One of my goals that I desperately wanted to complete before Cataclysm came around was to finish the Wrathgate and the Battle for Undercity on a horde character. So once I was settled into my new life as a Bloodelf, I headed off to Dragonblight to track down the horde version of the chain.
I’ve always felt bad during the Wrathgate cinematic but this time it was far worse because I’d helped them make and distribute this weapon of mass destruction. I’d played a crucial part in helping the bad guys be bad. I knew it melted people, after all I’d seen it in action at Dragonblight when the poor junior apothecary became a puddle of green goo and I still handed it over without a care in the world. So watching the consequences of my actions made it far more painful than merely being a spectator to a horrible event.
Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately, he respawns really fast so we didn’t save him from anything but the thought was there.
The other major difference was that I ended the chain feeling that the Horde have a clearer sense of identity. Regardless of your race, Thrall is the Warchief, Thrall is the leader of the Horde. Sure, the Orcs are pushing their warrior culture on the other races as shown through the quests, but swearing loyalty to one figure helps create a sense of unity.
If you ask a Nightelf, a Gnome and a Dwarf who their leader is, you’ll probably get three different answers and none of them would be Varian Wyrnn. Ask the same question of three members of the Horde and it’s likely that regardless of their race, Thrall would be mentioned. I’m not saying that everything in the Horde garden is rosy, far from it and the tensions which already exist are most definitely going to get worse but I loved the quests where you had to get the Taunka to join the Horde. It was easy to imagine my Bloodelf at point in her past had uttered those same words as she took the same oath which made the quest feel a little more personal.
Also Thrall owns. Why doesn’t my shaman have all those awesome tricks? I’d rather fight with Thrall, the classic 31/31/31 shaman at my back than Varian Wyrnn. Is there anything Thrall can’t do, if moving mountains and clearing up plagues present no problems. The biggest failing of the Battle of Undercity has to be that once we won, someone went and put the elevators back in. Surely they could have come up with a safer option, even leaving the spikes there would have been better than putting the lifts of death back. Which leads to my final point, I can see my journey ending with the Horde. Already I’m seduced by war drums and the cries of “Lok’tar Ogar”. I suspect I too will live and die – For the Horde!
It’s well worth seeing the chain from the other side and remember, the Battle for Undercity is going away with Cataclysm, so if you want to see how the other faction does it, your time is running out.