Borean Tundra

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A Map of the Borean Tundra

The Borean Tundra is one of the two starting zones in the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King expansion, located on the western coast of Northrend. The other starting zone is located on the opposite coast of Northrend and is called the Howling Fjord. The Borean Tundra however is the zone that most Alliance players will start in as it is arrived at via the sea port in Stormwind. The zone is an introduction to the continent of Northrend that gets you started in the expansion and then sends you on your way.

The Borean Tundra consists of several different areas that vary drastically in geographical features. From the frozen isle of Coldarra off the shores, to the farms along the southern shore line, to the interior wetlands and oil fields, to the rocky north. The zone varies drastically as you move around it, always keeping you guessing.

For may players though the first place you will see is the Alliance Settlement of Valiance Keep along the southern shore.

Valiance Keep

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Valiance Keep

As an Alliance player your reach Valiance Keep from the brand new sea port in Stormwind. Once you arrive you will be greeted by a bustling sea port under siege. The Keep houses the docks, an inn, a market with the various professions represented, a recruiting stand, construction and of course the Keep itself.

Initially there are few quests available, but as you progress through them, more become available. You must help defend the Keep before further options open up. The quests are varied and fun, leading you to defend the keep by attacking the MOBs around the keep, finding information, attacking spies and much more.

Each quest you finish seems to open up additional small chains, and once you are done with the ones in the Keep they start sending you further out to various small quest hubs around the area.

Quest Progression

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The town of Farshire

As mentioned the first quest chains focus around the Keep, however once you start venturing out you will find many more. The first you are likely to find is just north of the Keep and called Farshire.

Farshire is an Alliance farming community that is under attack by the scourge. The quests there focus on helping the towns people fight back against the undead, and in the end gathers them all up to drive the undead away (at least for a few seconds).

After Farshire you can head many different directions. The most obvious ones are west along the coast to the Riplash Strand, or north Amber Ledge or Fizzcrank Airstrip. By the time you are done the quests around the Keep and farm you will have quest chains leading to all three.

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A Ghostly Coastline

Starting with the closest you can find many quests along the Riplash Strand that features a ghostly coastline full of ruins and monsters. There are several quests there that keep you buys exploring the coast, ocean and even the island ruins a decent way south. One of the great quests in the chain has you attack an undersea monster with a magical spear. Luckily the spear does huge damage when thrown and almost kills the beast in a single hit, you are just left to finish it off.

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The Last Boss in The Nexus

From the coast you head north towards Amber Ledge to work on the quest chains there. However along the way you come to two additional quest hubs, the D.E.H.T.A encampment and an open pit mine with a talking rock. Both have a huge number of quests, even though it seems like they each only have one or two to start with. The D.E.H.T.A. ones are especially fun as it stands for Druids for the Ethical and Humain Treatment of Animals, and they send you on various quests to get rid of hunters in the area.

Once completed the quests there keep heading north to Amber Ledge to work on the quests there, which will eventually lead you to travel on dragon back across the straight to the west of you to the isle of Coldarra. On Coldarra there are a great many more quests to finish, which then lead to the instance "The Nexus".

Finding a group for the Nexus should be fairly simple as the Wrath of the Lich King instances are all very fast and fun. Explore the instance for experience, to complete your quests and get some great loot.

Once you are done in the instance, it is time to return to the main land to the east and then resume your travels north towards Fizzcrank Airstrip.

If you want to see more images from the Borean Tundra check our Borean Tundra gallery, our Valiance Keep gallery, or even our Nexus gallery!


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Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Ten Ton Hammer network or staff.


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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

Byron has been playing and writing about World of Warcraft for the past ten years. He also plays pretty much ever other Blizzard game, currently focusing on Heroes of the Storm and Hearthstone, while still finding time to jump into Diablo III with his son.

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