World of Warcraft Newbie Guide

The entrance is in Ashenvale at the north end of Zoram Strand. If you come in from Darkshore along the path to the west, it leads directly to the pool that leads to Blackfathom Depths. Watch out for stealthed and invisible satyrs among the naga. Bring some water breathing potions, or a warlock; you can do it all without, but a couple of areas will be tough if you forget.

Je’neu Sancrea (Horde) – The Essence of Aku’Mai
Je’neu Sancrea (Horde) – Allegiance to the Old Gods (II)
Damp Note/Blackfathom Tide Priestess (Horde) – Allegiance to the Old Gods

Gerrig Bonegrip, Ironforge – Knowledge in the Deeps
Dawnwatcher Shaedlass, Darnassus – In Search of Thaelrid
Gershala Nightwhisper, Darkshore – Researching the Corruption
Argent Guard Manados, Darnassus – Twilight Falls
Argent Guard Thaelrid, Darnassus – Blackfathom Villainy
Doan Karhan, Barrens – The Orb of Soran’ruk (warlock only)

As usual, Horde get a few extra quests in the instance.

The corrupted brain stems drop from every naga killed, including those outside the instance. The Argent Guard is in a cove reachable only by swimming underwater; you will see a quest marker when you get near. The manuscript for Gerrig is in the first niche to the right in the first pool room, in a chest.

Behind the named murloc is a clickable stone – this gives a useful buff to int, spirit and frost damage.

After killing Kelris, light the four bowls on the corner of the statue ONE AT A TIME. After each flame is lit, a wave of mobs will come out of the alcoves on each side, and after the last wave the doors open. Underneath Kelris is the Forgotten Pool – to the north, underwater, is a named thresher.

Once you have killed Aku’mai, a dwarf appears; once he has finished his speech, you can either click on him for a port to Darnassus, or click on the altar to be ported back to the entrance pool in Ashenvale.

Bosses

Aku’mai – Leech Pants (cloth legs), Moss Cinch (leather waist), Strike of the Hydra (two handed sword).
Baron Aquanis – Strange Water Globe (starts a quest, Horde only).
Gelihast – Algae Fists (blue mail hands), Reef Axe (two handed axe).
Ghamoo-ra – Tortoise Armor (blue mail chest), Ghamoo-ra’s Bind (cloth waist).
Lady Sarevess – Naga Battle Gloves (blue leather gloves), Darkwater Talwar (one handed sword), Naga Heartpiercer (bow)
Old Serra’kis – Bite of Serra’kis (blue dagger), Glowing Thresher Cape (blue)
Twilight Lord Kelris – Rod of the Sleepwalker (blue staff), Gaze Dreamer Pants (cloth legs)

In the south west corner of Silverpine Forest.

Jordan Stillwell, Ironforge – The Test of Righteousness (paladin only, also involves Deadmines, Blackfathom Deeps, etc)
Doan Karhan, Barrens – The Orb of Soran’ruk (warlock only, also Blackfathom Deeps)
High Executioner Hadrec, Silverpine (Horde) – Deathstalkers in Shadowfang
Keeper Bel’dugur, Undercity (Horde) – The Book of Ur
Dalar Dawnweaver, Silverpine (Horde) – Arugal Must Die

No quests for Alliance in general for here, just class specific. It doesn’t seem entirely finished – other instances are far more polished than this. You have to run back through the instance to make an exit, most of it consists of large numbers of mobs milling about, and drops seem fewer.

At the start, there is a Horde and an Alliance prisoner; you must free one in order to continue further on. When you come to the big wolf (Fenrus, no prizes for original naming), he is on his own. When you kill him, 3-5 voidwalkers will spawn in the room and attack (non-elite).

One of the earlier mobs (or possibly all the Sons of Arugal) has a long lasting curse that randomly places a debuff on you to reduce one of your skills (melee or magic, eg frost, or guns, or two handed swords) by 100.

The wolf master has four wolfs that are linked and will attack you when he does.

