# World of Warcraft questions

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [December 18, 2008, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802 "2008-12-18T20:40:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 59

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**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1161 "2009-02-17T21:46:46Z")

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> [@Quasimodem](#):
>
> Okay! Heading back into the Sh\*t!!! (An old Viet Nam saying!:))
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Q

Hah! Wait’ll you get to Outland…Nagrand, especially. You don’t know from getting into the (literal) sh\*t yet, believe me…

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**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1162 "2009-02-17T21:48:13Z")

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I also didn’t know I could kill lower level critters to level up!

I thought I needed to kill at at least my level!

Cool!

Thanks!

Q

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**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1163 "2009-02-17T21:56:07Z")

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> [@Quasimodem](#):
>
> I also didn’t know I could kill lower level critters to level up!
> 
> I thought I needed to kill at at least my level!
> 
> Cool!
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Q

You’ll get XP in decreasing degrees from mobs that are up to 7(?) levels lower than you. As long as their (level) in their tooltip isn’t grey, they should give you SOME XP. And even if they are grey, they should still drop the paws you need to hand in for the quest.

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**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1164 "2009-02-17T22:00:32Z")

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Was I supposed to get all the way into to Duskwood?

Because I followed the road and didn’t take any forks, but did not see a tower…

Sorry, guys…

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**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1165 "2009-02-17T22:27:51Z")

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Which quest are you doing, Quasi?

There is a quest in Elwynn forest where you collect gnoll arm bands (and kill Hogger). You get this quest from a guard standing at a tower to the north of the road, just inside Elwynn. You are looking for the gnolls _south_ of the road, still in Elwynn.

There is a quest you get at Sentinel Hill, in Westfall, to collect gnoll paws. _Those_ gnolls are in Westfall, north of the road (after passing through a small farm), and just inside westfall from an Elywnn Forest point of view.

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**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1166 "2009-02-17T22:32:55Z")

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Here, look at [this map](http://wow.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album60/Westfall.jpg).

When you first cross the bridge from Elwynn you’re entering along the upper right. You’ll pass the Jansen Stead … that’s the farm with the man and woman out front with the broken wagon.

See the fork in the road? The south branch leads down to Sentinal Hill where the flight path is. The west fork heads to Furlbrow’s Pumpkin Patch.

What you want to do is head NORTH just past the fork. Pass in between the Jansen and Furlbrow farms. As you approach the coast you’ll see a slope down to the beach. It’s where the word “The” is in “The Jansen Stead” on the map.

If you go down to the beach you’ll find murlocs. But if instead you stay to the west of the slope you’ll find gnolls. **The gnolls are camped on top of the cliffs all along the shoreline.** You can work your way all the way around to the Gold Coast Quarry and beyond, killing gnolls as you go.

Westfall can be a bit rough if you’re only Level 13. When I have a new character who’s human/dwarf/gnome I actually finish both Elwynn Forest AND Dun Morogh (the dwarf starting area) before moving on. If you go to Stormwind you can take the tram to Ironforge without having to cross through any high level zones. Head south out of the gates of Ironforge and you’ll come to Kharanos which is the Dwarf equivalent of Goldshire. There will be lots of quests there appropriate for your level.

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**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1167 "2009-02-17T23:07:20Z")

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> [@mlees](#):
>
> Which quest are you doing, Quasi?
> 
> There is a quest in Elwynn forest where you collect gnoll arm bands (and kill Hogger). You get this quest from a guard standing at a tower to the north of the road, just inside Elwynn. You are looking for the gnolls _south_ of the road, still in Elwynn.

I assumed this is the quest **Quasi** was talking about. The easiest explanation is: Don’t cross the bridge - cross the road. The instructions even say something like “… south of the tower over yonder”. The tower is straight across the road from the keep where you get the quest..

And speaking of Hogger … my rogue just did that gnoll quest and I didn’t even bother accepting the Hogger quest at that point because I knew from past experience that I’d need another level or two before taking him on. (Heh - I discovered the “Statistics” screen has an entry for “Deaths from Hogger”. I assume that’s there because he’s the first Elite most people encounter, and they’re not expecting such a tough fight.) So anyway, my rogue is out there killing gnolls, pulling them by throwing axes at them. So I threw an axe at a gnoll and didn’t realize until he closed to melee that it was Hogger! And then … I easily beat him on the first try. She (my rogue) was lvl 12, and neither my pally nor my warrior were able to beat Hogger until they were lvl 14 or so. I don’t know if it was the special rogue moves that did it, or if it was simply a matter of experience.

