Catching Wind Quest Guide: How to Protect the Index in World of Warcraft

Catching Wind hands you a fragile little device and asks you to stand your ground while it works. The Index Esoteria does all the real work at the Overlook Standing Stones, and your only job is keeping it alive through the Windshaper Shamans that come to stop it.

Quick answer: On Zephros Isle, go south from Falath Village to the Overlook Standing Stones. Enter the stone archway, use the Index Esoteria, and defeat Windshaper Shamans for roughly two minutes, until the objective shows 1/1.

Overlook Standing Stones location on Zephros Isle

The standing stones sit on Zephros Isle, directly south of Falath Village and near Windsong Lake. Open the Skyborn world map and look for the sanctuary ruins marked by the quest area circle. Arriving for the first time counts as a discovery and awards a small amount of experience.

Map Location — The Skyborn map, with the Overlook Standing Stones sitting south of Falath Village on Zephros Isle. Shown at 00:10 in PazarGamingGuides’s video.

Coming from the quest hall at Valanorzen, leave the building and follow the road out through the Shen’dar Highlands. The run is short, but the path is patrolled by hostile wildlife such as Prideclaws, so clear anything that aggros before you start the objective rather than dragging it to the stones with you.

Traveling to Location — Leaving the hall and taking the road through the Shen'dar Highlands toward the stones. Shown at 00:09 in FocustaGuides’s video.

How to use the Index Esoteria and survive the Windshaper waves

Walk into the center of the stone archway at the sanctuary. The Index Esoteria only links to the monolith from inside the ring, so position yourself there before opening your bags.

Open your inventory, find the Index Esoteria, and use it. A blue beam connects the device to the stones and the chat log confirms the process has started with the line about the index squealing fearfully as it begins gathering information.

Hold position when the first Windshaper Shaman spawns. They announce themselves with lines about the High Order desecrating a sacred place, then move straight toward the device. Pull them off the index and kill them near it rather than chasing them away from the circle.

Keep fighting through the halfway message. Around the midpoint the index whirs and buzzes and tells you that you are roughly halfway there, which is your signal that only one more push remains.

Clear the second wave. More Windshaper Shamans arrive shouting that Windshaper blood has been spilled, and they behave the same as the first group. Once the index reports it is nearly finished, stay in the ring until the channel ends.

If other players are at the stones doing the same objective, invite them to a party. Grouping up means everyone gets credit for the defense, and the waves die much faster with more people swinging at them.

How to confirm the objective completed and turn in the quest

The defense lasts around two minutes in total. You know it worked when the beam cuts out, the chat log says the index begins to power down as the spell concludes, and the tiny sprite squeaks and scurries back inside. On screen, the tracker flips to Protect the Index: 1/1.

Quest Objective Completed — The objective completes as the Index Esoteria finishes gathering data and powers down. Shown at 03:05 in FocustaGuides’s video.

With the objective ticked off, head back to the hall and speak to Elisathis Evergale to hand the quest in. Running back means dropping down through the Gustberry Lowlands; using your Hearthstone is the faster option if it is off cooldown. Completing the quest lets you pick a reward such as the Bow of Hounds.

The Dragonflight quest also called Catching Wind

Retail World of Warcraft has a separate quest with the same name in the Ohn’ahran Plains, and it has nothing to do with the index. It is a travel objective, and it is far shorter.

Detail	Value
Quest ID	66236
Start	Tigari Khan (49.37, 63.14)
End	Initiate Boku (58.12, 68.97)
Objective	Meet Boku at Windsong Rise
Rewards	1,150 XP and 2g 62s 10c
Added	Patch 10.0.2

Pick it up from Tigari Khan after finishing Toting Totems and Taken By Storm. On accept, the wounded mystics get back on their feet, Boku salutes his khan, and the group scatters before you set off.

Quest acceptance — Accepting Catching Wind from Tigari Khan, with the objective to meet Boku at Windsong Rise. Shown at 00:06 in Warcraft Quest Guide’s video. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Mount up and fly northeast across the Mirror of the Sky to the quest marker. Windsong Rise is phased into a thunderstorm for this part of the chain, with Koroleth holding Ohn’ahra captive at the top of the hill.

Dragonriding flight — Flying northeast over the Mirror of the Sky to reach Windsong Rise. Shown at 00:23 in Warcraft Quest Guide’s video. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Find Boku at the foot of the incline on the southwest side, with a scorched Stormcaller Initiate nearby. Speak with him to trigger his comment that Balakar would not dare to do this, and the quest will be complete. The chain then unlocks Weather Control, Eagle-itarian, and Fowl Sorcery; finish all three before starting Oh No, Ohn’ahra!

Both quests share a name, but the one that trips people up is the index version, and the fix is almost always positioning. Stay inside the archway, fight the shamans where the device is rather than pulling them away, and the objective will close on its own.