borean-tundra
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Wrath Dailies: Preparing for the Worst
Quick! Utaik needs your help! Gather eight of the Kaskala Supplies for him or the families of the Kalu'ak town Unu'pe will starve. This daily quest is simple yet surprisingly annoying. It's one of those that can quickly get under your skin as more and more people do it. Want to run around pickup objects while ten other people on your server do it at the same time? Then this quest is for you!Quest Giver: Utaik, Kaskala, Borean TundraReputation: Kalu'akReward: 500 rep & 4.86g at level 80Minimum Level: 68Required Chain: None!Read on after the break for our walkthrough of the quest, complete with a few tricks you can do to get it done quickly and easily.
Wrath Dailies: The Way to His Heart...
WoW Insider is happy to announce a new series of posts focusing on the daily quests Wrath of the Lich King has to offer. We'll get a few of these out each week until we have a comprehensive library of every daily quest you can do.First up is a fun daily in which you get to mate a Reef Bull and a Reef Cow in the Howling Fjord.I'll just wait to let the goal of this quest sink in for a minute.Sunk? Great. Moving on.This daily will raise your reputation with the Kalu'ak by 500 and give you around 7g. You can get the daily from Anuniaq located at 24, 58 in the Howling Fjord. It is one of the few that will raise your rep with the Kalu'ak, so you'll want to be sure that you complete it every day. You need to be level 70 to complete the daily. If you complete it while leveling it will give you around 20,000 experience.Before you can do this daily you need to complete Swabbin' Soap from Scuttle Frostprow. And to be able to do that you need to finish the chain of quests from Orfus of Kamagua. So basically to do this daily you need to do everything available around the Ancient Lift in the Howling Fjord.
Forum post of the day: Best LOL moment in "Wrath"
Wrath is an odd mix. It's unquestionably darker in tone than both classic WoW and Burning Crusade, but it's not hard to find funny bits and pieces scattered around. Därkseid of Deathwing, after having a disgusted murloc refuse to be rescued by him ("Ewwww, orc!") during a quest in the Borean Tundra, started a thread dedicated to peoples' favorite humorous moments so far in Wrath. All the normal world PvP events can be found here (aggroing a Storm Giant while being attacked and Feigning Death onto your enemy? Check!) but you'll also find a growing catalogue of memorable quest text and great NPC dialogue, like Akini's entry on this page.For my money it's tough to exceed the tongue-in-cheek commentary you'll find in the books scattered around Acherus as you start a career as a Death Knight, including the one pictured above. Some of them are actually serious and give accounts of the Scourge's spying into the preparations made by the Horde and the Alliance for an assault on Northrend. Some of them, like The Death Knights of Acherus, are just hilarious, namely the entry concerning one "Harmony" whose period of service turned out to be extremely brief: "The name of this death knight was found in violation of common Scourge decency. Struck down by the Lich King." Well, Arthas, in such matters I defer to your excellent judgment.
Lichborne: Gear upgrades for Death Knights in the starting zones
Welcome to Lichborne, where Daniel Whitcomb really needs a bigger boat. And maybe a more imposing minion to steer it. So by now, I assume a good chunk of us are managing to get through Outland again and are hitting the 68-70 level range, ready to jump onto a boat or zeppelin and head to Northrend. Now, up til now, I'm sure a lot of you have been sticking with your Death Knight quest gear, hoping to avoid the clown look of Northrend, or have been leveling so fast through Outland that you haven't had time to replace most of it anyway. But we're in Northrend now, guys. The difficulty is ramped up a bit, and you're really going to have to start replacing stuff pretty quickly. No worries though, Blizzard's art team has done a pretty decent job of making most of the Northrend quest rewards look like something you'd be willing to be caught dead wearing, so to speak, especially if you're into Norse mythology and imagery like I am. Today, we'll be discussing some of the best quest upgrades for a Death Knight in the first few zones of Northrend, but before we do that, I'd like to mention one more gear-related thing from our tanking column last week: The Cobalt "set."