At the end, Arugal is a 25 mage, on a platform across the room from where you enter. I imagine that he is supposed to aggro as you fight across the floor, but he didn’t when I tried it. The platform means that a ranged fight is difficult, and Arugal has a very nasty dot (200+ damage each time it triggers).

Then it’s time to run all the way back.

Bosses

Archmage Arugal – Belt of Arugal (cloth waist), Meteor Shard (dagger), Robes of Arugal (cloth chest). All blue BoP.
Baron Silverlaine – Silverlaine’s Family Seal (blue ring), Baron’s Scepter (green mace). Both BoP.
Commander Springvale – Commander’s Crest/Eerie Stable Lantern (blue off hand), Arced War Axe (green two handed axe). Both BoP.
Deathsworn Captain – Phantom Armor (blue mail chest), Haunting Blade (green two handed sword). rare spawn.
Fenrus the Devourer – Black Wolf Bracers (leather wrist), Fenrus’ Hide (back). Both green BoP.
Odo the Blindwatcher – Odo’s Ley Staff (blue staff), Girdle of the Blindwatcher (green leather waist). BoP.
Razorclaw the Butcher – Butcher’s Cleaver (blue, rare one handed axe), Bloody Apron (cloth chest), Butcher’s Slicer (one handed sword). All BoP.
Wolf Master Nandos – Feline Mantle (blue cloth shoulders), Wolfmaster Cape.

Located in Stormwind, the entrance is to the north of the Mages Quarter.

Baros Alexston – Bazil Thredd
Guard Berton, Redridge Mountains – What Comes Around…
Councilman Millstipe, Duskwood – Crime and Punishment
Warden Thelwater, Stockades – Quell the Uprising
Nikova Raskol, Stormwind, Old Town – The Color of Blood
Motley Garmason, Wetlands – The Fury Runs Deep

To get the quest from Alexston, you need to have completed the Deadmines up to getting Van Cleef’s head. Alexston is in the building behind the orphanage in Cathedral Square. For the other quests, Berton is outside the Lakeshire inn, Milstipe is inside the Darkshire town hall, and Garmason is in Dun Modr. Unfortunately, you have to have completed the Dark Iron War (kill about 30 level 29-30 elites) to get Garmason’s quest. Nikova wanders around the streets of the Old Town in Stormwind.

The Warden is inside the Stockade building.

It is advisable to clear all the side rooms as you go to prevent trains, as runners will usually go into the side rooms.

The follow-up to Bazil Thredd involves a lot of running around Stormwind. Clara’s farm is the first building on the right when leaving Stormwind; you will have to kill a level 30 and a 31 (normal) to complete the quest series.

Bosses

Bruegal Ironknuckle – Iron Knuckles (fist), Jimmied Handcuffs (mail wrist), Prison Shank (dagger). All blue BoP. rare spawn.

This instance is in the Barrens, south west of the Crossroads, just north of an oasis. The entrance looks vaguely like a skull; in the top left eye as you face it are some of the quest givers. You can only reach them by climbing up the hill above the skull, and jumping down carefully.

Mobs are 15-21. There are relatively few linked mobs, although the deviate guardians will call for help, and some of the druids have several (non-elite) helpers – pythons to the west, and little plants to the east. The plants could do some damage if you ignore them.

The east side of the map is extremely convoluted, with several places where jumps can short cut between passages – although you can navigate all the way without ever leaving the ground.

Mebok Mizzyrik, Ratchet – Smart Drinks (Raptor Horns is a prerequisite)
Crane Operator Bigglefuzz – Trouble at the Docks
Apothecary Zamah, Thunder Bluff (Horde) – Serpentbloom
Nara Wildmane, Thunder Bluff (Horde) – Leaders of the Fang
Ebru (above entrance) – Deviate Eradication
Nalpak (above entrance) – Deviate Hides
Glowing Shard (random drop in WC), take to Sputtervalve, leads to:
Falla Sagewind, Barrens – In Nightmares

There is also a quest from the Disciple of Naralex, just inside the entrance to the instance. This triggers when you have killed all the leaders of the fang, and involves fighting a few waves of mobs by Naralex. Each time you talk to the Disciple, he gives you Mark of the Wild.

