Entrance

Blade’s Edge Mountains is initially accessed by one of two paths from Zangarmash. Unfortunately, one is behind an Alliance base, so Inferious, an Undead Rogue, must use the neutral path. Fortunately for Inferious, Rogues can stealth, so he is able to sneak past the dozens of spiders that call this tunnel home.

Thunderlord Stronghold

The primary Horde base in Blade’s Edge is Thunderlord Stronghold. Many quests are started and finished behind this palisade wall.

Wolves and Chimaera

Among the first quests available in this zone is a quest to kill these Chimaera, two-headed wyverns. Also early on is a quest to test some elixir on the Wolves. Sometimes they like it, sometimes they attack you. All in a day’s work.

Lynx and Fairie Dragons

Also very early on is a quest to kill Fairie Dragons. The potion used on the wolves in the previous slide is created with their “Dust”. Be careful of the Lynx running around as they will attack while you’re trying to kill the Dragons.

Sylvanaar

If you’re Horde, stay away from this town! Built by the Night Elves of the Alliance, Sylvanaar is not at all friendly to a Horde player.

Bladespire Hold

After killing Chimaera, Fairie Dragons, and the occasional Lynx — as well as potentially poisoning some Wolves — it’s time to go pick on some Ogres. The first group of Ogres are the Bladespire of Bladespire Hold.

Bloodmaul Outpost

If the Bladespire Ogres weren’t enough, players are also tasked with harassing the Bloodmaul Ogres in the Bloodmaul Outpost. Questing down here is interesting because you have an opportunity to get the Ogre’s drunk — and you thought Tauren were funny drunks!

Toshley's Station

Leaving the Ogre’s behind for the time being, let’s head out toward the next Horde-aligned town. While traveling there, be very careful of the Gnomish town, Toshley’s Station. I made the mistake of getting too close my first time up here and wound up back at the nearest graveyard.

Mok'Nathal Village

Ahh, here we are: Mok’Nathal Village. The Mok’Nathal Orcs are not actually members of the Horde, but are in fact the Orgrimmar Orcs’ long-lost cousins. Fortunately, they have recognized their kin from early expeditions and are more than willing to make their town available as a safe-harbor.

Silkwing

One of the Mok’Nathal Orc’s main problems is that part of their village is overrun by the Silkwing. Silkwing are a moth-like creature that are timid when Larvae, but become unnecessarily irate upon reaching maturity. Too bad bird-shot isn’t among the ammo in World of Warcraft!

Vekhaar Arakkoa

Arakkoa again! I thought we left those behind in Terokkar Forest?

First seen in Hellfire Peninsula and heavily dealt with in Terokkar Forest, Arakkoa are Bird-Men that are mean to everybody. They even go so far as to outcast members of their race for being nice to others as can be seen by the Arakkoa community in Shattrath City.

These Arakkoa have magically enslaved Ogres to do their heavy lifting. I’d choose an Ogre to do my heavy lifting too if I could…

Raptors and Wind Serpents

The Mok’Nathal Orcs are a hungry bunch. One of the quests they offer sends players out to kill Raptors and Wind Serpents scattered throughout Blade’s Edge for their meat. Nicely enough, the Mok’Nathal reward a decent stash of meat as well as recipes to cook more Mok’Nathal Ribs and Crunchy Serpent.

Bladespire Outpost

Just when you thought you were finished with Ogres, the Bladespires are back. This extension of the clan follows a much less-armored leader Gnosh Brognat, but don’t let that fool you. Tread light (or stealthed) around these guys.

Evergrove

The Druids of the Cenarion Expedition that we met in Hellfire Peninsula and worked with extensively in Zangarmarsh have set up a small neutral safe-haven in Ruuan Weald called Evergrove. Like their main town in Zangarmarsh, this town is ripe with questing possibilities. The next several slides show the available missions.

Ruuan'ok Arakkoa

Right next door to Evergrove is a small village of even more Arakkoa (we’re not done with these guys yet), the Ruuan’ok Arakkoa. The main task in this village is to gather items to create a pendant used later.

The Wyrmcult

Apparently, all Draenei are not aligned with the Alliance. These Draenei of the Wyrmcult nearly surround Evergrove and will attack Horde and Alliance players alike. As we continue, we’ll see more of these guys and eventually enter their base.

Marmot Den

If you’re getting tired of killing Ogres, Arakkoa, and rogue Draenei, this quest is for you! Players are tasked with traveling to this den and taming a Marmot which then goes around and poisons some kegs of ale the Ogres have laying around. A nice break!