Macro-writing question: I created a macro to apply all of my paladin’s buffs with one click:

/cast Righteous Fury  
/cast Seal of Command  
/cast Blessing of Might

But apparently I need some sort of pause between them to account for the cooldowns. What’s the best way to do that? As it stands right now, I click the button, it casts Righteous Fury, and then my paladin says, “I can’t cast that yet!”

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**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1168 "2009-02-17T23:27:45Z")

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> [@Mister\_Rik](#):
>
> Macro-writing question: I created a macro to apply all of my paladin’s buffs with one click:
> 
> /cast Righteous Fury  
> /cast Seal of Command  
> /cast Blessing of Might
> 
> But apparently I need some sort of pause between them to account for the cooldowns. What’s the best way to do that? As it stands right now, I click the button, it casts Righteous Fury, and then my paladin says, “I can’t cast that yet!”

Can’t be done. Blizzard has made it so the game doesn’t detect the cooldown at all. You can only combine spells or abilities that are a) instant cast and b) don’t trigger the global cooldown or a specific spell school cooldown. They did this to combat 'bots.

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**Author:** ![counsel\_wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/65b543/32.png) [@counsel\_wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/counsel_wolf)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1169 "2009-02-17T23:30:29Z")

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> [@Mister\_Rik](#):
>
> Macro-writing question: I created a macro to apply all of my paladin’s buffs with one click:
> 
> /cast Righteous Fury  
> /cast Seal of Command  
> /cast Blessing of Might
> 
> But apparently I need some sort of pause between them to account for the cooldowns. What’s the best way to do that? As it stands right now, I click the button, it casts Righteous Fury, and then my paladin says, “I can’t cast that yet!”

The general rule for macro writing is that you can’t cast two ‘spells’ that use a global cooldown in the same macro. This is to prevent people macroing up uber combos for pvp. You can however achieve what you want to do here by making a cast sequence:

/castsequence reset=10 Righteous Fury, Seal of Command, Blessing of Might

This will cast the 3 spells in sequence in 3 seperate button clicks. If you do not finish the sequence it will reset at the start in 10 seconds.

If you are of a technical mien (used to scripting languages or coumputer code in other areas):

[http://www.wowwiki.com/HOWTO:\_Make\_a\_Macro](http://www.wowwiki.com/HOWTO:_Make_a_Macro)

is a good read.

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**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1170 "2009-02-17T23:39:07Z")

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> [@Mister\_Rik](#):
>
> I assumed this is the quest **Quasi** was talking about. The easiest explanation is: Don’t cross the bridge - cross the road. The instructions even say something like “… south of the tower over yonder”. The tower is straight across the road from the keep where you get the quest..

I’m pretty sure he’s talking about the Westfall quest to collect gnoll paws. Note the references to the watch and the soup recipe, which are both Westfall quests.

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**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1171 "2009-02-18T06:30:57Z")

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What the hell? I swear I posted a reply to those last two posts hours ago. Oh well, try again.

> [@counsel\_wolf](#):
>
> The general rule for macro writing is that you can’t cast two ‘spells’ that use a global cooldown in the same macro. This is to prevent people macroing up uber combos for pvp. You can however achieve what you want to do here by making a cast sequence:
> 
> /castsequence reset=10 Righteous Fury, Seal of Command, Blessing of Might
> 
> This will cast the 3 spells in sequence in 3 seperate button clicks. If you do not finish the sequence it will reset at the start in 10 seconds.

Bummer. I’d hoped to get it down to one click. Oh well.

> [@Pochacco](#):
>
> I’m pretty sure he’s talking about the Westfall quest to collect gnoll paws. Note the references to the watch and the soup recipe, which are both Westfall quests.

My bad. The bit about the bridge threw me.

