Wow cataclysm quest line

Patch a and the Cataclysm introduced new travel challenges for players. The portal hubs in Dalaran and Shattrath are gone, great fissures in the earth now impede overland travel between certain zones, many zone levels have changed, and players are now required to discover the new high-level instances before they are allowed to queue for them in the dungeon finder. A firm grasp of the geography of the world and an understanding of the available means for moving from one place to another will help you meet these challenges.

This guide presents the fundamentals of post-Cataclysm travel between the three continents of Azeroth (Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms, and Northrend) and provides details regarding the many methods of travel available. Also included is information about travel between these continents and Outland.

With the release of Mists of Pandaria, most of this guide has become obsolete, as the Vale of Eternal Blossoms once again provides portal hubs for each faction (the Shrine of Seven Stars and Shrine of Two Moons contain portals to all faction capitals, as well as Dalaran and Shattrath). It is kept for historical purposes.

How travel has changed

The Cataclysm brought a new concept for world travel. In the Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King expansions, a portal hub in a single remote city provided access to the major cities in the Old World.

By contrast, in the post-Cataclysm world, new and improved travel facilities have turned the two faction capitals, Stormwind and Orgrimmar, into worldwide travel centers. Located in the heartlands of Azeroth's two original continents, these cities have also become centers for all types of training, daily quests, auctioning, and other activities.

Although the old portal hubs are gone, improved mass transit and taxi services, greatly expanded solo flight, and new portal hubs allow players to move freely and reasonably quickly throughout the world. Shorter cycle times for ships and zeppelins and the addition of many new flight paths have made travel over land and sea much easier and faster than before, even for low level characters.

Things get even better as you level up. Characters who have reached level 60 can now fly freely around almost all of Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms. Characters level 80 and above can make use of new portal hubs in the capital cities. Located in Stormwind and Orgrimmar, these hubs provide rapid access to the new level zones. ^[1]

Also, judicious use of new and existing Quest Portals and Item Portals can help speed your travel times.

Patch

Patch has reinstated the portals in Shattrath and Dalaran which give access to Stormwind and Orgrimmar, portals which were removed in the Shattering prior to the Cataclysm. The return of these portals results in a substantial expansion of your travel and hearthstone options.

For example, even lower-level characters who do not have access to portal items and quest portals can set their hearthstone to Dalaran, giving them access to the facilities in Dalaran as well as its portal to the Caverns of Time in Tanaris, while also still having rapid access to their faction capital via the portal in Dalaran. Players who choose to set their hearthstone to Shattrath may also make use of the portal from Shattrath to the Isle of Quel'Danas. This is particularly useful for Horde characters, since it provides rapid access to Silvermoon and the Undercity.

Also, note that some of the quest portals and portal items outlined on this page can require expenditure of considerable time and/or gold to acquire. With the new rapid access to both Dalaran (or Shattrath) and your faction capital, you may find that your reasons for acquiring some of these quest and item portals are much less compelling than before.

Setting your hearthstone

The variety of travel methods now available have an impact on where you choose to set your hearthstone. As you level up, you need to travel more, but fortunately more means of travel open up as well. Here are some suggestions about where to set your hearthstone to make best use of the methods available at your current level.

Level 10

At about level 7 to 10, when you have emerged from your race's starting zone, setting your hearthstone to a city near where you are questing provides convenient access to trainers and auction houses. New flight paths get you quickly to your questing area.

Level 20

Sometime after you get your first mount at level 20, you will begin to roam the wider world. You'll be spending time on ships and maybe zeppelins, meeting new flight masters and buying taxi flights, and riding the roads to new zones.

You may find it advantageous to set your hearthstone to an inn in your faction's capital city. The Alliance and Horde faction capitals, Stormwind and Orgrimmar, now have class, profession, riding^[1], and flight trainers, as well as cooking and fishing daily quests that all characters level 10 and up can complete.

Mass transit and taxis provide ready access for all levels from these cities to most parts of the Old World.

