One of the first secrets players found in WoW Forever is a snake. Put on all five pieces of the Embrace of the Viper set from Wailing Caverns, shift into Cat Form, and your Druid becomes a hooded serpent instead of a cat. Nothing in the tooltip mentions it. Beta players found it in September, and a Blizzard designer then added the details: every Druid race gets its own snake color, and in Prowl the snake drops flat and slithers. The catch is that the look lasts only while you wear the whole set, and Cat Form only arrives at level 20, near the top of the set's level range. Below, we cover where each of the five pieces drops and how often, what the reworked set bonuses do, how to farm the Fanglords alone or in a group, and what beta testing showed about transmog and the barbershop.
The snake form isn't a new shapeshift or a separate spell. It is a hidden appearance for Cat Form that switches on when a Druid has all five pieces of Embrace of the Viper equipped. Your abilities, energy and combo points stay the same, and the buff on your character is still Cat Form. Only the model changes: a cobra like the serpents that fill Wailing Caverns.
The set tooltip lists four bonuses, and none of them mention the snake. Blizzard didn't announce it either. Players found it on the beta, and a Blizzard designer confirmed the race colors and the slither animation the same day.
Beta players who tested the form report how it behaves:
All five pieces are leather and come from Wailing Caverns. Four drop from the Fanglords, the four Druid of the Fang bosses, and one comes from trash. Forever upgraded four of them from green to blue with more stats. The leggings were already blue and kept their stats, but now require level 17 instead of 18.
Two details shape the farm. Gloves of the Fang are Bind on Equip, so you can buy them from another player instead of hunting trash. The other four are Bind on Pickup, so you have to win them in your own runs. The drop chances below are approximate. They come from Classic loot data, which the Forever database lists as unchanged, and beta players have needed anywhere from two runs to twenty to finish the set.
| Piece | Slot | Drops From | Requires Level | Binds | Approx. Drop Chance | Stats in Forever |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armor of the Fang | Chest | Lord Pythas | 18 | Pickup | 54% | 91 Armor, +3 Strength, +3 Intellect, +10 Spirit |
| Leggings of the Fang | Legs | Lord Cobrahn | 17 | Pickup | 19% | 78 Armor, +5 Strength, +9 Agility, +4 Stamina |
| Footpads of the Fang | Feet | Lord Serpentis | 17 | Pickup | 21% | 61 Armor, +6 Agility, +6 Stamina |
| Belt of the Fang | Waist | Lady Anacondra | 16 | Pickup | 12% | 49 Armor, +3 Agility, +5 Stamina |
| Gloves of the Fang | Hands | Druid of the Fang (trash) | 14 | Equip | 2.5% | 52 Armor, +4 Strength, +6 Agility |
Of the four boss drops, the belt is the rarest: Lady Anacondra drops it only about one time in eight. Her other notable drops are Serpent's Shoulders and the new Snake Eye Kaleidoscope necklace.
Forever replaced the whole Classic set bonus. The old version leaned toward casters: Nature damage, a Staves skill bonus, healing and Intellect. The new one suits a melee Druid or any leather wearer. Two pieces add Intellect, which means more mana for shifting, three add Attack Power, four save you once every five minutes when you drop low, and five add a stun to your melee hits.
| Pieces | Forever Bonus | Classic Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | +10 Intellect | +7 Nature damage |
| 3 | +10 Attack Power | +2 Staves skill |
| 4 | Embrace of the Viper: taking damage at or below 25% health restores 100 health and mana over 5 seconds, once every 5 minutes | +11 healing |
| 5 | Dream Venom: melee attacks have a chance to stun the target for 1 second | +10 Intellect |
The tooltip says only "a chance" and gives no number. Beta players have seen the stun trigger twice in a row, but reports disagree on whether it procs in Cat Form and Bear Form.
The bonuses aren't Druid-only. The set has no class restriction, so a Rogue, Hunter or Shaman wearing all five pieces gets every stat and every bonus. Only the snake is reserved for Druids: a Shaman in the full set still runs as a normal wolf. Expect leather users to roll against you, and agree on loot before the first boss.
The whole unlock takes one class quest and a handful of dungeon runs. Here is the order that wastes the least time:
For the full dungeon, including every boss fight, the Naralex event and the rest of the loot, read our WoW Forever Wailing Caverns guide.
