WoW Forever: How to Complete Mercy Falls on Deaf Ears

Mercy Falls on Deaf Ears is a collection quest in Shadowgale Forest, handed out inside Nightclaw Cavern. It is short, it is entirely about killing Al’Aketh cultists, and the only thing standing between you and the reward is a ten-item drop counter.

Quick answer: Take the quest from Vayn Moongaze in Nightclaw Cavern, kill Al’Aketh cultists near the Shrine of Akir until you loot 10 Al’Aketh Cultist’s Ear, then return to him.

Mercy Falls on Deaf Ears quest details

Detail	Value
Quest giver	Vayn Moongaze
Start location	Nightclaw Cavern, Shadowgale Forest
Objective	Al’Aketh Cultist’s Ear ×10
Reward	Nightclaw Gloves, plus experience and silver

Nightclaw Cavern sits on the Shadowgale Forest map alongside Falaath Village, Shen’dar Village, and the Shrine of Akir. Those last two markers matter more than they look, because the cultists you need are grouped in that part of the zone rather than scattered evenly across it.

Zone Map Overview — The Shadowgale Forest map, with Nightclaw Cavern and the Shrine of Akir marked. Shown at 00:05 in Game Guides Channel’s video. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Which enemies drop Al’Aketh Cultist’s Ear

Two enemy types carry the quest item, and both wear the Al’Aketh name:

Al’Aketh Footsoldier — melee attacker, the most common of the two
Al’Aketh Stormchaser — caster, worth pulling first when they are grouped together

Ears come off the corpses as normal loot, so you have to open each body rather than watching the counter tick up automatically. Not every kill produces one, which is why the grind runs a little longer than ten pulls.

Hunting Cultists — Al'Aketh Footsoldiers and Stormchasers drop the ear as ordinary corpse loot. Shown at 00:21 in Game Guides Channel’s video. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Farming the 10 ears near the Shrine of Akir

Talk to Vayn Moongaze in Nightclaw Cavern and accept the quest. The objective text will list Al’Aketh Cultist’s Ear at 0/10 in your tracker.

Leave the cavern and open your zone map. The quest objective area is highlighted in blue and covers the ground around the Shrine of Akir, which is where the cultist camps sit.

Map Quest Tracking — The blue highlight on the zone map marks the cultist search area around the Shrine of Akir. Shown at 02:37 in Game Guides Channel’s video. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Clear cultists one or two at a time and loot every corpse. Working along the edges of the highlighted zone keeps you away from stacked pulls while respawns catch up behind you.

Keep going until the counter hits 10/10. A clean run through the area takes roughly seven minutes of fighting at level, assuming you are not competing with other players for spawns.

Stormchasers cast at range, so pulling them to a rock or tree line stops nearby footsoldier groups from joining the fight.

How to confirm the objective is complete

The game tells you outright. When the tenth ear drops, an on-screen notification reads “Objective Complete: Al’Aketh Cultist’s Ear: 10/10” and the tracker entry stops counting. That is your signal to stop killing and head back.

Quest Objective Complete — The objective complete banner confirming all ten cultist ears have been looted. Shown at 07:01 in Game Guides Channel’s video. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Turning in the quest and choosing a reward

Run back into Nightclaw Cavern and speak to Vayn Moongaze again. Handing in the ten ears pays out experience and silver, and offers a piece of gear to pick from, including the Nightclaw Gloves.

Because WoW Forever reworked quest rewards across the old world, it is worth reading the stat lines on each option rather than defaulting to the highest armor value. The completion flags the moment the dialogue closes and the quest disappears from your log.