Level 56

Starting at level 56, you can use any of your faction's major cities as your home base. A quick sequence of portals^[2] will get you rapidly to your faction's capital. Other portals or a short flight connect you to your faction's other cities. A hearthstone in the right city will give you access to any of your faction's cities in one to three minutes.

For example, if you are Horde, you can set your hearthstone in Silvermoon and have quick access to the Undercity via the Orb of Translocation and to Orgrimmar via the Dark Portal sequence.^[2]Thunder Bluff is a short flight from Orgrimmar.

Alliance toons in Darnassus have similar portal access^[2] to the Exodar and Stormwind, while Ironforge is a short flight from Stormwind.

Level 63

Since there are now class and profession trainers and auction houses in Shattrath, when you are questing in Outland you may find you have little need to travel back to the Old World.

At about level 63, when you've moved on from Hellfire Peninsula to zones such as Terokkar Forest or Nagrand, which are more distant from the Stair of Destiny and its portal to your faction capital, you may want to set your hearthstone in Shattrath.

Level 68

At level 68 or so, when you start questing in Northrend, you'll probably want to move your hearthstone to Dalaran and keep it there while you quest. Just as in Shattrath, you'll find there are now class and profession trainers and auction houses in Dalaran, which minimizes the need to return to your faction capital.

Level 74

At level 74 you can pick up the quest &#;[]&#;The Magical Kingdom of Dalaran. This provides you with a portal to Dalaran from your faction's ports in Borean Tundra and Howling Fjord. Don't turn the quest in! As long as you don't complete this quest you can use these portals.

This makes it practical to set your hearthstone to your faction capital or some other useful place, since you can quickly reach Dalaran via a quick ship or zeppelin ride and the quest portal. If you want to do dailies in both Dalaran and your faction capital, these portals will shave roughly four minutes off your commuting time each day.

Level 80+

Once you have more or less finished questing in Northrend and have begun spending most of your time in the Old World again, it makes sense to set your hearthstone to your faction capital.

At this point the Dark Portal sequence^[2] becomes quite useful, giving you rapid access to your faction capital from all of your faction's major cities. (See Level 56, above, for suggestions about where to set your hearthstone to make maximum use of this access.)

In addition, you can make use of the new portal hubs^[3] in the capital cities to access the new level zones. This gives you fast access to (and in some cases return from) more parts of the major continents. For example, Horde can quickly get to central Eastern Kingdoms (and back) via the portal to Twilight Highlands. Alliance can reach northern Kalimdor via the portal to Mount Hyjal, while both factions can get to southern Kalimdor in seconds via the portal to Uldum.

Shattrath Alternative

As an unorthodox alternative, Shattrath City should be seriously considered as a hearthstone location even after reaching level 85, as it offers numerous advantages.

• All things considered, Shattrath is probably the single most central city in the game, particularly for Horde players. With a flight to the Dark Portal, you can go straight through the portal to Orgrimmar, and you can likewise get to the Undercity by going through the Shattrath portal to Quel'Danas, taking the flight path back to Silvermoon, and using Orb of Translocation to port to Undercity. Alliance players still have the Stair of Destiny portal to Stormwind nearby, as well.

• While it has an Auction House, a full set of trainers, and Trade chat, Shattrath is usually almost completely empty, which basically means you get to have your cake and eat it. You've got all of the facilities of a major faction capital, with none of the lag that very often goes with them.

• Farming Outland can often still be reasonably lucrative even at level 85, particularly considering that on the auction house, you usually don't have much competition for Outland materials, and people often want to buy them in order to level up the Outland portions of their professions, without having to actually travel to Outland themselves. Hellfire Peninsula is rich in Fel Iron, and a comparatively short flight from Shattrath for mining.

