WoW Blog/Nagrand

This article is a copy of "Warlords of Draenor Zone Preview: Nagrand", an official blog by Blizzard Entertainment. It's about the zone implemented in the game.

Our latest zone preview takes us into the expansive hills and rocky outcroppings of Nagrand, a verdant land located west of Talador and south of Frostfire Ridge. Here, great beasts cause the ground to quake beneath their feet, and the wolf riders of the —the legendary orc clan led by himself—are always on the prowl. But they're not the only ones who make this verdant land their home. We sat down with Senior Game Designer Eric Maloof and Associate Game Designer Kurt Sparkuhl to learn more.

Zone Music Piece: Mountains of Nagrand – Night by Clint Bajakian

Eric Maloof: I think players will find that the Nagrand of isn't really all that different in spirit from the Nagrand of Outland. There are some obvious physical differences—for example, the floating islands aren't there anymore—but you'll easily be able to see where those floating islands came from. We very much wanted to respect what people really enjoyed about their experience in Nagrand in The Burning Crusade and capture that, while still providing a twist to what you'll experience there.

Kurt Sparkuhl: It feels like old Nagrand. Out of all the zones, it's the one that's supposed to feel the most familiar. When Draenor became Outland, Nagrand was probably the area affected least by the world breaking apart. Now you'll see all these big canyons and rocky outcroppings all over the zone, implying that after the big explosion happened and Draenor turned into Outland, those floating islands were kind of what was left of those big ridges. There was a conscious effort to make it feel familiar to some extent, while still creating something new.

Eric Maloof: You'll encounter a lot of new points of interest in this version of Nagrand. There are some things that are no longer there, too—Halaa and Garadar, for example, don't exist. These were created after Outland became what it did. Highmaul takes up a large portion of the zone, and it houses a Raid instance as well. It's massive.

Eric Maloof: This one's tough. There are so many good places to choose from. I'm definitely partial to Lok-Rath [sic]. It's located outside the main Warsong base and is the Warsong clan's main presence in the zone. I like the story of what's happening there and the dynamic change in the questing once you get there. Plus, it's a beautiful Warsong location.

I also really like the Spirit Woods. In Outland, you had the Spirit Fields. In Warlords of Draenor, the Spirit Woods are what surround. You get to learn more about the forces that dwell there and what they're doing—we explain that a bit as you're taking care of business.

Kurt Sparkuhl: I think the two I like the most are Hallvalor and the. Hallvalor—which became the ogre-inhabited Burning Blade Ruins in Outland—is super cool; we get to see more of the backstory of the, which we haven't gotten to show before. We get to see how their clan operates and some of their traditions. There are some familiar faces—at least one in particular— that you're going to get a lot of backstory on.

The great thing about the Ring of Trials is that players get to see it a bit earlier on in its existence and learn more about why it's there and what its purpose is. It's been built up as a sort of neutral hub, and players will be able to interact with all sorts of NPCs from all over Azeroth and Draenor—it's pretty cool, but I don't want to spoil too much.

Eric Maloof: The Alliance and the Horde get the choice of two different buildings. You'll get access to this decision early on, though your blueprints are waylaid by the Warsong at the start, so you're going to need to recover those first. You'll be able to build either a Corral or a Tankworks for your Garrison.

For the Corral, you'll get either a Talbuk on the Alliance or Frostwolf on the Horde, which you can ride all the time while you're in Nagrand—this is where mounted combat comes into play. If you build the Tankworks, the Alliance gets a Siege Engine and the Horde gets a Demolisher.

There's plenty to see and explore in Nagrand—though we wouldn't recommend idling too long on the road when the Warsong Outriders are making their rounds.

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