Stranglethorn Vale

Stranglethorn Vale is the large jungle that fills the southern tip of the Eastern Kingdoms, covering roughly levels 30 to 45. It is home to the goblin port of Booty Bay, the ruins of the troll Gurubashi Empire, big-game hunters, pirates, ogres and rebel soldiers. Because it serves both factions at once and has a lot of open-world player-versus-player fighting, it became the most crowded and most argued-about leveling zone in Classic.

Geography

The vale is a long, narrow strip of jungle, rivers and coast running south from Duskwood. It is roughly split in two:

• Northern Stranglethorn holds the Rebel Camp and Nesingwary's Expedition near the Duskwood border, the Kurzen camp and its mines, the Mosh'Ogg ogre mound, Lake Nazferiti, and the troll ruins of the Bloodscalp and Skullsplitter tribes. The walled troll city of Zul'Gurub covers the northeast.
• Grom'gol Base Camp, a Horde outpost on the western coast, has zeppelins to Orgrimmar and the Undercity.
• The Gurubashi Arena, in the middle of the zone, is an old troll fighting pit.
• Southern Stranglethorn holds Mistvale Valley, the Crystalvein Mine, Jaguero Isle, the Wild Shore and the Bloodsail Buccaneers' camps along the coast.
• Booty Bay, built into a sea cave at the southern tip, is the home of the Blackwater Raiders, a goblin trading company of the Steamwheedle Cartel. A boat runs from its docks to Ratchet in The Barrens.

History

Stranglethorn was the heart of the Gurubashi Empire, the troll empire that once ruled much of the southern Eastern Kingdoms. After the empire fell apart, its priests summoned the blood god Hakkar the Soulflayer and were overthrown by the tribes they had enslaved. By the time of Classic, the Gurubashi have split into rival tribes, and the Hakkari priests in Zul'Gurub are trying to bring their god back.

The jungle has drawn outsiders since. A Stormwind army unit under Colonel Kurzen came to the jungle and went rogue. The Venture Company is mining and logging. The Bloodsail Buccaneers fight the Booty Bay goblins for control of the coast. And Hemet Nesingwary, a famous hunter, has set up camp to bag the jungle's great cats and raptors.

Quests and notable NPCs

Stranglethorn has more quests than almost any other zone in Classic, many of them long chains with turn-ins spread across the whole map.

Nesingwary's Expedition. Hemet Nesingwary and his companions Ajeck Rouack, Sir S. J. Erlgadin and Barnil Stonepot give the hunting chains: Tiger Mastery, Panther Mastery and Raptor Mastery, starting with Tiger Mastery. Each ends with a named beast: the tiger Sin'Dall, the panther Bhag'thera and the raptor Tethis. Finishing all three opens Big Game Hunter, the hunt for the great white tiger King Bangalash, which rewards the [Master Hunter's Rifle] or the [Master Hunter's Bow]. Barnil also collects the scattered pages of a book called The Green Hills of Stranglethorn. Players hunt down numbered pages, such as [Green Hills of Stranglethorn - Page 1], which drop randomly from mobs all over the zone, and bind them into four chapters. The famous page hunt clogged trade channels with requests for missing pages.

The Rebel Camp. Lieutenant Doren and Sergeant Yohwa lead Alliance soldiers who broke with Colonel Kurzen. Their quests end with Colonel Kurzen, the hunt for Colonel Kurzen in his cave.

Grom'gol. Horde players work for Nimboya, whose nephew Yenniku is a hostage of the Bloodscalp trolls; the chain runs from Hunt for Yenniku to Saving Yenniku.

Booty Bay. Booty Bay is the zone's busiest hub. First Mate Crazz starts The Bloodsail Buccaneers, the long chain against the pirates. Baron Revilgaz runs the town from the top of the inn, and Crank Fizzlebub pays for crystals from the Venture Company's mine in Venture Company Mining. Players who earn standing with the Bloodsail can instead side with Fleet Master Firallon and, in Avast Ye, Admiral!, kill Revilgaz and Fleet Master Seahorn for the [Bloodsail Admiral's Hat].

Ogres and trolls. The Mosh'Ogg mound in the north, led by Mosh'Ogg Lord, and the Bloodscalp leaders Gan'zulah and Nezzliok the Dire are common targets for groups.

The Gurubashi Arena

Every three hours, a treasure chest drops into the middle of the arena, and the pirate Short John Mithril announces it across the zone. The arena is a free-for-all: players of any faction, and even members of the same group, can attack each other inside, and whoever opens the chest keeps the loot. The chest can hold the [Arena Master] trinket, which starts the Arena Master quest. The event made the arena a gathering place for high-level fights long after players had outgrown the zone.

Raids

Zul'Gurub (Zul'Gurub), added in patch 1.7, is a 20-player raid in the northeastern corner of the zone. It pits players against the Hakkari priests and finally Hakkar himself.

Getting there

Alliance players walk south from Duskwood through the Rebel Camp, or fly to Booty Bay once they have the flight point. Horde players take the zeppelin from Orgrimmar or the Undercity to Grom'gol, or the boat from Ratchet to Booty Bay. The road between Grom'gol and the Rebel Camp, and the roads around Booty Bay, are the zone's main battlegrounds between the factions on player-versus-player realms.

Sources

• Stranglethorn Vale, Warcraft Wiki
• Gurubashi Arena, Warcraft Wiki
• The Green Hills of Stranglethorn, Warcraft Wiki
• Quest data from WoWDB (patch 1.12)