• There are three guild items with separate cooldowns that allow for 8 hr, 4 hr, and 2 hr CD's on a teleport to Stormwind/Orgrimmar, as well as the &#;[Baradin's Wardens Tabard] offering a teleport to Tol Barad (a portal away from Stormwind/Orgrimmar) - allowing for teleportation to your faction capital city on an average cooldown of less than an hour. The item &#;[Signet of the Kirin Tor] allows for teleportation to Dalaran every half hour. By contrast, no such item exists for teleportation to Shattrath, aside from Mage Portals.

However, despite all of the above advantages, raiders will often prefer setting their hearth to Stormwind/Orgrimmar.

Flight enhancements

Flight paths

Patch a added many new flight paths (also known as "taxis") to both Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, especially in the lower level zones.

Flight paths in Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms are now shown on the in-game map. After you have discovered an area, any flight masters in that area will show up on your map as a winged foot: blue for Alliance, red for Horde, and green for neutral.

You'll need to talk to the flight masters^[1] to pick up the flight paths, but once you do they will make travel for low level characters much easier than it was prior to patch a.

Flying solo

Characters level 60 or above can learn Expert riding and purchase a [Flight Master's License] from a flying trainer near the flight masters in Stormwind, Orgrimmar, Hellfire Peninsula, Borean Tundra, or Dalaran. This license allows the character to fly almost^[2] anywhere in the Old World.

All characters level 68 or above^[3] can now purchase [Cold Weather Flying] from a flying trainer. This permits flying in all of Northrend.

The Expert riding skill, a [Flight Master's License], and [Cold Weather Flying] combine to allow a player to fly almost anywhere in the world, except within certain instances and a few zones not yet revised for flight.^[2]

Mass transit

Ships, zeppelins, and trams

A network of ships, zeppelins, and a tram connects the major cities and ports on all three continents of Azeroth. ^[1] These methods of transport are known as "mass transit." Running on a regular schedule, mass transit is free, and it's fast, safe, and easy for all levels of characters.

Mass transit is the most practical way to get between continents, particularly for lower level characters. Mass transit can also be used to travel between certain major cities on the same continent, or between the northern region of a continent and the southern region. Even the highest level characters (other than mages) are likely to find this method of transport useful.

This section contains, for each faction, a table of ports by continent and region, and each port's connections. A quick glance at your faction's table should give you a good idea of how to get where you want to go.

Also included are tables of the mass transit routes available to each faction, accompanied by maps providing graphical representation of these routes and ports.

These maps and tables are intended to help you form a mental picture of the world, and the regions accessible by mass transit. They are also a quick reference for those times when you can't quite remember how to get where you want to go.

Ports

Ships and zeppelins connect the continents of Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms, and Northrend. Below are tables of the ports where they dock, and the ports to which they are connected via mass transit. (See the next section for tables and maps of mass transit routes.)

You can sort these tables by clicking on a column heading.

Note that the intracontinental neutral Northrend ports of Unu'pe, Moa'ki Harbor, and Kamagua have been omitted from these tables. See Boats for more information on the routes between these ports.

Routes

If you already know where the ports are located on each continent, the following tables may provide a more convenient reference.

Note that the Nauticus^[2] add-on learns the schedule for ship and zeppelin arrivals and departures on your realm and displays the next scheduled times for any route you choose. Nauticus allows you to set an alarm to let you know when the next voyage is due.

The mass transit routes below are all bidirectional.

The ships between Darnassus and Stormwind, and Darnassus and the Exodar dock at Rut'theran Village, at the base of the enormous tree known as Teldrassil. You can get between Darnassus and Rut'theran Village via portals located next to their respective flight masters.

Note that once you pick up the flight path in the Exodar, you can now take the taxi between there and Rut'theran or Darnassus. You can also fly from the Exodar or Darnassus to locations in Kalimdor where you have flight paths.

There is also a portal in the Temple of the Moon in Darnassus which goes to the Exodar. This portal is on the first floor, next to the portal to the Blasted Lands, and has no level requirement.

