Cataclysm Alpha / SPOILERS BE AND GOES HERE!

Madel/Vectoria/Koblitz wrote:
And about Greymane city? I heard it was going to be a battleground not a questing area.

Trave/Vargosh/Thandros wrote:

Anaei/Vezullia wrote:There is an archway behind the Cathedral for weddings!

Also there is the new GRAVEYARD QUARTER!! xD That's ALOT of graves..

Too bad you're Arathorian!

*shoo's you away from Stormwindian marriages and graves*

Eruadan/Gunnell/Graham wrote:

Madel/Vectoria/Koblitz wrote:
And about Greymane city? I heard it was going to be a battleground not a questing area.

Both.

Madel/Vectoria/Koblitz wrote:Question: Anyone planning to have one of their charecter's die in the horrors of the cataclysm? Be it a realative to one of your own charecters, or possibly even your main? We all seem to love the idea of it happening; I do atleast. and then forget how many people are going to innocently die 8D!

Anaei/Vezullia wrote:

Madel/Vectoria/Koblitz wrote:Question: Anyone planning to have one of their charecter's die in the horrors of the cataclysm? Be it a realative to one of your own charecters, or possibly even your main? We all seem to love the idea of it happening; I do atleast. and then forget how many people are going to innocently die 8D!

Possibly my druid, my hunter or if all goes to pot Anaei. xD

Kristeas Sunbinder wrote:Well looky there, a graveyard district, look like the horde efforts worked!

Kristeas Sunbinder wrote:WIth a 90% of population dead, we should already have a graveyard quarter, your argument is invalid

*There is an image circulating around that claims to be the burial "coffin" of Cairne Bloodhoof at the Tauren starting area. This is not Cairne, it is the mother of the NPC that gives the Tauren their first quest.

*There is a quest in Azshara that has the Goblins defending the rear of Orgrimmar from an attack from Night Elf raiders and an Ancient of War. You blow them up with bazookas, naturally. There is a similar quest that has the Worgen and Night Elves defend Gilneas against the Forsaken and Orcs(only this time you defend with ballista, not bazookas).

*There are new troggs(hinted to be coming from Deepholme) attacking Dun Morogh.

*The Goblins have enslaved a race of trolls to work in their mines in Kezan. Wether or not if this causes friction with the Darkspear Trolls has yet to be seen.

*Lo'gosh, the ancient wolf that Varian was once named after, is revived and aids the Guardians of Hyjal in repelling Ragnaros. Also aiding in the fight against Ragnaros: Muln Earthfury, Ysera, Tortorus(I can't remember his exact name, but he's a huge awesome turtle), Jarod, Cenarius, Malfurion, Malorne and Aviana. I did not see Agamaggan there, although maybe he'll be added later.

*A character that is closely related to the Night Elves and the Ancients dies in Mount Hyjal, but I don't want to spoil that here.

*Mankrik's wife has her own burial place in the Barrens. Mankrik becomes a badass and is one of the main Horde characters in Southern Barrens, with the players helping him attack the Alliance.

The whole rumours about Cairne(and Magni lately) annoy me. There's a lot of speculation, rumour and just downright made-up stuff floating around out there. I'd recommend taking everything with a pinch of salt until the NDA is lifted. But as for this Thunder Bluff "siege" storyline, I haven't seen it. Maybe it's still to be implemented but I just can't see it. The Mulgore area is a little disappointing to be honest, there is very little actual changes to the zone. Most of the quests are nearly exactly the same as classic. I hope that we'll be getting a major overhaul soon.

There's three central storylines going on here: Fighting Ragnaros and his allies directly, reviving(and rescuing) the Ancients and finally infliltrating the Twilight Hammer. While the fire elementals try to destroy, the Twilight Hammer try to corrupt. Near the end of the Hyjal quests it is confirmed that Ragnaros is in alliance with Deathwing. The quests are actually really fun, there's few "Kill X amounts of Y" anymore.

