Ravennus' Leveling Guide book 1
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Early Barrens level 14 - 17
The Barrens is at the heart of Kalimdor, and all roads lead to the Crossroads.
Four major quest series run thorough the Barrens during the 15 or so levels that we will be here. The first chapter introduces us to two of them. Each of these series is long, with many parts that can appear trivial. Be careful not to miss a step and let the story die, closing down the opportunity for greater xp rewards later in the series.
Throughout our time in the Barrens, we will be hunting the wildlife that lives here. Our first quest in Crossroads begins a very important series of hunting quests that form the backbone of our tasks in the Barrens. We may need to kill a large number of animals, or may be looking to a face a single named beast. Either way, these hunting quests are always in the back of our quest log, so it's a good idea to be aware of your current target as you travel, and hunt them wherever you happen to find them.
The second quest series involves the three mysterious oases, and the centaurs that live around them. This storyline ultimately leads us to The Wailing Caverns instance, and the Druids of the Fang. We don't have to go inside, however, to take in a lot of xp and learn the lore behind why the Barrens is in its present state.
The other two storylines involve the Quillboar and the Goblins, and we'll meet both in the second chapter. This first Book is divided into three chapters. In the first, we start with the area directly around Crossroads: Crossroads 14 - 15. For the second chapter, we widen our search area a little further into the Oases: Middle Barrens 15 - 16. In the last chapter, we explore the goblin town on the coast: Ratchet 16-17. The numbers in the title represent the level that the character should be during the chapter.
If you are level 12, and freshly arrived in the Crossroads from your starting area, I strongly suggest that you first complete the Prologue 12 - 14 before proceeding with this book. This will put you in a good position to face the quests of the Barrens. The early quests are fairly easy, however, and lay the groundwork for travel later.
As we go through the book, I will give you a real example of a character following the guide, a Tauren druid, and how he matches the level suggestions.
Crossroads 14 - 15
Mackenzie, a Tauren druid, begins this chapter coming from the Prologue in Durotar, at level 14 + 2.5 bars xp.
Preparation
Let's look at the geography of Crossroads for a minute. There are four entrances to the town: the north gate opens on the Gold Road, running all the way to Ashenvale, but also intersecting with the road to Durotar that heads away to the east. The south gate leads to the southern Gold Road and Camp Taurajo. The western gate is beside the forge and it opens on the Stonetalon Road. The eastern gate leads to Ratchet.
There are no class trainers in Crossroads. You will need to fly to a major city for training, and I suggest that you do this every two levels up through 20. Luckily, this is fairly easy.
To begin, we need to accomplish three things. First, head to the inn and talk to the innkeeper, to make this your home (set the hearthstone). Next, turn right out of the inn door and visit the flight master to get the flightpath. Finally, south east across the courtyard is Sergra with a yellow quest mark. Her first assignment is to hunt plainstriders for Plainstrider Menace (12). There are a number of striders massed just outside the walls of the Crossroads itself. Hunt plainstriders in this area, making a complete circuit around town if necessary, until they have dropped the required number of strider beaks. These seem to drop every 3 kills for me, and the plainstriders, with yellow agro, are easy to hunt. Then find Sergra inside to turn them in and accept her next quest.
Expedition 1
Sergra's follow up quest is The Zhevra (13), sending you to find zebra hooves. However, at this point there are a handful of messenger quests that we need to get out of the way. These are race specific and are step by step instructions on how to use the flight paths. If you are Orc or Troll, find the butcher, just to the east of the north entrance of the Crossroads, inside the wall. He wants you to deliver a package of Meats to Orgrimmar (10). If you are Tauren, the light armor merchant by the forge has a bundle of hides that he wants delivered back to Thunder Bluff. In either case, the quest only asks you to speak to the flight master in Crossroads.
The flight master completes the quest and offers you a follow up to your racial capital: Ride to Orgrimmar (10). You need to speak to him again and ask for a flight to the city. Upon arriving, make your delivery to the innkeeper and the quest chain continues with Doras the Wind Rider Master (10), who finally gives you Return to the Crossroads (10). The Tauren series is nearly identical, beginning over by the forge, but with a different destination and NPC. This series gives us 1850 xp just for a simple messenger quest, so it is well worth it at this point.
When that is done and you're back in crossroads, the Apothecary, near the flight master, has a package that he wants delivered to Wharfmaster Dizzywig (11) in Ratchet (the goblin town on the coast). At this point you have to run there, but be sure to look for zhevra along the way to gather their hooves. Upon reaching Ratchet, deliver your package to the Wharfmaster out on the dock. A boat visits here periodically that will take you to Booty Bay, another Goblin city at the southern tip of the other continent. Returning back to land, note the bank in the large building directly in front of you. From the bank, turn right and go up the hill a short way to speak to the flight master and pick up the flight path. Finally, take a flight back to Crossroads.
