World of Warcraft Wednesday: Sholazar Basin
Places of Interest
Nestingwary Base Camp
River’s Heart
Frenzyheart Hill
Rainspeaker Canopy
Sholazar Basin is another interesting zone, insofar as it’s actually quite a bit of fun, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the overall stories of Wrath of the Lich King. Sure, there’s a few subquests about the scourge, including a quest that takes you to friggin’ Un’Goro. But most everything else is self contaiend to this one zone.
Half of the quests have to do with with the next series of Hemet Nestingwary quests and the other half have to do with the ongoing conflict between the Oracles and Frenzyheart (which leads to a series of dailies for each faction). So overall, you could probably skip over Sholazar, and not miss anything in terms of the meta story for Wrath.
Mining: Saronite, Titanium. Lots and lots of Saronite if you need it, especially around the edges of the zone. It’s worth making a circuit. It’s also one of the first places you’re very likely to find Titanium, so grab it if you’re able.
Herbalism: Tiger Lily, Goldclover, Adder’s Tongue. Pretty good prospects here. Solazar’s nothing if not a good place to gather mats while you’re passing time. Pick up some Adder’s Tongue if you’re in the area.
Cloth: Frostweave. Plenty of Frostweave from killing Oracles or Frenzyheart, as well as the Venture Company agents mining the area. This is actually one of the best places to get the Heavy Frostweave First Aid pattern as well.
Leather: Borean Leather. Just a ton of leather as well, throughout the whole zone. You’re going to be doing a lot of killing for the Nestingwary quests (who would’ve guessed?), so you’ll have a lot of opportunities to pick up swaths of leather by the time you exit the zone.
It’s worth noting that a handful of quests in the area require you to have Cold Weather Flying, so make sure you train up after you reach 77 (I know, it’s harder than just saying it). Overall, Sholazar is a great place to gather mats, pick up some unique items, and take a break from the hustle and bustle of the other Northrend zones, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed that most of the quests here really had no bearing on the overall story that I’d been following up to this point. It’s almost too big a break.