First Light

When it comes to changes in Cataclysm, few areas have changed their landscape as dramatically as Stranglethron Vale – which even got divided into two zones.

Northern Stranglethorn Value is the area directly bordering on Duskwood, and extending south as far as Fort Livingston.Areas such as the Ruins of Zul’Kunda, Nessingwary’s Expedition Camp and Kurzen’s Compound remain relatively unchanged. Even the Venture Company’s Base Camp seems to have not suffered from the changes in the area. But the farther south you come, the more evident becomes the change.

Just about around the Gurubashi Arena, the Stanglethorn area is ripped into two – and a great Maelstrom divides the landscape.

Next to the arena, the Explorers’ League Digsite remains in operation, Mistvale Valley is still inhabited by a bunch of Ogres and to the south, Booty Bay governs the Cape – having received some battering despite its isolated and protected location.

The Rebel Camp in the north is the first landing spot for the traveling adventurer, characters like Dragast land here at around level 25 after leaving Duskwood.

The Rebel C amp offers the first few quests and leads you to areas such as Kurzen’s Camp and to Nessingwary’s Expedition.

The true entrance to the Stranglethorn Vale area is just off the Rebel Camp, the way breaking through a small ridge and into a tropical rain forest area.

Just after the passage way where the first Panthers await the adventurer lies a small graveyard, overlooking the river and Nessingwary’s Camp.

The area around Nessingwary’s Camp is infested with wild beasts – Panthers, Tigers, Basilisks, and Crocolisks… you name them, they eat you.

A bit further into the forest you will also encounter so left-over dinosaurs – raptors to be precise. And don’t forget about the trolls of the Bloodscalp tribe.

The tribe’s main camp site of the ruins of Bal’lal and Zul’Kunda.

The tribe is hostile to both parties – Alliance and Horde. Mostly, they care for themselves and are determined to fight everyone off the land they have once taken by force.

Dragast was drawn into their business because there are plenty of quests around that deal with fighting off the Bloodscalps – and quests bring rewards, both in money and experience.

Many areas in the norther Stranglethorn Vale are beautiful landscapes – meadows, rain forest, wild flowers – it is all there.

What ruins the vacationer’s attempt to relax and chill out is the inhabitants roaming the area: if you have to fight off anyone who encounters you, you may not have picked the best holiday resort!

So the area to the west of the main road and to the Great Sea is infested with trolls and wild animals – the eastern side does not look much better.

In the far north, you run into Kurzen’s gang and their camp – with makes good grounds for the other quest chain up around here.

The gang is hostile towards Alliance as well as Horde players – and Dragast had quite a bit of a job to do fighting them, freeing their prisoners and destroying their stocks.

Eventually, the norther Stranglethorn Vale also reserves a vast area to the Venture Co. – and entire mining and digging camp is located along the shores of Lake Nazferiti.

Unlike Lake Everstill, Lake Nezferiti is a mud-pod – stick your toes and and check them all off when you take the foot out. The sea is full of slimy things, hungry fish and crocolisks… not the best place to take a nice afternoon swim. Just behind the lake and the Venture Co.’s Camp you will find the entrance to Zul’Gurub – one of the largest dungeons I have been running through in World of Warcraft – available on Level 85 Heroic Mode only.

New as of Cataclysm is the new Alliance camp in what used to be the central section of Stranglethorn Vale – now the southern border of the zone called “Northern Stranglethorn”. Fort Livingston holds a flight master, blacksmith and other characters the player need to repair and beef up his character.

When Dragast was roaming the area, he was not that lucky – there only had been the Rebel’s Camp area in the north and Booty Bay in the south – anything in between was hostile territory. Speaking of making things easy…

Crossing into the Cape region now, the next landmark is the Arena of Gurubashi. The arena it self has not really changed over the time – but the area in between Fort Livingston and here is now a huge maelstrom, dividing the two parts of Stranglethorn. If you are asking me – and Dragast, of course – this is a shame. Stranglethorn used to be a highly competitive and challenging area – it is not whitewashed and cleansed to serve merely as a questing ground without any challenge.

The image above shows the area – and Dragast on his green Proto-Drake which he earned much much later…Fort Livingston is on the left, the arena on the right, barely lurking over the edge of the trees.

Following the coastline of the Savage Coast – which used to be a deserted place once but is now also filled with new camps such as Hardwrench Hideaway, you will finally reach Booty Bay.

The town itself is located in a bay, surrounded by steep hills and only accessible by road through a tunnel or by sea.

A ship is regularly taking passengers to the other continent from here – and back. The place has taken some battering during Cataclysm.

Janeiro’s Point – and island guarding the bay’s entrance – has been washed over and the the city’s harbor is filled with debris.

The city is busy with repairs – and with business. Like in the old days, when Dragast came here first, players form both factions come to the city, use the auction house and run the quest lines.

Way back when, Dragast had help from a friend getting here – her name is Léda, a female warrior. Léda helped Dragast to get from the Rebel’s Camp to Booty Bay, guarding him and fighting off all enemies so Dragast eventually could claim the Flight Point here.

To complete the area, there is a stretch of beach behind Booty Bay which is well in the hand of pirates, having anchored three massive ships there.

