[Leveling] Tauren Starter Guide (1-12)

Introduction

This guide was originally written by LnoiX, but seems to have been abandoned, so I have updated it with new content and fixed some minor errors.

I have tried to be as thorough as possible, so that guide includes class-specific quests, profession-specific quests, and is explanatory enough that someone new to the game should be able to make use of it. For those who don’t need the long explanations of things, key points in the guide have been color coded so that you can easily pick out what you need to do without having to read everything word-for-word.

Hopefully, what you will gain from using this guide, is an efficient way to level a new tauren character through their starting area. By the end, you should be level 12 (possibly higher level, depending on class and profession specific quests).

Color Coding

Quest names, item names, location names, and such will be color coded throughout this guide so that they are easier to pick out of the general text. Being that I am rather fond of Jame’s Leveling Guides, I have mimicked the color coding used in those guides somewhat. Here is the color code used for this guide:

• Quest Names
• Quest Givers / NPCs
• Quest Kill Objectives
• Item Names
• Location Names
• (Location Coordinates)

Part I: Red Cloud Mesa

If you were lucky enough to buy a collector’s edition of the game, go ahead and right click on your Camp Narache Gift Voucher and pick up the quest Welcome!. Turn in your voucher at Vorn Skyseer to get your vanity pet. You get no experience points from doing this quest, but you may as well turn it in now since the quest NPC is standing directly to the left of where you enter the game.

Now, pick up the following two quests:

• The Hunt Begins from Grull Hawkwind
• A Humble Task from Chief Hawkwind

Start heading southeast, towards coordinates (50, 81). Kill every Plainstrider you see, on the way. Loot Plainstrider Meat and Plainstrider Feathers from them, but don’t worry about trying to complete the quest yet.

Once you reach those coordinates, you’ll find an NPC named Greatmother Hawkwind. She’s a female tauren standing near the well. Talk to her and turn in A Humble Task. Pick up the follow-up, also called A Humble Task.

Right-click on one of the Water Pitchers that are sitting on the edge of the well.

Now start heading back to Camp Narache (44, 76), killing every Plainstrider you see, on the way, until you have 7 Plainstrider Meat and 7 Plainstrider Feathers. If you don’t have those by the time you reach Camp Narache, then kill Plainstriders nearby until you have finished the quest, The Hunt Begins.

Once you get back to Camp Narache, turn in both quests and get their follow-ups, Rites of the Earthmother and The Hunt Continues. Also, pick up the class-specific quest from Grull Hawkwind to talk to your trainer:

• Druids: Verdant Note leads you to Gart Mistrunner
• Hunters: Etched Note leads you to Lanka Farshot
• Shamans: Rune-Inscribed Note leads you to Meela Dawnstrider
• Warriors: Simple Note leads you to Harutt Thunderhorn

Speak with your trainer, turn in your quest, and train your level 2 skills.

After you have trained and sold vendor-trash from your bags (anything with a gray title) at one of the NPC merchants, start traveling south until you reach (42, 92). On your way there, kill any Mountain Cougar you see and collect their Mountain Cougar Pelts. Make your way up into the mountains, to the hut on the hill. Once there, turn in the quest Rites of the Earthmother at Seer Graytongue. Pick up the follow-up quest, Rite of Strength.

If you haven’t finished The Hunt Continues, keep killing Mountain Cougars in the hills surrounding Seer Graytongue’s hut until you have 10 Mountain Cougar Pelts.

Return to Camp Narache.

Turn in The Hunt Continues at Grull Hawkwind and pick up the follow-up, The Battleboars. Also, pick up the quest Break Sharptusk! from Brave Windfeather (she wanders around the camp, so look for her exclamation mark on your mini-map if you can’t find her).

Now, if you are not yet level 4, then kill everything near Camp Narache until you are (this is called grinding). Don’t wander too far away from the camp, just grind on Plainstriders if you are able.

Upon reaching level 4, head back to Camp Narache. Train your level 4 skills.

Shaman, pick up the quest Call of Earth from Seer Ravenfeather.

Vendor any gray-titled items that are in your bags. You’ll be doing a lot of killing on this run, as well as picking up quite a few quest items, before returning, so you will need as much room as you can make in your bags.

Head southeast to (58, 85). You should see a cave. Kill the Battleboars that you pass on your way to that cave, but don’t worry about completing any quest objectives. There will be plenty more Battleboars inside.

Go into the cave and through the tunnel. Upon exiting the other side of the tunnel, take a left (up the northern path). From here on out, kill every Quillboar and Battleboar you pass.

