The Lich King is Coming - Part 2
Howling Fjord
Howling Fjord - Vengeance LandingWhile the evil Alliance lands to Howling Fjord at Valgarde close to the center of the zone due to a boat route that goes up the massive fjord that gives the name to the area, Horde starts out on the east coast at Vengeance Landing where the Zeppelin from Undercity docks.
 Welcome to Northrend - Vengeance Landing Beyond all the tradeskill-related trainers around the town, the only interesting merchant is the Horde Expedition Quartermaster - the first reputation vendor. Horde Expedition is the generic Horde faction of Northrend and you'll gain reputation for them in all 5-man instances unless you are Championing for some other faction by using their tabard. There is an initial set of about 20 quests around the first town, but only one of them is truly important, "A Score to Settle" that directs you to Utgarde Keep (the first 5-man instance in Howling Fjord), available from High Executor Anselm. Problem is, to unlock the quest, you have to first finish a 7-part quest series that starts from him, "War is Hell". On the first day, the beach head area might be somewhat overcrowded, so I'd suggest you pick the quest series to remind you to return for it later, then just grab the local flight path and head out of Vengeance Landing at best speed. The rest of the quests are tuned mostly for level 68s anyway, and none of the loot is that important. You also avoid fighting the masses for the limited mob spawns.
To get out of Vengeance Landing, first head to Vengeance Lift west of town that will get you on top of the cliff and then head north or south. If you go north, follow the signposts to Camp Winterhoof which is a quest hub where you could start questing. If you head south, follow New Agmand signs to Ghostblade Post for a couple of quests and then continue further south across the bridge that spans the fjord to New Agmand. Note the first 5-man instance, Utgarde Keep, at distance north of you when you cross the fjord - the entrance is at the bottom of the fjord, behind the Alliance starting town. Both Camp Winterhoof and New Agmand have flight paths you can unlock. Once you are done with either of these areas, the next logical step would be to head west of New Agmand towards Kamagua. You'll get to Kamagua Harbor using a fancy ski lift that you'll find along the western road. Kamagua Harbor belongs to the Tuskarr and is the first neutral hub in the area, so this also applies to Alliance.
 Kamagua Harbor At Kamagua Harbor you'll find a bunch of quests, a flight master and the eastern end of the Northrend boat route, using the new Turtle Boats. Quests available here take you up and down the western coast of Howling Fjord making this a good neutral quest hub early on. Even if you plan on continuing the questing in Howling Fjord, it may be worth taking a bit of time to unlock the initial set of travel routes. You do this by taking the Turtle Boat from Kamagua Harbor to Moa'ki Harbor which is in Dragonblight, picking up the flight path in that town (quests require level 71, sorry, but you'll return here as soon as you get your first level) and then moving on to the other Turtle Boat that takes you all the way to Unu'Pe Harbor in Borean Tundra.
After picking up the flight path there you can either fly back or continue westwards to Warsong Hold which is the entry town for the Orgrimmar Zeppelin Route. To get to Warsong Hold, just head north-northwest out of Unu'Pe and follow the road avoiding Gorlocs. After a little while you come to the D.E.H.T.A encampment and a large Horde fort should be visible in the distance south of you. Alliance should look for Valiance Keep located a bit southeast of Warsong Hold. Howling Fjord - Valgarde Mission complete - coastal flight path opened. Alliance lands at Valgarde, middle of the zone. While I have not personally done the related quests here, I'd venture a guess that they are set up similar to Horde. As far as I know, Alliance's quest to Utgarde Keep begins at Scout Valory in Valgarde ("Fresh Legs"), but this is just a 2-part quest and you get almost immediately sent to Defender Mordun, north of Valgarde, close to the actual Utgarde Keep. If you have friends on hand, it might be worth it just to immediately head for this first 5-man instance. If you are moving alone and you wish to avoid the rush, you should probably run quickly up the slope out of the initial area and then hit either Westguard Keep (west of Valgarde), Explorers League Outpost (southeast, across the fjord) or Kamagua (west-southwest, down the lift) for early quests. Once you have opened the travel routes between the two starting zones, you should have a nice handful of quest hubs where you can start playing without having to worry about the crowds that much. Blizzard has clearly anticipated that the first zones might get hit hard, so it's a good thing that quests are spread out and none of the outer quest hubs require you to complete anything from the initial landing hub.
Tags |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
