How to complete Nightmare Incursions, Season of Discovery Phase 3’s PVE event

Nightmare Incursions are a zone PVE world event that was added to WoW Classic Season of Discovery in Phase 3. Each Season of Discovery phase has added a either a PVE or PVP activity in singular zones but Nightmare Incursions slightly differ because they happen in multiple zones throughout Azeroth and can be done by players who are level 25 all the way up to 53.

For more about Season of Discovery, check out our guide to everything you need to know about WoW Classic’s current season!

In Phase 4, Nightmare Incursions have been adjusted and functional a bit differently than they did in Phase 3. If you’re levelling a character or wanting to grind reputation, here’s how they work now, where you can find them, and what you need to do to complete them!

What are Nightmare Incursions?

Nightmare Incursions are designed for groups of 1 to 5 players to complete specific missions for the Emerald Wardens, a new faction introduced in Phase 3. These missions, and the demonic enemies you encounter within them, are considered elite-level quests but some enemies had their power levels nerfed in Phase 4 to make them easier to complete solo or in smaller groups. Keep in mind, while this is a PVE event, Blizzard has also said that PVP rules will be active on PVP servers and that Nightmare Incursions can happen concurrently during the Battle for Ashenvale.

Where are Nightmare Incursions?

Nightmare Incursions happen at the four portals to the Emerald Dream, each one located in a different zone throughout Azeroth. The Nightmare Incursions have different, escalating difficulty levels because they are meant to be a long-term endgame type activity that help players level up through their respective level bands and reward them with high level loot:

• Level 25 — Twilight Grove, Duskwood
• Level 40 — Bough Shadow, Ashenvale
• Level 50 — Seradane, The Hinterlands
• Level 50 — Dream Bough, Feralas

When you enter the Dream Portal, you’ll receive the Emerald Nightmare condition and technically be part of an instanced zone that looks identical to zone the you entered from. The Emerald Nightmare zones do have boundaries so if you try to leave the Nightmare zone (ex. leaving Nightmare Duskwood to go to Stranglethorn), the game will give you a 10 second warning before transporting you back somewhere in the middle of the Nightmare zone.

How to complete Nightmare Incursions

Located at near each portal is a Field Captain of the Emerald Wardens — Palandar (Duskwood), Hannalah (Ashenvale), Arunnel (Feralas), and Korlian (The Hinterlands). To get started with a Nightmare Incursion you need to:

• Accept the Recover Incursion Field Report starter quest from the Field Captain and complete it by killing demons near the portal and checking in with an Emerald Warden scout who gives you a field report.
• Return this field report to the Field Captain.
• They’ll give you a random, daily mission quest that requires you to enter the Dream Portal and complete the objective which are similar to the vanilla/Classic Cenarion Hold Field Duty missions that featured killing a certain amount of enemies, taking down an elite boss, or utilizing a gathering skill to collect a specific item.
• Return the completed mission brief to the Field Captain and collect your rewards.

In Phase 4, most of the Nightmare Incursion missions have been converted into daily quests with a maximum level cap meaning you can only complete the quests once per day instead of infinitely like you could in Phase 3 and that after a certain level, you’ll stop earning rewards from a specific Nightmare Incursion zone which forces you to move to the next one. As of Phase 4, the level caps for each Nightmare Incursion’s zone daily quests are:

• Duskwood — Level 27
• Ashenvale — Level 42
• The Hinterlands and Feralas — Level 52

Nightmare Incursion rewards and Emerald Warden reputation

Each Field Captain is also paired with a nearby Emerald Warden quartermaster: Quartermaster Falinar (Duskwood), Quartermaster Kyleen (Ashenvale), Quartermaster Alandra (Feralas), and Quartermaster Valdane (The Hinterlands). Like other faction based rewards, the Emerald Warden quartermasters will sell you different gear once you reach the Friendly rank with the faction and you’ll be able to purchase different gear pieces when you gain additional ranks. These quartermasters also sells stat-boosting consumables you can use during the Incursion missions.

When you turn in your mission briefs you’ll earn experience, gold/silver, Emerald Warden reputation, and the Emerald Chip currency used to buy items at the Revered and Exalted rank from the Emerald Warden Quartermasters. You earn the most reputation from the daily quest Fight the Nightmare Incursions specific to The Hinterlands and Feralas Nightmare Incursions which reward 1000 reputation with the Emerald Wardens.

Once you reach level 53, however, you won’t be able to complete any of the daily quests in The Hinterlands or Feralas. Instead, if you want to max out your reputation with the Emerald Wardens, you’ll be able to complete three modified repeatable quests: More Moonroot, More Moondragon Scales, and More Greater Moonstones. These quests only reward you with an Emerald Chip and 100 Emerald Warden reputation and don’t give you gold or experience, allowing you to reach Exalted past level 53.

Originally published on April 4, 2024. Updated on July 10, 2024.