Every Fanglord is a Druid of the Fang that casts Sleep or Druid's Slumber and heals itself with Healing Touch. Interrupt those casts and the fights stay simple.
She is usually the first Fanglord you meet, but she doesn't stand in one place: she can spawn at any of several spots in her cave. Players find her faster with the macro /tar Lady Anacondra and a raid marker than by scouting the caves. She casts Lightning Bolt and keeps Thorns up, so melee players take damage on every swing. Solo Druids root her with Entangling Roots, wear her down with Moonfire and step out of her line of sight between casts, then finish her in Bear Form once she runs out of mana for heals.
Cobrahn guards the Pit of Fangs with three Deviate Python adds. Kill the snakes first. Solo players kill them, step out to reset the fight, then come back for the boss alone. During the fight he turns into a snake with Cobrahn Serpent Form, and his melee hits get much harder. Besides the leggings, he drops Robe of the Moccasin and Cobrahn's Grasp.
Pythas stands in the Crag of the Everliving with a Druid of the Fang and a Deviate Shambler at his side, and all three pull together. He is the hardest Fanglord to solo at level 20, because the druid add keeps putting players to sleep while the others attack. Bring a group, crowd control the druid, and spread a little for Thunderclap. The good news is his drop chance. Armor of the Fang drops about half the time, and he also has Stinging Viper and the new Slither Cord.
Serpentis waits near the back of the caves with Verdan the Everliving close behind him, so pull carefully and don't bring Verdan into the fight. Kill his druid and snake guards one at a time first. At level 20 a Druid has no interrupt, so solo players stun his casts with Bash or take the hit to wake up from Sleep. He also drops Savage Trodders, Serpent Gloves and Venomstrike.
The gloves can drop from any Druid of the Fang in the dungeon, and at 2.5% that is a long wait. These elites cast Druid's Slumber, heal, and shift into serpent form. Break line of sight behind a rock when they start casting, and heal yourself while they are in serpent form. Buying the gloves is almost always faster.
Partly, even at the dungeon's level. Beta players soloed Lady Anacondra, Lord Cobrahn and Lord Serpentis on level 20 Druids, using roots, Moonfire, Faerie Fire and Bear Form when things went wrong. Lord Pythas is the exception because of his two adds. A stealth duo also works: two players Prowl past the trash straight to each Fanglord.
Soloing has a real upside on top of time: nobody else rolls on the pieces. The downside is that the set is level 14 to 18 gear. If you only want the snake as a look, you can also come back later and clear the whole dungeon alone at a higher level. The pieces have no maximum level, so you can keep wearing them after they stop being upgrades.
To reset the dungeon between solo runs, leave the instance, right-click your portrait and choose to reset all instances.
Not during beta testing. Several testers transmogged other gear into the Fang look, and the game showed a normal cat. The set has to be equipped. The barbershop's form options don't include the snake either, and testers who visited it while wearing the set saw a cat in the preview. One player reported the transmog result to Blizzard as a bug, and the community keeps asking for a permanent unlock, but none has been announced.
In practice, that leaves two ways to use it. Feral players wear the set while it is still an upgrade. Players who want the look for longer keep the five pieces in the bank and put them on when they want to be a snake.
How transmog works in general, from the collection rules to outfit slots, is covered in our guide to transmog in WoW Forever.
A few habits save the most runs:
For the Cat Form quest and the rest of the leveling route, our WoW Forever Druid leveling guide has every step. If you would rather skip the runs, our WoW Forever Embrace of the Viper boost collects all five pieces on your character.
These guides cover the rest of your Druid's journey:
These are the questions beta players asked most about the snake.
Yes. Two, three or four pieces only give the stat bonuses. The snake appears with all five equipped, and it goes away when you remove any one of them.
Not during beta testing. Testers who transmogged into the Fang set stayed cats. You have to wear the real items.
No. Beta testers saw the snake only in Cat Form, and Bear Form keeps its normal look.
No. It is a cosmetic change. You keep every Cat Form ability, and the combat bonuses come from the set itself.
Level 20, because that is when Druids learn Cat Form through a class quest in Forever. The set pieces require level 14 to 18.
No. Any leather wearer can use the set and its bonuses, but only Druids turn into a snake.
It depends on your race. A Blizzard designer confirmed that each Druid race has its own color, but beta players haven't agreed yet on the exact color for each one.