There is a very fun Dwarf Shaman in the zone, that I just adore. He sends you on a rescue mission to "SAVE THE WEE BUNNIES!". You have to go and gather ten helpless, scared critters from a burning forest. His dialogue makes me giggle so much. There's also an interesting quest where you have to save Fandral Staghelm. He's been imprisoned in the Barrow Deeps, and the Twilight Hammer clan are trying to kidnap him to use against Malfurion. You have to escort Fandral to a safer prison in Moonglade where the Twilight Hammer won't be able to get him.

The infiltration of the Twilight's Hammer quests are comparable to the pirate questline in Howling Fjord. You are there to gather information on the cult, and assassinate core members in secret. The cult is also making good use of Core Hounds; they are used to patrol the area and they will break your disguise. There's also some... interesting information on the elements in these quests. There is a book(written by an insane cultist, mind you) that explains that all of the four elements were all born from a single "Eternal Shadow" element. It's really confusing to me.

Another fun miniquestline is you rescuing the turtle Ancient Tortolla. He and his children are being corrupted by the Twilight's Hammer. After you rescue them, you are sent to hunt down a villain known as "Nemesis the Usurper". Nemesis is an incredibly powerful foe, both a shape-shifter and an unparalleled illusionist. He appears in different forms throughout the zone(he even takes the form of a known character to manipulate the players). Your hunt for Nemesis takes back entirely on turtleback, very fun!

I'll admit, I hate the gilgoblins. They're just like regular goblins, only without the dark comedy or fun personalities. They're just crazy, annoying little buggers(there's a nasty bug currently where a gilgoblin hunter has a stun that can't be removed except by Medallions). They serve the Merciless Ones, although the Naga have a few captured slaves.

The trolls are unidentified jungle trolls, although I assume they were the Trolls that originally dominated Kezan before the Goblin's became dominant. They're nothing particularily notable about them, they just mine an ore called "kaja'mite". They work in the mines, and I assume they're all dead now anyway after the players abandoned Kezan.

I haven't made my own Orc yet, I started off trying the new Troll starting area. From what I hear from my friends though, the orcish area hasn't been changed too much(yet). You're still sent to attack the Burning Blade, only the quests are a bit less grindy and drop-rates have been drastically improved. Orgrimmar is looking very intimidating these days, much more claustrophobic and aggressive looking. I can confirm that the beloved Gamon has survived the Cataclysm and he's moved to a new location. Gamon is having a more relaxing experience than what he was accustomed to now.

Southern Barrens deals heavily with the Alliance/Horde conflict. The Dwarves and Gnomes have set up "Justice Hold" and have been attempting to advance North. Mankrik is the central Horde figure in this zone, you work with him to repell the Alliance in a quite brutal fashion. He's also sporting a very badass looking armor set(I believe it's the Battlegear of Might set, not sure). Bael'Modan digsite is also over-run with Tauren, and Camp Taurajo is burnt by Alliance looters(I should note that it wasn't directly the Alliance that burnt it down, they were extremist human bandits and mercenaries).

Northern Barrens deals with Naralax and his work with the Wailing Caverns. There is a certain villain that has been trying to undo his work; there are creatures from the Nightmare escaping into the zone. One of the final quests in Northern Barrens has Naralex confront the person responsible for threatening his work. There's also some raging Earth Elementals and a minor Twilight Hammer presence in the zone too. I don't want to spoil too much, but there are Silithid trying to build new homes here. Ratchet hasn't seen too much change, but there is a fun quest where a very dim ogre pirate tries to sneak into a tavern.

Hmm...there's a lot of little tiny single quests that I've enjoyed: The concearned Dwarf Shaman in Hyjal, the sick girl quest in Ashenvale, the the Javy Dones draenei in Vash'jr. But my favourite questline would probably have to be the final Gilneas quests. Genn Greymane loses someone very dear to him, and you feel real sympathy for the stubborn King. Gilneas has the most political questline I've seen so far, it deals heavily with the corruption of nobility and mismanagement of power by a select few ambitious individuals.

