Burning Steppes - Level 54: Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Just south of Blackrock Mountain, and north of Redridge are the Burning Steppes, and like Searing Gorge, its proximity to the volcanic mountain is evident by the landscape.  

The main antagonists here are the Blackrock orcs, who are coming from their stronghold in Blackrock Spire in an effort to expand their reach.  They have warlocks performing strange rituals at the Altar of Storms in the western part of the zone....

 and have established a fortress in the foothills of Blackrock Mountain from which they run their operations.  

The Blackrock Orcs have teamed with the Firegut Ogres, who reside in Dreadmaul Rock, and are planning an all-out assault on Redridge.  Players find out their plan by infiltrating their ranks, and then must stop the invasion by any means necessary.  

One of those methods includes negotiating a truce with the neutral dragon who lives in Slither Rock, and arranging for his help when you are ready to stop the invasion.  

Morgan's Vigil is the Alliance base of operations for the counter-attack.  

When the time comes, you commit numerous acts of sabotage, including switching the Blackrock Warlocks' imps with hostile fire sprites, swapping their magical orb for controlling a pit lord for an ordinary piece of glass, which causes the pit lord to attack the Blackrock instead...

And finally, receiving the help from the dragon that you bargained for, when you jump on top of one of his drakes to attack the Blackrock and Firegut forces from the air.  Your efforts are successful, and Redridge is saved.  

Blackrock Depths - Level 53: Monday, April 4, 2011

As I mentioned in my last post, Blackrock Depths is located deep under Blackrock Mountain, and is the home base for the Dark Iron Dwarves, who are up to all kinds of villainy above the surface, including the enslavement of other dwarves to obtain ore to fuel their military operations, and sabotaging the massive dam in Loch Modan.  Blackrock Depths was also one of the dungeons used in the original endgame to develop storylines that led into the 40-player raids, the other being Blackrock Spire.  As you travel through Blackrock Depths, you discover that the Dark Irons are under the control of the powerful fire elemental Ragnaros, who dwells inside Molten Core, and is threatening to erupt from Blackrock to wreak havoc.  

Blackrock Depths is massive, literally an underground city, and has many paths, as evidenced by this handy flowchart:  

Rather than try to summarize all of the goings-on in BRD, I'll just hit bullet points.  When you first enter, you have a choice of paths to take.  The first will take you into the jail, where the Dark Irons are keeping prisoners of interest.  

The prisoners' ultimate fate lies in the Ring of the Law, where they are made to fight waves of monsters, beasts and mini-bosses, including giant spiders, worgen, or a giant troll.  

Another wing of the city houses the Dark Iron Armory, where you can see Dark Iron forces massing for invasion, and crafting their massive stone and iron golems.  

Beneath the city flows a river of lava, which leads to the Molten Bridge, and the entrance portal to Molten Core.  Knowing that players would tire of hiking all the way through Blackrock Depths just to get into the raid instance, an attunement feature was implemented, which required players to make the full trip just once, and after completing it, allowing them to get into Molten Core by simply speaking to an NPC who stood outside.  

Some of Ragnaros' most intimidating minions are the large lava giants, several of which serve as bosses in Blackrock Depths.  In Molten Core, they are relegated to patrol duty.  

 The city portion of BRD has all the conveniences of a modern metropolis, including a bank...

and a fully functioning bar, the Grim Guzzler.  

To reach the leader of the Dark Irons, you need to get through the military wing, which features the Lyceum, a massive deathtrap of a room where you must keep moving through a gauntlet of enemies as flames appear around you.  

The final room, the Imperial Seat, is the home of the Dark Iron Emperor Dagran Thaurassian, and his queen, Moira Bronzebeard.  In the original lore, Moira, the daughter of the King of Ironforge, was kidnapped, but that has since been changed to her going willingly with him. In a bit of a time paradox, Moira currently appears in both Ironforge as one of the triumvirate of rulers, mourning Dagran's death, and in BRD, with Dagran alive.  

Blackrock Mountain: Level 52 - Sunday, April 3, 2011

Although not a proper zone, with quest hubs, flight plans and NPC's, Blackrock Mountain was a major part of the game back when Level 60 was the cap, and now that Cataclysm has been released, the developers have added some new content to this area which has made it popular once again.  Although not all of the content featured inside the mountain is appropriate for Level 52, it will be applicable as I progress, so I wanted to put this here as a point of reference.  

At launch, Blackrock Mountain contained three dungeons, Blackrock Depths and Lower & Upper Blackrock Spire.  It also housed the game's first available raid, Molten Core, which required 40 players to clear.  Eventually, a second raid, Blackwing Lair, was added, which meant that raiding guilds would spend most of their time in the mountain, occasionally shooting over to Kalimdor to take on the one-boss Onyxia raid.  Because of its popularity, Blackrock Mountain became a heavily-contested area on PvP servers, with both factions stirring up trouble near the dungeon and raid entrances.  

Inside the mountain, a winding stone path circles a deep pit of lava, which is the heart of the volcano.  A tall stone pillar juts out of the lava, and is accessible via massive chains, which are your mode of transport into the depths of the mountain.  

Down the chain and past a winding path, you encounter a mine where slaves are laboring to find precious stones and ore.  Located in the back of the mine is the entrance to the Dark Iron stronghold, Blackrock Depths.  

Blackrock Depths also houses the entrance to Molten Core, literally the volcanic center of Blackrock Mountain, but you need to be Level 60 to enter.  Also, an elf who is further up the chain inside the mountain will allow you to become 'attuned' to enter Molten Core, so that every time you want to go in you don't need to go through all of Blackrock Depths.  

Back at the top of the chain, a player can also choose to ascend the mountain by taking a series of paths that lead to the entrance of Blackrock Spire.  This dungeon, which is actually split between Lower and Upper, is under the control of the Black Dragonflight, led by Nefarian, the son of Deathwing, who here is in disguise as a human.   Like Blackrock Depths containing the entrance to Molten Core, Upper Blackrock Spire houses the entrance to Blackwing Lair, but there is an attunement quest available outside.  

Searing Gorge: Level 51 - Friday, April 1, 2011

Directly south of Ironforge lies the charred lands of Searing Gorge, so named because of their proximity to the volcanic Blackrock Mountain, which towers over the land to the south, dividing Searing Gorge from the Burning Steppes.  

  

Players usually first access the Gorge from the Badlands to the East, and find themselves in a mountainous area called the Dustbin, where the road forks.  

South of the Dustbin is Grimesilt's Dig Site, which is held by Dark Iron Dwarves.  

To the west, nestled in the northern mountains, are the faction-neutral Thorium Brotherhood dwarves.  They are embroiled in a fierce battle to take back the Gorge from the evil Dark Iron dwarves who have poured out of Blackrock Mountain to spread their operation across the land.  

The Dark Irons have enslaved a number of the Thorium Brotherhood to mine for precious ores in the volcanic core of the Gorge, nicknamed the Cauldron.  

 The Dark Iron's numerous watchtowers circle the Cauldron, to prevent escape, and to warn of any attacks.  

 

The Slag Pits are the heart of the mining operation in the Cauldron.  

Just over the ridge from Thorium Point, the Twilight's Hammer cult are involved in kidnapping and ritualistic sacrifices.  

The imposing entrance to Blackrock Mountain is the only way to get to the Burning Steppes on the other side.  Inside the mountain, many threats await.