Although these trips seem to be just a lot of running around, we now have some major flight paths making travel much easier. At the end of this first trip, Mackenzie is level 14 + 16 bars (about three fourths of the way toward level 15). End of First Trip.
Expedition 2
Now it is time to load up on quests. We already have the quest from Sergra for zebra hooves. Next, pick up The Forgotten Pools (13) from the tauren Tonga Runetotem in the south part of town. From Apothecary Helbrim behind the flight master, get Fungal Spores (15). By the inn, get Raptor Thieves (13) from Gazrog; and up the hill at the base of the watchtower, talk to Thork for Disrupt the Attacks (12).
With this moderate load of quests, we are ready for a second trip. Leave the Crossroads by the northern gate. Bear right and leave the road. Observe the ridgeline to the east and look for the giant thorns curling out of the cliffs. This is the region for the Quillboars you need for Disrupt the Attack. These mobs tend to be tightly grouped together, so be careful to pull them one at a time. Be especially watchful for Hunters: they have long patrol paths allowing them to sneak up on you, and they always come with a wolf pet. This is a reasonably difficult area at our level, so be careful.
Fight your way to the back wall against the cliff and look around for Chen's Empty Keg (15), a wooden barrel next to some boxes on the ground, which starts a quest by the same name. Fill your shopping list of thornweavers, hunters, and water seekers and return to the Gold Road. As you return to Crossroads, circle around the outside of town to the western road. You're looking for zhevra, and you'll find them on both sides of the road. Hunt them until you complete your four zhevra hooves.
At this point, Mackenzie had leveled to 15. In order to defeat Barak Kodobane (level 16) on our next expedition, you should be level 15, so continue to hunt zebra and raptors in this area until you make it to the next level. When you're ready, return to Crossroads. Turn in Disrupt the Attacks and get the two follow up quests from Thork, The Disruption Ends (15) and, Supplies for the Crossroads (14). Next, turn in The Zhevra, and pick up the next Sergra quest, Prowlers of the Barrens (15).
End of Second Trip
Expedition 3
The next expedition will be more challenging. You should be level 15 to successfully complete this trip. Also be sure you have level 14 training and have allocated all your talent points, so that you are fully prepared.
Leave Crossroads by the forge and travel to the west. You will find a Horde bunker just off the road to the north. Inside is Regthar Deathgate who asks you to collect Centaur Bracers (14). At the same time, pick up Kolkar Leaders (16). Kodobane is a manageable fight if you are within a level of him.
From this outpost, head north to the first of the Barrens oases, the Forgotten Pools. Around the pool are wandering centaurs, who will eventually drop the bracers. You will also find bluish white giant mushrooms. Right click on them to collect what you need for the Apothecary. Directly in the center of the pool at the bottom is a bubbling fissure. Swim into the bubbles to complete your inspection for Tonga Runetotem. Notice that you gain the ability to breathe underwater while you're within range of the bubbles, making underwater mining or hunting much easier.
When you have checked the fissure and gathered your mushrooms, your business with the pool itself is complete. Leave it to the west to find the kolkar leader pavilion, up against a hillside. Search for their leader, Kodobane, and kill him to loot the head. This will be a tough fight so clear all adds first, and be ready to flee north around the hill if things begin to go wrong.
His followers may drop a Kolkar booty key that unlocks the chest up on the platform. With the centaur leader's head, your main business here is done. Try to stay until you get 5 or 6 of the centaur bracers, but you do not need to finish all 15 at this point. Now return south to Regthar Deathgate and turn in Kolkar Leaders. In exchange, pick up the next quest Verog the Dervish (18). We will not hit this one right away, but it's easy to collect it now.
Make your way back to the Crossroads. Additional raptor heads are welcome if the targets are available, though you don't need to get them all now. Give your fungal spores to the Apothecary to complete the quest, but don't accept the follow up just yet, since it is a timed quest. Continue on to Runetotem and complete the Forgotton Pools. His next assignment will be to The Stagnant Oasis (16).
End of Third Trip.
Expedition 4
The apothecary has a timed messenger quests to Thunder Bluff that is not at all difficult. If you completed the Prologue, or are a tauren, you already have the flight path to Thunder Bluff, so this quest is nothing more than two quick flights and a jog over to Spirit Rise. If you don't have the flight path, this will be a longer journey. However, now is an opportunity to pick up those flight paths and earn a quick 800 xp.
