Azuarc's Leveling Guide part 10  

Azuarc's leveling guide for Alliance, Act 10: Stranglethorn Vale (levels 41-44?)

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We finally make our return to Stranglethorn. Your quest log will likely be empty with the exception of:

• In Search of the Temple (don't fret if you're missing this one)
• News for Fizzle
• Razzeric's Tweaking

When you reach Booty Bay, you will also receive a few quests that are not for Stranglethorn.

• Whiskey Slim's Lost Grog
• Stoley's Debt
• Tran'rek

Those last two should indicate where we will likely head next. But then you should also be picking up all

your old quests again, as well as some new ones that have become available in the last 5 levels.

• "Pretty Boy" Duncan
• Scaring Shaky
• The Bloodsail Buccaneers
• Venture Company Mining
• Skullsplitter Tusks
• Captain's Chest
• Akiris By the Bundle
• Zanzil's Secret
• Stranglethorn Fever

When you fly up to the two camps, which you will do to start scene 1, you will also find:

• Special Forces
• Troll Witchery
• Panther Mastery 3
• Raptor Mastery 3
• The Green Hills of Stranglethorn (and chapters)

And for a refresher, here's the map of Stranglethorn:

The Green Hills of Stranglethorn

Let's face it: this quest is annoying. You never get the drops you want. You run out of bag space. I

suggested in act 7 that you put all your pages in the bank, and you should keep doing that. However, at some

point you will want to start trading for your missing pages so you can finish it. If no sooner, you will

want to look into that around scene 5 or 6, as you will be wrapping up the last of your humanoid killing

then.

Scene 1: Dial Down the Center (level 41)

Quests completed: Special Forces, Panther Mastery 3, Troll Witchery, Skullsplitter Tusks, Raptor Mastery 3

Most of these quests we can pretty well take in any order since level 41 is plenty high to take a stab at

just about anything in Stranglethorn. However, that's actually a problem for one quest. Special Forces has

been green for a couple levels, and needs to be wrapped up before it turns gray.

So your first order of business, after collecting all the quests, is to go to Kurzen's Compound and head for

the cave in the back. The Stockpile is lined with Kurzen Commandoes who lurk in stealth, as well as the

Headshrinkers you need for the quest. They continue until the tunnel turns a corner and goes down a steep

descent. If you pass this point without finishing the quest, turn around and range from here to the

entrance. Partner up with anyone else who needs it to get the quest done, but make it clear to them you

aren't going on to COlonel Kurzen right after (although you certainly could and that's up to you.)

Rather, you should ride due south, past Zul'Gurub, to an area behind the Venture Co. Base Camp. (On the

guide's map, this is just north of the G's in Mosh'ogg.) There are Stranglethorn Tigresses in the area,

which serve no purpose for us except to get in our way, however there are also Shadowmaw Panthers lurking in

stealth. Hunt around for them. Finish up Panther Mastery, and then go around the ogre mound to the south.

The entire region south of the Mosh'ogg Ogre Mound and north of Crystalvein Mine on the east side of the

road contains trolls. Trolls you need to take the tusks of. You'll be here for a little while, so learn the

lay of the land, watch out for 3-man patrols, and look for Mystics when you can for Troll Witchery. Chances

are you will get your 4 fetishes long before your 18 troll tusks.

One last task! After you finish culling the local troll population, go across the street and out west toward

the shore. In the areas north of the arena, you should find Jungle Stalkers, which are the third class of

raptors. Once you kill 10 of them, you can return to Booty Bay.

Scene 2 - Close to Home (level 41/42)

Quests completed: The Bloodsail Buccaneers 1-2, "Pretty Boy" Duncan, Scaring Shaky

You can complete scenes 2 and 3 in either order. Both are moderately short, but this one is listed first in

case you used your hearthstone at the end of Scene 1.

Walk outside Booty Bay. Once you are past the teeth, turn left. There is a narrow path to the side where you

should see a few Bloodsail Mages. Move past them to a camp by the water's edge. Here you will find "Pretty

Boy" Duncan, as well as the Bloodsail plans laying out on top of a crate.