I just got done finding a quest worse than looking for Goretusk Livers in Westfall: Looking for a Black Drake Heart in Badlands. I need to find a grand total of _1_ heart. So far I’ve killed 50+ black drake whelps. Nothing. Heartless bastards! The reward doesn’t even look worth the effort: a weapon enchantment that has a _chance_ of doing 9-13 fire damage to nearby enemies on a hit. That doesn’t seem like a whole lot once you’re fighting monsters over lvl 40.

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**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1172 "2009-02-18T08:34:01Z")

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Dear Guys

Sorry! Doc’s got me on some new meds, and they apparently pack a pretty powerful punch, because i just now woke up sitting in my chair and AFKB (or whatever that is), so I will get on again later today and try to find them gnolls.🙂

Sorry, didn’t mean to ignore all the great suggestions!☹

bill

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**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1173 "2009-02-18T13:05:31Z")

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> [@Quasimodem](#):
>
> Dear Guys
> 
> Sorry! Doc’s got me on some new meds, and they apparently pack a pretty powerful punch, because i just now woke up sitting in my chair and AFKB (or whatever that is), so I will get on again later today and try to find them gnolls.🙂
> 
> Sorry, didn’t mean to ignore all the great suggestions!☹
> 
> bill

Hey Quasi, hope you’re feelin’ better bud.

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**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1174 "2009-02-18T14:24:44Z")

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> [@Mister\_Rik](#):
>
> I just got done finding a quest worse than looking for Goretusk Livers in Westfall: Looking for a Black Drake Heart in Badlands. I need to find a grand total of _1_ heart. So far I’ve killed 50+ black drake whelps. Nothing. Heartless bastards! The reward doesn’t even look worth the effort: a weapon enchantment that has a _chance_ of doing 9-13 fire damage to nearby enemies on a hit. That doesn’t seem like a whole lot once you’re fighting monsters over lvl 40.

Well, first, be sure you’re killing Scalding Whelps (and Scorched Guardians, but they’re elites). Second, yeah, according to Wowhead that is possibly the worst drop rate for a quest item in the game, with about a 1% chance to drop. People have reported gaining a level and a half just off the whelps while trying to complete the quest.

As for the enchantment itself, a 15% chance to do 9-13 Fire damage works out to an average of 1.65 extra damage per swing. It’s not a lot, you’re right, but it hits all nearby enemies. An AOE tank with a fast sword, like a Protection Paladin, can apparently rack up some really good damage with the enchantment. There’s probably better ones available at that level, but not without a price.

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**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1175 "2009-02-18T16:02:45Z")

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> [@Bosstone](#):
>
> Well, first, be sure you’re killing Scalding Whelps (and Scorched Guardians, but they’re elites). Second, yeah, according to Wowhead that is possibly the worst drop rate for a quest item in the game, with about a 1% chance to drop. People have reported gaining a level and a half just off the whelps while trying to complete the quest.

There is one small possible silver lining to this: the whelps you have to kill for this quest have a small (okay, tiny, but still) chance of dropping the “Dark Whelpling” vanity pet, which is either really cool to have if you like dragons, or very lucrative to sell (on some servers you can get nearly 1000g for it if you find the right buyer) if you don’t care about having it for yourself.

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**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1176 "2009-02-18T16:42:34Z")

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> [@Mister\_Rik](#):
>
> Heartless bastards!

_snicker_ Yes, somebody noticed that line.

I hate quests like that. I started one the other day in Northrend. Can’t remember what it was at the moment. I followed the quest’s instructions. Killed a half-dozen of these mobs and got nothing. Wrong mobs? Wandered to a different area where I’d seen them and killed a bunch more. Still nothing. Re-read the quest text. Checked Thottbot. Nope, I’ve got the right mobs. What’s going on?

The next three I killed all dropped the item I was looking for (I needed six). From then on, I got about one in every three kills.

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**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1177 "2009-02-18T20:33:28Z")

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> [@Bosstone](#):
>
> Well, first, be sure you’re killing Scalding Whelps (and Scorched Guardians, but they’re elites).

Yup, those are the ones. I even killed a few of the big elites before deciding they weren’t worth the effort. Also, while my pally can take a beating, she doesn’t handle non-stop fire damage so well 😃 Also, why try to kill an elite when I can get the same XP and comparable drops from nearby same-level non-elites?

