Borean Tundra packs in the fun

I’ve been questing in the Borean Tundra for the past few days and wanted to write a few quick impressions as I am nearing the last few quests.  Since my Death Knight is undead, I’ll be giving you guys a Horde point of view.  Borean Tundra is one of two “starter” zones in Northrend that can be done starting at level 68 and ideally last until around 72.   I didn’t begin questing here until 69 though because I spent a level in Howling Fjord (which I don’t regret, but don’t like nearly as much as Borean Tundra).  The quests begin at the huge Orc fortress that was built in response to the attack on Orgrimmar – it’s basically the entire reason why the Horde has come here: they’re pissed off.  Big mistake pissing off the Horde!   The Orcs are especially miffed and brought all their big names to Northrend including the infamous Varok Saurfang and Garrosh Hellscream.

The quests from the Orcs were a great starter for the region.  They have you doing everything from blowing up Nerubian Sinkholes (where you’ll see lots of great looking Nerubians) to driving tanks mowing down the armies of Kel’Thuzad.  Oh, and you actually see Kel’Thuzad standing there!  From what I hear, he’s the boss of Naxxramas once again.

Morkeen in front of the Nexus in Coldarra
Morkeen in front of the Nexus in Coldarra

After you do quests for the Orcs and earn their respect and prove you are honorable, which always seems to be in question, they send you off to aid their neighbors in Borean Tundra.  These neighbors are a needy bunch but the quests are really entertaining.   You’ll find quests from the Tuskin (walrus people), the D.E.H.T.A. (Druids for the Ethical and Human Treatment of Animals – a group that wants to bring Nesingwary to justice… not a bad bunch in my eyes because Nesingwary can DIAF) and the Taunka (extra furry Taurens, imo).  The Taunka quests can be a bit tedious because they involve the ever-tedious gnomes who always seem to blow stuff up and leave parts everywhere but they do give amazing quest rewards and lead into some fun chains.  The Taunka quests also allude to an overall objective that you’ll accomplish as you move through more WotLK zones.

Probably the best quests in the entire zone though come from the Wizards of Dalaran.  The quests start at Amber Ledge and involve you investigating the kidnapping of some magical people.  The story unfolds and eventually leads you into Coldarra – a region that is home to the Nexus and a ton of Blue Dragonflight.  This Coldarra area is amazing.  It contains so much lore!  [LORE SPOILER ALERT – SKIP THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH]  The storyline here all leads to Malygos, one of the Aspects and leader of the Blue Dragons, who has regained his sanity (cool storyline involving Neltharion (Deathwing for you lore impaired)) and how he is pissed at the use of magic by humanity.  The sub-plot here eventually leads into the Nexus where you get to free Karastrasza who has been warped by Malygos.  This entire area establishes a HUGE section of the WotLK lore for Dalaran and the eventual raid of Malygos for level 80’s.

Overall, this zone has a ton of quests and a ton of lore.  The quests are diverse enough so that I didn’t find myself bored or wanting to leave and the lore was so good that I found myself actually wanting to push onward and see it unfold.  I don’t get many “WOAH!” moments in games anymore but I definitely had more than a few in Borean Tundra.  Well done!

  • I just can’t shake that creepy “WoW feeling” when I read these articles. I’m really trying hard because I love Blizz, but I just can’t do it.

    Maybe time will heal all wounds.

    None the less I appreciate the articles and very much enjoy reading them.

  • Make sure you do every quest in Borean Tundra, then when you’re done go straight to Dragonblight. You won’t regret it.

    Oh and as I was saying before, Storm Peaks. Best. Zone. Ever!

  • Allies are better off in the Howling Fjord IMO. Actually, I think that the starting location favors the Horde in the Tundra, and the Alliance in the Fjord. I still think that Valgarde is the coolest starting location ever. 🙂

    While I hate the looks of the Nexus instance, the Nexus itself is pretty cool. You will get a dragon air war daily quest at level 80 from the dragon Corastraza, she is up there in the skies. 🙂

  • Totally agree with Shamble – I JUST finished Dragonblight and about peed in my pants, there was so much awesome going on.

    I quested in Borean too on my draenei, though reading Longasc’s comment, perhaps I should have done Fjord. 🙁 (I really liked borean though, minus the landing strip gnome place).

  • i really did not like most of the quests in dragonblight, but it is a must do zone for sure. i wont say anything but one quests line is well the best thing in WoW to date.

    as horde i did both howling and borean, they are both good zones but i liked howling better, borean just had to many quests and i was ready to leave in the end.

  • i’m with the rest of them, as much as you care about lore, you’re absolutely going to LOVE the end of dragonblight. something to look forward to! 😉

  • Dragonblight is the single greatest accomplishment in WoW and I mean it.

    And yeah, as an ally I found that the Howling Fjord was better than the Tundra, although not by an overwhelming amount. Valgarde is amazing though, and compared to, say, the gnomish airstrip in Borean, which was my least favorite quest hub in the entire continent of northrend…

    The music in stormpeaks is amazing. I love the place so far, but don’t go without an epic flying mount.

  • Yep I have indeed. I did it at level 71 though and the result was getting stomped on by level 75+’s heh. It was really neat though. It has a lot of potential that I hope comes through at later levels.

  • That Battleground is balanced to perfection, they should seriously consider making AV more like that…

    All of that and it’s a TON of fun!

  • Playing a Death Knight is a ton of fun. I’m loving how the class is durable yet can pack a punch. I’m also liking how I know my weaknesses and strengths already and how to go about beating particular classes.