After you realize both of these objectives, return to the road and travel north a short distance. Before

long, you will see white gorillas off the right side of the road. Enter the Mistvale Valley and kill them

until you have 5 giblets for Scaring Shaky.

Walk back to Booty Bay.

Scene 3 - The Colonel (level 41/42)

Quests completed: Panther Mastery 4, Colonel Kurzen

Scene 3 contains the follow-ups to the first two quests from scene 1, however for reasons that will become

obvious, we're going to flip the order.

Remember where you killed the Shadowmaw Panthers for Panther Mastery 3? Well head over there again (from the

two camps. You need to complete your old quests first.) Somewhere in the area should hopefully be

Bhag'thera, the big head panthress. Bhag'thera does not use stealth, and is level 40.

There is the slight possibility you might not be able to find her because she isn't there. That is the more

common of two locations Bhag'thera can appear, but if she is simply not to be found, go around the ogres as

though you were going back to the trolls again. In the area north of Balia'mah Ruins are more cats, and that

is the other place she can spawn.

With Bhaggy's paw in hand, return to Kurzen's Stockpile and clear past the area you were in. Down the-slope

-you-were-told-not-to-cross is where the good Colonel is hiding out. The first chamber is large and open,

and contains Witch Doctors and Elites. '''Stay here until you have all 6 elites unless you want to be like,

er, a friend of mine and think you are done after you kill Kurzen and leave prematurely.''' There's also

another quest here for the Bookie Herod line if you happened to start that, which isn't likely since the

quest starter happens about once per half hour, so forget I said anything.

The next chamber, which is harder to navigate, has Subchiefs in it and the odd Shadow Hunter. There is a

small tunnel at the other side of it that leads to Colonel Kurzen's room. This was once a challenging fight

that took a group. Now you just need to fully clear around him before fighting him and the guy closest to

him. When you are finished, you *could* fight back out, but it's easier to just hearth. Make sure you

finished the whole quest!

Scene 4 - Mid-Zone Clearance (level 42)

Quests completed: Venture Company Mining, Voodoo Dues, Zanzil's Secret

Follow the road past the arena. On the right side of the road, south of the trolls, is a Venture Co. strip

mine. Some of the mobs in this area are very annoying, so don't make any risky pulls. Fight until you have

the crystals you need, and then head back toward the arena.

Across from the arena itself is the Ruins of Jubuwal. You have two orders of business here, but the one that

will take longer is Zanzil's Secret. Zanzil's Mixture is not as common as it should be for needing 14 of

them, so kill everything here, and make sure you get Maury and Jon-Jon while you're here for Voodoo Dues.

After you've swept the place clean, you might be wondering, "Wait. Where's Chucky?" He's somewhere else

altogether: The Ruins of Aboraz. If you leave Jubuwal and follow the road south just a little bit, you'll

see an archway extending over a small path on the east side of the road. (This is before the Crystalvein

Mine.) Follow the path out to the beach and you will find the other place where Zanzil stuff is. Hang out

here and finish Zanzil's Secret as well as locate Chucky near the back-left part of the ruins. Do not

approach the "main room" of the ruins where Zanzil himself is. He's bad mojo.

Back to Booty Bay, preferably on foot. Wait a moment when you turn in Voodoo Dues for a follow-up.

Scene 5 - Corn For a Dollar (level 43)

Quests completed: The Bloodsail Buccaneers 3, Up To Snuff (maybe), Keep an Eye Out (maybe), The Captain's

Chest (maybe)

When you finished The Bloodsail Buccaneers, two other quests became available, Up to Snuff and Keep an Eye

Out. Make sure you have both these quests.

Leave town and immediately turn right. Go off the road to the beach, killing Bloodsails along the way. Down

the beach, you will find a few small camps of Bloodsails. Somewhere in or around one of those camps will be

the Bloodsail Charts and the Bloodsail Orders. They move every time they're looted. Be especially careful

pulling at the big camp at the very end of the sands. Be sure to check the rowboat as well.

You might consider hanging out here to finish those two sidequests as well. There is a follow-up to the

current Buccaneers quest, but you might opt out of it. The guide does. Considering that, you'll only get one

other chance to kill Bloodsails, and only because they're nearby something else.

