Level 70 raiding guide

Before I hit 70, I worried about the game, as I knew it coming to an end. I worried that from there on out, there would be nothing but dull grinding to look forward to.

I couldn't have been more wrong! There is so much diverse, fun, engaging, challenging stuff to do, I began to find it overwhelming. So, I compiled this guide to set it all straight in my own head, and I hope it will prove useful to you as well.

Flying Mounts
Having a flying mount will change your entire experience of WoW. A lot of the end-game content is not accessible without one, so getting one is more or less mandatory. To get the money for your first flyer, do quests, gather materials for sale, or sell crafted items. Questing is the quickest route; I had all the money I needed in two days!

The epic flyers are incredibly fast, at 280%-310% of your normal running speed. They are also, if you add in the cost of the epic flyer riding skill, incredibly expensive. Some can be acquired by grinding your reputation with certain factions to exalted, or as an arena reward, or as a drop in Tempest Keep or Utgarde Pinnacle, to name a few. However you aspire to getting one, it is a big undertaking.

Ground Mounts
Though you will often want to fly in Outland and Northrend, there are still times and places where you will continue to need or prefer a ground mount. In addition to the racial epic ground mounts, the PvP mounts, and the Frostsaber mount (Alliance only) from the old level 60 end game, there are numerous epic ground mounts which you can work towards in the end game as well.


 * Deathcharger's Reins drops off Baron Rivendare in Stratholme. This instance is easily soloable at 80, and so this mount can be farmed fairly easily.
 * The Riding Talbuk and War Talbuk can be purchased in Garadar or Telaar when you reach with the Mag'har or Kurenai.
 * The Dark Riding Talbuk and Dark War Talbuk can be purchased in Halaa with Halaa Battle Tokens and Halaa Research Tokens when your faction controls it.
 * The Fiery Warhorse drops from Attumen the Huntsman in Karazhan.
 * The Raven Lord drops from Anzu in Heroic Sethekk Halls.
 * The Amani War Bear is also available from Zul'Aman.
 * The Swift White Hawkstrider drops from Kael'thas Sunstrider in the Magisters' Terrace.
 * You may purchase the Reins of the Ice Mammoth and Reins of the Grand Ice Mammoth from The Sons of Hodir after getting and  with them, respectively.

Questing
When I hit 70, I still had a bunch of regular quests to do. In fact I had barely scratched the surface in two whole zones: Netherstorm and Shadowmoon Valley. This is pretty common, so chances are you will still have enough quests to keep you busy for a while.

There are special quest chains that will require a group of four or five:
 * The Ring of Blood in Nagrand: If you haven't done this chain before 70, do it! It's fun, and you will get a lot of potions and gold, and possibly an item upgrade.
 * The Ogri'la "getting to neutral" quest chain. It starts with Grok, the Ogre in Lower City Shattrath who exchanges witty reparte with the apple cart vendor and passersbyers.
 * The Path of Conquest chain has Horde and Alliance versions.
 * The Ally of the Netherwing chain, which unlocks another set of daily quests and eventually making available the Netherdrake epic flying mount.
 * The Bash'ir Landing Raid is a group quest available every two hours in Ogri'la.
 * The long chain to acquire The Tempest Key and the prior Serpentshrine Cavern attunement have parts which can only be done in a five-person group. These are no longer needed to enter these raid dungeons but completing the chains will allow you to assume the title "Champion of the Naaru."
 * The Amphitheater of Anguish chain in Zul'Drak, is similar to the Ring of Blood.

Crafting
If you don't mind a bit of grinding for materials, crafted epic-quality gear is generally worth the time it will take to make them. I gathered the materials for the Frozen Shadoweave set for my shadow priest a little bit at a time in between questing and other activities.


 * Blacksmithing - Armorsmithing Specialization (for wearers of Plate or Mail armor)
 * Engineering - Epic Goggles
 * Engineering - Flying Machines
 * Leatherworking, Elemental - Primal Intent (for Rogues and Feral Druids)
 * Leatherworking, Dragonscale - Netherscale Armor (for Hunters or Enhancement Shamans)
 * Leatherworking, Dragonscale - Netherstrike Armor (for Elemental Shamans)
 * Leatherworking, Tribal - Windhawk Armor (for Balance or Restoration Druids)
 * Leatherworking - miscellaneous pieces and sets
 * Tailoring, Shadoweave - Shadow's Embrace (for Frost Mages, Shadow Priests, and Warlocks)
 * Tailoring, Mooncloth - Primal Mooncloth (for Holy Priests and other healers)
 * Tailoring, Spellfire - Wrath of Spellfire (for Fire and Arcane Mages)
 * Tailoring - miscellaneous sets
 * Tailoring - miscellaneous pieces
 * Tailoring - Flying Carpet

Reputation
Some people fill the absence of an XP bar with a Reputation bar. Much of what you may want or need for the rest of your end-game depends on your reputation with numerous factions. See the quartermaster of each faction to see what items will become available to you at what stage of reputation with them. These include armor, weapons, heroic dungeon keys, armor inscriptions (which permanently enhance the quality of a helm, shoulder, or leg piece), recipes, patterns, food, and drink. Make a list of those factions with whom you want to increase your reputation. Then do it! Reputation is gained by doing quests, daily quests, and dungeon runs.

