Barrens (Classic)

The Barrens is a large zone in central Kalimdor controlled mostly by the Horde. It is a massive savanna, with a few oases in the north-central region around the Crossroads. Before the upheaval, several large kaldorei cities stood here. Now, those brave few willing to scrape out a life on the arid plains inevitably run afoul of centaur warbands or quilboar raiding parties. Despite its often uninviting terrain and hostile inhabitants, the Barrens receive a good deal of interest from Alliance and Horde alike, as well as races native to Kalimdor. Trade routes crisscross the landscape leading to and from more inviting regions, and the most notable route is the Gold Road that runs north-to-south through the Barrens and beyond. Rumours suggest that precious minerals and treasure-filled ruins await those with the courage to investigate.

Getting there

 * Horde:


 * From Mulgore, follow the main road east out of the zone, then continue though Camp Taurajo (there is a Wind Rider Master in Camp Taurajo) and turn north through the Gold Road to get to the Crossroads. Get the flight path there too. You can also take the zeppelin to Orgrimmar from Spirit Rise in Thunder Bluff. It passes through the Barrens, and you can jump off (and survive!) while over Taurajo or the Crossroads.


 * If you are an orc or troll, go to Razor Hill (The small orc town south of Orgrimmar in Durotar) and go through the road west, then continue south through the Gold Road.


 * If you are a Forsaken or blood elf, take the goblin zeppelin to Orgrimmar, the Zeppelin Tower is just north of the Undercity, then go down to Razor Hill and use the same route as orcs and trolls.


 * Alliance:


 * Catch a boat to Ratchet from Booty Bay. Once there, get the flight path.


 * You can also take the boat to Theramore from Menethil Harbor and then run through Dustwallow Marsh into the Barrens. You will need to then run north and east to reach Ratchet.


 * An alternative method is to travel to Darkshore, then to Ashenvale. Walk all the way to the Mor'Shan Rampart without getting close to the guards. To the east there is a small entrance, free of Horde guards, that Alliance can go through.

Geography
The Barrens are a temperate and warm land. It has hot rugged hills, plains (grassland), some rocky desert and rugged mountains.

The Barrens are huge, one of the largest zones in the game. The land is mostly flat, with a few hills scattered throughout. The climate is harsh and hot, but survivable due to several lush oasis. With a stretch of coastline to the east, mountains to the northwest, plains to the west, forest to the north, marsh to the southeast, and the desert conditions to the south and northeast, the Barrens is surrounded by extremely varied landscapes.

The Barrens contain three instanced dungeons, the Wailing Caverns, Razorfen Kraul, and Razorfen Downs. The Horde entrance to Warsong Gulch is located to the north. There are two Horde aligned travel hubs in this zone: the Crossroads and Camp Taurajo, in addition to the flight path and boat in Ratchet available to both factions. There are no raid dungeons in the Barrens.

Maps and subregions




Battlegrounds

 * Warsong Gulch (Horde Entrance)

Travel hubs


The Crossroads is likely the biggest travel hub for Horde characters, with a total of 13 flight paths. Camp Taurajo, a secondary hub in the southern Barrens, is very useful for travel from one end of the zone to the other. Ratchet has both a Horde and Alliance flight master, and a boat which sails to Booty Bay in Stranglethorn Vale.


 * Flight paths from the Crossroads
 * Bloodvenom Post, Felwood
 * Brackenwall Village, Dustwallow Marsh
 * Camp Mojache, Feralas
 * Camp Taurajo, The Barrens
 * Freewind Post, Thousand Needles
 * Orgrimmar, Durotar
 * Splintertree Post, Ashenvale
 * Sun Rock Retreat, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Thunder Bluff, Mulgore
 * Valormok, Azshara
 * Zoram'gar Outpost, Ashenvale
 * Gadgetzan, Tanaris
 * Ratchet, The Barrens


 * Flight paths from Camp Taurajo
 * Freewind Post, Thousand Needles
 * The Crossroads, The Barrens
 * Thunder Bluff, Mulgore


 * Flight paths and boats from Ratchet
 * Astranaar, Ashenvale
 * Talrendis Point, Azshara
 * Theramore, Dustwallow Marsh
 * Orgrimmar, Durotar
 * The Crossroads, The Barrens
 * Booty Bay, Stranglethorn Vale (Boat)
 * Gadgetzan, Tanaris

