Exile's Reach New Player Experience Guide

By RenataKane Updated: 2026/02/02

Exile's ReachWhat Changed with Exile's Reach in Patch 11.2.7?

Housing Skip (see below) - This allows characters to skip almost all of Exile's Reach, gaining level 10 instantly and transporting to the housing tutorial.

The overall difficulty is greater than before Patch 11.2.7.

If you complete Exile's Reach instead, you're shuttled automatically to the Dragon Isles instead of going back to either Stormwind or Orgrimmar.

The main cast has changed. The main quest character is now either Jaina Proudmoore or Thrall, and you will encounter both Wrathion and Kalecgos.

A previous change (before 11.2.7) that allows you to pick up transmogs for other armor classes also applies to Exile's Reach.

Use Exile's Reach for Instant Level 10

Levels the character to 10

Gives all class-appropriate transmogs normally earned by quests

Grants Riding

Entering Exile's ReachWhy Play Exile's Reach?yourallTunk's Lil' WhomperPros and Cons of Exile's ReachWho Can't Enter Exile's ReachExile's Reach Tips and TricksNew Player Tips

Turn on Auto Loot: Options → Gameplay → Controls. Check Auto Loot.

All in one bag: If you don't use a bag add-on but want all your bag's contents to show at once, you can select Options → Gameplay → Controls → Combine Bags.

Experienced Player TipsExile's Reach Quest Walkthrough

Aboard Ship more information

Warming Up / Warming Up - Warm up on a Combat Dummy.

Stand Your Ground / Stand Your Ground - Spar with a member of the crew.

Brace for Impact / Brace for Impact - Find Thrall or Jaina below decks.

Murloc Mania / Murloc Mania - Find 6 First Aid kits dropped from Murlocs.

Emergency First Aid / Emergency First Aid - Bandage 3 wounded allies.

Finding the Lost Expedition / Finding the Lost Expedition - Search a nearby camp for survivors.

Cooking Meat / Cooking Meat - Kill wildlife for meat and cook it on the fire in the camp.*

Enhanced Combat Tactics / Enhanced Combat Tactics - Spar to learn class abilities.**. Follow the instructions exactly as given; the quest will go on until you do it exactly in order.

Northbound / Northbound - Go north to meet with the next quest giver.

*Look for a Treasure Chest west of the camp, at /way 57.2 68.4.
**Not all classes get this quest; some classes go straight to the next quest and pick up a class quest here. Others don't get their class quest until later.

Quilboar Shadow Magic / Forbidden Quilboar Shadow Magic - Kill 7 Quillboar

Down with the Quilboar / Down with the Quilboar - Kill Geolord Grek'og

There is a miniboss in this area named Gork the Basher—he's a silver elite ogre on the left side of the pond as you enter the main area. Clear the area, then kill him for some extra drops. You can find him near /way 60 60.

After you kill Grek'og and run off with the NPC you saved, head a little to the right to another Treasure Chest at /way 58.5 59.4.

The Scout-o-Matic 5000 / The Choppy Booster Mk. 5 - Use the flying device to scout where Wrathion is being held.

Re-sizing the Situation / Re-sizing the Situation - Use the Re-Sizer on Wandering Boars.

Ride of the Scientifically Enhanced Boar / The Re-Deather - Destroy the undead army, kill Torgok, and rescue Wrathion.

Stocking Up on Supplies / Stocking Up on Supplies - Go to the camp at Ogre Ruins and purchase any item.

From here, you can go in one of two directions: east or west. Order doesn't matter. You may also be offered a class quest at this point.

Westward Bound / Westward Bound - Meet a party west of the camp.

Who Lurks in the Pit / Who Lurks in the Pit - Rescue expedition members from cocoons, defeat Hrun, and escape with the druid.

Freeing the Light - Free the Lightspawn to get a speed buff, Light's Speed, a 10-minute movement speed buff.

The Harpy Problem / The Harpy Problem - Meet near Harpy's Roost.

Purge the Totems / Purge the Totems - Set fire to harpy totems.

Harpy Culling / Harpy Culling - Kill 10 harpies. Don't go out of your way to get more than you need to uncover totems; you'll kill a lot more during the next quest.

