A Call to Arms: Jintha'Alor
by Mike Schramm 
Aug 4th 2006 at 12:01PM
So last night I was making yet another run through ZF trying to down Gahz and get my Carrot when the mage who was carrying our Mallet made a joke that he was probably one of four people on the server who currently had it in possession. Could that be true? Are there that few people out there carrying around the Mallet of Zul'Farrak, the only way to summon Gahz'rilla and clear Zul'Farrak?If it is true, it's probably because of Jintha'Alor. A huge troll city practically hidden in the Hinterlands (it's just south of the entrance to the beach on the eastern coast), Jintha'Alor might be the biggest non-instanced elite area in the world of Azeroth. Home to a bevy of elite quests, tons of elite trolls, slimes and wolves, and (at the center of the city on the hill) the Altar of Zul, Jintha'Alor is definitely a great place to visit with a full party on your way to 60.
So why do so few people go there? When there's so much to do and see there, why do so few people make it to the Altar and create the Mallet?
First of all, the obvious: Jintha is long, and (for the level, anyway) pretty difficult. The Gahz'rilla quest is obtained at 40, but you'll need at least a 50 or two in a full party to survive Jintha. Not to mention that because the entire area is noninstanced, mobs respawn fairly quickly, so you have to move fast through there or face refighting through seperate areas to get where you need to be. If you don't have a party that knows what they're up against (and considering how sparsely Jintha is run, those parties are hard to find), a lot of people will be turned off by what they thought was a quick run of elite quests turning into an instance-long grind.
Still, there are a lot of good reasons to run Jintha, if you've got the party for it. Since there are so many mobs, the loot comes fast and quick (my Shaman found his trusty Blanchard's Stout up there). There are two seperate dens inside the area, one filled with wolves and another filled with slimes. If you're Alliance, make sure to stop and kill the Vile Priestess Hexx to save Sharpbeak (the gryphon is just off to the right of the big ampitheatre). If you're Horde, there's a quest to kill Vilebranch that gives a pretty nice trinket, easily doable as you climb your way through the terraces. And after you've activated your Mallet at the Altar, make sure to invade the cave behind it for The Ancient Egg, a quest line that takes you all the way to Sunken Temple.
Jintha'Alor does have a few problems-- the length and difficulty can wipe and end many a party if you're not ready for it. But it's a great place to fight through if you've never been. And once you emerge triumphant from the Vilebranch city, sprinting and jumping down the terraces weighed down with loot and Mallet in hand, there's nothing to stop you from putting down Gahz'rilla once and for all!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
sollaires Aug 4th 2006 1:30PM
Jintha is also far more worth Hordies time than Ally. With the Woven Ivy Necklace, Deep Woodlands Cloak, and/or Rune of the Guard Captain not available to Ally, it greatly diminishes the desire to run through it.
At the same time, I really like and hate the mallet portion of Carrot quest. The strange decision by the devs to make a level 45ish instance have a portion that is really aimed at chars in their high-40s or 50s makes you scratch your head. But if/when you do have that mallet and no one else does, it's pretty cool. And really, the worst part isn't getting the mallet to the top, it's getting the mallet from the 2 level 50 elites. From there it's just easy to corpse run your way up to the altar.
william Aug 4th 2006 1:43PM
I'm now on my 4th post-40 character and this was the first time I did all the quests in the Hinterlands. Dont know why I never did em before. Its sorta like they are out of the way and there's a ton of other places to go at the same level. You really have to work at it to get to the Hinterlands in the first place.
I've still never gotten the mallet though... I can't recall the number of times I've been in ZF and everyone is standing around the pool looking at one another "Who's got the mallet?" "I dont have one" "I thought you had one" "Anyone got an alt with the mallet?" "/g hey, anyone have the mallet for ZF? We just need to summon Ghaz"
Hexar Aug 4th 2006 2:03PM
Don't you mean Gahz'rilla? You misspelled it like four times.
On another note, yes I have the mallet, and yes it took me forever. And I only used it once. After that I pretty much never ran ZF again (:
mikeschramm Aug 4th 2006 2:07PM
I do mean Gahz'rilla! Or, as I like to call him, "Garzy". Fixed, thanks for the correction.
Argent Aug 4th 2006 2:13PM
i suppose i should feel odd that i have four toons with the mallet. :)
that said, i farmed jintha for a good long time (so much so, i got to revered with the wildhammers) -- and did most of it solo between WSG queues. it was a fantastic source of mageweave for use during the AQ40 gate opening.
bliSSter Aug 4th 2006 3:52PM
I have the mallet on every one of my toons...currently 7 total toons. But I play with my wife and just her 60s for escort for the mallet. I'm all for snagging a proper group and getting through ZF, it's a slick zone with some fun events and great loot - even if only from the quest rewards. But the mallet? Save yourself some trouble and snag someone to help you with the pair of elites and forming of the mallet.
/Agree@sollaires - getting to the top of Jintha'alor isn't particularly difficult considering the graveyard is at the top of the overlook cliffs. You can also ride your mount most of the way to the top - or simply stealth if you're able. ;)
Cedric Aug 4th 2006 4:56PM
It's actually possible to ride all the way to the top of Jintha and all the mobs you aggro on the way will eventually give up. It reduces the time to get the mallet quite a bit. I've done it quite a few times (and you just deal with the few mobs left when you dismount).
It's still hard to find a group, though, but maybe the new world LFG channel will solve this problem.
Marshall Aug 4th 2006 9:57PM
the mage who was carrying our Mallet made a joke that he was probably one of four people on the server who currently had it in possession. Could that be true?
Probably. I know I deleted my mallet for more bank space when I hit 60 ;)
You'd see more of them if they went on the key ring I'm sure.
kurn Aug 5th 2006 1:28AM
How embarrassing...I picked it up when we rescued the griffin and couldn't figure out what to do with it. I tried to auction it like 5 times. IT NEVER SOLD. So i sold it to a vendor for like 25 silver.
oops.
sorry.
Contentious of Darkspear Sep 7th 2006 3:04PM
Recently, I decided to get my Mallet of Zul'Farrak so that I could run ZF whenever I wanted and not have to fill a fifth spot with someone JUST because they had the mallet. So, I got a group of 5 together, with a 60 leading the way. As I approached the Alter of Zul I was asked to form a Raid Group and invite a few more people. I did, and picked up some people who were out questing in the Hinterlands as I did as well. The end result was that I had a group 18 large to get the Mallet of ZF. We rolled through Jintha'alor in maybe 15 minutes. This is easily an hour run with 5 people.
Monday night I took everyone from my guild that was online to go get the Mallet[did a 25 man raid] and brought some others along as well. We went into the cave after that, with me dropping into a seperate group, to get the Ancient Egg. We whiped.
The only way I could find to get the egg was to walk in duo with someone else that needed to get it and corpse walk to the egg, distract the guards while he got it, then reverse it and get it while he distracted.
Though we found an excellent shortcut to the tier just before the Amphitheater on the far east side, you can climb a hill up to a tree and walk around the tree onto the wall.
RufusMccooter Sep 18th 2006 3:19PM
Hmmm..you know, my Rogue on Crushridge farms that area all the time for Purple Lotus (you can collect about 20 going up and down the terraces). From about 55th level on, I could remain stealthed, and not aggro any of the mobs. I have the mallet, that so many of the posters have referred too, but never got the carrot. The funny thing is, my mage on the same server got the carrot, but has never been to Jintha'Alor. If you're having carrot trouble, find a friend with the mallet, and just pick up the carrot quest out in the Saltflats north of Tanaris. Only takes one to ring the gong.