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Azuarc's Leveling Guide part 05  

Azuarc's leveling guide for Alliance, Act 5: Ashenvale and Duskwood (levels 27-31)

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When we last left Ashenvale, we had basically cleared the western half of the zone and completely left the eastern half. There is quite a bit left in the zone, and it should prove significantly less challenging now. Your first order of business should be re-setting your hearthstone to Astranaar, picking up any stray quests you're missing. From earlier work, you ought to have The Tower of Althalaxx, Fallen Sky Lake, An Aggressive Defense, and Raene's Cleansing.

Now I'll be honest. At this point, it might make a lot more sense to pick off easy quests in Wetlands. You might find that a much easier alternative, especially if you skipped the last scene in Act 4 and are only level 25. But the completionist in me is dying to clean up these remaining items in our quest log, since they aren't overly annoying, just impossible at level 23.

Contents [hide]

Scene 1 - Forest Song (level 26/27)

Quests completed: An Aggressive Defense, Raene's Cleansing 4, Kayneth Stillwind
Flight points acquired: Forest Song (Ashenvale), Talrendis Point (Azshara)

Leave Astranaar to the east, and go south off the road a bit before the road north to Felwood. The furbolgs in the village here are for An Aggressive Defense, a quest that has probably gone green to you by now. Green is ok, gray is not. So let's do it now.

Optionally, go south past the furbolgs to Silverwind Refuge, which is just north of Mystral Lake. Inside, there is another quest you can do to beat up on the level 23-24 elementals in the lake. The quest isn't particularly fun since the drop rate is poor, and I'd skip it if you aren't behind in levels.

Afterwards, get back to the highway and take that road north to Felwood. Head up this road until you start seeing treants. When you start slaying these crazed and withered ancients, you will eventually get a key to a chest. That chest is to the west of the road in a secluded grove most of the way to the north. (Not all the way, if you start seeing wolf-men, you're just a little bit too far north.) Open the chest and you will get the next piece of Raene's cleansing.

Cross the road and look for a path in the eastern mountains that heads up into them. You will have to range southward a bit for this, and it isn't *completely* obvious, so look carefully. Go up that ramp and turn south into Night Run, where you will find one of the two Highborne Souls amidst the satyrs. From there, go east past the rivers and eventually back south to the main road. Immediately after you pass Satyrnaar, there will be an area to the north called Forest Song that is the other quest hub for the zone. Look around here for a flight point and the following quests: Agents of Destruction, Forsaken Diseases, Reclaiming Felfire Hill, The Howling Vale, The Lost Chalice, A Shameful Waste, Destroy the Legion.

One last thing while we're here...this isn't the only flight point in the area. Go back to the road and east out of the zone. Almost immedaitely after entering Azshara, there will be a small encampment to the right side of the road. Grab the flight point here as well before returning to Forest Song.

Scene 2 - Satyrnaar (level 27)

Quests completed: The Lost Chalice, The Tower of Althalaxx 6

Due west of Forest Song is a satyr camp called, of all things, Satyrnaar. You have three quests to work on in this small area. Keep your eye open for small piles of wood on the ground as you go, but since you are approaching from the east, the first obvious thing you should see somewhere to your right is a big red gem like the one you saw back in Night Run. This is the other half of The Tower of Althalaxx. The gem is near a large red monument. Along the base of the monument, there should be a chalice sitting on the ledge. Take it. Return to Forest Song once you have the rest of your lumber, and then go to Astranaar and Maestra's Post to finish a few quests awaiting completion.

=Scene 3 - Blood Fury (level 27)== Quests completed: Retrieval for Mauren, Reclaiming the Charred Vale
Flight Points acquired: Nijel's Point (Desolace)

I promised you that Stonetalon Peak flight point would be good for something some day. Today's that day.

Fly back to Stonetalon, run south to Mirkfallon Lake, and go west. You will be in a long canyon that eventually leads into the Charred Vale. Kill any basilisks you see for Mauren, and be aware that your ultimate goal is to finish Reclaiming the Charred Vale, which involves killing all kinds of annoying harpies. This is not a fun trip, but it is a somewhat necessary one. (Well, the end of it is. If you just want to run and grab the flight point at the end, that's good enough.)

The four kinds of harpies you need generally live in different sectors of the Vale. What makes this area frustrating is that (a) there are a lot of wandering creatures, (b) the harpies tend to live in packs, and (c) there are other types of harpies you don't need that become the bulk of what you will find as more people avoid them to kill the quest targets. (Horde have the same exact quest.) The "Harpy" and Ambusher mobs are mostly near the entrance and to the northern areas. You'll find the Slayers and Roguefeathers further removed from the area you enter from. Note that there are also some basilisks in the Charred Vale if you can find them amidst all the other crap here.