The Rescue of Meredy Huntswell / The Rescue of Herbert Gloomburst - Kill more harpies, ending in a fight with Bloodbeak.

Harpy Roost also has a wandering Ogre Taskmaster and a Treasure Chest at /way 59.4 37.5. The chest typically contains 4-7 Expedition Healing Potions, which you may need during the Bloodbeak fight.

Tip: The friendly NPCs on the last quest will fight with you, but only if you stand as close to them as possible. They will forget to fight if you don't step on their toes.

Message to Base / Message to Base - Return to camp.

Repair Yourself / Repair Yourself - Repair your gear at the vendor.

To Darkmaul Citadel / To Darkmaul Citadel - Meet your strike force outside Darkmaul Citadel to the northeast.

Killclaw the Terrible - Pick up the quest from a sign on your way to Darkmaul Citadel, then head down into the gully. Kill Killclaw the Terrible. Killclaw is the only source for the Expeditionary Shoulder transmogs. He's a difficult solo, particularly if you don't have heirlooms. Once you have defeated him, go to the cave to loot your prize and finish the quest.

Hunters can also tame Killclaw. Since he loses the giant club sticking out of his side once tamed, he shares appearance with other diseased bears in-game, but he does keep his name and title. He's not hard to tame, but he is immune to Freezing Trap. Let him stun you once, then start taming as soon as you come out of the stun.

To Darkmaul Citadel / To Darkmaul Citadel - Meet Jaina or Thrall outside Darkmaul Citadel.

Right Beneath Their Eyes / Right Beneath Their Eyes - Ask Meredy or Herbert to transform you into an ogre, then do the following:

Find the ogre cooking area by going up the stairs and to the right.
Type /wave to Gor'groth.
Type /dance while in the Cooking area (this is not required to complete the quest, but it's funny).
Continue around the ogre area and to the left to reach the dungeon entrance area.
Like Ogres to the Slaughter / Like Ogres to the Slaughter - Slay Ogres in the area. Don't go out of your way to do this; you'll naturally pick up what you need.
Catapult Destruction / Catapult Destruction - Blow up catapults (they sparkle and are hard to miss).
Controlling their Stones / Controlling their Stones - Recover the Ward Stones from Jugnug, Wug, and Grunk, then use them to free Captain Kelra/Warlord Thunderwalker. These three named ogres do not count against the Ogre-killing quest.

There is also a Treasure Chest near the ogre Grunk.

Darkmaul Citadel Dungeon more information

Dungeon: Darkmaul Citadel / Dungeon: Darkmaul Citadel - Complete the dungeon "Darkmaul Citadel"

You need to use the Dungeon Finder to enter Darkmaul Citadel. Be sure to choose a role if your class can have more than one. You will join this solo if there is no one else in the queue, so you don't need to wait long. You will be accompanied by NPCs that take on other roles. DPS is the easiest role to take to get through quickly.

This is a mini-dungeon with two "bosses" (more difficult encounters with better loot): an Ogre named Tunk and the dragon Kalecgos, who is attended by the Ogre Gor'groth. These can drop some blue items that are actually quite useful. The mechanics are not challenging. Pay attention to any warnings that come up and you'll defeat these encounters with no issues.

Stay in the Dragon Isles to level upLeave the Dragon Isles to return to Stormwind or Orgrimmar and level up through Chromie Time (Timewalking)Exile's Reach Weapon Transmogs

Quartermaster Richter, Old Town, Stormwind City /way #84 79.6 69.0 Quartermaster Richter

Provisioner Jin'hake, Valley of Honor, Orgrimmar /way #85 72.6 44.6 Provisioner Jin'hake.

Item Sold

Expeditionary Longbow

Expeditionary Staff

Expeditionary Short Sword

Expeditionary Axe

Expeditionary Cudgel

Expeditionary Quarterstaff

Expeditionary Greatsword

Expeditionary Greataxe

Expeditionary Dagger

Comments

Comment by Preiman

They are going to teach new players to LOOT CORPSES?
How gruesome and barbaric!
So, if you want something,
go kill someone and take their stuff!