Simply run south on the gold road until you come to Camp Taurajo on your right where you will find your first flight path. Take the road running west and it will carry you straight to the foot of the elevators at Thunder Bluff. Ask a guard for the Shaman trainers and you will find Spirit Rise. The Pools of Vision are accessible from the lower bridge. Wandering within the Pools of Vision, you will find Clarice who offers you the quest Until Death Do Us Part(15) Accept her quest and she'll give you a pendant to keep track of as well. The TB flight master is at the top of the central Totem. Find him and fly back to Crossroads.
End of Fourth Trip.
After three expeditions, you've gotten a good taste of Barrens life. In the next chapter, we will widen our home range to the north. Mackenzie the druid is now Level 15 +8 bars.
Middle Barrens, level 15 - 16
In this second chapter, we turn our attention to the other two major stories of the Barrens. We continue with our attacks against the Quillboar, who will be a recurring enemy up through Razorfen Downs. We also begin a humorous relationship with the Goblins of Ratchet. They are entangled with the Venture Co. in the north east, and the pirates along Ratchet's southern coast. In this chapter we'll also begin a short series of raids against the Harpies, a campaign that will eventually carry us into Stonetalon Mountains. And, of course, the Barrens Hunt continues.
Expedition 1
Although we've picked up a handful of new quests, there are still some that remain from the last chapter. This expedition requires us to be at least level 15. You will find it difficult to retrieve the supplies, and defeat the mini-boss unless you are 15 or higher.
We're still looking for raptors and prowlers; (Remember that you need prowlers, not savannah huntresses). When we turned in our first quillboar quest, Thork offered us a pair of following quests: The Disruption Ends (15) and Supplies for the Crossroads (14). Make sure you have these two and then leave the Crossroads by the North gate.
The quillboar you need now are further to the east, on a shelf that parallels the road to Far Watch Post. Make your way directly to the far eastern end of the ledge. In the huts there, you will find the crates for Supplies for the Crossroads. This can be a difficult area because of the tight spacing of mobs. Beware of hunter patrols, and pull casters away if at all possible. I approach the supplies from the cliff-side to avoid the swarms in the front area. If you find a rare elite Mystic Razorsnout, avoid him. He's not worth the long and probably tragic fight, at this point. Instead, clear to the supplies in the western hut.
Now turn south and the ledge opens into a small valley. In the back you will find Kreenig Snarlsnout, walking in a wide circle through well spaced mobs. Clear the area in the center and pull Kreenig, toward you. After you loot Kreenig's body, finish up any remaining quillboars that you need to complete Disruption Ends, and leave the area to the north east, jumping down the cliff and reaching Far Watch Post.
Rather than heading directly back to the Crossroads, travel east until you reach the Southfury River. Then turn right and follow the river south. On the bank you should find more raptors and prowlers for those quests, and a few annoying hyenas. This path will lead you the back way into Ratchet, and we have a couple of things to do while we're here. Level 15 + 14 bars (all purple xp)
End of First Trip.
Expedition 2
Beside the flight master is Sputtervalve, with the quest Samophlange (14) that you should accept now. There are other quests available here but don't pick them up yet. We will be back this way later.
The other task in Ratchet is to look in your inventory for Chen's empty keg. If you haven't already, right-click on it to begin a quest; we're looking for someone who knows about the keg. That person is in Ratchet, named Brewmaster Drohn. He is standing in front of the Plate-n-Chain building beneath the Inn, and will have a question mark over his head as soon as you accept the quest. Speak to him, and he will send you on a hunt for various items. Accept the quest now Chen's Empty Keg (15) and we will work on it as we travel.
Run up the road out of Ratchet. Just before the top you will reach a giant tree. Turn left there, and head south through a few hills where you will find tall grass and prowlers to complete Sergra's Prowlers of the Barrens quest. They also drop the Savannah Lion Claws for the Chen quest you just picked up but the drop rate is very low so you don't need to get them all now.
With all your prowler claws collected, continue to the south, up the side of the mountain. As you get near the top, you will find raptors. Kill them to finish collecting their heads. Raptors call for help when their health is low, and nearby raptors will respond. Try to pull them back to an area you've already cleared, rather than running in on them. Now return to the Crossroads to turn these in.
After working on raptors for a while and the turn in at Crossroads, Mackenzie leveled to 16. End of Second Trip.
