As part of an ongoing series, Staff Writer Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland will be going zone by zone in World of Warcraft, discussing the changes since Cataclysm, quest rewards, locations of interest and more.

Quests to see: There are two quest chains that end in blue rewards for Alliance members. The first chain starts with the quest out of Lor'Danel, Rescuing the Survivors. This quest also allows veteran players to see what has become of many old NPCs from Auberdine (spoiler alert: most of them are dead). The quests veer to the North, as Night Elf forces fight back the combined Shatterspear and Horde invasion force, and ends with riding a giant Ancient and crushing trolls.

After that, the action turns more to the south, and involves the Twilight Cult, furbolgs and Naga. Eventually the player learns that Queen Azshara is primarily responsible for the troubles in Darkshore, as she attempts to divert Malfurion Stormrage's attention from Hyjal. After taking out Soggoth, a risen minion of the Old Gods and a reference to Lovecraft's Shoggoth, players can choose another blue reward.

Another interesting series of quests, early on, lets the player choose a buff that lasts as long as he/she stays in Darkshore. The player can choose blessings from the spirit of a Moonstalker, Stag or Thistle Bear. The buffs make all of those type of creatures friendly to you in the zone, and grant an additional bonus: Stag gives 10% increased movement speed, Moonstalker gives 10% attack and casting speed and Thistle Bear gives 10% damage reduction. Once chosen the player cannot change the decision, so choose wisely!

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