Truly shocking

Comment by Lostelf

Can we get a list of the gear and items that these quests reward? Looks like you get a nearly-complete transmog set from the screenshots.

Comment by QuartrDollarKing

Looks like everyone will be sending fresh Warriors through. They will be able to learn all the weapon transmogs.

Comment by Kifanaos

The treasure chests seem to not be there after one person loots them. So they aren't personal loot. If you want them, you'll have to wait for them to respawn.

Comment by Zulan

Sadly people aren't noticing that Blizzard is faction-locking swords and axes for some damn reason.

Comment by pand4craft

How could you not mention Jrokgar? He likes throw. No like fight. Only throw!

Comment by Chungmungus

It's worth mentioning that, as long as you don't leave the island, you can re-run the dungeon to get those sweet transmogs that didn't drop for you the first time through. But there's no going back once you get on that gryphon/wyvern!

Comment by Texneth

I don't know about the beta but in PTR when I complete all the quests and ran the dungeon one time I did not leave being level 10. When you get into Orgrimmar, there is a quest that will take you through a tutorial and tour of the city. I got stuck on trying to by a mount, since you have to be level 10. I was about 1.5 bars away from level 10 though, if I left the city I would end the tutorial. I'd make sure you are level 10 before leaving Exhile's Reach.

Comment by KidKoopa

the expeditionary boots are still unobtainable. This is going live in a few hours...

Comment by Ranma11788

Where are the NPCs that sell the gear after you've finished?

Comment by Tomtauren

As live, I could buy some of the weapons for xmog without even touching exile's reach, only with max levels characters, but, only a few weapons (no daggers, shields, recolors of swords/maces, glaives), are these ones obtainable from exiles reach only, or is a "bug" or something that didn't "reach" the live version (pun intended)

all of this with horde chars.

Comment by Brungino

Has anyone seen the shields that were datamined with the weapons added for exile's reach? I'm REALLY thirsting for those nice kite shields.

Comment by OphyJenkins

"If you are an experienced character with more than one character on your account, you will be given the choice either to go to your character's racial newbie zone or to Exile's Reach for 1-10 leveling."

Blizzard? I was never given a choice on a brand new character that was never logged into. Do I have to delete my character and restart?

Comment by Marlowe88

Playing since this morning on EU and Quartermaster Richter is not selling anything listed as shields and certain 2H weapons, quite disappointing :(

Comment by Zarasz

Found the vendor in stormwind, old town, in the building next to the horses when you enter the inner wall area. Enter the building and the NPC is directly on your right before you enter the main room. But I already had all weapons unlocked. In the scenario was no indication for that.

Comment by Bedle

Linking original post with the pictures of Exiles Reach weapons for easier reference:
Exile's Reach New Player Weapon Models

For all those that came here to get precise information, after extensively playing Exile's Reach on all classes and on both fractions, i made a cumulative list of all currently collectable transmogs via Exiles Reach:

If its not listed means that its not available at the moment or i had really bad luck in not getting them after my OCD triggered and i wanted to collect all transmogs, netting of approx 8 hours of playing Exiles Reach only. And farming mini dungeon.

Following list is comparison to images of the items on the first page:
Item - recolor variant

Horde:

Bow - 3rd color
Bamboo - 1st color
Staff - 3rd color
2H Axe - 3rd color - smeared
1H Axe - 3rd color spiked
Dagger - 2nd color - curve bladed - rusted
1H mace - 3rd color - smeared

Ally:

Bow - 3rd color
Bamboo - 1st color
Staff - 3rd color
2H Sword - 2nd color - gold
1H Sword - 1st color - wood handle
Dagger - 2nd color - double bladed - rusted
1H mace - 3rd color - smeared

In addition, by questing trough Exile's Reach you are able to obtain ALMOST complete Armor set for your class proficiency.
I say ALMOST since at the moment boots/feet are unobtainable.
They should drop from Murlocks, first mobs that you encounter as you land on the island, however after performing extensive Murlockcide on poor dancing Murlocks and killing 200-240 Murlocks PER armor proficiency - no drop. Common boots drop from first few mobs that you kill, however no Unique drop to complete set. Also, Mini dungeon DOES NOT drop feet/boots.
Armor sets are account wide but fraction locked, meaning that if you collect them on one fraction you will get them for other fraction too.