Scattered Shots: Wrath of the Lich King starting zone upgrades, Part I
Welcome to Scattered Shots, the weekly Hunter column, now with 100% more Northrend!So you're on the shore in Northrend by now, one hopes, and maybe you're level 71, still tooling around the starting zones, looking for the right quests to do to get some decent gear for yourselves. Now if you've spent a decent amount of time in Tier 4 or better content, or if you decked yourself out in badge gear, I'll be honest, you may not find too many upgrades here. But for people who started their Hunter a little late or didn't quite clear Karazhan before the expansion, there's some very nice stuff here.Let's take a look at the quest rewards of Howling Fjord and Borean Tundra and their attached dungeons, and see what they offer:
Encrypted Text: On our way to the top, part 1
Every Wednesday, Chase Christian of Encrypted Text invites you to enter the world of shadows, as we explore the secrets and mechanics of the Rogue class. This week, we'll be talking experience of leveling from 70 to 80 in Northrend.Blizzard recently announced that December 16th would be the official start date of Arena Season 5. At just over 1 month from the launch of WotLK, it sounds like it's their expectation that a large number of players will be at the level cap and ready to PvP when the Season hits. While the numbers may make it seem like a daunting task, leveling in Northrend is easier than ever before. Rogues have it pretty good when it comes to questing and grinding. We're finely tuned killing machines with the defensive capabilities to prevent unnecessary deaths and the offensive capabilities to turn those Group quests into solo outings. I've been fielding several questions from other Rogues about where to level, questing tips, and gear choices. After the cut, I'll break down the first couple levels of the trek to 80 and share what I've learned so far.
15 Minutes of Fame: More dings, less killing
15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. The diminutive subject of 15 Minutes of Fame's inaugural profile, back in January of this year, spent a good chunk of change longer than a mere quarter-hour in the limelight. The life and times of Noor the Pacifist, who levels without experience from kills, garnered widespread attention not only here at WoW Insider but in an onslaught of hits from Digg, Stumble Upon, Fark and even the very cool people at Boing Boing. It seemed like everyone wanted to talk about the guy who plays World of Warcraft without actually killing anything. Naysayers opined that Noor would give up the ghost of the tedious task of leveling without killing long before he reached level 70. But lo and behold, here we are just post-Wrath launch – and Noor's ticked right past 70, plugging steadily along toward the new max level cap of 80. 15 Minutes of Fame caught up with him to see how he was holding up on the long, slow climb to the top.
Ask WoW Insider: Nodes and ninjas
This week's question for you, our readers, comes from an anonymous asker. He wants to know what the best option is for a widespread problem in this time of high realm populations and camped quests aplenty:There's been a lot of talk on your blog about people ninjaing spawns but I'm not entirely sure that it's as cut and dried as that. Consider this: I was in the Borean Tundra and had to kill the mob on the island that's up the top of the steps. when I arrived there were around 10 other 'toons all waiting around. I had no idea who was there first, who might be grouped, or anything else about them. The first thing I did was /s 'group?', at which point someone invited me, and I grouped with them. Second time it spawned one of us tagged it, I looted, disbanded the group and left. Did I ninja it? If so, how was I supposed to have acted? With new people coming all the time, no knowledge of who had been there longest and no visible queueing system I'm not sure how else to behave. Thoughts? A little more analysis after the break, and don't forget to post your own answer in the comments below. If you've got a question for our readers, send it to ask@wow.com, and we'll ask it for you.Previously on Ask WoW Insider...
WoW Insider Show Episode 64: Wrath of the Launch King
This past week on our podcast, Wrath was the topic -- getting it, playing it, loving it, hating it. Our own co-lead Dan O'Halloran and rogue blogger Chase Christian joined us, and we talked Wrath of the Lich King. Dan was at the midnight launch in Anaheim, so we asked him about that -- not only were there about 2000 people (and 100 Blizzard employees there), but there was a bubble sword and a hot dog-on-a-stick stand, so listen in for that. And we talked about what the starting zones were like (including two don't-miss quests in Howling Fjord) and our main annoyances with the game so far (none of which include, surprisingly, lag -- despite the queues, Blizzard has really kept the game alive).And we answered emails, including whether a listener should play through his Warlock or Death Knight, and the perils of going after Mr. Pinchy. Don't forget, if you'd like to send us email, the address is theshow AT wow.com -- drop a note, and you might hear it live on the show next Saturday, which we'll stream right on our Ustream page.And finally, we're back up and running at full steam -- as of right now, every way you need to listen to the show should be completely fixed and functioning. So if you've got iTunes, head over to our iTunes page to subscribe to the show and make sure to leave a review while you're there. Or, you can even listen to the show right over there on our sidebar -- you'll get a new show there every Monday.Get the podcast:[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes.[Ustream] Listen to the unedited recording in Ustream.[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.Listen here on the page:
The Light and How to Swing It: Starting zone upgrades in Northrend
Did you pack well enough for the cold? Allie gave great advice on some basic things we need while we're in Northrend, like food and other consumables. Depending on your level of progression or gear, your approach to questing or leveling out here will vary quite a bit. For well-geared players, it'll be a breeze to go through most of the zones as gear of item level 146 and beyond (Tier 6 / Season 3) will last a fair bit past Level 75 or so.While the bare attributes on those items such as Intellect or Strength will often be superior to most quest rewards, other statistics will begin to fall behind such as Hit, Crit, or even Haste as we level and the ratings we need for those to scale become bigger. Here is where lesser geared players get a bit of a helping hand. The plate greens of Northrend, as well as the occasional blues are loaded with Hit, Haste, and other important stats. If you're going to Northrend dressed in blues or even item level 120-123 epics, you'll be able to quickly replace pieces that have scale appropriately with your level. In the end, it will all even out.