Things are definitely good. I love that Deathwing literally has influence in every single zone I've been in, he's not some distant adversary like Illidan was. Deathwing's actions have had real consequences and they're noted ingame. I also like that they're bringing back some old NPCs and letting players interact more with their racial leaders. Genn was particularly fun to quest with! Storyline advancements are also very nice to see unfold.

Something that's been frustrating is that there are some quests that are literally exactly the same as they were five years ago. It's so annoying doing a really awesome quest in say Shimmering Flats, and then when you move into Tanaris you're doing a quest you've already done before.

I do think that Cataclysm has astronomically high hype attributed to it. There will be a few that aren't satisfied with the changes so far, but I feel the vast majority of players will love this expansion.

The UI improvements are also lovely. Every time you ding, you get a list of new features that are available to you now.

This is all lovely but i'm slightly confused, I thought the merciless ones were brainwashing the gilgoblins, why's that necessary if they already serve them?

They serve them because they're brainwashed. That and they're just insane in general. I haven't seen any confirmation so far, but I suspect goblins evolved from gilgoblins thousands of years ago.

Great to hear that my expectations that Cataclysm will be the greatest thing to happen to WoW are starting to become reality.

I've read a bit about seamless questing, where apparently, for example, in live WoW there'd be a quest chain. You'd kill 10 thugs, then get a quest to kill 5 super thugs, then a quest to kill the thug leader. Whereas in Cata after killing the ten thugs, it automatically completes, goes on to 5, etc.

How often is that applied to quests, or is it the standard now?

I haven't seen a great amount of what you're referring to from personal experience, but I'm only one person and I could have missed it. Although questing has greatly improved overall. Phasing, NPC dialogue and vehicle quests are used a lot more frequently. Vehicle quests in particular have been refined; they're less clunky and slow-reacting than before.

For example, there's a goblin questgiver in Tanaris that wants some basilisk-meat for some weird potion. In Classic they probably would of asked you to kill tonnes of basilisk to get an item that has about a 20% drop-rate. In Cataclysm however, you get to ride a goblin shredder that literally harvests any basilisk that goes near it.

How radical are some of the playstyles for low levels? Any new spells, or ones you're getting a lot earlier than you used to?

And I might as well ask: given the general state of the alpha, how close do you think we are to beta? Or more general, how complete do you think Cataclysm is so far?

I'm not so sure about the other classes, but my Shaman has been a lot easier to level in Cataclysm. There's an ability called Primal Strike that makes Enhancement actually viable at low levels. Fundamentally, most playstyles haven't changed too much. There's just been some refinement of the more annoying aspects of your spec. There are still a few classes that need to be properly updated, though. If you're expecting a major overhaul of every class, I'm afraid to say that is not the case.

Now... this one is interesting. There are certain areas that are polished enough to be released right now, but then there are some zones like Silithius that are still just horrible. Kalimdor is the most overhauled so far, there's still some work to be done in the Eastern Kingdoms. The raids still need to be implemented too, and most of the endgame content needs work done. I'm not so good at making predictions when it comes to the technical stuff, but I expect the beta to still take a little bit longer than most would hope. I'm trying to help out here because I remember how frustrating it was being left out of the Wrath Beta and Alpha.

1. Do you personally find Vashj'ir fun to level, what would you rate it out of 100? How much so compared to Hyjal(if you have done it)?
2. What is the battle maiden npcs like? Any cool models? Is Lady Vashj's/High Warlord Naj'entus reused?
3. Is the creature they sacrificed horde/alliance blood those giant creatures that are like buildings, I think one of their names was Nes'pirath or something
4. What are the underwater mechanics in Vasjir?
5. I heard there are sea horse mounts! Are they or any other sea mounts(please tell us what they are! I must know!) avaible for buying?