The Cataclysm portals are located at The Eastern Earthshrine and the Western Earthshrine. For Alliance players, you’ll find The Eastern Earthshrine in Stormwind. Horde players will find The Western Earthshrine in Orgrimmar. The Earthshrines contain portals to Hyjal, Uldum, Deepholm, Twilight Highlands, and Vashj’ir.

Where Are the Cataclysm Portals In Stormwind?

For Alliance players, the Cataclysm portals in Stormwind are located at The Eastern Earthshrine in Stormwind at the coordinates , You’ll find The Eastern Earthshrine to the northwest of Stormwind Keep.

Where Are the Cataclysm Portals In Orgrimmar?

For Horde players, the Cataclysm portals in Orgrimmar are located at The Western Earthshrine in the Valley of Wisdom at the coordinates ,

How To Get To Hyjal From Stormwind

To get to Hyjal from Stormwind, Alliance players will want to travel to the Eastern Earthshrine in Stormwind and take the Hyjal portal at the coordinates ,

How To Get To Hyjal From Orgrimmar

To get to Hyjal from Orgrimmar, Horde players will want to travel to The Western Earthshrine in Orgrimmar and take the Hyjal portal at the coordinates ,

How To Get To Uldum From Stormwind

To get to Uldum from Stormwind, Alliance players need to travel to The Eastern Earthshrine in Stormwind. There you’ll take the portal to Uldum at the coordinates ,

How To Get To Uldum From Orgrimmar

To get to Uldum from Orgrimmar, Horde players need to travel to The Western Earthshrine in Orgrimmar. There you’ll take the portal to Uldum at the coordinates ,

How To Get To Deepholm From Stormwind

To get to Deepholm from Stormwind, Alliance players need to travel to The Eastern Earthshrine in Stormwind and take the Deepholm portal located at the coordinates ,

How To Get To Deepholm From Orgrimmar

To get to Deepholm from Orgrimmar, Horde players need to travel to The Western Earthshrine in Orgrimmar and take the Deepholm portal located at the coordinates ,

How To Get To Twilight Highlands From Stormwind

To get to Twilight Highlands from Stormwind, Alliance players will want to travel to the Eastern Earthshrine in Stormwind and take the Twilight Highlands portal at the coordinates ,

How To Get To Twilight Highlands From Orgrimmar

To get to Twilight Highlands from Orgrimmar, Horde players will want to travel to the Western Earthshrine in Orgrimmar and take the Twilight Highlands portal at the coordinates ,

How To Get To Vashj’ir From Stormwind

To get to Vashj’ir from Stormwind, Alliance players will want to travel to the Eastern Earthshrine in Stormwind and take the Vashj’ir portal at the coordinates , In order to be able to use this portal, players will have to complete the first few quests of the Vashj’ir intro questline. This first quest can be picked up from a Hero’s Call board in capital cities.

How To Get To Vashj’ir From Orgrimmar

To get to Vashj’ir from Orgrimmar, Horde players will want to travel to the Western Earthshrine in Orgrimmar and take the Vashj’ir portal at the coordinates , In order to be able to use this portal, players will have to complete the first few quests of the Vashj’ir intro questline. This first quest can be picked up from a Hero’s Call board in capital cities.

How To Get To Vashj’ir Without Doing The Questline

Players can get to Vashj’ir without doing the intro questline or taking the portal by flying over the ocean to get to Vashj’ir. You’ll want to travel to the coordinates 0, in Dun Morogh in the Eastern Kingdoms. Once there, you’ll want to fly straight east over the ocean until you reach Vashj’ir. As soon as you get within range, you’ll want to dive into the water. You should now be in Vashj’ir.

If you don’t reach Vashj’ir before your Fatigue timer runs out from flying over the Great Sea, you will die. If you’re closer to Vashj’ir than any other zone, you should resurrect at a graveyard in Vashj’ir.

It is still advisable to do the questline in order to unlock the portal to get to Vashj’ir as the questline will grant underwater breathing while in the zone and increased swim speed since the entirety of Vashj’ir is underwater.