BTW - do elites have better drops if you take them on with a group? I find it utterly baffling when I kill a lvl 43 Scalding Whelp and it drops something like 2s 47c, and then I kill a lvl 43 (Elite) Scorched Guardian and it drops something like … 2s 47c.

> [@](#):
>
> As for the enchantment itself, a 15% chance to do 9-13 Fire damage works out to an average of 1.65 extra damage per swing. It’s not a lot, you’re right, but it hits all nearby enemies. An AOE tank with a fast sword, like a Protection Paladin, can apparently rack up some really good damage with the enchantment. There’s probably better ones available at that level, but not without a price.

So I’m probably best off putting the enchantment on my 1-hand sword, since it’s my fastest weapon? OTOH, I’m specced retribution and use a 2-hand weapon far more often.

> [@winterhawk11](#):
>
> There is one small possible silver lining to this: the whelps you have to kill for this quest have a small (okay, tiny, but still) chance of dropping the “Dark Whelpling” vanity pet, which is either really cool to have if you like dragons, or very lucrative to sell (on some servers you can get nearly 1000g for it if you find the right buyer) if you don’t care about having it for yourself.

Coolness! It so happens that I’m already intending to get the “15 Vanity Pets” achievement (whatever it’s called) with this character. She’s up to six so far.

> [@InvisibleWombat](#):
>
> _snicker_ Yes, somebody noticed that line.

Thankyouverymuch!

> [@](#):
>
> I hate quests like that. I started one the other day in Northrend. Can’t remember what it was at the moment. I followed the quest’s instructions. Killed a half-dozen of these mobs and got nothing. Wrong mobs? Wandered to a different area where I’d seen them and killed a bunch more. Still nothing. Re-read the quest text. Checked Thottbot. Nope, I’ve got the right mobs. What’s going on?

Just before I got the drake heart quest, I got the one where I had to recover the shredded fragments of the Scroll of Myzrael from some earth elementals. The second elemental I killed dropped two of the pieces. Then I killed every last one of the remaining elementals, and none of them had the last piece.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1178 "2009-02-18T20:45:33Z")

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> [@Mister\_Rik](#):
>
> So I’m probably best off putting the enchantment on my 1-hand sword, since it’s my fastest weapon? OTOH, I’m specced retribution and use a 2-hand weapon far more often.

Yeah, I’m Retribution for the time being and I don’t even bother with one-handers. If you want to complete the quest (if you haven’t already), then you might as well throw it on your one-hander. As a general rule, enchantments that proc per hit are better on faster weapons, while enchantments that proc per minute are better on slower weapons.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1179 "2009-02-19T03:09:19Z")

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Dungeon maze question: Is there a secret to these spirally dungeons (not instances) that are commonly found in elven zones? The two examples that come to mind are the Ban’ethil Barrow Den in Teldrassil and the one in Demon Fall Canyon in Ashenvale (where you have to go to kill one of the two demon lords after finding the “Diabolical Plans” scroll).

Every time I end up in one of those I end up abandoning the quest because _I can’t get anywhere_ inside these things. I try to always go down down down, but somehow only end up going 'round and 'round and 'round in sort of a “figure 8” pattern. I can never find my way to the bottom, and it takes me forever to find my way out because of the way these things loop around and back and over themselves - which is also what prevents the minimap from ever displaying the whole thing. To top it off, the mobs in these things respawn so quickly I can’t even use corpses to tell me, “oops, I’ve already been this way”.

What’s the secret to these mazes?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-questions/477802/1180 "2009-02-19T03:14:55Z")

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There’s not really much secret to them, other than going slow and exploring each room in full. I haven’t been to the Demon Fall Canyon caves, but I’ve got the Ban’ethil Barrow Den more or less memorized. The Barrow Den is made up of three large rooms that connect to each other with small offshoots in each. IIRC, as you enter the first large room, you can get to the circular room with Rageclaw by bearing left, and the room with Rageclaw the questgiver and the furbolg boss by bearing right.

If you think of it as a large triangle, ignoring the twistiness of the connected passages, that might help you navigate better.

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