One last optional quest. Get a couple friends and attempt to tackle the giant that's at the far north end of

the beach for The Captain's Chest. If you can't find anyone to do the quest with, skip it. No great loss.

Scene 6 - By the Bundle, Even (level 43)

Quests completed: Akiris By the Bundle, Raptor Mastery 4

You might want to take a water breathing potion with you if you've got one.

Head through the Bloodsail cove that scene 2 started in. Go straight across the bridge and keep going until

you start seeing nagas. The nagas in the area are pretty much all level 44, which shouldn't phase you by now

since the Zanzil stuff was as well. Fight nagas along the beach and on the two upper slopes to get your

akiris reeds.

When you are finished, go north to the Bloodsail Compound. If you have not finished Up to Snuff or Keep an

Eye Out, hang out here for a little bit. At least finish Up To Snuff even if never find the elusive eyeball.

To the northeast of the Bloodsails is raptor territory. Head through there, searching for Tethis. He can be

anywhere where the Jungle Stalkers spawn, so you may have to hunt for a bit. Once you find him, continue

your trek northward.

Go around Grom'gol and travel up the Haunted Isle. Your final task for this scene is to dive to the Altar of

the Tides, clear out the nearby murlocs, and use Catelyn's Dagger. This will summon Ghazban. Kill him and

take the Stone of the Tides. (Ghazban does a decently long stun. Be wary if you have a breath meter.)

Hike back to the hunter camp to turn in Raptor Mastery and get your final challenge.

Scene 7 - Big Game Ogres (level 43)

Quests completed: Big Game Hunter, Mai'zoth, Cracking Maury's Foot

You will want a partner or two for these last quests. It's possible to solo them -- I did with my hunter --

but most classes won't be able to kill a 43 elite that summons adds or a rather sturdy ogres that comes with

2 friends.

The grand finale to the quests you began in the north. There is a small plateau across the road from the

Ziata'jal Ruins. On top of this plateau is King Bangalash, the white tiger that is the prize jewel of the

hunter's jungle. Search around him first for stealth panthers, and then attack him. At about 50%, he will

summon two small panthers. They go down pretty easily, and you might want to kill them off if you're trying

to solo him.

Then head northeast to the Mosh'ogg Ogre Mound. You have two affairs here. You need a key that is a random

drop from any of the ogres, and you want to kill Mai'zoth, the ogre mage hiding in the back of the mound.

Clear your way through these former elites to Mai'zoth. Watch the pull -- CC is good. Hang out til you get

the key if you beat Mai'zoth first.

Return to the two camps to finish your quests, and then back to Booty Bay for Cracking Maury's Foot.

Skedaddle (level 44)

It's time to move on to the next set of zones. Pack up your things, get your quest items out of the bank,

take the quest with the timer, and hop on a boat to Kalimdor. Go to Theramore first for Akiris By the Bundle

and also maybe to talk to the First Aid trainer since he will teach you more advanced bandages as your skill

advances.

After that, it's off to the races. Complete quests at the track and return to Gadgetzan. At this point, you

should have two quests that are not related to Tanaris, Whiskey Slim's Lost Grog and In Search of the

Temple. Feel free to grab the quests at Gadgetzan and at the port at the end of the road to the east. At

least get Screecher Spirits and Handle With Care.

The zones we are heading to are Tanaris, Feralas and Hinterlands, or TFH for short. The quests from these

zones like to pass you around, jumping from one to another to another...and sometimes to Darnassus. One of

the two quests of interest goes to Darnassus, and the other goes to Feralas, which is actually the logical

starting point for these quests.

Fly to Thalanaar and go west into Feralas. Stay south until you cross the first river. Then do what you can

to work back up to the road and follow it all the way down to the shoreline. Along the waterfront, there

will be a dock with a boat that circles around to take you to the Alliance outpost on the northern island.

Or you can just swim there, which honestly is just as easy if the boat isn't right there waiting for you.

If you grab every single quest from Tanaris and Feralas, as well as the two you should have for elsewhere,

that should put your quest log at a very sizable 23 quests. Fortunately, we're a little bit overleveled to

be just starting on these zones, which means we can afford to skip a few of the more annoying ones. More on

that in Act 11.