Some of the Quillboars may be spell casters (Bristleback Shaman). Remember that you can use your War Stomp ability to interrupt their spells.

Keep going north until you reach an intersection. Turn right, down the eastern path. At the next intersection, take a left up the northern path. Then turn right, at the next intersection, and you should have reached a large open area with a large tent in it, and you should be at or near coordinates (62, 78).

Make your way up to the tent, killing everything in your way. Chief Sharptusk Thornmantle should be at the back of the tent. Either fight him in the tent or pull him out into the open area, but either way, kill him and loot Chief Sharptusk Thornmantle’s Head.

Now, exit the tent and head south. You should see a small path heading towards a cave. Make your way to the cave (63, 81). Clear the inside of the cave and find a piece of paper laying on the ground. Right-click it to loot the Dirt-stained Map.

Find the map in your inventory, right-click on it, and accept the quest, Attack on Camp Narache.

Now, make sure you have these items in your inventory, in the following quantities:

• 12 Bristleback Belts
• 8 Battleboar Snouts
• 8 Battleboar Flanks
• 2 Ritual Salves (Shaman Only)

If you do not have everything listed above, continue killing the Quillboars and Battleboars in the area until you do.

Now, find your Hearthstone in your bags. (Whenever you are asked to “hearth” it means to use this item. It will teleport you to whatever place you are “hearthbound” to, but has a 60 minute cooldown timer on it between uses.) It should return you to Camp Narache. Turn in all of your quests.

Everyone should pick up the follow-up quest from Chief Hawkwind, Rites of the Earthmother. Shaman should pick up the follow-up quest from Seer Ravenfeather, Call of Earth.

This paragraph is for Shaman-class characters only, any other class can skip ahead to the next paragraph. Head east, to Kodo Rock (53, 80). It is a large stone pillar with symbols cut into the sides of it. Stand next to the rock. Find the Earth Sapta in your inventory and right-click on it to drink it. Turn in your quest by talking to the Minor Manifestation of Earth. Get the follow-up. Go back to Camp Narache. Turn in the quest at Seer Ravenfeather.

Congratulations on finishing the newbie area! You should be approximately level 6 and have one quest in your quest log:

• Rites of the Earthmother

Part II: Mulgore

Take the road out of Camp Narache and follow it until you reach Bloodhoof Village. On the way, you will pass Antur Fallow (38, 81). She is marked by the yellow dot on the map, below. Pick up the quest A Task Unfinished from her.

Continue onward, and when you reach the village go to the inn (). Turn in the quest at Innkeeper Kauth and ask him to make this inn your home (that will bind your hearthstone to Bloodhoof Village).

From here on out, whenever you have to take a break from the game, make sure that your character is in an inn so that they can be gathering rested bonus. (You will see your experience point bar turn from purple to blue. The longer you stay in an inn, the more “rested bonus” you get. When you have rested bonus, you get double experience points from all kills.)

Now, head out of the inn and turn in Rites of the Earthmother at Baine Bloodhoof.

Pick up all of the quests in the village:

• Poison Water from Mull Thunderhorn
• Rite of Vision from Baine Bloodhoof
• Sharing the Land from Baine Bloodhoof
• Swoop Hunting from Harken Windtotem
• Kyle’s Gone Missing! from Ahab Wheathoof
• Dangers of the Windfury from Ruul Eagletalon
• Dwarven Digging from Baine Bloodhoof
• Mazzranache from Maur Raincaller

Don’t forget to vendor any useless items that you are still carrying around in your bags. You will be picking up a lot of quest items, so will probably struggle with bag space from this point forward. There is a general goods vendor in the large tent at (45, 57) that sells additional bags, but even the smallest bag (6 slots) will cost you almost 5 silver each. It is up to you to decide whether or not you can afford that, though consider that extra bag space means you can carry additional items back to town to vendor.

Also, visit your trainer if you didn’t train your level 6 skills before leaving the newbie area.

Now, find Zarlman Two-Moons standing next to a large bonfire in the middle of the village. Turn in Rite of Vision at him and pick up the follow-up.

Start heading southeast towards (53, 67). Kill everything on your way. Keep an eye out for Ambercorns (they’re usually laying underneath trees). Pick any up that you see.

As soon as you reach the well, you should see bricks laying in the grass all around it. Pick up 2 Well Stones.

Once you have both of your well stones, keep heading southeast. Remember to kill everything on the way. Once you reach (62, 70), start killing the harpies. Gather 8 Windfury Talons.