1. Vashj'ir was certainly fun to level. Comparing it to Mount Hyjal though...hmm. I'd say Mount Hyjal was a tad more fun for me. Mount Hyjal has a more focused plotline, while Vashj'ir can have some random moments in it.

2. The naga are looking more polished and less dreary now. There is a Kvaldir High-Shaman that looks particularily nice in the quests. The Naj'entus and Vashjr models are re-used in the Battlemaiden questline, yes.

3. The creature's currently using the Kraken model, although I suspect it's a placeholder. Nes'pirath's questline is a little disturbing, to be honest. Those giant creatures in Vashj'ir are said to be long dead sea monsters that are being revived to serve the Old God's, with mixed results.

4. Better than WoW's. Worrying about breath is less of an issue now, and when you reach the seafloor you automatically start walking normally upon it. You can then jump up to start floating again. The camera can get a bit funny though in compact underwater spaces.

5. The seahorse thing is actually very funny. When you reach the Horde base down there, there is a goblin that says something like "Thanks to re-inforcements we've got new weapons, supplies, wolves...WHAT WOLVES?! What use are they here! Go into that kelp and get us some us some useful mounts!" You then go catch your own sea-horsey! No other underwater mounts so far, from what I've seen. :<

1. Why's Jaina with Varian in SW? Is she just trying to advise Wrynn against fighting the Horde?
2. On a similar note, who's in charge of Theramore now that Jaina's gone? Why are they attacking the Horde?
3. Where does Saurfang play in Orc politics? Is he the Horde's Jaina, trying to keep Garrosh from going to war with the Alliance?
4. Why were the Grimtotems exiled? I've seeen a picture of a Grimtotem guy with <Chieftain> above his head - is Magatha dead?
5. Is Cairne dead or with Thrall (Thrall and Cairne saving babies picture)? If the former, did Magatha kill him?
6. Where the hell is Thrall? Is he with the Earthen Ring, or is he the new Guardian? Does anyone know?

1. Jaina has become closer with Varian since the end of Wrath, although I should emphasize this does not mean they're in a relationship. She and that Draenei Ambassador are advising Varian in the Throne Room.

2. I haven't been in Dustwallow Marsh as Alliance yet, but from what I understand there is a new leader of Theramore that isn't interested in pursuing peace with the Horde. There's some people saying it's Anduin, but I really can't confirm that at all.

3. I hate to freak you out, but I haven't seen Saurfang at all yet. There's some new person at the gates of Orgrimmar that is very pro-Garrosh. However, I suspect that Saurfang is somewhere in the Twilight Highlands leading the Horde there.

4. Magatha is alive. She's living in hiding, but she is definitly alive. The Grimtotems have been exposed by Baine as traitors and have been expelled from Mulgore.

5. Cairne is dead. Unless he's still to be implemented, he is almost certainly dead. Bornakk said on the forums that there is going to be a patch to be deployed that will lead-in to Cataclysm and explain the situation with the Tauren.

6. The last time I seen Thrall ingame was after rescuing him from the Lost Isles he said he was going to aid the Earthen Ring in restoring the balance of the elements, but I haven't seen him since. He is not the new Guardian.

*A fan favourite(and lonely) gnome from The Burning Crusade becomes a love interest for the gnome leader Mekkatorque.
*There is a Saw reference in Gadgetzan. There's a new goblin baker called something like "J'on Cra'mer" with a subtitle called "The Jigsaw Miller"
*Not everyone, but a noticeable population of Darkshire becomes infected with the Worgen curse.
*A giant Twilight Dragon flies slowly around Un'goro crater. As far as I know, he has no quests associated with him and he's essentially the Fel Reaver of that zone.

The Worgen curse originated from a night elf druid sect named the Druids of the Scythe who followed Goldrinn. These druids went mad (likely due to not being able to control their transformation) and were locked away in the Emerald Dream with those trees you see in Gilneas, Blasted Lands and Felwood. That's the reason why Worgen are able to be druids and the night elf connection to the curse is why the night elfs feel obligated to help the Gilneans.

