Some of the most popular and memorable RTS campaigns of the vintage Warcraft games took place on the continent of Northrend. It was introduced as a playable zone in The Wrath of the Lich King expansion in 2008, and the same continent is about to appear in a re-release of the expansion in the current version of World of Warcraft: Classic.
There are ten zones in Northrend to take players to level 70, including the PvP area of Wintergrasp and Crystalsong Forest, the new location of Dalaran. Before anyone can enjoy the blistering arctic winds on their face in the wilds of Northrend, however, they have to get there. A variety of transportation options exist that can take your character to this vast new continent, but choices and options differ depending on a character's faction and class.
There is a breadcrumb quest that leads to the new major city called "The Magical Kingdom of Dalaran" which consists of talking to an NPC and porting to Northrend's biggest city instantly. However, this quest isn't available until level 74. Another way to port to Dalaran would be to use a Mage portal. Mages can port characters of any level to Dalaran, but the catch is that this portal spell doesn't become available to them until level 74.
By Sea
These are the routes taken by members of the Alliance, which makes sense because they already have bustling ports in several coastal cities, and most inter-continental transportation for this faction already takes place via ship. As a nice change of pace, this is one of the few times players aren't required to visit the far-flung docks of Auberdine unless it's convenient.
Both of the Alliance departure points leave from the Eastern Kingdoms.
- Stormwind. Most players will opt to leave from the capital city as it's easy to reach via the Deeprun Tram and various other connections by boat. Players coming from Kalimdor can travel from Auberdine in Darkshore directly to the harbor in Stormwind and hop on the Kraken, the icebreaker ship that sails north to Valiance Keep in the Borean Tundra. Don't get this confused with the other icebreaker that stays in the harbor.
- Menethil Harbor. The Northspear is also an icebreaker, and it's hard to miss because it's the only one here. Menethil Harbor is a small city in the Wetlands that serves as a transportation hub to the Kalimdor mainland, the WotLK expansion means the addition of a new route to Valgarde in Howling Fjord. This location is convenient to the dungeon of Utgarde Keep and the nearby Alliance stronghold of Westguard Keep.
Players who want to recreate King Arthas's journey to Northrend as it happened at the closing of the W3 campaign should choose Menethil Harbour as their starting point. Although the campaign from the old game isn't specific as to where he left from, and it's possible that it was from Stratholme, he landed on the Forgotten Shore on the eastern side of Dragonblight.
By Air
Horde players will be taking advantage of the goblin zeppelin systems that are already in use for transportation throughout both continents of Azeroth. Two new zeppelin towers have already been constructed to take players to either the east or west coast of Northrend.
- Orgrimmar. The new zeppelin tower that currently has a working route to Thunder Bluff will add a new zeppelin route. Players can find this tower to their right when exiting the city's main gates, and board The Mighty Wind on the northern side of the tower. The destination is Warsong Hold, a central location in the Borean Tundra.
- Undercity. This zeppelin tower is located outside of Undercity in Tirisfal Glades, on the hillsides next to the village of Brill, right next to the old one with routes to Orgrimmar and Grom'gol. Unlike the new tower in Orgrimmar, there's only one flight from this tower and it goes straight to Veangence Landing in Howling Fjord.
The Borean Tundra is intended for characters from level 68 and up, which is another reason it tends to attract more players than Howling Fjord. The eastern region is for a minimum of level 70, which means tougher quests and higher-level resources, which players should also consider when choosing a route to Northrend.