World of Warcraft at Ten Ton Hammer

Azshara, once a foreboding land of wildness, Naga, and other such nasties has been literally transformed thanks to the events of Cataclysm. The Goblin race (at least a portion of them) have joined the Horde, however the new Warcheif Garrosh is less than thrilled with the addition of any members that are not Orcs. Because of Thrall’s influence Garrosh is forced to accept the Goblins however he does so on his terms, by forcing them to do hard labor and all but exiling them to Azshara.

The Goblins being the industrious race that they are, have made the best of things. Instead of letting the wilderness defeat them, they have instead started forging the landscape into a Goblin’s paradise. Along with the physical changes to the zone came a change to the level the zone is appropriate for. Instead of a zone designed for players 45-50 the zone now welcomes players of levels 15-20.

The Bay of Storms is a perfect example of this, where a large island has risen from the water here due to the changing sea levels in  Cataclysm. The Goblins have made the best of this by erecting a full- fledged port named Bligewater Harbor, not only to defend against any attacks from the sea, but also to better allow them to launch an attack on the Naga that stubbornly remain on The Shattered Strand. Places like Scalebeard’s Cave and Hetaera’s Clutch and most other small islands in the Bay are underwater. A flight path has also been added here.



The Shattered Strand, as mentioned above, is under seige. Once firmly under the control of the Naga, Goblin led forces have the beach under constant fire. The Naga are not making it easy though, as they have erected their own defenses along the beach.




While the Naga still stand firm on the beach point it’s clear from the scene inside the Ruins of Eldarath that things are perhaps more dire than the Naga would like to admit. Naga numbers here have greatly fallen and in a last ditch effort, the Naga have enslaved giants to fend off the invading Goblins.



On the outskirts of the Ruins it becomes obvious as to why no Naga reinforcements have come. Here the Goblins have laid huge mine fields preventing passage to all unless they want to meet a rather unfortunate end. The Naga have found a solution to this problem however, and have decided to use their unwilling giant companions to clear out the mine fields.




Moving out of the Ruins players will be greeted by a rather unusual sight. The Goblins have changed Azshara’s landscape just a tad, as such players leaving the Ruins of Eldarath instead of being faced with large numbers of trees, more Naga, and deserted buildings will instead find the landscape has been leveled and cleared out.

However, this is not the unusual sight that I spoke of. Players will find that a mountain of sorts has sprung out of the landscape. Be this mountain Goblin made or an effect of Cataclysm no one can say, however the Goblins have made the best of it and thrown in their usual touch for extravagance by erected a Goblin like version of Mount Rushmore for all the world to see.



Here players will also get their first glimpse of the new Goblin roadway that has been installed in Azshara. This roadway runs all across the zone making various stops along the way to aid those players lacking in the mount department. Be warned though, as this is a Goblin invention, sometimes things don’t always go as planned.


At the top of the newly erected Mountain players will find the new home of Prince Gallywix, one of the main players in the new Goblin storyline. Gallywix has certainly done well for himself as his new home includes a swimming pool, posh Goblin mansion, golf course, and enough rocket racers to suit any Goblin’s fancy. The name of the place even screams luxury being called; Gallwix Pleasure Palace.





Despite the Goblins’ presence and the appearance of the new mountain Valormok, the Horde base in the zone, has somehow survived although it appears it has been pushed back more towards the border of Ashenvale and the river between the two zones. The small base has expanded a tiny bit, and several new NPCs now make it their home. The Goblins have obviously had a hand in here though, as a large cart of explosives sits dangerously close to the fire. Honestly how they haven’t managed to blow the place up yet it beyond me.



To the west of Valormok battles between Orc and Night Elves have sprung up all over the landscape. Thanks to the movement of Valormok it now sits dangerously close to the Night Elf base of Talrendis Point and as such it seems the Night Elves and Orcs have decided to run each other off the land..

To accommodate the need of the Night Elves Talrendis Point has grown, new buildings have sprung up, and Night Elf war machines stand at the ready.




To the south of Talrendis Point use to be Shadowsong Shrine. Once filled with ghosts and deserted buildings the only thing left of this place is the name. The Night Elves have cleared the area and a new Night Elf tower has been erected and seige engines now dot the tops of the hills.



East of this place the landscape has also been changed and the mountainous region called the Forlorn Ridge has been dismantled. Here the Goblins have opened a huge strip mine named Mountainfoot Strip Mine probably after the majestic mountains that once stood here.