Expedition 3
Sergra gets Prowlers of the Barrens, and in return gives you Echeyakee (16). Gazrog, over by the inn, will accept the completed Raptor Thieves, and give you Stolen Silver (18) as a follow up quest. At the base of the watch tower, Thork will complete both Supplies for the Crossroads, and The Disruption Ends. Thork may also have another quest for you in Ashenvale, but we'll ignore that one for now. While we're here, run to the top of the watch tower to Darsok Swiftdagger, to start the series of harpy quests that begins with Harpy Raiders (15). Remember that we need to be hunting any plainstrider for kidneys, and any savannah lion for their tusks.
Running north on the Gold Road from Crossroads, our first stop is to find Echeyakee. Turn right (east) at the road to Durotar, and you will see the Grol'dom farm on your left. Run to the farm, and to the tower beyond it. Then travel north from the tower and you will see the bones where you can summon the white tiger. Coordinates for Echeyakee are (55, 17) Clear the existing mobs, and then blow the horn immediately, because the respawn time is extremely short, and you may find yourself fighting three rather than one.
On the other hand, after Echeyakee is defeated, you may want to stay in this area to hunt lions for their tusks, taking advantage of the high respawn rate. Mackenzie was able to harvest all 5 lion tusks in this area in 5-10 minutes of hunting.
After looting the hide, run west to the road, and then continue north. At a dead tree, the road will make a turn to the left. If you look to your right, you will see a smokestack in the distance to the north east. That is your destination for Samophlange. As you approach the smokestack, you see that the area is swarming with goblins and other Venture Co. workers.
The basic task is to clear your way to the machine. First right click on the console in front, then right click on each of the three valves located around the machine in the cardinal directions, east, north, and west. Then click on the console again. You then need to find Tinkerer Sniggles in the nearby hut to the east and kill him to get his key. Finally, return to the console and right click again to complete the whole process. The challenge of this quest is that respawns of the Venture Co mobs are very rapid and they run early, at almost 1/3 health, returning with adds. Do what you can to slow the runners, pull carefully and don't linger.
When this sequence is finished, return to the road for a well earned breather. Then continue to follow the road to the north west, until you see the burned trees off to your left. Leave the road and run to the west until you reach the north west corner of the zone. In among the trees you will enter an area called The Dry Hills, and here you will find the Harpies. Kill the harpies right at the edges of the area and collect their Witchwing Talons to complete the quest. This is a very slow drop, and you will gain a lot of xp while completing this quest. Long patrols wander this area, some are higher level, and some are stealthed, so be cautious about wandering in too far and getting caught. When finished, return to the Crossroads running straight south, around the Forgotton Pools. This is a good time to hunt plainstriders for their kidneys. Mackenzie was able to gather all 5 by the time he reached town.
Back at Crossroads, Sergra wants your Echeyakee hide. Her next assignment is The Angry Scytheclaws (17). At the top of the watchtower, Darsok collects your talons and give you another quest, Harpy Lieutenants (16). End of Third Trip.
You should now be level 16. Mackenzie was level 16 + 18 bars.
Ratchet, level 16 - 17
In four short expeditions this chapter, we hit all four major quests series. The majority of the time is spent in Ratchet, with the Goblins. We come close to finishing the Oasis series, Mankrik reminds us of the Quillboar, and we hunt the raptor to move things along there.
Expedition 1
One completed quest remains from our last trip, and that is turned in at Ratchet. Fly there now to turn in Samophlange to Sputtervalve. He has a follow up quest to talk to Wenikee Boltbucket (14) who lives back up north near the smokestack.
But, while we're here in Ratchet, there is an expedition south of town that is perfect for us at this time. Start by reading the wanted poster to the left of the bank for Wanted: Baron Longshore (16). Then run up past the flightmaster to the building with the giant victrola horn sticking out the top. Gazlowe, on the upper floor, has a quest for Southsea Freebooters (14). Find the Inn, up the hill on the other side of town, and take the road that leads along the shore.
This campaign against the Southsea Freebooters takes place in two phases. The first one is just to fill our quota of cannoneers and brigands so there isn't any need to wander far into the area. Some of the pirates are grouped in camps, while the others are wandering singly in the middle. It is entirely possible to get all you need from these singles, so quickly and safely pull what you need and then return to Gazlowe. End of First Trip.
Expedition 2
His follow up quest is more complicated. The first step is to carry his ledger to the wharfmaster, The Missing Shipment (14). Step two has you carry the ledger back up to Gazlowe, The Missing Shipment (14). Finally, Gazlowe gets to the meat of the issue with Stolen Booty (16). This quest sends you back to the pirates in the second phase of our attack. In order to fare well against the pirates and the Baron, you should be level 16 to complete this expedition.
