My Top 5 Zones in World of Warcraft Classic

Hey dudes. Welcome back to my blog.

After finishing and seeing the great reception of my Top 5 Classic WoW Dungeons post and subsequent YouTube video, I thought it would be fun to do another top 5 post regarding Classic World of Warcraft. After contemplating some different ideas and reflecting on my own experiences from back in '05-06, I decided on a topic that I think everyone will find interesting - and debatable.

So strap yourselves in, because today we're going to be traveling across the World...of Warcraft - to visit my favorite zones. Keep in mind that as I almost exclusively played Alliance from Vanilla through Wrath, my picks are very much skewed in that direction. However, I will be maining Horde come WoW Classic, so when the time comes I may create an updated list to reflect any changes in opinion.

With that out of the way, here are my picks for the top 5 World of Warcraft Classic zones:

#5 - Elwynn Forest

Elegant Elwynn

Probably not too surprising for anyone that started the game with a human character, Elwynn Forest holds a ton of nostalgia for me from way back in the day. Most of my earliest memories, and lots of my later ones too, are from this zone. And of course, that soundtrack really added to the foresty aesthetic of the zone.

Elwynn Forest (Map)

As mentioned in the first two installments of my Memories of Vanilla series, it took me a while to finish this zone back in the day, since I could only play at a friend's house when I went there over the summer of 2005. Because of this, I spent a lot of time getting to know every bit of this zone inside and out - exploring the caves, finding treasure chests, and getting destroyed by boars and murlocs. But I think that it's partially because of these immersive experiences in Elwynn that I really got hooked on the game in the first place.

Sure, Elwynn is cliche and gets raved about a lot by everyone and their mother, but I think it's for good reason. It's a wonderful zone, and a great introduction for new players to start their WoW adventure.

#4 - Duskwood

Dark Duskwood

Where to begin? Duskwood is, by far, the creepiest zone an Alliance player will zone into before getting to the Plaguelands and Felwood. Sure, Tirisfal Glades and Silverpine have their own share of creepiness, but those are zones meant for the Forsaken. For a human to encounter the undead under the shadow of a cursed land, it was much more unsettling to find this land just south of the bright and cheery Elwynn Forest.

Duskwood (Map)

The first time I discovered this place, I was met with level ?? spiders that attempted to eat my face as I fled back across the river. When I finally returned at the proper level, however, I was greeted with a plethora of fun and interesting quests, as well as a giant abomination that DID eat my face as I unsuccessfully tried to run away.

I have so many memories of this cursed land and its engaging quests to uncover the secrets of Raven Hill cemetery, the Dark Riders and the worgen curse, and just what Abercrombie was up to out at that shack. Plus, the dim lighting and creepy music added another element of immersion as I quested through the zone - making me feel uneasy every step of the way. For these reasons, I believe Duskwood has a solid place at number 4.

#3 - Winterspring

Wonderful Winterspring

Winterspring is an absolute delight of a zone, in my opinion. Personally, I LOVE cold weather and everything about the winter season, so a zone in World of Warcraft that is always wintery was already going to be ranked highly on my list. Add into the mix the good amount of questing provided by Everlook, the potential to grind out Timbermaw reputation in the furbolg camps of the zone, and the simple fact that you could potentially ding level 60 here, depending on how you chose to finish the 58-60 grind, and you've got a solid Classic World of Warcraft zone.

Winterspring (Map)

Furthermore, Winterspring utilizes one of the best soundtracks in-game in my opinion. Listening to it while running along the road from Everlook to wherever you're questing really adds to the snowy atmosphere. It's so memorable, in fact, that when I first heard a clip of it used by Bellular in his end-screens on YouTube, I knew immediately what it was from. A wonderful song for a wonderful zone.

Winterspring is one of those zones that you travel back and forth to a lot, due to quests in Tanaris, Un'Goro Crater, and even for the Onyxia attunement (on Alliance side, at least). Sure, some might not like these quests where you have to fly back and forth from place to place for 20+ minutes just to talk to some dude, but to me, this was part of the vanilla experience. And with Winterspring, you definitely experienced this. For all these reasons, it is definitely my number 3.