Bloodmaul Camp

And, now that we’ve seen two groups of Bladespire Ogres, we also see the second Bloodmaul group at Bloodmaul Camp. Be wary of these Ogres as they are the highest level in Blade’s Edge.

Skald

The Druids at Evergrove are unhappy with the way the land is being treated, especially in an area called Skald. Overrun with Imps and Fire Elementals, it’s time to do some killing and plant some trees. Druids are big fans of Arbor Day.

Razaani Ethereals

We met the consortium in Nagrand, as well as some of their nemeses, and now me meet more bad Ethereals, the Razaani. These Ethereals apparently have a yellow-bellied leader since you have to kill many of these guys before he comes out to fight.

Forge Camp: Anger

Directly behind the Razaani base is Forge Camp: Anger, the first time we encounter Illidan’s demons in Blade’s Edge. If you have an itch to be a super-spy, this is the area for you, 007. Make sure you wear the mask before trying to contact the leader or you’ll be discovered.

Death's Door

Another group of Illidan’s demons, they are led by Baelmon the Hound-Master. You will need a couple of good friends to beat this guy. The dimensional gateway behind Baelmon is summoning Wrath Hounds which are then transported to an area we will see later.

Netherdrakes

That good looking guy in the front on a Netherdrake is Inferious, my level 70 Undead Rogue. Normally at the level players are questing in this area, they are ineligible to work toward a Netherdrake mount, but I have the distinct task of creating this gallery, so I’m back again.

The Netherdrakes in this area are initially neutral toward players, who are required to kill them for their essences with the exception of their mother, Dreadwing. Of course, most mothers would attack someone who was killing her children.

We’ll see in a coming Travel Log what a player has to go through to become Exalted with the Netherwing Faction to gain one of these fancy mounts.

Wyrmskull Tunnel

We’re not quite finished with the Wyrmcult yet. Here we see a group of Druids from Evergrove who are upset about the Wyrmcult having a hold on this tunnel. Lets see what we can do to help.

Draaca Longtail

The Druids would like us to kill Draaca Longtail, this Wyrmcult platoon’s leader.

Grishna Arakkoa

Passing through the Wyrmskull Tunnel, we come upon Grishnath, home to the Grishna Arakkoa. I promise these are the last Arakkoa in Blade’s Edge!

Using the pendant created earlier, players are briefly able to understand the Arakkoa language to learn of some prophecies. Unfortunately, I don’t remember now what they said…

Boulder'mok Ogres

More Ogres! This third faction of Ogres aren’t too difficult to deal with. Simply kill a few of these guys and you’re on your way.

Blackwing Coven

Finally we find the Wyrmcult base. After killing Draaca Longtail in the tunnel, we find out that we need to head into this cave to listen in on a meeting. After switching back into 007 mode again, we now know we must kill the leader, Maxnar the Ashmaw, a degenerate member of the Dragonkin race.

Circle of Blood

So far, we’ve discussed the activities for a level 65-68 player. Now, we will head into some level 70 end-game content that can be found in this zone.

The Circle of Blood is the official name for the Blade’s Edge Arena, one of the arenas available for play in the new Arena System. If you’re level 70, find a friend, two, or four and create an arena team.

Also in this picture is a large tower. At the top of this tower stands Mog’dorg the Wizened who begins the quest chain that leads to Ogri’la, Ogre Heaven.

Grulloc

Mog’dorg gives three quests to start the Ogri’la chain. The first of which sends you just down the road to kill the Gronn Grulloc son of Gruul the Dragonkiller. If this guy looks familiar, he should. We saw his youngest brother, Durn the Hungerer, in Nagrand a while back. Grulloc is much harder to defeat than Durn so be sure to gather up at least 4 good friends. as a matter of fact, make sure you and your 4 friends have some time because there are more brothers to kill.

Maggoc

Another son of Gruul is Maggoc. Once again, you and at least 4 good friends will need to gang up on this guy to take him down. Maggoc can be found near the Bladespire Outpost walking around the valley that contains Death’s Door.

Slagg

The third quest in the initial volley for Ogri’la sends players back toward Shattrath City to the Barrier Hills. Not to mention all the Ogres standing around again, Slagg is no easy kill and will again require a good 5 players to take down.