When you finish collecting from both the harpies and the basilisks, you will want to leave the area to the south, which was our real reason in coming here. This will put you in the zone of Desolace, which is not a zone you want to be in yet, but also not a zone you want to make another trip to just to reach the flight point for later. A little after you enter the zone, turn east and follow the northern mountains. You will want to do your best to avoid the trash here since it's mostly level 30-32 and you are not. After running a bit over halfway to the end of your map, you will arrive in Nijel's Point. Nijel's Point is the Alliance town in the area, and the flight point is on the upper ridge.

You can drop the quest to report to Ziz Fizziks and return to Ashenvale now. (Fly or hearth.)

Scene 4 - Cleaning House (level 28)

Quests completed: Fallen Sky Lake, Raene's Cleansing 5, Forsaken Diseases, Agents of Destruction, A Shameful Waste, Destroy the Legion, Reclaiming Felfire Hill, Diabolical Plans (maybe)

Long journey this time. It's time for another trip to the moonwell. It's been a while since we've been there. Shael'dryn will send you to get the other half of the rod.

Next, go east to where the southern road heads toward the Barrens. Take the road about two-thirds of the way to the Barrens, and on the right (west) side of the road is Fallen Sky Lake. There should be an "oracle" on the island in the center of the lake. Kill him, loot, and move on.

Cross the road northeast and head for the Dor'Danil Barrow Den. All throughout this region are low level slimes. Contrary to what you might normally do to a mob 7 levels below you, kill them. Occasionally a chest will appear after you kill one. If you're lucky, when you loot this chest, you'll get the other piece of the rod. There is one other task in the area to the north of the actual barrow – you should find a small camp of Forsaken with a bunch of beakers and chemicals and such. Watch out for stealth mobs here, but fight your way to the table and grab a bottle of disease. Mmmmmm, sweet sweet bottles of disease...

To the east, a small road will lead you across the river to Felfire Hill. In this area, you will want to kill 6 of each of the three demon types and plant 8 seeds at the loose clumps of dirt in the area. There seems to normally be a disproportionate number of Infernals in this area, so keep your eyes open for Felguards and Succubi, but you shouldn't have to go into the canyon to get those kills hopefully. There is the possibility you might also get a quest-starting item called Diabolical Plans while here, but don't fret if you don't have it.

The road through Felfire Hill goes across the eastern river into the Warsong Lumber Camp. You have two quests for this area. One is to collect lumber, and the other is to wrack up a kill count on various enemies in the area. Grab lumber as you come across it, but focus on Agents of Destruction. The deforesters are not especially common, so your first priority is finding 5 of those. You will probably finish all the scouts and the shredders before that. Overseer Gorthak is in the small building south of the fence that contains the stronghold. Finish both quests and head back.

Forest Song is just a little to the north from here once you've finished. Turn in your quests, but don't hearth back to Astranaar yet unless you're done for the day.

Scene 5 - Satyr Slaying (level 29)

Quests completed: Vile Satyr! Dryads in Danger!, The Branch of Cenarius

From Forest Song head northwest, above Satyrnaar, into Xavian. The satyrs here perform a full heal when they get low on health, but it has about a six-second cast time, so it's easily prevented. What is not so easily prevented is the adds you often get here from respawns and from spellcasters that refuse to come to you. As you clear your way toward the river, you should find Anilla is in the center of the encampment. Her dying wish is for you to reclaim the Branch of Cenarius from Geltharis.

North of Anilla, you will find a small enclave that contains Geltharis and possibly a rare spawn Prince Raze. Do your best to get Geltharis solo; he single-pulls easier than one might think. Loot and scoot back to Forest Song, and then hearth back to Astranaar.

Scene 6 - You Monsters! (level 29)

Quests completed: Raene's Cleansing 6, 7, and 8, The Howling Vale, Satyr Slaying

This trip is going to look a lot like Scene 1.

Go back to the moonwell one more time. Shael'dryn will take the Iron Pommel from you and put the rod back together, but you need to energize it. As you are running out of the moonwell area, (figuratively) put your hand on the left wall and follow it south, east, north, east, and then up a small path to the shrine above Raynewood Retreat where you need to recharge the rod. Retrace your steps back to the moonwell to show her.