1. The base in the center of Desolance area -who it belong to? Is it neutral druid base or alliance one?
2. Is there some information considering the Night Elf starting experience revamp? For now it is known that nothing there is changed noticeably.
3. What is leadership unease in Night Elf society that is mentioned on the Hyjal web page? Is it linked with Jarod return or not?

The druid base in Desolace belongs to the Alliance, but the Burning Blade are trying to infiltrate it. The Night Elf experience has seen minimal changes so far. Fandral is gone from Darnassus, there's Mage Trainers in Teldrassil and the dock can only be reached by foot and not by portal now. There's some chatter among the NPCs concerning Malfurion's return and there's a Worgen ambassador inside the Temple of the Moon. The unease is caused by Fandral's betrayal and concern from the Druids that the Highbourne should never be re-admitted into Night Elf society.

I don't know why I just can think about Eastern Kingdoms stuff... What about the Scourge? New leadership, are they divided (like warlords with small bands), new related quests?

I don't want to spoil too much, but the Lich King Bolvar indirectly aids you in fighting Ragnaros at Mount Hyjal. It seems that Bolvar isn't as tyranical and monstrous as Arthas was. Either that or Bolvar has something to gain from seeing Ragnaros defeated, I'm not sure.

There's also a rogue necromancer in the Northern Barrens, but he appears to be working alone and is unrelated to Bolvar.

Little question do you know or have any information on the sites if blizzard will do anything new with the Draenei and Blood elves or atleast give them some kind of interaction quests like the other leaders are getting?

There has been no updates that I can see in the Draenei and Blood Elf zones that I can see so far. The only real notable change is that there's Warrior trainers in Silvermoon now, but that's it. I can tell you that Odysseus and his crew from Azuremyst Isles return, also with a new Worgen member. McWeaksauce has returned. :3

How was Darkshire infected by the curse? Are the Gilnean worgen contagious?

The Worgen have the power to infect others with the curse if there is contact between the blood of the worgen and their victim. It is stated that some members of the Night Watch willingly became infected so that they could defend the area better.

1.) Can you tell us more about Neptulon in game? Has he actually made an appearance anywhere yet? It doesn't appear he is going to be included in the 5-man dungeon going by the dungeon achievements. Does the questing info seem to imply he is going to get a raid patched in post release? If so, where? Anymore info regarding him at all is much appreciated.
2.) Can you tell us anything about Uldum? Specifically if the C'thun rumors are true.
3.) Any confirmation yet as to where we are going to fight Deathwing in the final raid dungeon of cataclysm?
4.) Any questing info or ingame lore regarding Skywall at all yet?
5.) Has Silithus changed much? Quest wise I mean. I'd love to know if the story in the zone has changed any.
6.) Can you confirm if STV and EPL have been split in two zones each like the rumors suggested.
7.) Any information about the Firelands raid dungeon yet? Does the Hyjal questline imply any bosses in there other than Rags. Any other former Molten Core bosses coming back other than Baron Geddon.
8.) Has Deadmines been updated yet with new bosses? Have you tried zoning into any other old dungeons. If so, have they changed also?
9.) Any information regarding the Deepholm dungeon? Whats the storyline for the 5-man?
10.) Whats the leveling progression for Eastern Kingdoms now? The lower continent I mean. Which zone is the 55-60 zone?

1)Neptulon makes a brief cameo in the Vashj'ir zone, yes. He is extremally furious at the naga because Queen Azshara believes that she deserves domain over the water elementals and not him. Neptulon has been sending the kvaldir to pillage and destroy naga artifacts to weaken them, while also sending his elementals to sink any Horde and Alliance ships that try to enter the Abyssal Maw. He's not exactly "scared", but Neptulon is certainly startled that the Old Gods are no longer backing him. My guess is that he's feeling paranoid that everyone is out to kill him because...well...they are.

