"World of Warcraft" - The Barrens Quiz

Answer: Gold Road

Gold Road begins at the northern tip of The Barrens at the entrance to Mor'Shan Rampart and continues to the southern tip of the zone near Thousand Needles. Cutting directly through The Crossroads in the northern half, the Gold Road also has small tributaries leading directly to Ratchet, Camp Turajo, and Bael Modan.

This feature of the area ensures that it's not easy to stray too far from the beaten path and while The Barrens is one of the larger areas in the game and in Kalimdor, everything stays fairly close to the main road.

The Gold Road is bisected by a bridge which, when crossed from the north, leads to 'Southern Gold Road'. The further south players head, the more difficult the enemies tend to be.

Answer: Booty Bay

Ratchet, found on the eastern coast of the Barrens near Durotar, is a neutral hub in this large zone for all players passing through. Run by goblins, the city contains many of the important traders, NPCs, and trainers that must be spoken to in advancing your character. You can also find many quests that begin and end with Ratchet.

The city acts as a flight path (one of three in The Barrens) as well as a ship dock. The one boat which passes through Ratchet makes a loop to Booty Bay in Stranglethorn Vale (on the southern tip of the Eastern Kingdoms) though this area is for a slightly higher level than the average Barrens player.

Answer: The Sludge Fen

The Sludge Fen, found to the east of the northern ends of the Gold Road, is a lower-level quest area near the Mor'Shan Rampart at the entrance to Ashenvale. Thorn Hill is slightly north of Ratchet, found down the eastern path leading from The Crossroads.

The west path leads directly out of Crossroads, heads past an instance, and reaches the Stonetalon Mountains. Field of Giants is found in the far south of the zone while The Stagnant Oasis is slightly southeast of The Crossroads. Very few quests visit this small area, one of three oases in The Barrens (the others being Lushwater Oasis and The Forgotten Pools).

Answer: False

Far Watch Post, found at the border of Durotar, is hardly a town as it only contains a few border-patrolling NPC without quests. Instead, Crossroads and Ratchet would be the closest flight paths to Orgrimmar, Crossroads being just down the path while you would need to cross Thorn Hill or follow Southfury River down to Ratchet.

The third flight path in The Barrens is the southerly Camp Taurajo, found down the road from the Tauren starting zone, Mulgore. This town will feature many higher level quests for the area, most of which continue south towards Thousand Needles, but taking the road north will help any lower level players find their way to both easier quests and Orgrimmar.

Answer: Mining

Found down Southern Gold Road, Bael Modan is home to some of the higher-level quests in The Barrens despite the wide level range. Some quests regarding it are found in the southern settlement, Camp Taurajo, but some can be found on the cliffs overlooking the location itself. Most of these quests will inevitably result in your defeating various Dwarven Excavators and Foremen, but some involve the destruction of important digging equipment and the crippling of Dwarven forces in the cliffside buildings.
Bael Modan translates to Red Mountain in Dwarven.

Answer: Koiter

The Shrine of the Fallen Warrior is found atop a mountain to the west of the Crossroads and it can be climbed at one of its southern slopes. The Shrine was built to honor the death of Blizzard employee Michel Koiter who passed away of heart failure in the late stages of "World of Warcraft's" development.

He and his brother, Rene, collaborated as artists early in the game's pre-release, creating many of the characters found within the game. The shrine on top of this mountain is engraved with Michel's initials, MK, in memoriam.

Answer: Northwatch Hold

Northwatch Hold is one of the major areas for Horde quest-goers in The Barrens. Guarded by tons of level 15-ish Theramore Guards, players can enter the fortress to defeat the Cannoneers and other leaders in three tall towers. Additionally, the Keep is situated in the middle of many different areas for similar-leveled quests. One escort quest found here requires that you run a prisoner to the nearby city of Ratchet, directly north up the coast.

Other quests simply ask you to clear out the bosses. Although Alliance players may find the place to seem like home, Ratchet, the neutral city, is more of an asset as Northwatch Hold contains no trading NPCs or trainers.

Answer: Six

The Barrens is smack-dab in the middle of Kalimdor, and because of this it has access at its borders to various other areas for both Alliance and Horde players. Coincidentally, both Durotar (starting zone for Orcs and Trolls) and Mulgore (the starting area for Tauren) border at the northeast and western ends respectively making The Barrens a natural choice for leveling past the first steps of the game. To the north, the Gold Road leads into Ashenvale, a neutral forest area. To the northwest, a tributary road pushes into Stonetalon Mountains, a similar area.

The southeast exit leads into Dustwallow Marsh and directly south is Thousand Needles; both of these are neutral and for characters above level 25.

Answer: Wailing Caverns

Wailing Caverns is a lower-level instance designed for earlier players to the game. Surprisingly though, many of the enemies and drops are quite good for regular players with some being quite rare to find. The Wailing Caverns instance is found in the mountains due west of the Crossroads and it contains a fair number of Deviate creatures and bosses as well as oozes.

Many of the Deviate creatures will be parts of you your quest objectives in this area and will be the priority during your run-through. The final quest of the area is in regards to Naralex, a Tauren who is caught in a nightmare in the caverns. To wake him, you need to defeat the Murloc boss Mutanus the Devourer. Make sure to pick up a quest item when he's dead though; 'The Glowing Shard' will continue to Ratchet.

Answer: Razorfen Kraul

Literally sitting on the border between Thousand Needles to the south, Razorfen Kraul is a level 24-27 instance and it contains numerous Razorfen enemies of a similar nature. Razorfen Downs, on the other hand, is a very similar instance set on the burial grounds of the Razorfen. Like Razorfen Kraul, Razorfen Downs is home to numerous native fighters, living and dead, but it contains a much higher level range, from 35 to 42. Both instances would not be recommended for players of the typical Barrens level range due to their difficulty.

Instead, such players (feeling confident enough) should probably try their hand at Wailing Caverns.