Mad Magglish is a stealthed goblin in the area outside of the Wailing Caverns. There are two spots that he hangs out in: one is to the left as you enter, in a passage going back with a bedroll on the floor; the other is in a niche on the right, not far from the entrance.

It is just barely possible to gather serpentbloom without having to fight the elites; one should spawn on the left close to the entrance. It will take a long time to gather enough to complete the quest if you try this.

The two deviate quests and the glowing shard quest can be done by Alliance; the final part of the Glowing Shard requires delivery to Thunder Bluff, but Alliance can instead hand in to Darnassus.

For the deviate hides, they both drop and can be skinned. However, they are rare – one person clearing the instance only just gets enough for the quest, with skinning. A group would require multiple runs. As the reward is a leatherworking pattern to use deviate scales, which also aren’t common, plan on spending a lot of time in here if you want to pursue this quest to the fullest.

Bosses

Boahn – 20 elite, spawns outside the instance and is stealthed; drops Boahn’s Fang, a two handed axe (blue, BoE). Also Brambleweed Leggings (leather).
Kresh – the tortoise; drops Kresh’s Back, a blue BoP shield, relatively rarely.
Lady Anacondra – Belt of the Fang (BoP), Barbed Club of Strength (mace), Serpent’s Shoulders (yellow leather).
Lord Cobrahn – Cobrahn’s Grasp (mail belt), Leggings of the Fang. Both blue and BoP.
Lord Pythas – Stinging Viper (blue, BoP). one handed mace; Armor of the Fang (BoP).
Lord Serpentis – Venomstrike (blue, BoP), bow; Footpads of the Fang (BoP).
Mutanus the Devourer – Deep Fathom Ring, Slime Encrusted Pads (cloth shoulders), Mutant Scale Breastplate (mail). All blue and BoP.
Skum – Glowing Lizardscale Cloak (blue, BoP); Tail Spike (green, BoP), dagger. Big lizard.
Trigore the Lasher – Serpent’s Kiss (blue, BoE), one handed axe; Runescale Girdle (green BoE, mail waist). Hydra outside the instance, rare spawn.
Verdan the Everliving – Living Root (staff), Seedcloud Buckler (shield). Both blue and BoP.
Deviate Faerie Dragon – Firebelcher (blue, BoP wand), Feyscale Cloak (green, BoP).

The item set found here is “Embrace of the Viper”, which means all the “of the Fang” items. The gloves are a random drop from druids of the fang only, others are BoP from bosses as listed above. It’s a leather set, mainly of interest for druids and shamans for the set bonuses, but the individual stats are ok for rogues and hunters.

Be aware of all quests for an area before going there, which will involve some out of game research. It is more efficient to spend a little time out of game than to blunder around in game. You will also get more reputation from doing quests before they turn green.

If you can, aim to grind on yellow mobs, ones that are your level or one or two levels below you. This seems to be what most classes are designed for. A good grind spot has a lot of relatively static spawns; ones that roam over a wide area are likely to generate adds. Only group for instances and elite quests – which you do only to relieve the boredom.

Start in the newbie area (usually a subsection of the starting zone), and do all quests. Mobs are non-aggressive. Be aware of what the starting quests (and class specific quests) are, and who gives them, so that you can stack them efficiently. Stay to at least level 5, possibly 6; grind if you have completed the quests.

Next, rotate through all of the reachable starting zones for your race. Most of these will have a levelling gap in them, where the mobs for the next quest are marginally tougher. When you hit this, move on to the next zone. The starting quests in most areas will usually be a couple of ‘meet and greet’ quests (aka ‘runarounds’), with possibly one or two ‘kill x’ quests. Alliance characters have a disadvantage compared to Horde, as the starting area for night elfs is hard to reach; the tauren area is much more accessible for a low level Horde character.

