Elemental Unrest The Elemental Unrest ( also called just the " Elemental Invasion " ) is a world event that heralds the " " . Every few hours , elementals attack Stormwind , Orgrimmar , Ironforge , and Thunder Bluff . If players can defeat these elementals and free trapped citizens within their entire city , they will be granted access to two special boss encounters . During the event , a player can venture out into the world to destroy rifts , which grant an achievement only obtainable during the elemental invasion : Tripping the Rifts . Prelude . Random earthquakes have been reported in the major cities and zones of Azeroth . In response , the faction leaders of the Alliance and Horde in Stormwind and Orgrimmar respectively to deal with this turn of events . Phase 1 . This phase was released on the 1st of November , 2010 . The day the phase started , Zarhym stated " There are four stages of the event . We ' re on the first . " The following changes are made to the world : Genera l . Rifts have begun to form randomly in all questing zones , spawning elementals ; the spawn timers are erratic , and not tied to the beginning of the hour . The first phase of the quest chains are now active . Earthquakes are now felt around the world , and not just in capital cities . Doom - preaching cultists and mysterious devices have appeared in Orgrimmar and Stormwind . To obtain the Feat of Strength Tripping the Rifts , players must obtain a buff from each type of elemental portal that spawns in Kalimdor , Eastern Kingdoms , Outland and Northrend ( Earth , Fire , Water , and Wind ) . Players do not have to kill rifts of their level to qualify for the achievement . The daily quests and are obtained from the mysterious devices left after the portals have been defeated . Player level must be within typical honor / experience granting range to receive the quest . See to begin the quest chains . For a full list of Elemental Rift spawn locations , see . Phase 2 . This phase was released on the 8 November 2010 and simply opened up a few more quests in Orgrimmar , Stormwind and Ironforge . Phase 3 . This was phase released on 12 November 2010 . Phase 4 . This phase was released on 15 November 2010 . The elemental rift s in Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms now spawn with very high frequency , about every 10 – 15 minutes . Invasion preparation . Before every invasion event starts , a guard will yell , warning players and citizens about incoming danger . At this time , players are instructed to grab barricades / sandbags from stockpiles around their major city and place them in zones directed by a red arrow . Low - level players unable to participate in this event are instructed to evacuate to the nearest portal activated by several guards . When all barricades are placed or 5 minutes have elapsed , the battle against the invasion begins . Combating the invasion . All of the districts of the major city will be attacked by elementals spawning from opened rifts . Every elemental has about 320 , 000 HP and every rift will spawn elementals until 32 are destroyed . Several citizens are trapped in these districts and must be freed by an provided by Earthen Ring Defenders . Players must clear the city of every rift and rescue every citizen within an hour in order to win the event . When the attack begins , all NPCs and interact - able objects within the city will despawn . This means flight master s , signposts , fires , mailboxes , bankers , auctioneers , trainers , questgivers , and more will be inaccessible for the duration of the attack . In Stormwind and Ironforge , the Deeprun Tram cannot be entered . Instance portals to The Stockade and Ragefire Chasm are also unavailable , as are the two - way portals in Stormwind ' s Wizard ' s Sanctum ( evacuation portals exist within the Sanctum , so those inside and those teleporting to Stormwind can get out , but there is no direct path to the outside while the invasion is active ) , and all portals to the Blasted Lands . City guards will be replaced with level 80 versions ( regular city guards are level 75 ) , and additional guards will spawn at key choke points . Boxes containing ( Stormwind ) , ( Thunder Bluff ) , ( Ironforge ) , or ( Orgrimmar ) will appear throughout the city as well . At this time , players are instructed to grab barriers from stockpiles around their city ( marked by green arrows ) and place them in the designated regions ( marked by red arrows ) . Earthen ring assistance combating the invasion . s also spawn through the city . Speaking to one of them , players can obtain an . Each city also provides an avenue of rapid escape in the form of Evacuation Portal maintained throughout the city by s ( among the first orc mages seen before Cataclysm ) in Orgrimmar , s ( undead ) in Thunder Bluff , s ( gnome and dwarf - among the first dwarf mages that aren ' t Dark Iron dwarves seen before Cataclysm ) in Ironforge , and s ( human ) in