When you have all of your talons, head northwest towards (57, 61). Again, kill all of the wildlife you see along the way. When you reach the road, start looking for Morin Cloudstalker. He wanders this road, so look for the exclamation point on your mini-map. Accept his quest, The Ravaged Caravan.

Follow the wagon-wheel tracks that head north, off the road, until you reach (54, 48). Continue killing things as you go. Once you’ve reached the ruins of the caravan, start clearing your way up to it. Your objective is to interact with one of the crates in the middle. Turn in the quest and accept the follow-up.

Return to the road via the wagon-wheel tracks heading south. Find Morin Cloudstalker again and turn in The Ravaged Caravan. Pick up the two quests that he now offers:

• The Venture Co.
• Supervisor Fizsprocket

Follow the road west, back to Bloodhoof Village.

Keep your eye out for Kyle the Frenzied. He is a small wolf that runs all over the village. When you see him, click on him to select him, then right-click on the Tender Strider Meat that you should have picked up off of one of the plainstriders you killed earlier. You should get a quest completed message.

Now, turn in all of the quests that you have completed. It’s okay if you haven’t finished Swoop Hunting or Mazzranache yet, but if you have finished them go ahead and turn them in now. Definitely turn in the following, as they should be completed:

• Poison Water
• Kyle’s Gone Missing!
• Rite of Vision
• Dangers of the Windfury

Pick up the follow-ups:

• Winterhoof Cleansing from Mull Thunderhorn
• Rite of Vision from Zarlman Two-Moons

Head southeast out of town, until you reach the Winterhoof Water Well (53, 67). Of course, kill things along the way for experience and to complete quests. Clear your way towards the well, then find Winterhoof Cleansing Totem in your bags. Right-click it to cleanse the well.

Return to Bloodhoof Village. Turn in Winterhoof Cleansing at Mull Thunderhorn and pick up the follow-up quest.

You should now be level 8. If you are not, grind on plainstriders and wolves near the village until you are. Train your level 8 skills.

Go to the Tribal Fire (47, 57), where Zarlman Two-Moons is standing. Find Water of the Seers in your inventory. While standing near the fire, right-click the water to drink it. After the spell has finished, you should see a ghostly wolf called The Plains Vision appear. Follow it out of the village and across the bridge.

You do not have to keep up with the wolf to be able to complete the quest, so on your way to your destination you can stop to kill Flatland Cougars, Prairie Stalkers, and Swoops. If you lose track of the wolf, your final destination is a cave at (32, 36). Once you reach the cave, turn in Rite of Vision at Seer Wiserunner. Pick up the follow-up, Rite of Wisdom.

South of your current location is the Bael’dun Digsite (34, 47). Go there and start killing Bael’dun Diggers and Bael’dun Appraisers. Gather 5 Prospector’s Picks from them. (Note: you won’t get quest objective updates from picking up the picks, as there is an additional step to this quest that we will do later.)

After you get your picks, start heading northeast, towards (59, 25). This is a long walk, but there are three quests that you need to complete at this point, so we are going to take this opportunity to do so. Check your quest log to see that you have completed the objectives for Swoop Hunting, Thunderhorn Totem, and Mazzranache. If you haven’t, then be sure to kill the appropriate mobs on your way until you have completed those quests.

When you get to (59, 25), talk to Lorekeeper Raintotem and accept his quest, A Sacred Burial.

Head northeast, up the hill. You need to clear your way to the Ancestral Spirit (61, 21) and kill 8 Bristleback Interlopers along the way. As you can see, the mobs are tightly packed together and they run when they are low on health. There are two ways you can go about getting to the Ancestral Spirit. Either pull the interlopers with a range attack and pull them back away from the others, so that if they run they do not aggro any nearby mobs. LnoiX suggests that you get on the cliff just above the spirit. There are less mobs to clear up above, then you can jump down on top of the spirit.

However you choose to get to him, once you reach the Ancestral Spirit, turn in the quest Rite of Wisdom and pick up the follow-up, Journey into Thunder Bluff.

Make sure you’ve killed all 8 Bristleback Interlopers, then return to Lorekeeper Raintotem (59, 25). Turn in A Sacred Burial.

Now, make your way west, to Thunder Bluff. Find the elevator at (55, 25) and take it.

Once in Thunder Bluff, go to the forge (39, 55). Find the 5 Prospector’s Picks in your inventory and right-click them to break them.

Enter the central stairwell (it looks like a big totem pole with a door in it) and take the second door up the ramp. Go to (59, 51) and turn in Journey into Thunder Bluff at Cairne Bloodhoof. Pick up the follow-up, Rites of the Earthmother.

