World of Warcraft Wednesday: Darnassus
I suppose I should start out by mentioning that Darnassus will always hold a special place in my heart. It was the first “big city” I ever saw, and while my friends always told me that I’d be more blown away by Stormwind, the truth is I’ve always liked Darnassus more.
Well, the look of it anyway. With the open pagodas, the giant tree men stomping around, the wisps darting in and out. It’s generic Elf fantasy stuff, but executed in the best way possible. It’s so big it’s imposing, but it’s open and homey.
Unfortunately, that’s also what makes Darnassus insufferable. Everything’s spread out all to hell, and, for example, if you had the misfortune of setting your hearth to Darnassus and wanted to hearth back to the Auction House, you’re in for a long ass walk to do your business. Nevermind that the nearest flight path is actually a million miles away, through a portal, down a hill, and across a bridge that has a bunch of curves in it so don’t even think of AFKing until you get on that hippogryph.
Convenience: F
The bank is centrally located and has a mailbox, I guess, but the convenience begins and ends there.
Darnassus feels like the first city Blizzard designed, because there’s actually quite a bit of rhyme and reason to why things are the way they are. Merchants are here, trade professions here, quest hubs here, here’s a temple, there’s the bank, here’s the fuck-it portal to the flight path because we ran out of room.
But…um…They didn’t really bother to put any of these things all that close to each other. The bank is nowhere near the auction house, the skill guys aren’t close to the vendors, and heaven forbid you want to take up mining (you can’t here). It’s pretty clear that they built with aesthetics in mind, and then realized, “Oh crap. This doesn’t work.”
Take for example that everything is built over a giant pond. And back in Vanilla/Burning Crusade, if you wanted to take a shortcut across the pond to, I don’t know get from the bank to the auction house without running for five minutes, you’d get dismounted. I know it’s a minor gripe, but seriously?
Oh, and in addition to the great flight path in the middle of nowhere, there’s a boat that can take you to Auberdine that is completely worthless, unless you’re a non-elf making his first visit to Darnassus/a Horde trying to kill Tyrande.
Ambiance: A
Like I said, the tree people, whisps, forest, creatures wandering to and fro, Darnassus is the gem of the Alliance. It’s kind of what you’d hope every non-Tolkien elf city would look like. One big fancy pants tree house to party in.
There actually isn’t much in the way of “extra” things happening here, though. There’s some content added in preparation of Cataclysm with a Highborne mage trying to get into the Temple, but that’ll be gone by the time the expansion drops.
Special Features: C
There are trainers for most classes, but not all, and for most skill professions but not all (no mining because there are no nodes in Teldrassil). I suspect this will change in the future, but as of now, Darnassus is the most no-frills city in-game.
Key Stats
Average Population: Low (except in RP Realms)
Class Trainers: Warrior, Warlock, Hunter, Priest, Paladin, Rogue, Mage, Druid
Best Feature: Best large city access for Alliance in Kalimdore
Worst Feature Poor design makes getting anywhere a chore.
Recommended Hearth for Levels: 6-10
Darnassus is a great city to visit, but you won’t want to hearth there. It’s pretty much the only major Alliance city with a flight path to the old world (despite what Theramore will tell you, it’s not a major city), but it’s not a place you’ll want to spend any time because doing anything here is a hassle.