Spiritual Guidance: Wrath Priest leveling guide from 70 to 75
Every Sunday (usually), Spiritual Guidance will offer practical insight for priests of the holy profession. Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of PlusHeal, a new healing community for all restorative classes. This week Matticus is going to look at the introductory zones of 70 to 75! Welcome to Northrend! Ready to take on Arthas? Here is a quick primer on the road to 80. For part 1, we'll look at an example leveling spec (which isn't Shadow), early spells, different zones, and some tips.
10 easy Northrend achievements
Northrend is finally available, and it seems like everyone is out in full force. There are so many new things to do and see that it might be pleasantly overwhelming at the moment. In order to help you find some direction, I've put together a list of 10 easily attainable achievements that you can earn in the next few days while questing. These are along the way, so you won't have to break your stride. Many can even be achieved today.1. Train one of your professions! A skill of 350 in any of your professions will open up the ability to train Grand Master, which will award you with the achievement, Professional Grand Master. Check out our guide to finding your profession trainers.2. Most level 70s will have at least two professions with a minimum skill of 350 by this point, so why not train them both to Grand Master? This will give you the achievement, Working Day and Night.3. If you have leveled Fishing, First Aid and Cooking to at least 350, and train their Grand Master ranks, you will earn the achievement, Skills to Pay the Bills. If you haven't, but would like to, then check out our guide to leveling Fishing to 375 as well as Cooking to 375. First Aid should be a breeze, as all you need is cloth! Still, should you find yourself at a loss, check out our Guide to Farming Cloth.
Totem Talk: A lazy Thursday
Shattrath's a ghost town. Emptiest I've seen it ever, with a few low level toons wandering through the empty streets begging for an instance run and the occasional demand for a portal to Dala-someplace or other. I didn't catch it.Sorry, you'll have to forgive me, I'm still a trifle out of it over the launch of Wrath of the Lich King and my own late night excursion to procure copies, made possible by my good friend Ruarri (thank you very much, man) who is himself currently running around Outland on a level 65 shaman with a Spinal Reaper equipped that he got from an MC pug a couple of weeks ago. It's a strange time in WoW, as The Burning Crusade joins all that level 60 raid content on the ash heap of obsolescence. I personally find myself on the horns of a dilemma with my shaman: while I very much enjoy restoration spec and healing instances, the current improvements to enhancement make it hands down my favorite spec for leveling. Until the dual-spec switching comes to pass, I'm probably going to focus my leveling on my orc shaman and take him enhancement in a clown suit of cast-off raiding epics no one wanted (I have bear heads on my shoulders and my best weapon is a two handed axe for a spec designed to dual wield, but I'll gear up fast enough) rather than elemental in his far superior caster set. Why am I doing this?Because Windfury is what got me into this class, Windfury is how I made it to 70, and by all that whispers in the wind and the rock I'm betting on Windfury to take me the rest of the way.
Ask A Beta Tester: So long, and thanks for all the fish
Yes, folks, the proverbial fat lady has sung, and this is the last "real" Ask A Beta Tester. Tomorrow we're going to run an AABT that showcases the best, funniest, and most prescient questions we received, and after that -- bowing to popular demand -- the column's going to change gears somewhat and become Ask A Guy (or Girl) Something, or...I dunno, whatever we decide to call it. AAGoGS is cumbersome but oddly endearing, I admit.Deri (among others) asks...At 77, approximately how much money will I have made levelling up through quests?At 77 you'll be eligible to train Cold Weather Flying for 1,000g, which I assume is what this is about. Will you have made that much questing? I'd made...I want to say somewhere in the region of 800g leveling between 70 and 77, but I also tanked and healed a LOT of instance runs, so my quest income was on the low side. So I'd say it's probably going to be very easy to finance Cold Weather Flying just from Northrend quests. If you're occupied with a lot of instance runs, just keep in mind that you'll be leveling proportionately faster than you're making money, though.