Repair, vendor any trash in your bags, and make use of the Auction House while you are still in Thunder Bluff. You can throw anything you want to keep, but don’t need to carry around with you, in your bank vault.

When you are done, hearth back to Bloodhoof Village.

Turn in all of the quests you have completed. Accept the follow-up quest, Thunderhorn Cleansing.

Now head west, to the cave at (35, 61). Start killing all of the gnolls in the cave until you have completed the kill objectives for Sharing the Land.

Run back to Bloodhoof Village and turn in Sharing the Land at Baine Bloodhoof.

By now, you should be level 10 (if not, then you need to grind on nearby mobs until you are level 10). So train your level 10 skills and spend your first talent point (you can view your character’s talents by pressing the ‘N’ key or by clicking on the new button that has appeared between your spellbook and quest log buttons). Your trainer should also have a class-specific quest for you. You should pick it up and decide for yourself whether you are going to do it now or after finishing this guide. (I will probably come back and write instructions, later, for each class-specific quest in a future update to this guide. It is strongly suggested that you do your class-specific quest now, as the ability you get from it will help you in leveling.)

Pick up The Hunter’s Way from Skorn Whitecloud before you leave the village.

Next, make your way north out of the village, until you reach Thunderhorn Water Well (44, 45). Clear your way towards the well, then find Thunderhorn Cleansing Totem in your bags. Right-click it to cleanse the well.

Head northeast, to about (50, 30). You should find plenty of Flatland Prowlers here. Kill them until you have 4 Flatland Prowler Claws. While you’re killing prowlers, keep an eye out for Arra’chea.

If you find him, kill him and loot the Horn of Arra’chea.

After you have gathered your 4 Flatland Prowler Claws, head towards the Venture Co. Mine (61, 47).

Make your way up the hill. You need to get inside the cave, as one of our kill targets are inside the mine. You will find more than enough Venture Co. Supervisors and Venture Co. Workers inside.

Once inside the mine, follow the right-hand wall. Fight your way down the tunnel, but do not take any of the tunnels that veer off to the left. You should find Supervisor Fizsprocket at about (64, 43). Kill him, loot his clipboard, and fight your way out of the cave. Make sure to finish the kill list for The Venture Co. quest.

Travel south from the mine, until you find the road. Start walking west, down the road, until you find Morin Cloudstalker. Turn in both quests.

Continue walking west until you’re back at Bloodhoof Village.

Turn in Thunderhorn Cleansing at Mull Thunderhorn and pick up the follow-up, Wildmane Totem.

Head up the north path, out of the village, towards Thunder Bluff. This time you’ll be taking the elevator at (32, 66).

Take the elevator up. As you enter the city, you should see Eyahn Eagletalon. Talk to him and accept his quest, Preperations for Ceremony.

Enter the building at (44, 61). Go up the stairs, take the back door out of the building, and cross the bridge to Hunter Rise. There, you should find Melor Stonehoof. Turn in The Hunters Way at him and pick up Sergra Darkthorn from him.

Take the other bridge to get off of Hunter Rise. You should be near Cairne Bloodhoof’s hut.

If you managed to get Horn of Arra’chea, turn in Rites of the Earthmother. Otherwise, you can drop the quest from your quest log.

Go to the north elevator (54, 26) and go down.

From the bottom of the elevator, head north towards (40, 9). Kill every Prairie Wolf Alpha on your way. Once you reach your destination, start killing harpies. If at any time you get tired of killing harpies, you can go back to killing wolves, and vice versa. When all is said and done, you need to have collected the following items:

• 8 Azure Feathers
• 8 Bronze Feathers
• 8 Prairie Alpha Tooths

As soon as you’re done, go south back to Thunder Bluff.

Turn in Preparations for Ceremony at Eyahn Eagletalon.

If your hearthstone is up, hearth to Bloodhoof Village. Otherwise, walk back.

Turn in Wildmane Totem at Mull Thunderhorn. Accept his follow-up quest, Wildmane Cleansing.

Begin walking towards Wildmane Water Well (43,14). Clear your way up to the well. Once you’re standing next to it, find Wildmane Totem in your inventory and right-click on it to cleanse the well.

If you’re more than 1050 experience points away from level 12, just grind it out on nearby mobs.

Then return to Bloodhoof Village. Turn in Wildmane Cleansing at Mull Thunderhorn.

Congratulations! You should now be level 12!

This is an excellent time to knock out your level 10 class-specific quests, if you didn’t already do them. Then you can continue your leveling with Hosho’s Guide to the Barrens, which will take you from level 12 to level 20.

Good luck!