World of Warcraft: Northrend Preview

Author: Byron "Messiah" Mudry

With the announcement of the second World of Warcraft expansion at BlizzCon in August, players have been clamoring for more information about Northrend. While some details were made available at BlizzCon, much was not. We can obtained pieces of information though by looking back at Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne and at various pieces of Warcraft lore.

This page is dedicated to everything known about Northrend at this time and will expand to several zone pages as more is learned. As always we would love to hear from anyone who has more information.

Northrend Basics

New map of Azeroth

Let's start with the basics, Northrend is the continent located in the far north of Azeroth. It is a cold and inhospitable area, only made worse by also housing the Lich King. The lich king is the once hero Arthas has who first turned into the evil Deathknight and then became Lich King at the end of Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne.

Northrend was originally part of Kalimdor but was broken off during the War of the Ancients. Once separated it moved far to the north and became the icy wastes it is today.

Zones

There are likely to be 11 zones in Northrend. Some of which we already know allot about, while others we know very little about yet. The zones and a brief bit about them follow:

Azjol-Nerub - This is the underground home of the Nerubians. An ancient insect race that once ruled Northrend before the coming of the Lich King.

Borean Tundra - This will be one of the two possible starting zones in Northrend. It is located on the south west edge of Northrend and is home of the Turskarr (a humanoid walrus race). The ongoing quest chains in this zone are said to focus on the conflict between the Tuskarr and the Nagas in the zone.

Crystalsong Forest - An eire forest of crystal trees where the blue and black dragonflight once fought an epic battle. Also home to the Great Tree.

Dragonblight - A huge icy plain covered with dragon bones. This zone is the place dragons have traditionally gone to die. The Blue Dragonflight makes their home there protecting the bones of their ancestors.

Grizzly Hills - Home to the capital city of the Grizzlemaw Furbolg and the dwarf settlement of Thor Modan.The zone will be made up of extremely dense forests to provide relieve from the many ice covered zones on Northrend.

Howling Fjord - This is the other of the two possible starting zones on Northrend. It is located in the south east corner of the continent and is home to the Vrykul, a giant race of evil viking type humanoids. The instance of Utgarde Keep will also be in this zone.

Icecrown Glacier - Located in the far north of Northrend, this zone houses the Lich Kings Throne in Icecrown Citadel. It is the base of all scourge activity and likely the highest level zone in the expansion.

Lake Wintergrasp - A giant frozen lake zone that will be entirely PvP regardless of server type.

Sholazar Basin - This zone will apparently be a tropical forest located in a deep basin. Think of something like Ungoro Crater and you likely won't be far off. How it exists in the frozen north will likely be something we find out through various quest chains.

Storm Peaks - A huge race of storm giants make their home in these northern mountains. Not much is know of the zone yet other than the Titan city of Ulduar is located there.

Zul'Drak - This eastern zone houses the Ice Trolls. Constantly at battle against the Scourge and the Nerublan, it is amazing they have survived at all.

Instances

So far very little is know about the instances as they have not been finalized yet. The ones that are planned could be changed before release.

Azjol-Nerub - While listed as a zone, it is unclear if it will be an underground zone or an instance area.

Grizzlemaw - Located in the Grizzly Hills and focusing on the Furbolgs.

Icecrown Citadel - Likely the end game high level raid dungeon.

Naxxramas - There was strong suggestion at Blizzcon that Naxxramas will be remade to be part of the expansion. Whether it stays in its current location or moves to Northrend is unknown at this time.

The Nexus - Located in the Borean Forest, it is home to the Blue Dragonflight.

Riplash Ruins - Located in the Borean Forest this instance will focus on the Naga in the zone.

Utgarde Keep - Located in the Howling Fjord and filled with the Vrykul, it will be the first instance you will find in Northrend.

Ulduar - A titan inspired dungeon where the more of the history of Azeroth will likely be told.

Have questions, comments or suggestions about this or any other article? Thought of something that has been missed? Found an error? I would love to hear from you! Please post in our Forums, or email:
Byron "Messiah" Mudry at [email protected]