As part of an ongoing series, Staff Writer Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland will be going zone by zone in World of Warcraft, discussing the changes since Cataclysm, quest rewards, locations of interest and more.

Rare and Interesting Things to See: Simply running the quests will allow a player to find most of the fun things in the zone. I reported on one of the best last week, and that's the non-combat pet Withers. Horde characters can also get this pet by purchasing it from Apothecary Furrows in a cave in this zone. The pet will slowly decay over time unless placed in water.

Another fun item to note is the scene between Azshara and Malfurion Stormrage is not triggered directly from a quest, but rather just by killing the four Naga Priestesses around the Horn of Ancients on Nazj'vel Island. Horde characters can also do this, if they want some lore. However, the follow-up quest that leads to blue rewards requires all the previous quests be done first, so no cheating and getting a rare reward for no work.

As for sightseeing, beside the giant tornado in the center of the zone, seeing how much more uncovered the Master's Glaive has become was neat, and it was nice to finally put the old controversy about “Is it an Old God!?” to rest at last.

When it comes to herbs, Darkshore has a ton of Mageroyal and Briarthorn, as well as a bit of Earthroot, Silverleaf and Peacebloom. The only mining node seems to be copper, and the only archaeology site I have found in the zone is on Nazj'vel Island (Night Elf fragments).

Also on the island is a rare spawn named Lord Sinslayer. I'm not sure if it's a bug, but this Naga will respawn every 5 minutes or so after death, always drops a green item, and rewards over 2,000 experience at around level 20. Well-worth killing it multiple times if you're in the area! Only one bad thing when it comes to rares in the zone – Lady Vespira, who used to be a drop source for the Black Pearl Ring, has been leveled down and only drops random green items now. The ring is now effectively unobtainable.

Final Thoughts: The zone has been improved in almost every way. The quests are streamlined, and the storytelling is great for both new players and returning veterans. The vehicles aren't difficult to use, and the quest rewards are useful. Nightsaber Riders are the poor man's flight paths, making the tediously long trek much quicker. Overall I think Darkshore has finally overtaken Bloodmyst as the best lowbie Alliance leveling area in Kalimdor. Share your opinions in the comments!