2)I'm gonna write up Uldum in a second.

3)The final raids and instances are not implemented yet, but I would be extremely surprised if Deathwing wasn't the last boss. Every zone in Azeroth is building up towards the final fight with Deathwing.

4)Not much on Al'akir and the air elementals yet. There's a few raging air elementals in Tanaris and a few other zones, but nothing significant yet.

5)Silithius has seen little changes yet either. Although, the silithid are trying to move into Northern Kalimdor for unknown reasons.

6) They are being split.

7) There are a few quests in Mount Hyjal that send you to the Firelands itself to kill a "Portal Master" there. This is meant to be a brief preview of what the actual raid is going to be like. Baron Geddon's the only one I've seen so far. Baron Geddon is trying to claim a powerful staff belonging to a dead Tauren druid, and it's the players objective to use this staff against him.

8)Instances haven't been updated yet. I don't expect Heroic Deadmines and SFK to be implemented until at least beta is released. Dire Maul's monsters however are now in the 30s.

9)I haven't been to Deepholme yet, but from what I've seen on these forums it is a beautiful zone.

10)I've spent barely any time in the Eastern Kingdoms, so I'm the wrong person to ask about that.

OH, my question is, do we see any draenei involvement? Or should we expect another expansion without any draenei?

The Draenei don't seem to have a very important role in this expansion, unfortunately. There is an NPC I liked in Vashj'ir named Javy Dones, captain of the sunken ship "The Sparrow". His ship was sunk by a rampaging sea monster and he is an obvious reference to Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean.

1. Do we get to ressurect malorne?
2. Staghelm is still in prison, just in another place?
3. The old god behind the ressurection & corruption of those ancient creatures, got any info on him? looks, dominion, etc
4. Any news about cho'gall? From some ptr leaks we know he's alive and will be part of cataclysm starting event, but will he appear as a boss perhaps?
5. Any info on Med'an?

1. We have missions on Shrine of Malorne, but we doesn't resurrect him, have to verify on this build
2. Stalghelm is in another prison on the Emerald Dream
3. we have a new name of old god, the one at darkshore. It's something like Soggoth, i have put the name at home, will verify this evening
4. Cho'gall appears for a quest in the center of the Dire Maul arena, it used a placeholder Gronn model. I also spoken to Ysondre and kill Taerar but via a lvl 40 quest the Emerald Dragons are no more. Feralas and Ashenvale portals are low level dragokins. Only duskwood and Hinterlands portals seems to work right now.
5. I have explored all the duskwood and no news about Med'an house. If i remember well the comic, he wandered areas with meryl fighting Twlight Hammer without any home

No News of Garona, Meryl or Med'an. I think we will have informations about their models here first Sana: Thank god

for Neptulon, as far as i know, i don"t remember seeing an raid inside abyssal maw. Only 2 5-man instances. I don't think we will fight Neptulon at Cataclysm Release.
The 4 raids at release are Blackwing Descent, Firelands, Skywall and Grim Batol. I think after that we will have Uldum in 4.1, perhaps Abyssal Maw Raid in 4.2 and Deephome raid in 4.3 (with Deathwing), the raids&dungeons content on alpha is at minimal rate : Blackrock Caverns and since last build access to Throne of the Tides

1) Magni is really become stone? And who is the leader of Ironforge now if he dies/disappear ? Muradin? Or there are a council with three boss, one for every clan ? (Muradin - Bronzebear, Falstad - Wildhammer, Moira - Dark Iron).
2) If the rumors of Moira are true, also the Dark Iron rejoing to the other two clans and enter into the Alliance? The split of War of Three Hammers is finally ended?
3) There are some news about High Elves? They finaly found a place for their new home? Or maiby after these years of collaboration, they now are near to Night Elves?
4) Many Alliance people are sad for some things, first of all Stromgarde Keep that seems to be in ruin, like in Vanilla. Or for Forest Song, in Ashenvale. There are some informations that can be support a change in these and other lore interesting locations in the future alpha/beta patchs?

