WotLK zone list
by Eliah Hecht 
Aug 26th 2007 at 4:59PM
Games for Windows magazine has revealed a surprising amount of info on WoW over the past year or so. Now, a subscriber has written in and claims that this month's GFW (not on newsstands yet) contains, among other things, a full zone list for Northrend. Obviously this should be taken as unconfirmed, since we don't have any scans or anything to go on, but I'm inclined to believe it:- Howling Fjord (68-72)
- Borean Tundra (68-72)
- The Dragonblight (71-75)
- Zul'Drak (73-76)
- Grizzly Hills (74-76)
- Azjol-Nerub (74-78)
- Sholazar Basin (75-78)
- The Storm Peaks (77-80)
- Icecrown Glacier (77-80)
- Lake Wintergrasp (Outdoor PvP)
The Nexus is the instance hub in the west (Borean Tundra), and "a giant Horde citadel--the largest in Northrend" is also in Borean Tundra, but currently without a name. Also, the final raid wing of The Nexus will likely end with a fight with "half-mad Malygos himself".
Sounds interesting enough, although they seem to be sticking uncomfortably close to the Burning Crusade model. But we'll see. Does anyone else have a copy of this issue of GFW and can confirm this information?
[thanks, Neil]
Filed under: Expansions, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Baluki Aug 26th 2007 5:05PM
Larger version of that map: http://www.wowwiki.com/Image:Northrend.JPG
Sherp of Ahrotahntee Aug 26th 2007 5:10PM
Passes the acronym test--none of the new zones have any of the same initials as the old zones, which is a good thing. (No-one is actually going to type out Azjol-Nerub in chat, so it's fortunate that we don't already have anything named AN.)
Ayreon Aug 26th 2007 5:14PM
I don't think Zul'Drak will be an entire zone. After all, Zul'Aman is technically an entire forest troll nation, but all we're seeing of it is one instance. ZD will likely be reinterpreted for WotLK similarly to how ZA was done for TBC.
Pseudogrey Aug 26th 2007 5:47PM
Yes I have this month's Games for Windows as well and this information is in there. They shed some more light on inscription, stating that they'll only be able to alter certain (not all) spells. They also will be able to make "scrolls" to trade and sell on AH. They refer to the Inscription profession as a talent tree inside the profession tree.
Brommon Aug 26th 2007 5:52PM
"the Inscription profession is a talent tree inside the profession tree"
WTF does that even mean? Did GFW actually manage to find someone who hasn't played WoW to write this article?
Also, Azjol-Nerub being its own zone would be really cool and an interesting twist - our first entirely indoor zone!
Fletch Aug 26th 2007 6:22PM
If only they'd do the same thing with enchanting that they're doing with inscription...
rick gregory Aug 26th 2007 6:43PM
@6... At blizzcon they did mention that they wanted to move enchanting to that model in reply to a question. No details sadly
one reason I don't make the money I could from enchanting is that I don't want to spend time hawking my enchants instead of actally playing
RogueJedi86 Aug 26th 2007 7:41PM
Something seems off about it. Howling Fjord is 68-72, but Grizzly Hills, the only zone directly connected to Howling Fjord, is 74-76. The zone that fills the level gap between 72 and 74, Dragonblight with 71-75, is situated so you have to run through Grizzly Hills first. Maybe they'll switch up the level ranges of Grizzly Hills and Dragonblight.
IKoNN Aug 27th 2007 9:04AM
@5 It would be interesting to actually see a profession that had a Talent Tree. The profession tree thing is a little odd granted. But having a talent tree for this profession would make it even more customizable.
@8 Yea it does seem a little odd and you're probably right. They will most likely switch the zones around a lot. They will probably all be the same and whatnot but I'm sure that when they finally release it next year it is going to be as detailed as TBC was when it was released.
John Aug 26th 2007 10:12PM
Oh, I didn't know this was news - I got mine Friday. I would've sent it in.
And @5 - obvious you're not smart enough to get it; the article said Inscription was LIKE a talent because you can use it to improve your TALENTS, so it's like a new TALENT TREE, figure it out
Neil Paris Aug 26th 2007 11:40PM
@8
They made a point of saying the zone boundaries and level ranges are subject to change. And since it only took them, what, two weeks to change their thinking on how Death Knights work, I'd say it's highly likely that it won't remain 100% as it is now.
RogueJedi86 Aug 26th 2007 11:50PM
I just noticed Crystalsong Forest is missing too. Zul'Drak should be an instance, since it's only a tiny city on the Northrend map. But Crystalsong Forest is its own zone, and not listed.
coconut Aug 27th 2007 2:07AM
And where is Dalaran? Isn't that shifting up there?
RogueJedi86 Aug 27th 2007 2:34AM
Dalaran wouldn't have its own zone range, since it's a neutral city, like Shattrath. And the existing detailed Northrend map is from before Dalaran was set to move up north.
Tridus Aug 27th 2007 6:03AM
"Half-mad Malygyos"?
Didn't they say that he had just become sane? Are we back to the old "good guy goes insane so you kill him for phat lewts" stage of development?
Starfury Aug 27th 2007 10:48AM
@14 Thats exactly what it looks like. He was supposedly regaining his sanity. With WOTLK though he has declared war on magic users (hostile dragon = phat loot time in other words).
Coherent Aug 27th 2007 12:50PM
What do you mean by "uncomfortably close to the TBC model"? As opposed to what model, if not TBC. Tell me more about this ideal expansion that they should be making if not by the TBC model.
RogueJedi86 Aug 27th 2007 1:11PM
Well the zones being of progressive difficulty, while nice, just means they turn expansion making into a formula, with set, limited-range level spans in zones, and all the mobs and instances accordingly. It kind of marginalizes the threats in the first zones, knowing they're not even a real threat. Naga are melting the glaciers in Borean Tundra? Big threat? Not as a bit a threat as the random bears in Grizzly Hills, which are a few levels higher than those Naga.
Coherent Aug 27th 2007 2:12PM
RogueJedi86: Yes, that's a common and well known problem that goes all the way back to High Tinker Mekkatorque (level 60+ boss) getting chased out of Gnomeregan by Mekgineer Thermaplugg (level 34 elite).
It all goes under the "suspension of disbelief" umbrella because it has to.
RogueJedi86 Aug 27th 2007 10:11PM
Same umbrella suspension that also applies to the level ?? Troll Leader getting chased off Echo Isles by a few level 10 mobs. Hehe.