You have finally reached the quest called ‘The Final Pieces’ in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, and you’re excited to get working on your Legendary Armor. But how to get a Missive? Where do Memories drop and what on earth (or in this case: Shadowlands) is a Rune Vessel?
With a new crafting mechanism, little explanation, and a lot of new item names, many players are struggling to fully understand the Final Pieces quest. It is important to know where and what items to collect though, as completing this quest will not only unlock Legendary Armor for your character, but also allow you to use your brand-new Rune Vessel and Missives.
Here’s how you tackle this last hurdle before you can create your epic new outfit. Discover what the required items are used for, where you can find them and what types of items you need for your specific class.
The Final Pieces quest
Shadowlands players can unlock Legendary Armor by finding and helping the Runecarver in Torghast. You will encounter him while playing through your chosen Covenant’s campaign. After completing a few other quests for him, he will offer to aid you on your crafting journey and give you the Final Pieces quest.
The Final Pieces can be completed by collecting a Rune Vessel, two different Missives and a restored Runecarver Memory. Those names sound more complicated than they are; a Rune Vessel is the base gear needed for a Legendary item, a Memory is the recipe for crafting this item, and the Missives give the item its secondary stats (Haste, Critical Rate etc.).
How to restore a Runecarver Memory
Memories can be acquired through all kinds of endgame activities including quests, raids, dungeons, and bosses. They are the Legendary powers (also called recipes) which grant a special power to your Legendary Armor. Each character can find 16 different Memories, of which 8 are general, 4 are class-specific, and 4 are specialization-specific. Every Memory you acquire after completing The Final Pieces can be brought to the Runecarver to learn.
The exact drop location of each Memory can be found in your Adventure Guide. Open your Adventure Guide in the game by clicking the icon in the lower right corner of the screen. Then, go to the ‘Professions’ tab to see all the Memories. Hovering over them will tell you what the power is, where it drops, and what gear slot it is used for (for example: head, wrist etc.). You need that last bit of information to get a corresponding Rune Vessel.
How to get two different Missives
You can craft the two Missives yourself if you learn Shadowlands Inscription. The Scribes are found in Oribos. If you want to buy them instead, go to the Auction House and type ‘missive’ in the search bar. The Auction Houses can be found in all major cities, but it’s easiest to use the portals from Oribos to Orgrimmar or Stormwind City.
Although you just need to buy two of them to complete the quest requirement, remember that you will keep these two Missives once The Final Pieces completes, so you might want to give some thought to what secondary stats are best for your character. These are the different types of Missives you can choose from:
- Missive of Critical Strike
- Missive of Haste
- Missive of Mastery
- Missive of Versatility
Finally, some players have experienced a bug which prevents the quest from recognizing the Missives in your bag. If you are experiencing this bug, you can put the Missives up for sale in the Auction House (for a very high price) and then cancel, or mail them to an alt character and get them back. The quest should now register the items.
What are Rune Vessels?
A Rune Vessel is the base piece of gear needed to make a Legendary item. Which one is right for you depends on which type of armor your character wears (cloth, leather/mail, or plate). The neck, rings and back gear are the same for all characters.
All armor sets come with a different piece for each body part (legs, wrists etc.), and they are created by their corresponding crafting profession. It is important to know the name of the armor set to buy the right Rune Vessel. After all, you don’t want to purchase an Umbrahide base item if your character can only wear Grim-veiled. This is the full list of sets:
- Plate armor: Shadowghast. Crafted by blacksmiths.
- Leather armor: Umbrahide. Crafted by leatherworkers.
- Mail armor: Boneshatter. Crafted by leatherworkers.
- Cloth armor: Grim-veiled. Crafted by Tailors.
- Rings and necklaces: Shadowghast. Crafted by Jewel Crafters.
- Back: Grim-veiled. Crafted by Tailors.
How to get Rune Vessels
There are several ways to get a Rune Vessel. You can craft one yourself if your character has the right profession, you can ask a friend/guildmember to craft it for you, or you can use an alt character to do so. If you want to craft a Rune Vessel yourself, you must learn the Shadowlands crafting recipes from the trainers in Oribos. The more you craft, the higher the Rune Vessel Rank becomes.
If none of those are viable options, you can purchase a Rune Vessel in the Auction House. Just search the name of the armor set you need (as listed above). The prices are quite high, but keep in mind that the availability and prices of items in the Auction House can vary depending on your server. Naturally, having more players on the server will result in more sellers and more competitive prices. If the current prices are too high for you, you might want to wait for more players to level their characters and join the Shadowlands economy.
Final tips for choosing your Rune Vessel
Whether you’re crafting or buying, remember that not all Memories are usable on every item slot. It is a good idea to decide on a Memory first, so you can find a specific Rune Vessel to match that Memory.
Furthermore, you need enough Soul Ash to use higher ranked Rune Vessels. Do not buy a Rune Vessel of Rank 4 (the highest) if you can only use Rank 1! You can craft a lower level Legendary to start with and upgrade it later.
However, don’t panic if you bought the wrong Rune Vessel. They aren’t Soulbound, so it’s always an option to keep it for later or give it to an alt character. You can also put it up for sale in the Auction House again. There is a lot of demand for Rune Vessels; you might even make a profit!
All there’s left to do now is turn in The Final Pieces at the Runecarver in Torghast. Congratulations, you have unlocked Legendary Armor! Open dialogue with the Runecarver again to start crafting right away.
