The WildStar: Strain Ultra Drop arrived yesterday and while it has brought plenty to WildStar, many players are still unsure as to where to go or what has actually been implemented.

Where Do I Go?

Firstly, all you really need to know is there are two new zones and accompanying content as part of those zones. Both zones are permanent fixtures to Nexus, both are level 50 and both are packed with quests. The two new zones are Northern Wastes and Blighthaven. 

Northern Wastes

This is one of the first new zones, with the caveat that it’s the Northern Wilds but renamed. Similarly to Crimson Isle/Crimson Badlands, Northern Wastes is now a level 50 daily-zone. All that means is you can visit Northern Wastes to complete once-daily quests to receive Reputation, Gold and Experience Points. If you’re already level 50 (as you should be) this is a brilliant way of quickly capping your Elder Gems for the week, especially if you do it alongside Crimson Badlands. The best thing about Northern Wastes (besides it’s snowy beauty!) is the fact that you can obtain Epic items from the vendors. Admittedly you need a lot of Reputation so there’s going to be an element of grind here, but the items are excellent and should only take around a week to obtain (if not less).

You can visit the Northern Wastes by travelling to your capital city (Thayd or Illium) and speaking to the pilot who will transport you (next to the Crimson Badlands Pilot). Once in Northern Wastes if you’re Dominion you land in the bottom right hand corner of the map, to the South-East and if you’re Exile you land in the upper left, to the North West.

The quest givers for either faction are immediately in the landing zone and the handful of quests available forces you towards the middle of the map. Similarly to Crimson Badlands the area is a PvP zone so if you are on a PvP server, expect plenty of fighting.

Blighthaven

A large amount of players have been asking me as to how to get to Blighthaven. Surprisingly, there’s no transport to it. As a result, you have to run from Southern Grimvault and if you don’t have the taxi unlocked to Western Grimvault you have to follow the path and run north. When you arrive in Western Grimvault you have to head North East (tagging the Taxi’s along the way) before arrive in Blighthaven. There’s a Transmat Terminal in Blighthaven near the Keepers Sanctuary so ensure you bind there if you plan on spending time here.

What Should I Be Doing?

In Northern Wastes it’s simply a matter of completing the daily quests before leaving. As for Blighthaven, it’s a full zone packed with enemies, events and quests. The biggest draw once you’ve worked your way east across Blighthaven is to reach Drusera’s Terrace where the main hold-out event occurs. The Caretaker is at the terrace who provides a quest or two with most being 5 or 20 man.

Where Can I Get The Cool Stuff?

Firstly, if you want to try out the new Strain emote (that’s where a face-hugger type creature bursts through your chest) just type /strain. For the Epic Reputation items from Northern Wastes, as mentioned above, you’ll have to visit the seller at the landing pad in that zone. In regards to many of the additional Strain items (costume, hoverboard and epic armor) you’ll need to visit Drusera’s Terrace in Blighthaven. You’ll need to earn a considerable amount of Reputation before you can access many of the best items and the hoverboard requires Beloved status (16,000 Reputation) and 100 Platinum (ouch!). Lastly, the costumes only require around 3500 Reputation and 50 gold in total which is easily obtained, just by doing the quests.

Anything Else?

Besides the awesome lore, scenery and quest line - that’s about it! I would definitely recommend that you read everything and absorb the scenery and landscape. It’s without question one of the most beautiful zones in WildStar that really needs to be appreciated.


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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

About The Author

Lewis is a long standing journalist, who freelances to a variety of outlets.

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