The crawling terror: Clutchmother Zavas

Sorry for my sporadic posting lately. As it turns out, I'm going for a brief vacation next week, and the blog will probably take a week's hiatus during that time. As for the recent spate of delayed entries, I have not been feeling entirely well, and have also been preoccupied with some other things. I shall try to shape up!

Onwards to today's entry.

Silithids are another of those recurring plot threads that runs through classic World of Warcraft. You encounter the first hives of these odd, arthropod creatures at low levels in the Barrens, but do not get to experience the full horror of their power and alien background until Silithus, a zone now rarely visited by new players. However, silithids can be found across several other zones on Kalimdor, and the lush Un'Goro crater is one such zone.

Today's post is our first silithid rare, Clutchmother Zavas.



Where can I find Clutchmother Zavas?

Clutchmother Zavas is a rare mob silithid (the "reaver" or "tank" form) found inside the Gorishi hive in Un'goro crater.



Zavas can be found in several different chambers inside the hive, but as the tunnel system is not very extensive, finding her should be easy. She can also be tracked and targeted through the ground, as is the case with many underground-dwelling mobs.

Swarming invaders

As I mentioned earlier, silithids are spread over most of southern Kalimdor. In Un'Goro, the local hive is the Gorishi, which fills most of the central southern part of the zone. The creatures do not seem to have spread that far yet, but that's possibly unsurprising going by the large number of very deadly creatures which call Un'Goro home. Silithids exist in several different forms, or "castes", each of which has separate duties within their hives.



As indicated by her name, Zavas seems to be a breeder for the Gorishi hive. The fact that she is always found in one of the large chambers containing eggs supports this nicely. She has an appealing greenish carapace with black mottling, probably well-suited for camouflage in the Crater. One interesting feature of silithid reavers are the vestigial wings. These portrude slightly from their dorsal carapace, and flutter during movement and combat. It is unknown if these are merely a result of reavers being evolved from flying forms, or if they still serve some purpose.



Zavas is not the leader of the Gorishi hive, though. That honor belongs to the unnamed Gorishi Queen which you can slay as part of a questline which starts in Tanaris. This means that Zavas is likely a lesser breeder, working under the control of the Queen in the bee-like hierarchy of the silithids.

Physiology and combat

Once upon a time, silithids (even those sharing models with other creatures) were untyped mobs which could not be tamed, but with the release of Wrath of the Lich King, this changed. You can now tame several types of silithid, though some types remain untameable (like silithid wasps, which I will cover in future installments).



Zavas, like almost all silithid reavers, is now tameable by a Beastmastery hunter with the "Beast Mastery" talent. She does not have a unique, or even uncommon coloration, but does look cool in my opinion. As pets, silithids are cunning pets, sharing the ability to web an opponent in place with spiders. As such, they are quite handy in PvP, where an extra snare is always useful. As usual, consult Petopia for more information on silithids as pets.



Should you instead choose to fight Zavas, take care. While her physical attacks are not terribly dangerous, she will continously lay eggs which hatch into ravenous grubs. Thus she will create her own adds, and keeping these under control is adviceable. Also, at low health, Zavas will call for help, attracting any nearby silithids into combat. Cleaning her chamber before engaging her is probably the best choice. If defeated, she yields the normal uncommon item.



Funnily, sometimes I have encountered this mob literally climbing the walls of the silithid structures, either appearing half inside a piece of terrain, or perched on the side of it (see picture). The idea of silithids skittering across walls and ceilings is frankly somewhat unsettling.



I find Clutchmother Zavas to be a nice rare to showcase our first silithids. Her title and ability to spawn grubs gives her a clear role in her hive, and her appearance is sleek and deadly-looking. The fact that she can be tamed is an extra bonus, although she does not have a unique enough appearance that you have to hunt her specifically.

All in all, a quite interesting rare.

Until next time!
~Dragonshade