The beaches as well as Jaguero Isle are also place of some questlines but the time in Stranglethorn is coming to an end.

I cannot really reacall if I took the chance to take Dragast over to Kalimdor – the ship leaving Booty Bay sails to Ratchet in the Northern Barrens section of Kalimdor – or if I returned to Stormwind, then going on to Ironforge. This time, however, I remain in the Eastern Kingdoms, take you to Stormwind and then on to Ironforge. We will cross over to the other continent later.

On the way out, Dragast is following a flight path through Mistvale Valley to have a last look at the Mistvale Gorillas which roam the area.

The gorillas have been formidable opponents once and this is a last farewell to old foes.

The way leads further north, flying over an area you once had to walk all the way. Passing the Ruins of Aboraz where Troll and Naga have joined forces Dragast is heading further north.

Crossing the land again, the last stop on the way out is an area called The Vile Reef. It lies off the western coast of Stranglethorn in the Great Sea. When Dragast was young and needed the money… he came here often to search for large shells in the reef. The shells can hold Blue Pearls which once sold at the auction house for a significant amount of money (for a low-level character, that is!)

Leaving Stranglethorn Vale by Proto-Drake, Dragast is taking the coastal route… to run into a surprise: just after passing the border into Westfall, there is a small farm with apple trees just on the edge of the water – in all the three years of playing, I don’t think I have seen it before. Stilwell’s Farm is a lovely place and evidence for the vast universe World of Warcraft has created… you can still find something new even after all those years (and it has been there all the time, I have checked…)

And now back to Stormwind and on to Ironforge…

To the south of Elwynn Forest and north of Stranglethorn Vale lies Duskwood – a dark an sinister forest area.

Covered with mostly dark and dense forests and constantly under a cover of fog and mist, Duskwood holds only one settlement that holds up human presence here – Darkshire.

Young Dragast had been entering the area coming from Redridge Mountains – he could have equally come from Westfall as both areas border on Duskwood. Entering the forest, the road winds along the river for the first few meters, then turns inland.

The banks of the river are infested with wolves and giant spiders – all of whom only have one idea for the traveler: to eat him. Well – I guess, Dragast had his own feasts of grilled spider legs and wolf sirloin.

Following the road to Duskwood, the area becomes darker and darker until the first signs of another kind of creature in Duskwood shows up. Manor Mistmantle is a deserted farm now controlled by the Undead – of which Dragast will find plenty more of when getting deeper into Duskwood. Eventually, Duskwood did hold a quest that made Dragast return here during his adventures – but it is not an easy area to deal with – or at least it was not back then.

The road to Duskwood is heavily patroled by The Nightwatch – at least a small encouragement along the way (not that they will be of any help if you are in trouble, of course…)

Moving along, Dragast finally arrived in Duskwood – just to find out that the dark and underworldly feeling did not stop at the gates of the town.

Unless things are going to change in some future add-on maybe, Duskwood will always remain a dark and non-desirable place to be in – at least for those of us that cherish the light.

The brave people of Duskwood are trying their best to fight the darkness that surrounds them – sometimes successfully, sometimes in vain.

The leader of the Night Watch, Commander Althea Ebonlocke, is one of the main quest givers in town, together with

Other quest givers are the mayor of Duskwood, Lord Ello Ebonlocke and Tobias Mistmantle, the brother of Stalvan Mistmantle (who, as an undead, is controlling Manor Mistmantle today).

Many of the quests take you to the places of the Undead around Duskwood – Cemeteries and other homes of the rotting.

Some of them are friendly, most of them are hostile and Dragast had quite a few spells exchanged with them. One of the more friendly ones is Blind Mary, roaming her house near Tranquil Garden Cemetery for all eternity.

Dragast has also been seeing the other attractions in Duskwood – The Rotting Orchard, The Yorgen Farmstad and Addle’s Stead. What Dragast never has seen is the Rain Instance starting in the Twighlight Cove (I started playing when this one was already considered “old”).

The final place to (not) be in in Duskwood is Raven Hill and it’s Cemetery (but you won’t get around it as there are plenty of quests that you need for the experience to grow your character).

Raven Hill, close to the border of Westfall, and its Cemetery are one of the last places in Duskwood to go for adventure – the enemies are plenty and high-level.

As I said, I could not keep Dragast out of the Cemetery – his is a curios and mean bastard and just had to go after the Undead.

Special is a guy named Mor’Ladin – a 25+ Elite NPC roaming the grounds of the graveyard. Mor’Ladim is one of the many sad stories in World of Warcraft that bring misery and grief to those that bother to follow the story closely: Mor’Ladim, in life Morgan Ladimore. Morgan – bearer of the Sword Archeus – committed a terrible sin in lifetime – a sin for which he felt so bad that he was not able to die until someone relieves him. Therefore, he is condemned to roam the cemetery until some hero will finally free him.

You can also find his grave just outside of the cemetery – a lone, weathered cross marking the place at Position 17,28 (Forlorn Rowe).

