Isle of Quel'Danas

Isle of Quel'Danas (also known as Sunwell Isle or simply Quel'Danas) is a zone north of the Eastern Kingdoms added in patch 2.4, and is one of three areas that make up Quel'Thalas. It is the first outdoor zone added to the game via a patch, and includes many daily quests as well as the last raid and dungeon content released prior to World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.

The zone's highlights include the Sunwell Plateau, where Kil'jaeden is being summoned; Magisters' Terrace, the final resting place of Kael'thas Sunstrider; and Sun's Reach, a town reclaimed by a combination of Aldor and Scryers forces known as the Shattered Sun Offensive.

History
Seven thousand years ago, when Quel'Thalas was founded, the magisters of the new elven kingdom created a mystic fountain at a convergence of ley lines on this island off the northern coast of Eversong Woods, utilizing a vial of water stolen from the Well of Eternity sometime before the Sundering. As a result, the island - which became known as Quel'Danas - is also known as the Sunwell Isle. The Sunwell's power allowed the elves to build their cities and shape their land, as well as defend their city; during the Second War, the elven magisters used its power to erect a shield around Silvermoon City to hold off the Horde's invasion.

Separated from the mainland by a channel of the North Sea, this island nonetheless came under attack during the Third War, when the corrupted Prince Arthas Menethil led the Scourge in its slaughtering rampage through Quel'Thalas. Using the power of Frostmourne, Arthas had created a bridge of ice linking Quel'Danas to the mainland, allowing him and his forces to reach the Sunwell Isle and carry out their dark mission to resurrect Kel'Thuzad. The Dead Scar, the path of Blight that splits Quel'Thalas in two — marking the route that Arthas' legions took to the Sunwell — abruptly ends about halfway across the island, near the entrance to the Sunwell Plateau. The Sunwell was befouled with the resurrection of Kel'Thuzad, and the island left to rot as the Scourge continued its relentless march through northern Lordaeron.

After the merciless campaign of Arthas, the essence of the sunwell endured, kept hidden by those who sought to protect it. Today, nearly six years after its destruction, the Sunwell has been reactivated by the power-mad Kael'thas Sunstrider, and is being used as a mystic portal to summon his master, the eredar overlord Kil'jaeden. At the end of the Dead Scar, near the still-shattered structures at its edge, eredar warlocks and wrathguards stand vigilant, and even some remnants of the Scourge's forces remain.

In response to the threat presented by Prince Kael'thas' operations on the Sunwell Isle, the Sha'tar — masters of Shattrath City — rallied the draenei priests of the Aldor and the blood elf magisters of the Scryers into a unified army, and dispatched them to Azeroth to end Kael'thas' nefarious scheme. This army, known as the Shattered Sun Offensive, has claimed the outpost of Sun's Reach and begins to retake the island from Kael'thas' legions.

Quel'Danas is also the island refuge of the blood elf dragonhawks. It is home to the aeries where the dragonhawks and giant eagles originated and are bred for the elite windriders. Aquel'Luer'Thala is the blood elf in charge of the units stationed on the island.

Wrath of the Lich King
During the Quel'Delar quest chain, we are given a brief insight into the current status of the isle. Silvermoon Workers can be seen repairing various locations on the island, and Halduron Brightwing is seen inspecting the Blood Elven guards protecting the renewed Sunwell. Quel'Danas seems to have been completely reclaimed, and all hostile mobs including the demons, Naga, Scourge and Dawnblade Blood Elves have been phased out.

With Quel'Delar in tow, heroes are tasked with gaining entry to the Sunwell and submerging the ancient blade within its holy power.

Access to the Sunwell itself is policed by the Ranger-General of Silvermoon, Halduron Brightwing, and only those with his personal permission are allowed entry.

Dungeons

 * Magisters' Terrace offers normal and heroic modes, and is the third 5-man dungeon in Azeroth with a heroic mode (the first two inside the Caverns of Time). To unlock heroic mode, simply run the dungeon once on normal mode; no key or specific rep level is required. Kael'thas Sunstrider appears as the final boss, continuing his story line from Tempest Keep.
 * Sunwell Plateau is the location of the Sunwell, with Kil'jaeden himself as the final boss.

Travel hubs
Sun's Reach, the primary staging area for the Shattered Sun Offensive, is the primary travel hub to and from the island. This flight node is available to all level 70 players.


 * Flight paths from Sun's Reach
 * Silvermoon City, Eversong Woods
 * Ironforge, Dun Morogh
 * Hatchet Hills, Ghostlands
 * Light's Hope Chapel, Eastern Plaguelands

Getting There
Players cannot reach the Isle by riding or walking, due to an invisible barrier that lies some distance north of Silvermoon City. The most common means of access are via flight path, portal, or various summoning spells.

