by JR Cook - 9 years ago     show comments

Exploring Draenor delves into the hidden places of the world that will one day become Outland. From the volcanic landscape of Frostfire to the gloomy dells of Shadowmoon, these articles are your guide to events that are off the beaten path.

Location: Nagrand, north-west of the Ring of Trials

Reward: Flinthide’s Impenetrable Crest

Nagrand is the final zone that most levelling characters will enter. It holds the best loot and the toughest challenges – as well as a high proportion of rare and elite monsters. Back in The Burning Crusade it was the only zone in Outland that was relatively untouched by the changes that ripped the world apart (at least in terms of climate – the ocean was drained and Highmaul was ripped away), populated by local wildlife such as talbuks, elekk, wolves and clefthooves.

The clefthooves of Draenor differ quite drastically from those of Outland – and Flinthide is one of the toughest, as the Warsong orcs have found out. The beast is surrounded by dead Warsong Marauders, and his skin is peppered with arrows and spears.

For a relatively simple rare spawn, Flinthide has a lot of ways to mess up your day. Melee characters should watch out for the passive that he shares with most other clefthooves: Spiny Horns, which can apply Gushing Wounds. As well as that beefing up his auto-attack, Flinthide will sometimes cast Thrash, inflicting heavy damage to nearby players. Ranged characters can kite him easily during this time – but to make up for that, they’ll have to deal with Iron Hide, which makes the clefthoof immune to crowd control, including snares, roots and stuns. Finally, just for the fun of it, Flinthide will occasionally Frenzy.

As if all of that wasn’t enough, players – especially those still levelling or gearing up – will need to be very careful about the area you choose to fight in. Flinthide is surrounded by neutral Windrocs, and a straw cleave spell can pull a lot of them. You should also be aware of Nagrand Prowlers, which most players lovingly nickname ‘Murderwolves’ – with good reason. Packs of them run around Nagrand, and they love to stun-lock you with Leap for the Kill, followed by putting the hurt on with Ferocious Bite.