Let’s face it: on request of Morgan’s daughter Sarah, Dragast (like many others, I guess) has freed Morgan of the curse by putting him to rest at some time. Yet it is one of these stories that stick and attach players to the world closely.

Last on the way out of Duskwood is Vul’Gol Ogre Mound – a small valley full of big Ogres and good for some more action before Dragast advanced into Stranglethorn Vale.

And that was it for Duskwood – I honestly can say that questing there has not been Dragast’s favorite thing to do – man, was he happy to see the small wooden bridge that allowed him to leave the dark forest and exchange it for the jungle sights of Stranglethorn – brighter but also more dangerous…

When Dragast was slowly gaining experience, there came the point to leave Westfall and move on into Redridge Mountains.

Redridge Mountains is a large area in the east of Elwynn Forest, forming around Lake Everstill. The low-level characters usually come into the south-west, an area named Three Corners.

Three Corners is guarded by a watch tower that is built there, strategically overseeing all travelers from Elywnn and Duskwood into the Redridge area.

Around the watch tower, Gnolls have created a couple of camps and the area will provide for the first quests. Once Dragast cleaned those out, the way to Lakeshire is free.

The red color of the surrounding mountains is what gave the area its name – in worldly terms, it reminds me of Utah – red-rock country.

Gnolls, Gnolls, and more Gnolls remain the tasks for characters like Dragast at the beginning (and actually throughout the area) – later sided by Orcs.

Coming from Three Corners, the road is winding up a low ridge and from the top, you can already see Lakeshire and the bridge leading into it.

In the early days, when Dragast was young and came here for the first time, the bridge was heavily damaged and patched up – the signs of the battles from the past were visible around and a large boulder was thrown onto the northern end of the bridge.

Like so many Alliance areas in the southern Eastern Kingdoms, humanity has gained the advantage and the Lakeshire Bridge has been restored.

While the first quests start in Lakeshire and Dragast was quite busy back then, the story line moved us outside the town next, to the canyons in the north.

The Redridge Canyon area is Gnoll country. They have plenty of camps up their, including one of their in-game elite bosses, Yowler.

While the average gnoll of the area come around level 15 to 16 with about 300 to 350 health points, Yowler is an elite opponent that – at level 16+ – comes with 750 health points.

Today, that is not much – the average level 20 character has about 500 HP (Health Points) but three years back, it was an opponent you might wanted a friend to go with you for.

Amongst so many other tings, “making it easy” has really removed any need to team up – contacts I had once made because you simply had not been able “to do the task alone” are not required any longer these days – and that is a bit sad.

Leaving Lakeshire to the north, the road climbs up the ridge. When Dragast was prowling the area here, the road forking for Alther’s Mill always had a couple of Orcs waiting for him – at first, the two accounted for many of Dragast’s deaths – later-on, they turned into old friends being smashed on the way back to the lake. As of Cataclysm, the two of them are gone for good and Dragast can no longer involve in a brawl up here – I think, he might just be missing his old foes.

Following the dirt road eastbound, Dragast used to end up in Alther’s Mill – today a large camp of resting worgs.

Before Cataclysm, the plains around the old mill had been inhabited by giant spiders – they are gone and I think, this is the only good thing the worgs had done up here.

Behind Alther’s Mill, on the eastern exit of the plain, you can find two Orc officers, Murdunk and Homurk, slaying which is part of a quest to free a bunch of fighters from the past. Both are looking formidable but are easy prey, especially when in the quest you come with a couple of friends.

High above Lave Everstill sits the castle and watch tower of Stonewatch. Orc territory these days.

The old fortress is mostly empty and deserted – a quest usually takes a quest to get in for a rather large battle.

Before Cataclysm, the southern exit was leading to a bridge spanning a deep gorge: here it is where Dragast received one of his world achievements: Going down. But only on second try 😉

Today, the bridge is gone and you may succeed jumping into the water directly – but hey, there are other places to fall off, too.

Unknown to many, there is a small Alliance outpost in the extreme south-eastern corner of Redridge Mountains – Shalewind Canyon.

The camp does not seem to hold a quest giver – when Dragast was there, only a skinning trainer and a blacksmith had been present at all. But it makes for a nice rest and repair stop in the south-eastern corner and takes away the need to travel all the way back to Lakeshire to repair and sell items collected along the way.

An additional find in the area that Dragast came across when traveling for this story it a rare mob named Seeker Aqualon. He is hiding in a pond just to the south off the Tower of Ilgalar.

As Dragast is somewhat of an addict when it comes to rare mobs, the Seeker is now seeking for eternal peace in the world thereafter (at least until it re-spawns) and Dragast is a BoE (Bind-on-Equip) item richer (although it is a low-level item not really counting at level 85.

The southern banks of Crystal Lake are seeing many small Murloc and Gnoll camps, the road winding along between the lake and the mountains.

Two more rare enemies can be found here if you are lucky – a level 20 shark (looks somewhat like a Great White) named Ol’ Gummers is roaming the lake and a level 17 dragon – Snarlflare –  is sitting stationary above a hill in the south-western edge of the lake.

And this is basically it – once Dragast had reached level 20, Redridge Mountains didn’t have any more quests he could benefit from and the young warlock advanced to Duskwood.