A Quick Guide to Mining in the Northrend Zone of Wrath of the Lich King

World of Warcraft's new expansion pack Wrath of the Lich King has brought many new additions to the game and mining is just one of them, Traditionally a difficult and boring profession in gaming due to the shortage of mines and how spread out the mines can be this expansion has taken on a different approach. While still available in all zones within Northrend there are some areas where the ores are concentrated to make leveling your mining much easier as well as making the first two of the metals, cobalt and saronite, available in greater quantity. Titanium ore however while it appears mostly in one zone is still like khorium was in the Burning Crusades expansion very rare.

So let's start with the first new ore, cobalt, these ores nodes are bright blue in color and come in either a straight "cobalt node" or as a "rich cobalt node". While these nodes are scattered throughout the entire Northrend continent there are two areas where they are concentrated. Two of these are the entry points into the new zone namely, the Borean Tundra and the Howling Fjord areas, the other is in Zul'Drak. By either riding or after level 77 flying a circular pattern going down the eastern coast if the Howling Fjord then up the main river into the heart of the zone and cutting back across the top you will find a regular supply.

For the Borean Tundra are I have found that if you ride or fly a continuous circular patter around the outer edges of the zone you will find plenty of nodes that have a fairly fast respawn rate . However this area is fairly heavily farmed as the mines are plentiful and the mobs easily avoided or killed.

In Zul'Drak the pattern is a bit of a zig zag starting at Voltarus going down to just above Lights Reach and over to Ebon Watch. From here go back towards the Argent Stand then up the center of the zone to Zim"Torga then around the Altar of Rhunok. Return to the center pathway and follow it to Gundrak and end by going straight south to the area between the Altars of Quetz'lin and Har'koa. If you run these routes on a regular basis leveling your mining skills and farming for materials should plentiful.

The other two metals saronite and titanium seem to appear in all the other zones but the best place by far to farm for either is in Sholazar Basin. If you run a continuous circular pattern around the outer edge of the zone and go around each of the pillars you will find saronite in plentiful quantities. This also appears to be where most of the titanium is found. Patience is required here as it is a heavily farmed area.

All of the zones have some mines in them and you will find that all of the nodes will reward you with some crystallized earth and shadow plus the occasional gem. The hardest part to mining now is the fact that the nodes are used for so many professions that they are heavily farmed. The good news is that the value of the ore in the auction house is fairly high making it a good source of gold. Hopefully this short look at mining in Northrend will help make your mining a little easier.