Z and Cinder’s Blog Challenge #4

An Azeroth Holiday

Mr B: that’s easy. Howling Fjord. It’s just beautiful. It has mountains. Water. Snow… everything you could want or need. 
For me, it’s not so easy to decide. I suppose it depends what type of holiday you want? Or am I over thinking it? 
I’d love to go sightseeing in somewhere like Thunder Bluff or Orgrimmar. There’s so many cool things to see and do, obviously only ever playing Horde, that I haven’t done. However, how cool would it be to go sightseeing around somewhere like Booty Bay or one of the cute fising villages off the coast. Oh, how about the Panda starting island? I’d love to go back!

For a beach holiday, I think I’d like to go to the nice sandy beaches of Tanaris… I’d be quite happy relaxing there for a couple of days. I love this screenshot of my rogue hanging out on the Isle of Quel’Danas. She’s spent many happy moments admiring the view of the sea.

I’d also really like to visit somewhere in the mountains to do a bit of skiing or relaxing in a cosy cabin – somewhere like Mount Nevrest.

I also wouldn’t mind visiting Nagrand for a safari holiday, or visiting the beautiful rocks and gems in Deepholm. 
Thinking about it, I’d really love to do a tour of Pandaria. I’d visit Jade Forest, enjoy a ride down the river, take part in the sky race and visit the cloud serpents. I’d do a spot of fishing before heading to Halfhill and the market, eating lots of scummy food. Then I would go to Krasarang and have a lovely time on the beach (minus the things trying to kill me of course), then head off to the Shrine for some R&R.

The problem is the same as I face IRL. There are so many amazing, varied placed to visit, I can’t really decide where I would go first. Perhaps a Round-Azeroth-Trip is a good idea?!!

Mrs B’s noob guide to the Azerothian worlds.

If you haven’t already read it, I’d reccommend you read my complete noob guide first: https://mrandmrswow.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/mrs-bs-noob-guide/

One of the most confusing things in WoW, in my humble opinion, is definitely finding your way around. How do you know where everything is? How do you get there? Knowing is a skill. No, an art.

First, really important things you need to know about the different continents:

Eastern Kingdoms

• Looks like the UK
• Hosts lots of major cities which high level players hang around in looking important
• Starting areas for humans, dwarves (grisly little brutes), gnomes (small, so small!), blood elves (weird pointy ears), undead (says it all), worgen (funny walking dogs)

Northrend

• Take a jumper, it’s blimmin’ freezing
• Looks like Australia and is home to Dalaran
• Has some good hunter pets – if you can be bothered waiting

Kalimdor

• Horde are everywhere
• Bad to get to if you get seasick
• Starting areas for orcs (ugly!!), trolls (see previous), tauren (cow-like creatures which have tusks… what’s all that about??), night elves (Mr B has a thing for these little yummies), draenei (yeah, the feet ARE weird!), goblins (look like someone has projectile vomited over them, poor things)
• HORDE ARE EVERYWHERE!

Pandaria

• Uh, PANDAS!

Maelstrom

• It’s the big swirly thing in the middle…

Outland

• Has some really pretty places to visit if you’re having a touristy day out (Nagrand, Zangarmarsh, Netherstorm)
• Shattrath is here
• Nightmare to get to from Eastern Kingdoms

Now you know the important stuff, let me go into some of the particularities. Bear in mind I play Alliance so this may not help you Hoardies much 😉

1. Eastern Kingdoms – Vashj’ir (watery place) / Uldum (desert-y place)/ Hyjal (got a big tree and loads of burning stuff) / Pandaland / Tol Barad (lots of horde) / Twilight Highlands (high level stuff) / Deepholm (in the big swirly thing): go to Stormwind and take the portals out the back of Dwarven District. Hopefully, knowing this now will save you lots of running around later!
2. Stormwind – Ironforge. You KNOW you want to take the tram! Pick it up from the Deep Run Tram place in IF or from Dwarven District (co-ords 66,34). If you’re boring, fly from the flight master.
3. If you want to go to Isle of Quel’Danas, unless you’re closer, go to Ironforge and fly from there. It portals you and saves you a looooong flight. Wish I’d known that when I was farming Magisters Terrace….
4. Eastern Kingdoms – Dalaran:  go to the docks in Stormwind and get the boat from the harbour… I’m sure there’s probably a way to tell which dock is for which boat…
5. Eastern Kingdoms – Kalimdor: depending if you want to go north or south: either get the boat to Darnassus then fly, or take the Uldum portal from Stormwind. Or, get the boat or a mage to portal you to Theramore.
6. Eastern Kingdoms – Outland (Shattrath): take the Dark Portal. Go to Stormwind, find the Mage Tower (yeah, that took me about an hour too!), take the portal. Enter Blasted Lands, go through the Dark Portal (straight in front of you). Hope you don’t get ganked. Voilà.
7. Eastern Kingdoms – Pandaria: Portal at the place in Stormwind (or take the gunship in the air if you haven’t been before). At the major city in Pandaland (Shrine of the Seven Stars) there is a similar portal room to all the major Alliance cities. Worth considering setting your hearthstone here at 90 for that reason.

Of course, you could always befriend (or pay) a Mage to portal you to the main cities of Stormwind, Ironforge, Darnassus, Exodar, Theramore, Shattrath, Dalaran, Tol Barad, Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Oops, maybe I should have said that first…

Boats… blergh.

REMEMBER: you have a hearthstone. Save it to your current most-used location and save yourself loads of time flying / running around.

Good luck in your adventures – if all else fails, at least you’ll give Dora the Explorer a run for her money!