Notable characters


The Barrens are home to several characters of note. At the Crossroads, Sergra Darkthorn sends promising young adventurers to prove their worth to the Horde by hunting local wild creatures. She is assisted in her efforts by Jorn Skyseer in Camp Taurajo, who also refers them to continue their quests in Thunder Bluff. And at his fortified camp west of the Crossroads, the beleaguered Regthar Deathgate fights a one-man battle to keep the savage centaur from breaking through the Horde defenses. The Barrens is also home to Mankrik who gives out the ever so infamous quest to find his wife.

Quests
Being such a huge zone, the Barrens has a wealth of quests for Horde characters between levels 10 and 20. Of particular note are the hunting quests given by Sergra Darkthorn at the Crossroads, which lead to similar quests in other zones. Many quests in the Barrens deal with fighting back the centaur and the quilboars. In addition, the Venture Company has taken a foothold in the northern Barrens and several quests involve investigating and causing trouble for them.

Resources

 * Cloth
 * Linen Cloth
 * Wool Cloth
 * Silk Cloth
 * Herbs
 * Peacebloom
 * Silverleaf
 * Earthroot
 * Mageroyal
 * Swiftthistle
 * Briarthorn
 * Stranglekelp
 * Bruiseweed
 * Wild Steelbloom
 * Grave Moss
 * Kingsblood
 * Leather
 * Ruined Leather Scraps
 * Light Leather
 * Medium Leather
 * Thin Kodo Leather - Skinning level 10-20 kodos
 * Deviate Scale - Skinning and looting level 15-22 beasts in and around the Wailing Caverns
 * Perfect Deviate Scale - Skinning and looting level 15-22 beasts in and around the Wailing Caverns.
 * Ore
 * Copper Vein
 * Tin Vein - Usually underwater in the Oases.
 * Silver Vein
 * Other
 * Deviate Fish

Wild creatures

 * Cheetah
 * Crocolisk
 * Frenzy
 * Giraffe
 * Hyena
 * Lion
 * Kodo
 * Raptor
 * Scorpid
 * Silithid
 * Shark
 * Pig
 * Plainstrider
 * Thunder lizard
 * Turtle
 * Wind Serpent
 * Vulture
 * Zhevra

Notes and trivia

 * The Barrens is one of the largest zones in World of Warcraft, and running from Mor'shan Rampart near Ashenvale to the Great Lift near Thousand Needles can be daunting even for players with mounts.
 * Currently, the Barrens has the widest level range of any single zone, spanning 15 levels.
 * The Barrens is infamous as a very busy secondary zone shared by tauren, orcs and trolls. Undead players also often come here between levels 10 to 25. With three instances and multiple travel hubs, it is a busy "in-between" area traversed by higher-level characters as well. This is a major contributing factor to the high volume of the chat in this region. The chat in the region has had the infamous tag of Barrens Chat due to its sometimes frequent trend of players going completely off-topic in discussions and delving into silliness, which annoys some players while amusing others. This, however, has quelled in recent time due to new zones being introduced and the desire to move such chat into more accessible channels, such as the Trade chat which is shared amongst all faction capital cities.
 * There is a band of mounted Alliance Outrunners to the south near Camp Taurajo. There is a level 24 human mage and three level 25 night elves. In addition to attacking Horde players on sight, they drop a scroll that starts the Horde quest The Runed Scroll.
 * The Crossroads is also a popular destination for Alliance raids as it is a good meeting point to raid Orgrimmar.
 * Although said to be home to Black dragonkin NO dragons appear in this zone in-game.

Avoiding the Barrens
Horde players can completely bypass the Barrens if they wish by questing in Ghostlands, Silverpine Forest, and the Hillsbrad Foothills.

There are a number of reasons that a player might choose to do so:
 * To avoid the overpopulation and competition from other players.
 * It seems to be generally quicker to level, partially due to the decreased distance between key areas.
 * Quests are much easier.
 * For players generally focused on solo play rather than grouping up.
 * Completing quests to get items with Tranquillien Reputation and quest rewards.