Wrath 101: How to get to Northrend and where to go once you get there

For Alliance, head to the northernmost dock at Stormwind Harbor to get to Borean Tundra or take the boat out of Menethil Harbor in the Wetlands to be dropped off in Howling Fjord.
For Horde, the zeppelin in Ogrimmar leads to Borean Tundra and the zeppelin out of Undercity will take you to Howling Fjord.
Consider camping out your character at one of these spots the night before launch so you can head right over as soon as you have the expansion loaded on your system.
I'm in Borean Tundra and my buddy is in Howling Fjord. How do I get to him?
It will take you some time grab the many flight points that connect these two zones. In the meantime, there is a series of three Tuskarr villages along the coast line that will offer you rides between them via giant sea turtles. You can take them all the way from BorTun to HF or vice versa. Just head to up the coast until you find a dock with a walrus guy. There is a stopover in Dragonblight. A more extensive explanation with pictures and coordinates will be posted here tomorrow.
Where are the new instances I can play immediately?
In Borean Tundra, the 5-man instance is The Nexus. To get there, head to Amber Ledge. It's a mage tower on a hill overlooking the ocean to the west. To get there head north/north-east from Warsong Hold (H) or north west out of Valiance Keep (A).
Once there, take a dragon flight to Coldarra (the icy island to the west) where you land in a mage-created settlement called the Transitus Shield. Take the road north east out of TS to an icy cave, but beware aggro mobs along once outside the shields. Once inside the cave, head to the bottom to enter The Nexus.
In Howling Fjord, you are looking for Utgarde Keep. This is very simple for Alliance, simply head north out of Valgarde keep to the other side of the Vrykul viking settlement. You will see a large stairwell set into the cliff face. Run up it and into the instance. For Horde, head west out of Vengeance Landing and up the lift. From there, follow the road straight west into the instance.
Where's the new Shattrath?
That would be Dalaran. Both Horde and Alliance can use the amenities this neutral city offers. Like Shattrath, there will be no class trainers or Auction House, but there will be Grand Master profession trainers and one-way portals to all the major cities in Azeroth (including one to Shattrath.) There will be mage portal trainers which will come in handy since you can't get to Dalaran before level 74 unless you use a Mage portal. Without a portal, you'll have to wait until level 74. At that point, you can get a quest that will allow you to use a crystal on the floor of the Crystalsong Forest that will take you to the floating city. Once there, bind immediately.
When can I use my flying mount?
Level 77. It used to be a quest, now it's just trainable in Dalaran. For 1,000g (950g with Dalarn faction.) Look on the bright side, no more turtle boats.
Anything else you want to know about to get started on Thursday (that we haven't covered in Ask A Beta Tester or our recent Preparing for Wrath series)?
EDIT: Corrections and updates made.
Arthas awaits and so do your questions. Find the answers you've been looking for that will help you with your journey into Northrend and to level 80 with Wrath 101.Filed under: Tips, Instances, Expansions, Mounts, Wrath of the Lich King
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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 5)
Kevin Nov 10th 2008 9:22AM
What do you think the server stability will be like on Thursday and Friday? Should I bother taking off on Thursday or will it likely be unstable all day like with TBC?
Raaj Nov 10th 2008 11:57AM
You're seriously contemplating taking time off work to play Wrath?
Stravo Nov 10th 2008 3:34PM
I am. There were two holidays that fell during my vacation time so I essentially have two free days off, why not take them now to play WoW?
You've never taken a day off to attend to some personal hobby?
knob67 Nov 10th 2008 9:23AM
I don't think anyone mentioned that the boat departs from Menthil and not Theramore.
Donaghy Nov 10th 2008 9:29AM
Only about 8 times.
lolrus Nov 10th 2008 9:35AM
Are you guys absolutely sure its not Theramore ?
Rugus Nov 10th 2008 9:22AM
Pfff yet again a big city with no AH and class trainers? Argh!!!!!!
Percinho Nov 10th 2008 9:29AM
It's done to keep the original Big Cities populated. It's often an impressive thing for a new player to walk into Stormwind and realise they're part of a living , breathing player-base. If there were such amenities in Shat and Dalaran then the mainland cities would become ghost-towns.
Rugus Nov 10th 2008 9:44AM
@ Percinho
Well, old-world towns would still be populated by pre-TBC people (level 1->58 at least), right? I understand what Blizz tries to do but right now IF, SW... are just overpopulated by 70's and 1's (bankers). I rarely see "mid-level" players around capitals. Also, why not offering 70+ players a back-portal to Outland/Northerend? Damn it's really annoying when you move around from old and new world and have to keep begging for a portal. I usually offer 10G to get mages answer my call. No one usuallt answers for less that 5G.
Blizz should add a Old->New world portal for 70+ players. Even if used with a small fee (let's say 10G) it would be *GREAT*. I find annoying the one-way system, to force you spam in trade chan for a damned portal :-|
Xerous Nov 10th 2008 10:04AM
you mean like a "dark" portal????? :-P
CvijaFaQ Nov 10th 2008 10:27AM
The main reason is making Dalaran playable, and not cause server crashes 24/7 because it will have 2000 players in it 24/7.
Balmer Nov 10th 2008 10:33AM
Well being a mage I can say being spammed for Portals if pretty annoying.
SO Let me offer a bit of advice on the One-way portal system, for Alliance any whay.
Since SW has all the class trainers and a boat that goes to Northrend. it would be a good idea to go there for any or your needs. Also you should have an item called a Hearthstone in one of your bags that can take you back to Northrend if you remember to set it at an Inn.
Gnosh Nov 10th 2008 10:47AM
@Rugus-
Learn the magic of the Ghetto Hearth. Group, jump in an instance, drop group. 60 seconds later, you're hearthed (resetting your hearth cooldown to 60 minutes).
This is why I AH in Org rather than UC or TB.
popeguilty Nov 10th 2008 10:48AM
It's also good for keeping people spread out across the various cities. Dalaran's going to be demanding enough on your processor and RAM- imagine for a moment if it were full of people using the class trainers and Auction Houses, instead of simply passing through on the way to them.
Makros Nov 10th 2008 2:37PM
"Well, old-world towns would still be populated by pre-TBC people (level 1->58 at least), right?"
"I rarely see "mid-level" players around capitals."
Ummmm it looks like you answered your own question there (or contradicted your own rhetorical statement).
Rugus Nov 10th 2008 3:04PM
@ Makros
I do not see mid level players NOW, even if Blizz did not place an AH in Shat.
actodd Nov 10th 2008 3:37PM
Why would you need to purchase more than one portal to Shatt (or Dalaraan)? Using Shatt as an example, after the port, set your hearthstone to either the Aldor or Scryer Inns and you're done. Take the free portal to any capitol city and you can hearth back when you need to.
Granted it's only once per hour (or more if you're a Shammy), but that's all I've ever really needed.
Rugus Nov 10th 2008 4:16PM
@ actodd
Many reasons, for example if you have to go back to if/sw for another purchase/sell/need and them to go back to shat, you have the hs on cooldown. It can happen, at least happened to me many times and had to beg for a portal.
Let's say it in another way: I hate portal begging, something that many players need and something that mages do not like to offer.
Gemski Nov 10th 2008 9:28AM
I think everyone is wrong, you gotta take the second boat at Ratchet!
iBuryl Nov 10th 2008 9:42AM
I still believe it is going from Shattrath!