by JR Cook - 8 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

Reward: Steamwheedle Preservation Society reputation, ~270g

Goblins are well known for their philanthropic ways. That short, ugly, money-grubbing exterior hides a charitable and generous heart – or at least, that’s what the Steamwheedle Preservation Society would have you believe. The thing is, goblins aren’t wholly convincing liars when they’re not trying to sell you a three-legged horse or an axe with no head (commonly known as ‘a stick’).

The SPS is a goblin faction mainly found in Nagrand. Rewards for raising your reputation include pets (Captured Forest Sproutling, Indentured Albino River Calf), a mount (Domesticated Razorback), a new rare follower (Contract: Professor Felblast), and a toy…of sorts (spoiler: it’s a bomb).

You can raise your reputation with the SPS with quests around Nagrand, although that will only push you into Friendly at best. To get higher, you’ll need to do some farming. You can, of course, kill creatures across the zone for Gorian Artifact Fragments and Highmaul Relics, which are turned to Sallee Silverclamp in at the Steamwheedle outpost (officially known as the Ruins of Nag’ra), north-west of Lok’rath. The other, more focused way is to hunt and kill rare beasts across the north-western part of Nagrand – from the swampy western coastline to the river rushing out of the Throne of Elements. Each creature will drop an item that the SPS will sell to the highest bidder – with some amusing (and not wholly ethical) commentary thrown in for good measure. Each quest will reward you with 500 reputation.

A river beast, Mug’ra (34, 51) can be found in the swamps of western Nagrand. She is an easy kiting target for ranged players, but also susceptible to all forms of CC, so melee players should also have few problems taking her down. She does, however, boast a high health pool of over 3 million – even in mythic HFC gear, she will take some time to down.

Mu’gra will Headbutt players (casters, be aware that this will interrupt you, and is on a low cooldown), as well dealing damage to everything around her with Trample. Finally, she will Enrage to increase her attack speed – a prime time to stun her.

Vileclaw (37, 39) is next on our list. He is a red raptor located slightly east of Mug’ra, very close to the causeway leading to the entrance of the Highmaul raid zone. Damage output is significantly higher than the river beast’s, although both of his attacks (Gushing Wound and Ripping Claws) have a cast time, making avoidance an easy prospect. Again, be careful to avoid catching the attention of any nearby beasts.

Travel a short way south-west and you will find Xelganak (41, 45), a massive wasp, on the first large island in the river’s channel. It can be differentiated from the other wasps buzzing around the nearby hives by its colour: they are orange and yellow, while Xelganak is blue and purple. The insect’s autoattacks deal high damage, and it also has a bevy of abilities: Fatal Sting will deal heavy damage when combined with Buzzing Frenzy, and Sting will place a DoT on you. Xelganak cannot be kited, as it also has a nasty ranged DoT called Venomous Shot. The Shot debuff will stack quickly, so make sure that you can clear it (Ice Block, Evanesce, etc) or kill the wasp fast enough for it not to matter.

The next creature isn’t exactly a beast; Gagrog the Brutal (48, 22) is a massive gronn in Earthshaker Gorge, an area filled with patrolling Ravenous Stonemuncher goren, Gronnling Earthpounders and the occasional elite Hulking Gronn. However, proximity aggro is no problem thanks to the enterprising work of two members of the SPS. A Goblin Archaeologist and Goblin Excavator can be found near to Gagrog, next to some old bones. Interact with the Hollowed Skull between the two of them to ‘disguise’ yourself. It’s enough to fool the gronn, at any rate.

Gagrog has about 3.5 million health, so will be another long fight. His main damage output comes during Enrage, so it helps if you have a way to remove this, such as Soothe. He will also smack you around with Ground Slap and Ground Shatter.

Travel just north of Gagrog. At the entrance to the Cerulean Lagoon, head right and up the hill, keeping to the left of the Gorian Proving Grounds. Here, if you can make your way past the elite Deadly Gloomstalkers, you will find Aogexon (51, 16). He has no abilities to worry about (Rending Claws and Phase Burst), but the nearby elites – plus his speed boost – can make kiting difficult. The easiest strategy is to gather Restorative Goldcaps from the Lagoon below, pull Aogexon to the top of mushroom touching the cliff nearby, and face-tank him while healing using the Goldcaps.

Bergruu is one of the two mobs in this list without a defined location: instead, this massive clefthoof will patrol between the small grassy area between the Gorian Proving Grounds and the Throne of Elements, southward to a point just north of the rise where you will find the next beast, Dekorhan (64, 30). Although he has a lot of abilities – more than any other mob on this list! – Bergruu is a reasonably easy solo for kiting classes or those with a self-heal. His buff is called Frenzy, increasing damage and attack speed; again, this makes some of his other abilities much more scary. Direct damage attacks include Goring Swipe and that old favourite, Headbutt. Like other clefthooves, Bergruu has the Spiny Horns buff, which can apply Gushing Wounds. He will also cast Thrash – although this looks like a channelled ability, it is simply a self-buff and will continue to deal damage to you, even if Bergruu is stunned.

The token elekk on this list is Dekorhan (64, 30), who can be found on a small rise south of Fallen Sky Lake. Once again, the creature makes use of Headbutt. Dekorhan’s two other damaging abilities (Smash and Crushing Blow), although hard-hitting, have a cast time and so are not difficult to avoid – although the debuffs are pretty punishing. Your damage can also be heavily reduced if you are affected by Intimidating Blast.

While tracking down Bergruu and Dekorhan, you may also run across Thek’talon – a large owl-like bird of prey, whose patrol route takes her almost the whole way along Nagrand’s river: from just west of Fallen Sky Lake, to end near the goblins’ own encampment at the Ruins of Nag’ra. Finally, melee players can rejoice – Thek’talon cannot be kited, as pulling her more than a few yards from where she was first engaged will reset her.

Thek’talon’s basic attack is called Talon Rake – a straight buff to her next autoattack. She will also Swoop, inflicting frontal cone damage, channel a Peck at you, and knock players back with Gust.

Finally, we reach the end of our journey, with a talbuk that Alliance players will be very familiar with. Direhoof (60, 38) spawns just across the river from Yrel’s Watch, the closest Alliance inn to Highmaul (I had my Hearthstone there for months!). Once again, he uses Headbutt, but also has his own unique ability called Dire Hoof (props on originality, Blizzard). Direhoof will also attack with Rearing Charge and Kick Up, reducing your damage, while his own is buffed by Gift of the Talbuk.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of quest items to hand in. Heads, hooves, horns, talons – I’m a regular saint, preserving all this stuff for prosperity (and profit).