The first phase of Cataclysm brings a new slate of Darkmoon Faire rewards to the game, including some powerful trinkets in the form of new Darkmoon Cards. Like their counterparts from previous expansions, these trinkets are made by combining eight cards into a deck and turning it in at the Darkmoon Faire while the event is active. This guide will cover the cards that are available in Cataclysm Classic and how to get your hands on them!
Darkmoon Cards in Cataclysm Classic
There are five Darkmoon Card trinkets available at level 85. Each of these trinkets is Item Level 359, which is equivalent to items that drop in Tier 11 raids on Normal difficulty. Many of them are pre-raid best-in-slot and some will even remain best-in-slot throughout the first raid tier.
The trinkets are Unique-Equipped, so you can only equip one of each. They are also bind-on-equip and can be traded or sold on the Auction House.
Darkmoon Card: Earthquake
- +321 Dodge
- Use: Increases maximum health by 15500 for 15 sec. Shares cooldown with other Battlemaster’s trinkets.
This trinket is sometimes used by tanks, but is considered the weakest of the set.
Darkmoon Card: Hurricane (Strength Version)
- +321 Strength
- Equip: Chance to strike your enemies for 5250-8750 Nature damage when dealing damage with melee or ranged attacks.
This trinket is pre-raid best-in-slot for some Strength-based melee DPS builds.
Darkmoon Card: Hurricane (Agility Version)
- +321 Agility
- Equip: Chance to strike your enemies for 5250-8750 Nature damage when dealing damage with melee or ranged attacks.
This trinket is pre-raid best-in-slot for some Agility-based melee DPS builds. It’s also a decent early option for Hunters.
Darkmoon Card: Tsunami
- +321 Intellect
- Equip: Your healing spells have a chance to increase your Spirit by 80 for 20 sec. This effect can stack up to 5 times.
This trinket is a pre-raid best-in-slot option for all healers.
Darkmoon Card: Volcano
- +321 Mastery
- Equip: When dealing damage with spells, you have a chance to deal 900-1500 additional Fire damage to the target and gain 1600 Intellect for 12 sec.
This trinket is a best-in-slot option for most caster DPS throughout the first raid tier of Cataclysm.
How to Get Darkmoon Cards
The process of getting these trinkets is fairly straightforward, but can be expensive. Here’s what you need to do:
- Acquire each of the eight cards that are needed to make the deck.
- Each deck requires an Ace, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, and Eight of the same type.
- Cards can be crafted with Inscription or purchased on the Auction House.
- Right-click one of the cards to combine the set into a deck. Then right-click the deck to start its quest.
- While the Darkmoon Faire event is happening, head to Darkmoon Island to trade in the deck and get your trinket.
Crafting Darkmoon Cards with Inscription
If you have the Inscription profession, you can use it to craft the individual cards to build a deck. (It’s a little confusing, but there are two kinds of “Darkmoon Cards:” the individual cards that are used to build a deck, and the Darkmoon Card trinkets that you receive when you turn in the deck. Here we are talking about the individual deck pieces.) The only other way to get the cards is to buy them from other Inscriptionists through trade or on the Auction House.
Unfortunately, you can’t choose the specific card you want to craft. There is only one level 85 Darkmoon Card recipe and it produces a random card from any of the four possible decks. You have a 1-in-4 chance of getting a card from a specific deck and a 1-in-32 chance of getting the exact card you want. Your best bet is to sell the cards you don’t need and use the proceeds to buy the ones you’re missing.
Materials Needed
To craft each Darkmoon Card of Destruction, you will need the following:
- Inferno Ink x10
- Volatile Life x30
- Resilient Parchment x1
Inferno Ink can be crafted from Burning Embers pigment. You will need 2 pigments per ink, so 20 total to craft 10 ink. This pigment can be obtained by Milling herbs from level 80-85 zones. Each pigment requires 5 herbs, so you’ll need 100 herbs total to make enough pigment for all 10 inks. Here are the herbs you can mill to make the pigment:
- Azshara’s Veil
- Cinderbloom (Farming Guide)
- Heartblossom (Farming Guide)
- Stormvine
- Twilight Jasmine
- Whiptail (Farming Guide)
Volatile Life is obtained through Herbalism when picking the level 80-85 herbs listed above, especially Azshara’s Veil, Cinderbloom, and Stormvine. It can also be purchased on the Auction House.
Resilient Parchment can be purchased from Inscription Supplies and Trade Goods vendors in major cities.
Assembling a Deck
Each deck requires eight cards of the same type. Here we’ve listed the decks and their individual cards, so you can keep track.
Earthquake Deck
- Turn in to get:
Hurricane Deck
- Turn in to get:
How to Turn in a Completed Deck at the Darkmoon Faire
When you have completed one of the four decks above, you’ll be able to right-click the deck to obtain a quest. This quest will direct you to Professor Thaddeus Paleo on Darkmoon Island. He can only be reached while the Darkmoon Faire is active. When the event is happening, you’ll be able to enter a portal to the island at Goldshire in Elwynn Forest or just outside Thunder Bluff in Mulgore.
Professor Thaddeus Paleo can be found along the main path through the faire near the entrance (51.8, 60.6). Speak with him to turn in the deck and receive your trinket plus 350 reputation with the Darkmoon Faire faction. If you turn in a Hurricane Deck, you’ll have your choice of the Agility or Strength version of the trinket.