Finding your Wrath profession trainers
One of the first things on your mind after stepping into Northrend will undoubtedly be the most convenient location of your profession trainers. You gatherers are going to need the know-how to start hoarding items for fun and profit, and craftspeople will want to see what new items can soon be constructed. Besides, you won't want to be left behind in the server-wide race to the new level cap, 450.This information might affect which starting zone you choose to explore first, so pass through the break to see what stops you should be making before you venture out to quest and conquer.
Wrath 101: Horde flight paths in Howling Fjord, Borean Tundra, and Dragonblight
Previously, we covered the Alliance flight paths of the first three zones in Northrend. Now it's the Horde's turn. Once you've gotten to Northrend and possibly taken an awesome turtle boat to your choice of starting zone, you'll be mostly getting around by Wind Rider (flying mounts, of course, don't work in Northrend until level 77). Note that there will be zone-specific information and maps after the cut; if you don't want to see anything about Northrend before you go there, don't click.
Wrath 101: Alliance flight paths in Howling Fjord, Borean Tundra, and Dragonblight
In about nine short hours, we'll all be storming the (figurative) gates of Northrend, in one of two zones: Borean Tundra and Howling Fjord (I'll be Fjording first, in case you were wondering). The zones are pretty large, but fortunately, they're replete with flight paths. And one of the questions I can promise you are going to see for the first week or so in /1 is: "Where is the FP?" But you, gentle reader, will not be asking this question, because I'm going to tell you where all the flight paths are (Horde-side friends, your version of this post is coming soon). First off, you'll need to know how to get to Northrend in the first place. Fortunately, we've got your back. And once you do get there, you may want to shuttle from one starting zone to the other. Turtle boats to the rescue! Now once you've picked a zone, how do you get around within it? Note that there will be zone-specific information and maps after the cut; if you don't want to see anything about Northrend before you go there, don't click.
Wrath intro zones in pictures
We at WoW Insider delved deep into the frigid steppes of Northrend during beta to bring you, the loyal reader, shiny pictures. Lots of shiny pictures. With the realms down and no ship sailing for the lands of Arthas until Thursday, we wanted to give you something to tide you over. Below are screenshot guides covering many of the initial zones you'll experience in Wrath. Click through and enjoy until the real thing can be yours tomorrow at midnight.%Gallery-29398%%Gallery-28278%%Gallery-28932%%Gallery-28715%%Gallery-32823%
How to find your way to all those loved squirrels
"You love Rat." "You love Chicken." "You love Rabbit." I have to admit, before the achievements came to the game, I was a critter-killer -- I usually ended the lives of any critters I came across, because this is war and the world is no place for them. But since achievements appeared, I've gone around loving every little animal I could -- I haven't gone at To All the Squirrels I've Loved Before with a plan, just emoted towards everything I found.But Random Ravings isn't quite as random -- they've got a terrific list of where to find every single critter you need. Only two are actually in Northrend (I thought there was more), and the rest seem to be in muliple places around the world, so it doesn't seem too bad at all. The hardest might be the wild parrot -- that one seems to be only in Un'Goro, but brave the dinos down there, find the bird, and you're all set.Nice list. Anyone ready to head up to Borean Tundra and just grab the last two? BBR says they're also working on a list of all the books for the reading achievement -- can't wait to see (and eventually run around and do) that one either.
Wrath 101: Getting from Borean Tundra to Howling Fjord and vice versa
One of the questions frequently asked is which zone will you be leveling in first? A large majority of players will pick Borean Tundra or Howling Fjord. Why not both? Not to worry, there's a far easier way of getting from the Tundra to the Fjord and back again. You don't necessarily have to go back to your capital city zones and then transfer to a different zeppelin or boat. Our new walrusian friends the Tuskarr will be supplying the main modes of transportation with really big turtles. Those Goblin turtle mounts are no match for these behemoths. These carrot powered turtles will shuttle players from Borean Tundra to Dragonblight where they can then hop off and switch turtles in order to resume their journey to Howling Fjord. Don't worry, trips are free. Note that all of the Tuskarr ports have flight paths for both factions for easy access to and from.