Alliance Only

 * Honor Hold, in Hellfire Peninsula
 * Kurenai, in Nagrand
 * Alliance Vanguard, in Northrend

Horde Only

 * Thrallmar, in Hellfire Peninsula
 * The Mag'har, in Nagrand
 * Horde Expedition, in Northrend

Neutral to all

 * Cenarion Expedition, in Zangarmarsh. At, you can buy a Cenarion War Hippogryph epic flying mount.
 * Sporeggar, in Zangarmarsh
 * Netherwing Dragonflight in Shadowmoon Valley At, you can buy a Netherdrake epic flying mount.
 * Ogri'la, in Blade's Edge Mountains
 * The Consortium, in Nagrand and Netherstorm
 * Keepers of Time, in Caverns of Time

Solely or mainly for Raiding

 * The Scale of the Sands, for Battle of Mount Hyjal
 * The Violet Eye, for Karazhan
 * Ashtongue Deathsworn, for Black Temple

Shattrath City

 * Aldor / Scryers
 * Lower City, for Auchindoun
 * The Sha'tar, for Tempest Keep
 * Sha'tari Skyguard, in Skettis with Ogri'la. At, you can buy a Nether Ray epic flying mount.
 * The Shattered Sun Offensive, in Quel'Danas

PVP
Not really my cuppa, but there's still a lot here. In addition to the battlegrounds, which those under 80 can participate in, there's Arena combat, which requires you to form a permanent team with one or more people.

Honor, Battleground and Arena rewards are of excellent quality, so even if you mainly PVE you may want to consider getting them.

Patch 2.3 also introduced a set of daily battleground quests. Gonna do some battleground runs? Why not get extra gold and honor while you're at it?

World PVP: At 80 you may still find it worthwhile to take part in the fight for Halaa or the Spirit Towers in the Bone Wastes. Patch 2.4 added daily world PVP quests for these two spots. Wintergrasp is also highly contested.

End-game dungeons
Unless you hate PVE, you're going to spend a fair bit of time in the heroic versions of these dungeons, to increase your rep with various factions, make money, complete quests, and get better gear. For a full team of five 80s, these can be challenging instances.


 * Utgarde Keep in Howling Fjord
 * The Nexus in Borean Tundra
 * Azjol-Nerub in Dragonblight
 * Ahn'kahet: The Old Kingdom in Dragonblight
 * Drak'Tharon Keep in Grizzly Hills and Zul'Drak
 * The Violet Hold in Dalaran
 * Gundrak in Zul'Drak
 * Halls of Stone in Storm Peaks
 * Halls of Lightning in Storm Peaks
 * The Oculus in Borean Tundra
 * Culling of Stratholme in Caverns of Time
 * Utgarde Pinnacle in Howling Fjord

Heroic Dungeons
Many of the dungeons added with The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King have an additional "heroic" setting. It's the same dungeon, but the mobs hit (much much) harder and are harder to kill, and some of the boss fights are more complex. The rewards, though, are greater. To enter a heroic dungeon in Outland, you have to buy a special key from the associated faction, which requires being at least (not generally difficult to accomplish). All Wrath of the Lich King heroic dungeons are unlocked when you hit 80.

By defeating bosses and accomplishing other tasks (such as the daily Heroic Dungeon quest) you will be rewarded with Emblems of Heroism, which can be used to buy epic quality items from vendors in your respective faction's area in Dalaran.

Raiding
Once the exclusive province of only "hardcore" players, changes to the dynamics and design of raid dungeons in the new end-game have made raiding much more accessible to "casual" players this time around. The wide range of good pre-raid gear available makes it possible for players to use various different avenues - crafting, dungeons, and PVP - to prepare for raiding at their own pace. Raids now require smaller groups, which increases the individual's impact on the raid, and makes it easier for leaders to coordinate attendance.

Raid dungeons are difficult, complex endeavors which, when they go poorly, can cost you more in gold (armor repairs) than you will gain from them. Until the cohesion starts to form and raid encounters become familiar and easier to defeat, it will be up to you to determine whether the intangible benefits you get from raiding are worth it. The level 80 raids are as follows:


 * Naxxramas, in Dragonblight (no attunement)
 * Obsidian Sanctum, beneath Wyrmrest Temple (no attunement)
 * Eye of Eternity, in Borean Tundra (need key from Sapphiron in Naxxramas)
 * Ulduar (no attunement)
 * Unannounced raid in 3.2
 * Icecrown Citadel in 3.3

Daily Quests
The new endgame also includes a number of daily quests, which are just that&mdash;quests which you can do every day. Each character may complete 25 daily quests a day&mdash;enough to keep you busy for hours. Even if you don't do all of them every day, they still offer a readily-available source of money, especially if you've done every other quest you can. Many people do them to help save up for their epic flying mount.

Daily quests are the future of the casual WoW endgame&mdash;new ones are added all the time, so players do not have to compete against one another so much to finish them, and resulting in a wider variety of quests to let players pick the ones they enjoy.


 * Kalu'ak - Quests for a faction of tuskarr that live on the southern coast of Northrend. They have 3 dailies.
 * Sons of Hodir - A race of aggressive storm giants in the Storm Peaks. Requires a long quest chain starting in K3.
 * Brunnhildar Village - A daily in Brunnhildar Village which is random everyday and rewards a Hyldnir Spoils.
 * Daily Quests for the Argent Tournament, added in Patch 3.1

There are also now daily quests involving battlegrounds, cooking, Fishing, and instances (both normal and heroic).