The flight path to the zone from Ironforge, Hatchet Hills, Light's Hope, and Silvermoon City is learned automatically at level 65. After a certain phase of reclaiming the island (as indicated by the number of completed daily quests), a portal will be opened between Quel'Danas and Shattrath City, allowing easy transport to the island. The portal from Shattrath to Quel'Danas is located in the alcove behind where Exarch Nasuun stands and drops off the player in the Sun's Reach Sanctum. Complete the daily quest to collect an item that allows a one-time-use teleport back to Shattrath.

The Alliance flight path from Ironforge to the Isle of Quel'Danas is distinctive among flight paths in that once the gryphon flies past the front gates of Ironforge the gryphon and rider are instantly teleported to the edge of the Isle of Quel'Danas zone and then fly the rest of the way normally. This saves the rider from a very lengthy flight.

Notable characters
The Isle of Quel'Danas is known primarily for its vendors. is both the repair vendor and the vendor on the Isle located behind the Sun's Reach Armory, while  is the Jewelcrafting recipes and epic gems vendor located on the first floor of the Inn of Sun's Reach Harbor. Hauthaa begins selling her wares late in the Shattered Sun Offensive storyline, while Shaani doesn't start until the very end.

Additionally, the Exotic Gear Purveyors of the Sun's Reach Armory are notable for selling Season 1, Season 2 and Vindicator's gear in exchange for Tier 4, Tier 5 and Tier 6 loot tokens, as well as Veteran's gear in exchange for Badges of Justice. ,, and  are all located on the second floor of the Armory, starting in phase 3.

Quests
All quests on the Isle of Quel'Danas are part of the Shattered Sun Offensive storyline. See the SSO quests section for a formatted list, Isle of Quel'Danas quests for the table style, or the unformatted list of all quests in the Isle of Quel'Danas category.

Monsters
There are three groups of monsters at the island — demons with undead, naga, and finally Kael's blood elves. The naga go by the name of the Darkspine tribe, while the blood elves go under the name of Dawnblade.

Darkspine naga
At Greengill Coast, the Darkspine naga have enslaved the Greengill murlocs, mind controlling them to do their bidding.


 * Darkspine Myrmidon
 * Darkspine Siren
 * Greengill Slave (neutral)

Demons
There are a wide variety of demons located around the island, primarily guarding Dawnstar Village, with reinforcements being brought in via a portal to the Throne of Kil'jaeden. There are also a number of demons at the Dead Scar, holding the undead at bay. The demons and Kael's blood elves are attacking as a unified force.

Dawnstar Village:
 * Emissary of Hate (Wrathguard)
 * Unleashed Hellion (Fiend)
 * Irespeaker (Shivarra)
 * Abyssal Flamewalker (Abyssal)

The Dead Scar:
 * Brutallus (pit lord)
 * Pit Overlord (pit lord)
 * Wrath Enforcer (wrathguard)
 * Eredar Sorcerer (eredar)

Undead
There are packs of undead which roam the southern coasts and the Dead Scar, where they battle the demons.


 * Skeletal Ravager (skeleton)
 * Frenzied Ghoul (ghoul)

Mechanical
Malfunctioning arcane guardians patrol the western coasts of the island.


 * Erratic Sentry (arcane guardian)

Kael's blood elves
Kael's forces are scattered throughout the island, primarily centered around Sun's Reach, where they occupy the Sun's Reach Harbor, as well as several ships which are located a short distance from the shore. The invading forces also contain the wretched, emaciated elves which have fallen to their magical addictions.


 * Dawnblade Blood Knight (can ride on a Dawnstar Charger)
 * Dawnblade Hawkrider (rides on a Dawnblade Dragonhawk)
 * Dawnblade Marksman
 * Dawnblade Reservist (on the ships The Bloodoath, The Dawnchaser, and The Sin'loren)
 * Dawnblade Summoner (four of which are channeling the Bloodcrystal)
 * Sunblade Lookout (appear on the North-Eastern balcony of the Sunwell Plateau, firing arrows at people performing bombing runs)
 * Wretched Fiend
 * Wretched Devourer

Resources

 * Herbs
 * Mana Thistle
 * Nightmare Vine
 * Mining
 * Adamantite Deposit
 * Rich Adamantite Deposit
 * Khorium Vein
 * Fishing
 * Jaggal Clam
 * Giant Sunfish
 * Bloated Giant Sunfish

Phasing
During part of The Return of Quel'Delar quest chain (,, and ), the entire isle undergoes heavy phasing to convey the recent developments there from the finale of The Burning Crusade.

Very few areas experience such heavy phasing, even if just for a short time.