Run east out to the northern road. Feel free to cut through Raynewood Retreat. Go ALL the way north to the border of Felwood, and then turn left off the road. There should be a ridge going up into the western hills to an area called The Howling Vale, filled with worgen. Clear your way past them into the main area. There are two clickable objects in the Vale, but the one we are interested in is the Tome of Melthandris on the left. If you move quickly, you can avoid most of the respawn on the way back out.

Run back down the road a little, and find your way into Night Run again. The entrance is off the east side of the road about a third of the way toward the main road. Make one full sweep through the satyrs, killing them all for their horns, and continue east out the other side. Xavian is at the mouth of the rivers, or if you prefer you can stay further south and go into Satyrnaar. But make your way to Forest Song, stopping to kill enough satyrs to get your 16 horns.

A Trip to Darnassus (level 30)

Make this trip either before or after scene 7, whenever you get to level 30.

After turning in The Howling Vale at Forest Song, you will want to fly to Darnassus to follow the trail of Velinde Starsong. Speak with Melyria Frostshadow in the warrior's terrace. She will give you a key to check out Velinde's possessions in the sentinel bunkhouse, which is on the south side of town. Look for signs on the second floor of buildings on the outer edge of the city. Thanks to the wonders of Night Elven architecture, that area can only be reached by taking the bridge over to it from the building across the street. Check the chest in the bunkhouse and head back to Melyria. She will have you head for Ratchet, which is what we will do when we are completely finished with Ashenvale.

Scene 7 - Finishing With the Furbolgs (level 30)

Quests completed: Raene's Cleansing 9, 10, and 11, Insane Druids (maybe), Never Again! (maybe)

Head back to the moonwell and speak with Shael'dryn. Find your way back to the well and show Shael'dryn your energized rod.

Go to Astranaar and talk to Raene. She'll be interested in seeing your magic rod as well. Raene gives you instructions to use it to make contact with the last remaining uncorrupted furbolg. You will find him above the waterfall overlooking Mystral Lake. Go around the east side of the lake and you should find a path that leads up and above it to Krolg. Krolg will be hostile to you in your natural form, but if you use your rod, he will be more interested in your company.

Krolg will ask you to rub out Ran Bloodtooth and get his head. You can jump the wall to the east to reach the Bloodtooth Camp quickly. Ran is an archer, so you will not be able to pull him. Instead, kill around him first, and then you should be able to have a fairly peaceful fight. Take Ran's head to Krolg and he will ask you to take it back to Raene. (Side note: Doing so will also deprive you of Dartol's Rod of Transformation. Many players choose not to progress any further on Raene's Cleansing so they can keep the rod as a fun toy.)

The rest of this trip is optional, and only for completionists.

East of the road is The Dor'danil Barrow Den. The quest Insane Druids takes place inside the den. Approach this area with caution, as there are a lot of stealth mobs. The quest has you killing three different druids, who are all passive and that you can clear around. The druid themselves are possibly easier than the trash mobs you clear to get to them. The den is just like any other barrow den – split up into three circular areas that are all linked together.

  • The first has two bridges going across to small rooms, one of which contains Taneel Darkwood, and has a ramp down to a lower level that has connector paths out of it to either side.
  • The area you reach from taking the left exit has a bridge leading to a central island with two more ramps off it. One goes to a room across the area that has a hall in the back leading up to Mavoris Cloudsbreak. The other ramp goes downward to a floor with a bunch of irrelevant rooms and the connector path to the third section.
  • The final area has a large bridge heading into another small room, and a ramp down and to the left that leads into another room which hides Uthil Mooncall. The connector back to the first area is across from the bridge...or you can just hearth out.

While I doubt those directions helped much, the point is: kill the three druids and leave.

There is one final task you could do, and that is Never Again!, the follow-up to the dropped note in Felfire Hill. It involves fighting your way into Demon Fall Canyon and killing one named demon at the east end of the area, and going to the ridge at the west end, entering the barrow den there (which is just like the one you just came from) and finding the other named demon in there. You probably don't want to bother with this, although the rewards are slightly better than Insane Druids.

Returning to Duskwood (level 30)

We've got some perfectly good quests going to waste in Duskwood that we need to wrap up. Make your trip to Darnassus if you haven't by now, and then fly to Ratchet to chase after the Night Elven priestess. The wharfmaster will ask you to speak to the caravan master in Booty Bay, who will in turn send you to Clerk Daltry in Darkshire.

However, when you get to Booty Bay, fly to Stormwind instead and go to the Cathedral District. Speak with Thomas, the altar boy. He will send you on the beginning of another epic journey that will send you to the following people:

Bishop DeLavey in Stormwind Keep Jorgen in the outer moat of the city Elling Trias in the first building on the way back into Stormwind Watcher Backus in Duskwood

So when you get to that last step, then fly to Darkshire. Set your hearthstone, talk to the clerk, all that jazz.