#2 - Tanaris

Terrific Tanaris

There are many zones that are completely unavoidable when leveling in Classic WoW due to the lack of quests and quest hubs - Stranglethorn, Eastern Plaguelands, and Arathi Highlands to name a few. However, Tanaris holds a special place in my heart. Running into Gadgetzan, trying to avoid the PVP battles occurring just out of sight of the guards is an experience that everyone had, regardless of their server, back in the day.

Tanaris (Map)

Plus, once you got into Gadgetzan, you were met with more quests than you'd probably ever imagined up until that point. Within 2 minutes of entering the zone, you would have more to do than you'd probably had for 10 levels at that point, assuming you arrived at the appropriate level. And once you collected all of those quests, it was time to venture out into the desert.

Tanaris was massive in scope - if simple in design. But the enemies and quests there were interesting, varied, and memorable. From the Wastewander bandits just southeast of town to the trolls out to the west, to the Qiraji in the south, to the robot chicken escort quest in the mountains, there was always something new here. But even with the variety of mobs and quests, nothing really felt out of place. It was a really smooth experience from what I can recall. Plus, you also had one of the best dungeons in the game, Zul'Farrak, just a short run away from town. What's not to love?

But the one thing that I think really sold me on the zone more than everything else, is the soundtrack and the ambiance. Seriously, just listen to this. It SOUNDS like a desert - complete with sandy winds and stereotypical ancient Egyptian vibes. So as long as you quested in this zone, you felt like you were lost in the desert. And it was amazing. For all these reasons, I can honestly put Tanaris up at number 2.

There's one zone, however, that I believe is far greater than the rest - one that had basically no competition in my mind. But before that, here are a few more zones I feel I should at least mention...

Honorable Mentions

Dun Morogh

Dun Morogh

A wonderful zone with great atmosphere and ambiance. The music is pleasant and relaxing (and is shared with Winterspring, if I'm not mistaken) and it really felt like I was in a snowy mountain zone whenever I was here.

Though I didn't play as a dwarf or gnome, really at all, during vanilla, I always enjoyed going into this zone for those reasons.

Teldrassil

Teldrassil

Back in the day, I absolutely adored Teldrassil and Darnassus - so much so that I worked hard to get my priest, Silvite, exalted there towards the end of vanilla. The brightly colored magical forest was engaging and made me feel like I was in the home of the elves.

Over the years, and repetition of the zone, it's sort of fallen a bit from my place as a favorite, but I still appreciate it for what it is. And I'm looking forward to creating a night elf druid alt in classic to experience this zone in all it's 2006 glory come 2019.

Ashenvale

Ashenvale

Also an amazing zone (there are a lot of these, huh?) with a really fantastic, foresty aesthetic. This was one of the first zones where night elves would encounter the Horde, so it definitely holds a special place in a lot of hearts. For me, I actually first experienced Ashenvale properly when leveling my tauren druid there around the very end of classic or beginning of TBC - I can't remember exactly when at this point. But I loved the feel of the zone and the quests that I did there.

A great zone and definitely one that I recommend everyone go to come next summer.


Eastern Plaguelands

Eastern Plaguelands

EPL - the scourge-infested wasteland of the Eastern Kingdoms. This zone was actually in my top 5 when I started this list, but was just barely beat out by Elwynn Forest. I adore Eastern Plaguelands for its creepiness, it's unsettling quests (looking at you, Pamela Redpath), and the simple fact that this was where I originally dinged 60 at 7AM in early June 2006. It's home to one of the best dungeons in game, Stratholme, as well as the infamous Naxxramas raid.

With tons of quests and endgame content, grinding spots, and more, Eastern Plaguelands is definitely a zone that everyone that's headed for endgame content will experience. And I, for one, can't wait.


