Wrath of the Lich King: Borean Tundra Tour

Finishing our series of quests involving the Winterfin, we move back north along the coast of the Borean Tundra, past the Blistering Pool, stopping briefly to discover the Ruins of Eldra’Nath, and not get too close to the Horde’s Bor’gorok Outpost.

I’m sure you Horde players will want to stop there and partake in the series of quests involving the ruins, the Pool, and Steeljaw’s Caravan. Horde players will also be sent to Magmoth, just east of Bor’gorok Outpost.

North of Bor’gorok, the road leads into a new zone, the Sholazar Basin, which I’m not yet brave enough to explore. I’ve heard it’s mid-70’s level quests and mobs, so I’ll stick to the Tundra for now.

To the south-east of Magmoth is Fizzcrank’s Airstrip, our friendly gnomish outpost and flight point in north-central Borean Tundra. I’m always a fan of Gnomish quest hubs, if not the gnomes themselves, and there’s actually some interesting lore to be uncovered here. Quests from Fizzcrank’s will send you into the Geyser Fields, to the east and south-east.

At this point, I’m heading back down to Valiance Keep to head north and east along the coast to see what’s to be found. This zone is huge. If you were overwhelmed by how massive the new zones in Outlands were when you first picked up The Burning Crusade, you’ll be absolutely floored by what Wrath of the Lich King has to offer.

I’ve spent the better part of a week questing in Borean Tundra, have gained a level, and still haven’t finished the zone.

With that in mind, I’m skipping Fizzcrank’s quests for now to give you a tour of the rest of the Borean Tundra. I feel like if I did everything along the way as I wrote these zone tours, it’d be months between each one. The pacing of the quests is quick, but there’s just so many to do and so much to see that time passes and before you know it, it’s 2am and you’re wondering where your evening went.

Heading north along the eastern coast of the Borean Tundra from Valiance Keep, we come to the Tuskarr village of Kaskala, under attack by Kvaldir raiders. The Kvaldir look a lot like the Skaldir and Vrykul.

The Tuskarr eventually send you further east along the coast to Unu’pe, another Tuskarr village, and then to Death’s Stand, where you’re sent on an important mission to the north-east corner of the Borean Tundra and the Temple City of En’kilah.

After a number of quests involving En’kilah, you’re finally sent to deal with a big bad up in the floating fortress of Naxxanar. A final epic fight on top of the fortress completes a good story line in this zone and gives a decent reward.

Overall, I found the Borean Tundra to be an excellent introduction to Northrend and the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. It’s desolate in places, but shockingly pretty. Blizzard’s really brought their unique Warcraft style to a new level in the graphics here.

Luckily, beauty is more than skin deep, as you’ll find out by digging into the story lines presented through the quests here. You’ll receive lots of gear as rewards for quests, and a surprising amount of it matches, so you won’t end up looking like a clown as many of us suffered through in the early Burning Crusade.

I hope you’ll take time to review my jerky-cam fly-through of the zone, and the gallery of screenshots I took that show off the zone. Join me next time for a tour of Howling Fjord.

Please note that this article, and others previewing Wrath of the Lich King are based on my personal impressions of the game. I’m trying not to spoil too much for you or for me as I go, so some of my assumptions may be wrong as I explore the story that evolves in front of me. Just accept that this is what I think at the time I get to it, and experience may teach me otherwise.

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