Scene 8 - Ending the Legend (level 30)

Quests completed: The Missing Diplomat 4, The Legend of Stalvan 13

Leave the town to the north, and find Watcher Backus along the way. Continue north and take the turn off the road to the right into Manor Mistmantle. Stalvan is waiting for you inside his house. Kill him.

Scene 9 - Bark at the Moon (level 30)

Quests completed: Worgen in the Woods 1, 2, 3, and 4, The Scythe of Elune

Go west to the Rotting Orchard -- it isn't far outside town to the southwest. Poke your head around for some Shadow Weavers amongst the worgen horde. Adds will be a-plenty around here, but at level 29+, you should be able to handle yourself. Return to town when finished.

Go to the Rotting Orchard again, and hunt down Dark Runners. They're often in packs, but you should have no trouble finding them. Go to town when finished.

Finally leave town due south, as though you were going to go to the Tranquil Gardens Cemetery. Just west of the TGC, in an area that goes off the path to the right, will be a mine named Roland's Doom, and it is filled with more worgen. These guys are the toughest of the bunch. You'll find Vile Fangs outside the mine and Tainted Ones inside it. There should be exactly enough spawns of Tainted Ones if you clear it fully, plus an additional wanderer named Gutspill that is for a warrior class quest. In the back of the mine, to the right, is a loose mound of dirt. Search it and you will find what happened to Velinde Starsong. If you've been following the storyline on Sven's quests, they should make much more sense now. Once more, return to town.

Scene 10 - The Ogres and The Docket (level 30/31)

Go west past the Stranglethorn road toward Raven Hill, but turn south to Addle's Stead instead, which is across from Raven Hill. Follow the road down to the houses. There are two buildings here, but one of them houses 3 Defias. It also houses the chest containing the Defias Docket. This will not be easy, or perhaps even possible for you to do alone, but it marks one of the steps along a very famous questline, so yes, you have to go do it.

Head a little east from there, and hop on into the Vul'Gol Ogre Mound. You have two purposes here. Approach the "mound" where the ogres dwell, and notice the scattered crates in front of the cave mouth. One of those is Abercrombie's Crate, so snag it. The other reason for entering the cave is to chase after the ogre known as Zzarc'vul. He can be in a couple spots in the cave, but find him and dispatch him to get the monocle for the last Look to the Stars quest.

Since we're at the right end of the zone, (well, left end of the zone,) go drop off Abercrombie's crate. From there, go west toward Sven, but stop at Forlorn Rowe. Outside Raven Hill's gates near Forlorn Hill will be "A Weathered Grave". You must be level 28 in order to inspect it, which is why it was ignored earlier. With one more quest in hand, return to town. You get to have some fun when you do the turn-ins around town.

Quests completed: Ogre Thieves and follow-ups, The Weathered Grave, Morgan Ladimore, Look to the Stars 4, The Missing Diplomat 5

Scene 11 (optional) - Mor'Ladim and Eliza (level 30/31)

You won't be doing these two quests alone, which is why this section is optional. There is a third quest you could potentially have as well for Morbent Fel if you ignored me when I told you not to do the quest in Menethil Harbor with the Lightforge Ingots. The reason this matters is because whether or not you have it, someone who might be willing to group with you probably does. It usually takes a little diplomacy to work out finishing these three quests, but you will want a party of 3 or so to finish these comfortably. (Yes, I'm aware that some classes can solo some of these quests.)

Mor'Ladim is the skeleton walking around Raven Hill with the golden armor that likes to pop up behind you and kick your butt. You remember him, no doubt.

Eliza lives in the grave behind Abercrombie's shack. Right-click her grave and she appears, along with two or three guards. In spite of being a brainless ghoul, she is a mage. This means she goes down fairly easily, but it also means you do too with the guards possibly rampaging about wrecking your party.

Morbent Fel is in the hazy house on Forlorn Rowe. He's guarded by several powerful undead, and has a protective forcefield unless you use the item that is given to you for the quest to kill him. Make sure whoever is set to do that equips the item before you engage, since there's a 30 second activation cooldown.

Quests completed: Mor'Ladim, The Daughter Who Lived, Bride of the Embalmer

Rites of Passage (level 31)

Around level 30-32, you can consider yourself done with the third tier of zones. No more Ashenvale, no more Duskwood. Our next major target is going to be Stranglethorn Vale, which is just to the south, but we're not going there quite yet. More on that in act 6...

This page last modified 2008-02-24 12:21:30.