover how to get the Melee Specialist rune for Hunters in Season of Discovery. We’ll go over all of the locations and requirements in the walkthrough below as well as any useful tips and tricks.

Rune: Melee Specialist
Engraving: Engrave Belt – Melee Specialist
Class: Hunter
Slot: Waist
Added: Phase 2
Level: 40 (Recommended)

How to Get the Melee Specialist Rune

This discovery was simplified in Phase 5. Now, if you have discovered any of the following runes, you will be able to purchase the other runes for your alts without having to go through the entire questline again:

To do this, visit Pix Xizzix at Booty Bay in Stranglethorn Vale (28.4, 75.8) and buy an Emblem of the Violet Eye for 5 Tarnished Undermine Real. Then take this item to a Rune Broker in one of the following locations to obtain the rune:

Cut-Throat Alley in Stormwind City (57.5, 26.9)
The Forlorn Cavern in Ironforge (53.0, 12.8)
Cleft of Shadows in Orgrimmar (49.5, 46.0)
The Spirit Rise in Thunder Bluff (22.8, 13.8)

If you haven’t completed this questline on any character yet, read on to find out how!

The Dark Rider Questline

You can get this rune at any level, but you will be killing level 41 elites and running all over Azeroth, so it will be easiest to do at level 40 with a mount.

To get the Melee Specialist rune, go to Deadwind Pass and speak with the Dalaran Agent at Ariden’s Camp in the northeast corner (52, 35) to get an Ariden’s Sigil. You or someone in your party will want to have this trinket equipped for the remaining steps.

season of discovery dark rider runes dalaran agent — The Dalaran Agent at Ariden’s Camp

how to find all class runes from dark riders quest deadwind pass dalaran agent — The Dalaran Agent at Ariden’s Camp

Head to each of the following locations and wander around until you get a buff called Dark Presence. You’ll be able to immediately see that you have gained this buff because a pair of yellow eyes will appear over your character’s head. You won’t be able to find it if you’re mounted.

season of discovery dark rider runes dark presence eyes — The eyes appear when a Dark Rider is near

When this buff is active, you can use the trinket to summon a Dark Rider, a level 41 elite. Kill it to loot a relic. The rider in each location drops a specific relic and you will need all seven. Note that you can summon more than one Dark Rider in the same location if multiple people use their trinket, but you only need to summon one for everyone in your party to get the relic.

When you have collected all seven relics, return to the Dalaran Agent to turn them all in for a Supply Bag that contains Rune of Close Combat, which will teach you the rune.

Locations of the Dark Riders:

Arathi Highlands (60, 40) – drops Whirring Dalaran Relic
Badlands (58, 54) – drops Slippery Dalaran Relic
Deadwind Pass (43, 29) – drops Curious Dalaran Relic
Desolace (65, 25) – drops Creepy Dalaran Relic
Duskwood (23, 47) – drops Glittering Dalaran Relic
Swamp of Sorrows (69, 28) – drops Odd Dalaran Relic
The Barrens (52, 36) – drops Heavy Dalaran Relic

how to find all class runes from dark riders quest arathi highlands dark rider location updated

how to find all class runes from dark riders quest badlands dark rider location

Video Walkthrough

About the Author

Luxrah

I've been playing World of Warcraft on and off since vanilla, usually as a healer or caster and often as a guild leader. I play both retail and classic. I also love RPGs, sandboxes, and sims.