Stormwind . These Evacuation Portals can be used to teleport directly outside the main entrance to the city . Low - level players and those unwilling to defend the city are advised to evacuate through an Evacuation Portal . Although low - level players are able to participate in the event , the invading elementals have area of affect attacks that will likely instantly kill less powerful players if they are caught within them . Alliance and Horde heroes will appear in some districts as well . During the invasion , Stormwind and Thunder Bluff are hit by powerful rainstorms as they are invaded by Air and Water elementals . Orgrimmar and Ironforge are set ablaze as they are invaded by Fire and Earth elementals . During the initial phase , the elementals will attack any player , or city defender in range . Unlike the elemental invasions outside of the major cities , the elementals attacking the cities are not subject to immunities or resistances . The elementals will sometimes trap their targets in place . When this happens , an must be used to free the player or NPC ( or simply wait the stun out ) . Freeing players and NPCs in combat will grant the First Responder buff , and will not place you in combat . Each target within the area of effect of the totem will apply one stack of the buff , so freeing several targets at once will apply multiple stacks . When all barriers are in place , the second phase of the invasion begins . Elemental Rift s appear in each of the major districts of the cities , with each Rift spawning new elite elementals . Elite elementals that are killed are replaced with new ones by the rift . Every elite elemental has about 320 , 000 HP and every rift will spawn elite elementals until 32 are destroyed . As with elemental rifts outside the cities , only kills in which a player participates will count for damaging the rift ( guards cannot close the rifts by themselves ) . The elite elementals are passive to players unless attacked ; however , their area of effect abilities are still hazardous to nearby players and can one - shot lower - level characters . Any elementals remaining from the previous phase will still attack any player it sees unless already engaged in combat . Numerous s are in need of rescue within the attacked districts and must be freed using the . Freeing citizens will also grant the First Responder buff . On the top of the screen , the player can see how many districts in the city are still under attack , how many rifts remain in the current district , and how many civilians remain trapped in the current district . The zone map will also display flags in the districts that haven ' t been cleared yet and Horde / Alliance symbols in the ones that have . After players defeat 32 elementals surrounding a rift , the rift will close and a buff will be applied to all players nearby : These buffs " do " count for . Players must clear the city of every rift and rescue every citizen within an hour in order to win the event . Summary of Invasion . " These tables are somewhat incomplete . Some numbers may be higher than recorded . The quote lists below are also incomplete . " After the invasion . If an hour has elapsed since the start of the event , Earthen Ring Defenders will intervene and suddenly halt the invasion , removing all elementals from the city . However , players will not benefit and will have to wait until the next event occurs . If players successfully secure a major city , two types of portals to special boss encounters open up for thirty minutes . The portals are always paired with their counterparts . In Orgrimmar , immediately upon victory , Garrosh will lead a counter attack , running directly into the portals . The NPCs and objects then respawn and the city continues to function as normal until the next attack . ( The city leader also appears at his normal spot in addition to his appearance in the dungeon . ) If players successfully secure a major city , two portals are available to enter for the next 30 minutes to fight one of the four lieutenants commands : The leader offers a non - repeatable quest to kill the boss and then report back to the capital city with news . However , the boss can be killed as often as desired during the thirty minute window for a chance at item level 251 epic loot . There were multiple bugs with the event on many realms , particularly in Thunder Bluff and Ironforge . Bugs included Trapped Citizens being out - of - phase and unable to be freed , duplicate NPCs and chat messages , Trapped Citizens remaining visibly trapped even after being freed , Elemental Rifts no longer spawning elementals but not closing . These bugs would occur during some invasions but leave others untouched . Often the bugged invasions would make it impossible to access the bosses . These bugs may have been the reason the portals were later " locked " into being permanently open on November , 22 , 2010 ( the final day before the Shattering ) .