Vim'gol

Once you’ve killed Grulloc, Maggoc, and Slagg return to Mog’dorg for more instructions. Mog’dorg next sends you to find and summon an Orc Warlock that holds the key to the last Son of Gruul (that we know of). Vim’gol is summoned by 5 players standing in the small rings of fire found in this scar in northeastern Blade’s Edge. A very useful tactic is to have 6 players do this quest with the Tank in the middle and 5 damage or healing players in the rings. Vim’gol falls a lot faster if you can keep 5 players in the rings at all times.

Skulloc

Okay, so now we’ve got the Grimoire from Vim’gol. After checking back in with Mog’dorg, we’re tasked with killing Skulloc, the meanest (and probably eldest) son of Gruul. Use the grimoire on the altar and take on a charge of Ogres before Skulloc shows up. With 5 or more players, Skulloc falls about as easily as his brothers.

Gruul's Lair

While we’re here, we’ll fly around the corner to the home of Gruul the Dragonkiller. Gruul’s Lair is a level 70 25-man raid instance, so I won’t be going inside. Unless you have 24 really good (and really well geared) friends, you probably won’t want to attempt this instanced dungeon anytime soon.

Impaled Dragons

I don’t know if this was Gruul’s doing or if these dragons got into the Ogres’ stash of ale, but all throughout Blade’s Edge Mountains there are dragons impaled on sharp rock outcroppings.

Hero Worship

After completing the the quest for killing Skulloc, players are named King (or Queen) of the Ogres. In this photo taken when Inferious first completed this quest, the Ogres are gathered round to worship their new King.

Ogri'la

Sorry about the detour — back to the Ogri’la chain. After turning in the last son of Gruul quest and seeing the Ogre’s worship the ground you walk on, you’re now ready to fly up to Ogri’la. Ogri’la is a reputation faction which means doing lots of daily quests for several weeks. The Ogres in this area give both one-time and daily quests.

Skyguard Outpost

Found near Ogri’la, the Skyguard Outpost offers more one-time and daily quests for the player working on both Ogri’la and Sha’tari Skyguard faction reputation. Once the player is Honored or better with the Skyguard, a direct-flight path opens up between here and the Skyguard Post in Terokkar Forest.

Apexis

One of the four daily quests available in the Blade’s Edge Plateaus area of Blade’s Edge Mountains requires the player to play a Simon®-like game to attain a buff called Apexis Emanations. Also available on this site is a larger-scale Simon®-like game that also require a group to kill the Giant Apexis Guardian. Use the small Apexis Relics for the daily quest and the large Apexis Monument for summoning the Guardian.

Aether Ray and Shartuul's Transporter

Another daily quest available in this area requires the player to wrangle some Aether Rays for the Skyguard. Simply attack the Aether Ray for a short while and then use the provided rope to wrangle.

Also shown in this picture is Shartuul’s Tranporter. Contained in this area is a very difficult single-player quest that requires the player to mind-control a series of demons using those demons to kill more demons. I have not personally been able to complete this quest.

Forge Camp: Wrath

At the north and south ends of the plateau containing Ogri’la are Forge Camps. The northern one, Forge Camp: Wrath contains Wrath Hounds (transported from Death’s Door seen earlier) and other varieties of demons.

Forge Camp: Terror

Similar to Forge Camp: Wrath, Forge Camp: Terror contains different types of Demons that are still just as deadly.

There are two daily quests completable in these camps. One requires the player to fly around and drop bombs on stacks of cannonballs, while being shot at by demon-manned cannons firing those same cannonballs. The other quest comes once the player reaches Honored with Ogri’la. Players are tasked with banishing these demons back to wherever they came from. Stay on the ground for this one and you won’t get shot at by the fel cannons.

Dragon Nests

Also in the Blade’s Edge Plateaus are 4 dragon nests. If you have a few good friends around, pick up one of these eggs. One of the 4 dragons (Rivendark, Obsidia, Insidion, and Furywing) will swoop down and attack you. If you kill all 4 dragons, you can create a pretty nice piece of armor from their scales — worth it with a good group.

Bash'ir Landing

The final area in the Blade’s Edge Plateaus is Bash’ir Landing. Here we find another group of Ethereals up to what must be no good. Only one of the Ogri’la one-time quests involves this area, so hop in and then back out quickly — at least until it’s time to start working on the quests for the Shattered Sun Offensive.

Bridge to Netherstorm

So, that’s it for this Travel Log of Blade’s Edge Mountains. Tune in next time as we cross this bridge into Netherstorm!