The first quest I did in Shadowglen was the old classic to kill Nightsabers. This got me believing that the Night Elf starting quests hadn’t changed much in Cataclysm. Thankfully, I was soon proven wrong. I enjoyed learning about Night Elf history from the spirit at the Moonwells. This is a great way of introducing new players to the lore surrounding WoW.

Before I left Shadowglen, I was given a buff which made getting this achievement so much easier.

As I approached Dolanaar, I saw that Zenn Foulhoof was up to no good, as usual. I was pleased to see that his quest required two of every reagent, rather than three. However, I soon found out that the drop rates on these reagents are still as annoying as they were pre-Cataclysm.

A while later, I was in the Barrow Dens. Getting the Shaman Voodoo Charm only took me four kills, instead of the 15-20 it usually takes me. That was good. And the quest to kill 20 furbolg was also welcome. I don’t remember there being such a quest before Cataclysm came out.

One thing that bothered me was this. The Sentinel who accompanies you is handy for killing things. I also noticed you could ask her for directions to where the relics needed for the Awakening Ritual were located. The mist she placed was quite handy, but how are you supposed to follow it when you have to stop and kill something every five seconds?

Speaking of the relics, I found that they were still as annoying to find as ever. Even with the mist helping me.

I got to Level 12 eventually, and headed to Darkshore. I’m yet to start any quests there. That’ll be the next part of my challenge.

Unlike the other times I have done this challenge, I left the starting zone (Teldrassil) with all of my bag slots occupied. Mostly by 6-slot bags, but still. There were a lot of rares around which dropped bags, and a couple of quests gave a bag as a reward. Why can’t all the starting zones offer quests like this?

One other thing I noticed is that the Earthen Ring realm is rather quiet on the Alliance side. Maybe it was because of the time of day (mid-morning). Maybe most of the players were at work or school. Or maybe there’s just not many people rolling Alliance characters.

Whichever one it was, it was practically dead in the Trade channel. Even the chat channel for people doing the Ironman Challenge was devoid of life. I was the only person there. Someone did join me, but only for ten seconds.

Oh well, maybe things will pick up later. In the meantime, it’s off to Darkshore!

FOR THE ALLIANCE!