By the time you have completed all of the accessible starting areas, you will be 12. Repeat the same cycle in secondary areas, again until you reach a levelling gap.

This is in the Undead starting zone, Tirisfal Glades, in the east, north east of Undercity. Alliance have to run there from Southshore. Enter Alterac as far west as you can, north of Hillsbrad fields. Go from there west of Dalaran, heading north, into Silverpine Forest – you can swim across the lake, if you wish. The road north from Silverpine enters Tirisfal Glades in the south west; go past the Undercity and south of Brightwater Lake to Scarlet Moastery, in the north east.

I am skipping listing the Horde quests, which I haven’t tried.

Raleigh the Devout, Hillsbrad – In the Name of the Light
Librarian Mae Paledust, Ironforge – Mythology of the Titans
Tabetha, Dustwallow Marsh – Hidden Secrets (magician)

The main quest series starts with Brother Crowley in Stormwind, who sends you to Brother Anton in Desolace at Nijel’s Point. You then have to kill 30 undead ravagers in the Valley of Bones, in the far south of Desolace. Raleigh is upstairs in the inn at Southshore.

At the end of the Grand Vestibule (where you enter the monastery), there are four instance entrance; two are locked and have names – Cathedral and Armory. The one to the north is the Graveyard, and to the south is the Library.

Graveyard

The first few mobs are human, and they run when low. They also don’t seem to respawn. After that are undead, which don’t run, and respawn relatively quickly.

In the undead area are groups of 3 non-elite, level 38/39; the rest are high 30s elites, all on their own. Phantasms will summon an elite ghost to help them, but it despawns when they die.

The graveyard used to be a popular place for cash farming, but in a recent run through there I got only three greens. The lower level instances are far better.

Grazle – Deadwood of the North 48
Grazle – Timbermaw Ally 48
Niby the Almighty – What Niby Commands 50-55
Greta Mosshoof – Forces of Jaedenar 51-58
Laris Geardawdle (IF) – A Little Slime Goes a Long Way 52-54
JD Collie (Un’goro) – Linken’s Memory 54
Xavaric – Flute of Xavaric 54
Eridan Bluewind – The Corruption of the Jadefire 54
Arathandris Silversky – Cleansing Felwood 55
Arko’narin – Rescue from Jaedenar 55
Meilosh – Sacred Cloth 55
Ivy Leafrunner – To Winterspring! 56-58

Several early quests for here start in Darkshire and lead through Swamp of Sorrows: Watchmaster Sorigal – Supplies for Nethergarde, Watcher Biggs – Deliver the Shipment, and The Lost Supplies from the crates in the west part of the swamp. The last one is a repeatable quest. These should be done in your 30s or low 40s, at which level taking a shortcut through the armory (to the east of the zone in) is probably safest.

Make sure that you find the gryphon master inside Nethergarde Keep; at the top of a tower behind the first buildings to the right as you enter; on the map, it is the furthest south part of the Keep.

Buff quests, all rated level 50:

Bloodmage Drazial – A Boar’s Vitality/Spirit of the Boar (sta)
Bloodmage Drazial – Snickerfang Jowls/Rage of Ages (str)
Bloodmage Drazial – The Decisive Striker/Salt of the Scorpok (agi)
Bloodmage Lynnore – The Basilisk’s Bite/Infallible Mind (int)
Bloodmage Lynnore – Vulture’s Vigor (spirit)

These all involve collecting more or less the same items, drops from the animals in the north. Boars and basilisks to the east, hyenas and scorpids to the west; vultures on both sides. Hyenas are 45/46, scorpids 50/51, and the rest inbetween.

Kum’isha the Collector – To Serve Kum’isha 55
Kum’isha the Collector – Everything Counts in Large Amounts 55
Kum’isha the Collector – One Draenei’s Junk 55
Kum’isha the Collector – Kum’isha’s Endeavours 55
Enohar Thunderbrew – Ragnar Thunderbrew 55

Ambassador Ardalan – Petty Squabbles (long series) 57