Graverobber's Shovel and Rockslicer Gathering Weapons

Updated October 13, 2026

World of Warcraft: Forever keeps finding new jobs for old loot, and two rare weapons from the level 20s dungeons take the idea furthest. Graverobber’s Shovel digs Grave Moss out of the graves at Raven Hill Cemetery, when it does not wake a ghoul instead. Rockslicer cracks open ore veins for a character who never trained Mining. Both are weapons first and gathering tools second, and both run on a fixed number of charges.

This guide covers where each one drops, exactly what the use effect does according to the Beta client, and how to spend the charges so none of them go to waste.

Graverobber’s Shovel: Grave Moss Without the Herb Hunt

Graverobber's Shovel

• Rare two-hand mace, item level 28. Requires level 23. Binds when picked up, Unique.
• 68 - 102 damage, speed 3.70 (23.0 DPS). +10 Stamina.
• Equip: +12 Attack Power, doubled against Undead targets.
• Use: Dig up a grave. Usable at Raven Hill Cemetery and Scarlet Monastery Graveyard. 2-minute cooldown, 20 charges.

In Classic Era, Grave Moss was one of the fussier herbs in the game: it grows around graveyards, needs Herbalism 120, and every Alchemist in the zone knows the same handful of spawns. In Forever, the shovel skips the search. Stand among the headstones and use the weapon: the dig either turns up Grave Moss or disturbs a hostile level 30 Disturbed Ghoul. The item asks for no profession at all, so a Warrior with Blacksmithing and Engineering can dig just as well as a dedicated herbalist.

The shovel drops from Dextren Ward in The Stockade, the Stormwind dungeon built for levels 23 to 26. It is a low-chance drop, so expect to see it over many runs rather than on the first clear.

Even before you dig a single grave, the shovel earns its bag slot as a weapon. The Attack Power bonus doubles against Undead, and the two places you can dig are both crawling with them. It is a strong pick for Duskwood’s undead quests and for the Scarlet Monastery Graveyard wing.

What Happens When You Dig: 20 Charges Tested

One player spent all 20 charges at Raven Hill Cemetery and logged every dig:

Result	Digs
Grave Moss	9
Level 30 Disturbed Ghoul	11
Total	20

The ghouls gave no experience and no loot, and the whole run took about an hour. Another player’s 20 digs in the Scarlet Monastery Graveyard turned up the same two results. Expect roughly half your digs to produce Grave Moss, and be ready for a fight on the rest: at level 23 a level 30 ghoul is a serious threat, so dig with full health and an escape plan.

Where to Dig: Raven Hill and the Monastery Graveyard

The dig only works in two places, and the client is strict about it.

Raven Hill Cemetery sits in the west of Duskwood, just north of the Raven Hill outpost. It is open world, you are probably questing there anyway in your mid-twenties, and it is where most players will spend their charges.

Scarlet Monastery Graveyard is the lowest-level wing of the Scarlet Monastery. If your group is clearing it, a dig between pulls costs you nothing.

The 2-minute cooldown sets the pace. Twenty charges take 40 minutes or more to use, and the ghouls add fights on top, which makes the shovel a poor fit for a dedicated farming session and a good fit for questing. Dig, deal with whatever comes up, pull your next few mobs, and dig again when the cooldown comes back.

Is Graverobber’s Shovel Worth Farming?

As a weapon and a bonus herb source, yes, if it drops for you. Running The Stockade over and over just for Grave Moss is harder to justify: 20 charges at roughly a 50% moss rate is about ten herbs.

What Grave Moss Buys You in Forever

Grave Moss had two jobs in Classic Era Alchemy. Forever gives it four.

Recipe	Turns yellow at	Grave Moss	Status
Spellblasting Potion	140	1	New in Forever
Shadow Protection Potion	160	1	Classic
Shadow Oil	190	4	Classic, now 4 moss instead of 2
Caustic Smog Potion	270	2	New in Forever

Two new potions lean on the herb and Shadow Oil now takes twice as much, so demand is higher than Classic veterans will remember. If you are an Alchemist, the shovel is a private supply line. If you are not, Grave Moss is an ordinary tradeable herb, and what you dig up can go straight to a guild Alchemist or the auction house. The full recipe list is on our Alchemy page.

Rockslicer: Thirty Ore Veins With No Mining

Rockslicer

• Rare two-hand axe, item level 23. Requires level 18. Binds when picked up, Unique.
• 52 - 78 damage, speed 3.30 (19.7 DPS). +7 Strength, +7 Nature Resistance.
• Use: Slice open and gather from a target Copper, Tin, Silver, or Iron Vein (does not require Mining). 30 charges.

Rockslicer is the older sibling of the pair. In Classic Era it was a plain two-hand axe from the Deadmines. In Forever it drops from Rhahk’Zor, the first boss of The Deadmines, and it gains a use effect called Slicing that mines the vein you are targeting.

Where the shovel is locked to two graveyards, Rockslicer works on any Copper, Tin, Silver, or Iron vein in the world. As a two-hand axe, it suits Warriors, Paladins, Hunters and Shamans. The value is in what it skips: Silver normally needs Mining 75 and Iron needs Mining 125. A fresh level 18 with no profession training can walk up to an Iron Deposit and take it. Rockslicer does not teach smelting, though, so the ore still goes to a miner, the auction house or a vendor.

That makes Rockslicer a real gift for a Blacksmith and Engineer who chose to skip Mining. Thirty veins will not carry you to 300, but they will cover a stretch of Iron crafting that would otherwise come out of your wallet.

Charges: Spend Them Where They Count

Neither weapon vanishes when the charges run out. You keep the mace or the axe and lose only the gathering use, so there is no reason to hoard charges and every reason to aim them well.

• Rockslicer: save charges for Iron and Silver. Copper and Tin are cheap and plentiful, and a charge spent on Copper is a charge that could have opened an Iron Deposit.
• Graverobber’s Shovel: the cooldown is the limit, not the charge count. Use it whenever it is ready and you are healthy enough for a level 30 ghoul, and the 20 digs fit into your Duskwood questing.
• Both are Unique and bind on pickup, so you cannot stack spares or trade a fresh one to an alt. A second set of charges means another drop from the same boss.

Action Checklist: Two Dungeons, Two Free Gathering Tools

1. Run the Deadmines for Rockslicer. It drops from Rhahk’Zor, the first boss, so even a short run gives you a chance. Our Deadmines guide has the full route.
2. Keep an eye out for the shovel in the Stockade. Kill Dextren Ward on every run through The Stockade; you are already there for the quests.
3. Dig while you quest in Duskwood. Plan your Raven Hill quests with the Duskwood zone guide, use the shovel each time the 2-minute cooldown is up, and be ready for a level 30 ghoul on about half the digs.
4. Spend Rockslicer on Iron. Spend its charges on Iron and Silver veins, and leave Copper and Tin to the miners.
5. Turn the Grave Moss into potions. The Alchemy page lists all four recipes that use it, two of them new in Forever.

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