The pirates are arrayed along a shelf or plateau above the sea. The items you need, as well as the bad Baron, are at the southern end of this shelf. I found it possible to travel along the hills at the shoreline and avoid most of the pirates. The items are found in boxes at the pirate's campsites. The first is at the end of the long shelf, at (63, 49) and the next is around the corner at (63, 50).
At each of these camps, you may also find the Baron Longshore, to complete the quest on the wanted poster. He does have an uncommon alternate spawn point, further north by the ship. With the two crates and the Baron's head, return to Gazlowe via the quickest route, avoiding mobs, and turn both in.
For the moment, our quests in Ratchet are finished. As you are leaving Ratchet, find Mebok Mizzyrix next to the Bank. Accept his quests for Raptor Horns (18), and Deepmoss Spider Eggs (20) At this point, Mackenzie was level 17 + 8 bars. End of Second Trip.
Expedition 3
During this trip, you must defeat Verog, a level 18 centaur. You should be level 17 to comfortably solo this named mob.
Leave Ratchet by the road and at the top of the hill, stay to the left, leaving the path. Ahead, you will see the vegetation of the Stagnant Oasis, and the houses of the centaurs. Run to the oasis and swim to the bottom to find the bubbling fissure there. Right-click on the fissure, or the seeds in your pack, and watch the cloud of bubbles that is released. This completes our quest, Stagnant Oasis, for Runetotem.
Next, cross to the western side of the oasis, to begin the quest Verog the Dervish. There is a lot of grief and confusion about this quest; particularly about getting Verog to spawn. Verog only spawns in one location: a centaur platform surrounded by torches and spears on the side of a hill to the west of the oasis. Find this platform before proceeding and see if Verog is already there in front. If you see his body, he will not respawn until it disappears.
Begin to kill the centaurs in this area, and eventually, one of them will say, “I am slain! Summon Verog!†At that time, Verog the Dervish will spawn at the foot of the ramp up to the platform. Go there immediately, or someone else will steal y our spawn. Defeat him and loot his head. Before leaving this area, be sure to finish gathering the 15 centaur bracers you need to complete that quest. Return to Crossroads and turn in any of the accumulated quests.
Next, run down the west road to Regthar Deathgate in his outpost to turn in Verog the Dervish, and Centaur Bracers. Accept his next quest Hezrul Bloodmark (18) and return to the Crossroads. End of Third Trip
Expedition 4
Talk to Runetotem to complete the quest for Stagnant Oasis and he will send you back to collect Turtle Shells in Altered Beings (16). Make sure you have The Angry Scytheclaws from Sergra. Check with Mankrik across the road from Runetotem to pick up Lost in Battle (20). Run directly back to the Stagnant Oasis, and begin hunting the turtles for their shells. Drops for me were 100% per turtle kill, making this a very quick stop if you can navigate the centaur again successfully.
Return the Gold Road, heading south and, look to your left: you'll see some centaur tents and, near to the road, a low mound with raptors all around it. On the south and east sides of this mound are the three nests for The Angry Scytheclaws. Begin by clearing the 6 or 7 raptors guarding the mound. They should drop at least three raptor feathers. They may also drop Intact Raptor Horns for that quest. Then go to each of the raptor nests and right click on an egg inside. Do this for the three nests and Sergra's quest will be complete.
Back at the road, continue south across the Tusk Bridge, and look for two huts on the right. A raptor or elder plainstrider may be in this area, so be careful. Search the huts and find the body of Mankrik's wife. Search it to complete the quest Lost. Now look at the field behind you and find the pink lizards with bony plates along their backs. These thunder lizards drop the horn for Chen‘s Empty Keg. The horn usually drops within 5 kills, but you must be cautious because level 18-19 mobs wander in this area. Stay until you find the horn, then return to Crossroads.
Return to Runetotem and give him his altered snapshells. He will offer you two quests in return. Hamuul Runetotem (16+), is a messenger quest to Thunder Bluff. The other is to find Mura Runetotem (15) in Silverpine Forest with the Undead. Pick up both quests. Talk to Mankrik again to turn in Lost in Battle. Turn in Sergra's quest and she offers you another, Jorn Skyseer (18), for Camp Taurajo. At the end of this trip, Mackenzie was level 17 + 12 bars. End of Fourth Trip
In this first book, we've moved from level 14 to 17 at least, if not beyond. In doing so, we've completed most of the quests in the central Barrens area. From here on out, the quests will take us farther afield to the north and south of the zone. The Guide continues in Book 2: Sepulcher, Stonetalon 17 - 21.
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