NOTE: Pretty much all available weapons can be bought from vendors Quartermaster Richter in Old Town at 79.4, 69.0, and Provisioner Jin'hake in the Valley of Honor, 72.6, 44.6. No need to go trough Exiles Reach if you want just weapons.

Comment by Billredskin

Another thing to keep in mind: when you run the Darmaul Citadel dungeon, make sure you select a loot specialization if you can't (or don't want to) select your actual specialization. This way the first boss will drop an appropriate weapon for you in addition to the bag. If you are still unspecced and leave it to "current specialization", you will only get the bag.

EDIT: After testing it a bit further, it turns out you CAN get a weapon even while your loot specialization isn't set to anything in particular. But choosing a loot specialization earlier might increase the chances you get the item for whichever spec you want to play in the end. Tunk always drops the bag the first time you kill him (but never again), and might (but not necessarily needs to) drop a weapon. On further runs you get more chances at a weapon (or a duplicate of it). The dragon can drop a cloak, a ring, or a trinket, but may also drop nothing.

Comment by Wellsy67

"If you're a new player on your first trip through Azeroth, you'll automatically be shuffled into the quest lines for the Battle for Azeroth expansion"

I started a new Horde character and went through Exile's reach. I have several 120 Alliance characters, but this is my first Horde. It's taken me through to the BFA questline after the Orgrimmar tour. I guess I can see why, but it wasn't obvious to me beforehand I'd be taken down that route when I've got account-wide 120 characters.

I was able to go back to Ogrimmar and find Chromie, but it was very easy to get swept up and taken to BFA!

Comment by Kryptaria

After you return to your capitol city, there will be a point where the "quit the tutorial" NPC vanishes.

If this happens, try to abandon each step of the quest. If you can't, just do the quest. Eventually you'll get to a point where you can abandon the tutorial, hearth back, and open your adventure guide to either pickup Chromie Time or find something else to do.

If you're Alliance, you'll have to go all the way to Kul Tiras with Jaina and turn in the first quest on the boat, before you go to the meeting. Then you can hearth out and abandon the quest line.

Note: You will get disconnected. Don't worry about it. Just log back in and re-try your hearthstone.

Comment by alltair111

Not psyched that these are faction locked. I really like the simple design of the swords and was hoping to use them on my Horde pally.

Comment by bluedenim20

I thought this was a really good experience for first time players overall. The only thing or things I thought were missing were guidance on rotation and spec selection. Also, for me it was a little overwhelming, I enjoyed it though. Thanks Blizzard.

Comment by Niixten

If you are alone in the exile's reach intro dungeon you have 100% chance to get loot from each boss.

Comment by brye3

Played on Alliance and Horde. Mostly the same except for one noticeable difference

There is an Interesting difference between Goblins and Gnomes demonstrated here. When you find your captains son / daughter being held by the ogres, on both sides the plan is to make the boar big to run them down. The first attempt on both sides shrinks the boar. The second explodes the boar.

This is where things are different.

The Gnome continues to adjust and actually makes the boar big and you ride on it and smash the ogres... The Goblin however, says: "well if this can just blow things up lets just do that" and puts you back in the air using the gun to blow up all the ogres.

Comment by Jevnaker

The whistle doesn't work neither does any other toys it just says can't use this during tutorial.

Comment by Adrenaliin

Just leveled through it today, but Katy was totally UNusable! Keep that in mind.
Not a huge deal, but has to be noted... :)

Good luck to all! The zone is great & fast. Speedy 30 - 40min run including 2-3min addon setup etc.

Just few issues I had to report along the run, mainly tutorial based, but if you disable the tutorial tips you won't notice anything significant.
There is a bugged chest, but I assume that would resolved itself after the server restart. The rest of the ingame stuff was working properly.
Maybe also the a little slower respawn rate of the ogres at the end, but not a big deal again.

TLDR: Katy doesn't work. Zone is Great and fast. Disable the tutorial tips to avoid issues. :)

Comment by 2197415

This area gave me the same vibe I felt on the very first time I've played WoW way back in 2007. I really enjoyed the experience.

