164 articlesVile Essence is a special resource you can get and use in World of Warcraft (WoW) Midnight.
The trick here is that this resource is exclusive to Zul’Aman, and it also can only be used in Zul’Aman. But where do you get it and what does it even actually do?
Well, that’s exactly what I’m going to answer in this quick guide.
How to Get Vile Essence
Obtaining Vile Essence is relatively easy. It drops from enemies within the Maisara Deeps region in Zul’Aman, shown above.
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- Ash’an the Empowered
- Hex Guardian
- Knife Priestess Hezzia
- The Decaying Diamondback
- Vile Boneguard
- Vile Pathcarver
- Vile Tormentor
- Vilebranch Souleater
- Worm Wrangler
As a tip here, you can make farming for Vile Essence a bit easier by keeping these quests active: “De Vile Diminished”, “Respect de Totem”, “Dirty Deeps”, and “Send Dem Home.”
You don’t need to keep all of them active, just the ones you can pick up. The point is that these quests give you buffs that can help make the farm easier and faster. Primarily, Shadra’s Gift and the ability to get Guardian Spirits from killing Wild Guardians.
Also, if too many people are farming in you area, try entering and exiting the Maisara Caverns dungeon. You might luck out and reset into a less crowded instance.
Lastly, while the drop rates aren’t too terrible (but still not great by any means), it seems mobs only ever drop 1 Vile Essence at a time.
The problem? You’ll need a whopping 1000 Vile Essences in total! It’s an absurd grind that’s going to take hours, and that’s with luck and using the quest buffs.
Nonetheless, that’s how to get the Vile Essences. But what exactly are they used for?
How to Use Vile Essences
To use the Vile Essences, you’ll need to go to a cave off the southern fork of the river that crosses the Maisara Deeps. I’ve marked its spot on the map above, coordinates are 44.7, 44.0.
Inside the cave, you’ll find the Abandoned Ritual Skull. Interact with it and feed it a total of 1000 Vile Essences to unlock it.
Your reward for all of this grinding and farming is the Hexed Vilefeather Eagler mount. It’s shown above, if you want to see it before you commit to this massive grind! Personally, I think it’s pretty awesome.
Worth noting that opening the Abandoned Ritual Skull used to be required for the “Treasures of Zul’Aman” meta achievement. However, that’s no longer the case as of this writing. So, the mount is all you get!
Wrapping Up
In summary, you can get Vile Essence in WoW Midnight as a drop from enemies in the Maisara Deeps, and you can use 1000 of them to open the Abandoned Ritual Skull for a unique mount.
The grind is pretty absurd, quite frankly, due to mobs seemingly only ever dropping 1 Vile Essence at a time. Plus, drops aren’t guaranteed, either. Nonetheless, the mount you get is pretty cool! So, I don’t blame you if you decide to commit to it.
Nonetheless, that’s all there is to know about the Vile Essences. Want more help with Midnight content? Check out our guide on how to start the “Breaking the Triad” questline.