Un'Goro Crater

Un'Goro Crater

Un'Goro is one of the most unique classic WoW zones. It's got dinosaurs, a volcano, and...Nintendo?

Yes, this zone is essentially a giant, prehistoric crater filled with references to a bunch of other video games. From the Mario spoofs, Larion and Muigin, to Linken's quest that takes you all over the world, there's never a dull moment in this zone. And while it's not my personal favorite by any means (mostly due to the Devilsaur roaming around eating my face), it's still a zone that EVERYONE should go to when they finally reach around level 50 on Classic.


The Barrens

The Barrens

The legendary zone of Crossroads raids, general chat, and Mankrik's wife, The Barrens had to be on this list. Personally, it's a zone that I didn't get to experience much of back in the day as a human priest, but it is a zone that is widely known, and loved, by the players. And as I've decided to main a troll priest in WoW Classic, I'm super-excited to head down the long road, killing hoofless zhevras and headless raptors, finding a beaten corpse, then hearthing back to xroads to wait for the NPC to respawn so I can turn in my quest.

Keep in mind that I absolutely adored ALL of the zones in Classic WoW for one reason or another, and that even if they didn't make this list, it doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy them.

Now, with all of those out of the way, let's move on to my number 1. In my opinion, the absolute best Classic World of Warcraft zone...

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#1 - Stranglethorn Vale

Stranglethorn Vale

Ok. I honestly don't expect anyone to be surprised by this one - especially not if you've been following my posts recently. But Stranglethorn Vale is definitely the most iconic zone of original World of Warcraft. Similar to how Scholomance was an easy number 1 for my top dungeon pick STV was the first place that came to mind when I thought of making a top 5 zones list.

STV Map

First and foremost, this zone is MASSIVE - with it taking a good 15+ minutes to run straight down from the northernmost point down to Booty Bay along the road back in the day without a mount, there was enough space to put in a ton of mobs, quests, and secrets. And with the huge scale of the zone, you can be sure that they put in big chunk of content.

Booty Bay

There are TONS of quests here, ranging from level 30 to 45 with a couple of quests even higher than that, if I remember correctly. In addition, the quests, especially the Nesingwary hunting quests, had a great sense of progression as you leveled up - starting maybe with some level 30 mobs, then to some level 32s, then 35ish and so on. So as you finished one round of quests, you would feel as though you were advancing going forward.

Nesingwary's Camp (Lord of the Quests)

Furthermore, STV had some of the most engaging grinding spots in game as I recall. In particular, I remember hitting that early 40s level range where you're not quite high enough to go to Tanaris, but mostly done with the quests of STV and grinding the pirates just outside of Booty Bay to get that sweet EXP. The mobs were easy enough to pick off, and you had a safety net of Booty Bay bruisers close by if you were PVP flagged so you could at least get your ganker killed too (if you were lucky enough to get over there in time).

There's tons of other things I loved, and still love, about STV - the Gurubashi Arena event, the memory of hitting level 40 and getting Shadowform there, and the absolutely perfect jungle soundtrack of the zone - but if I listed every single aspect of this amazing place, I'd be here for hours. So for now, I'll just finish by saying this:




Stranglethorn Vale is, in my opinion, THE BEST Classic World of Warcraft zone.

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So there you have it. Those are my favorite zones in WoW Classic. Looking back over the list, I notice that I'm really invested in the zones with Steamwheedle Cartel towns. I think maybe that stems from the interaction with both Alliance and Horde players that occurs there, but maybe it's more the fact that these towns are placed in the most engaging zones. Either way, it's interesting to see that for sure and I wonder how this measures up to other people's thoughts. Going forward, I'm really excited to main a Horde character this time around, to see how my thoughts change and evolve.

Anyway that's it for now. I hope you found my list interesting. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. Follow my blog for more content like this in the future and hit me up on Facebook or Twitter for updates. You can also check out my YouTube channel for videos with similar content. Until next time guys...

Take it easy.