Comment by dek1979

Well heres the thing if you wanna farm all the items in the mini dungeon for transmog keep your character parked there keep queing til you get everything.

Comment by Sheltiepam

You can swim around the entire island and won't get fatigued unless you swim fairly far from shore. Seahorse mount works to explore under water but I didn't find any mobs. There are a couple of places to come ashore. Nothing to interact with but there us a camping spot with a fire, a tent and bloodstains and another spot with a diving helmet that can't be picked up.

Comment by Liyka

After finishing this it plonked me into BfA content straight away is that supposed to happen or not ?

Comment by EllaCois

Haha,I made a little warrior just to do the tutorial and get the achievement......never had a warrior before I might lvl her up when I'm bored...Thank to whoever requested for the achievement to be accountwide and not just for 1 character...well done guys. xxxx

Comment by NomadDave

BTW .. just adding a fun fact .. there is a Pirate Pepe on the island !

Comment by abn1304

The original Tutorial Island: "You're just a cheap knockoff"

Comment by Shadow12000

"These are class-specific quests where you must meet a ghostly member of the previous expedition and learn a class-specific signature ability." Only Paladin, Priest, and Rogue feature ghosts of the previous expedition. Hunter, Druid, Monk, and Mage all learn from people that were on the ship you were on and are still very much alive. Shaman and Warrior learn from ghosts but of a Ghost Wolf and a Vrykul respectively, not from the expedition. Warlock does find a dead expedition member, but no ghost, just their demon summoning ritual grimoire.

Comment by Queequeg

Just a note about the dungeon if you’re running it with a friend. Be super careful to stay together especially near the final room. When that fight begins, a gate comes goes up potentially trapping some of the party outside of the room. Those outside will not get full credit for completion. (Why include this mechanic in a beginner’s experience is just weird. For my partner and me, it meant that I leveled to 11 and could not rerun it with her.)

Comment by Wraithon

Fun fact: you can actually kill Monstrous Cadavers and the undead army BEFORE getting the giant boar/Re-Deather! This also gives a ton of XP.

Steps:
1. Make a mage.
2. Get a full heirloom set with 2 Swift Hands of Justice.
3. Get Arcane Explosion.
4. Get the mobs to attack you, then spam Arcane Explosion. If you pull the right amount, you won't die.
5. Enjoy the easy XP!

Comment by badgehunter

i am not sure if this is needed but is there any places to repair your gear? i am at discord and new player joined to ask if there was anywhere to repair gear in exiles reach. they have 0 durability weapon while in exiles reach.

Comment by Qirajin

Alliance players beware: currently if you do Exile's Reach, you will not be able to cap your XP using Behsten because of a phasing issue in the Stormwind throne room.

The reason is that the questline is broken, and after completing Home Is Where the Hearth Is the NPC that would normally give you An Urgent Meeting will not appear, thus locking the thrown room in a permanent state of Captain Garrick waiting for you to talk to her to progress the quest and you being unable to do so because you don't have the quest!

Comment by TheBigDeeb

I submitted a bug report about this issue, but there was no response from Blizzard. I tried Exile's Reach with five different characters until I finally figured out how to fix this bug.

Create a Gnome Level 1 Priest
Choose Exile's Reach. Don’t forget to use your heirloom gear so you can one-shot everything with Shadow Word: Pain while in Exile's Reach.
Do not pick any talent specialization such as Shadow or Holy.

After you queue inside the dungeon and finish it, you will get teleported to the Dragon Isles. ONLY deliver the quest An End to Beginnings to Kalecgos, then do not take the new quest that gives you a flying mount.

Go to the dock and wait for the Stormwind ship to take you there.
Now fly to the Stormwind gate, where you will see Captain Garrick. Pick up the quest “Welcome to Stormwind.”
Do NOT click “Skip.” Deliver the quest to Lindie Springstock, and you will get the Stormwind Wooden Table.

Enjoy! ^^

Note:
The reason I told you to create a Gnome is so you can buy Kharanos Stone Bed from Innkeeper Belm <Must be a Gnome or Dwarf> :D

Exile's Reach New Player Experience Guide

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