1. No News of Magni. I can't find any new quests about this fate with my main 80. Perhaps if a player create a dwarf shaman, we have more informations, i can't find info ATM. There is a council in the throne room and the new boss is Muradin yes. There is also Moira and Falstad in the room
2. Dark Irons are everywhere in Dwarf Areas. Attacking IF airport, SE of Dun Morogh, Center of Wetlands. Only Moira appears as friendly right now.
3. There is a High Elf tower in Feralas near the New Feathermoon Stronghold, they are with the night Elf in the others zones
4. I am trying to do all the quests for future builds and rush over the yellow ! and i have done 800 quests as far as i know (not counting all the Vashj'ir/hyjal Ones, i used a premade for the 80+ zones :p). There are still no new information about several zones. Astranaar is attckaed by horde but the inn is still functionnal. I have done several old quests on Nesingwary Camp or in Forst Song without any new lore elements. We have to wait future builds to see if it's normal or not

Ragnaros: Muln Earthfury, Ysera, Tortorus(I can't remember his exact name, but he's a huge awesome turtle), Jarod, Cenarius, Malfurion, Malorne and Aviana. I did not see Agamaggan there, although maybe he'll be added later.

Sanaje wrote:.. Yea, that's kind of been known since the official Hyjal Preview went out.

Based on what I've seen so far I'll try to explain the situation as I understand it here, although this should not be treated as 100% fact but more of my personal interpretation of what's going on. If you talk to a Cataclysm alpha player that is very pro-Garrosh, you'll be hearing something a little more favourable to the new Warchief. It's hard explaining what exactly is going on because it appears that there is a large content patch missing so the timeline is a little screwy.

Here is the situation: The cataclysm has just struck and the elements are in upheaval. Thrall, the world's most powerful shaman, leaves Orgrimmar to temporarily join the Earthen Ring to restore balance to Azeroth. Thrall makes Garrosh the de-facto Warchief to see if he'll be able to handle the responsibility properly, as Thrall is hoping that Garrosh will become his "heir". Thrall then leaves on board Draka's Fury, where his ship is sunk in an SI:7 ambush that causes Thrall to be captured. The Goblins save Thrall, and in his gratitude Thrall welcomes the Goblins to the Horde. Thrall then has the Goblin players deliver an SI:7 emblem to enform the Warchief of what happened to Thrall. Upon receiving the emblem, Garrosh becomes very defensive and basically blames the player for what happened to Thrall. Now I personally speculate he was defensive because Garrosh knew about the ambush beforehand and let it happen anyway.

As Warchief, Garrosh declares total war upon the Alliance and orders that all Horde settlements be heavily reinforced and he surrounds himself with Orc generals that he can trust. Garrosh intends to capitalize on the Cataclysm and use it as an advantage; he orders his generals to go out and conquer the weakened Alliance lands. The players then work with Garrosh's various subordinates throughout the Horde leveling experience. He also orders that Sylvanas makes herself useful or his Horde troops will abandon any support for Undercity. As the Worgen players find out as they're leveling, Garrosh has banned the apothecaries from manufacturing blight bombs after the disaster at the Wrath Gate.

Around this time(this part is not 100% confirmed yet, I'm trying to analyze an event that doesn't even exist yet by only using a handful of Horde quests that acknowledge the event) Cairne Bloodhoof peacefully marches to Orgrimmar to question Garrosh on the direction he is taking the Horde. Cairne feels that this is not the time for petty politics with the Alliance; that they should be working together to fight Deathwing. They agree to settle their differences in honorable combat in the Ring of Valour. Unbeknown to everyone, Magatha has secretly poisoned Cairne to make any injuries Cairne receives fatal. Garrosh accidentally kills the weakened and aged Cairne. Around this time, Magatha sent assassins to murder Baine Bloodhoof in Mulgore but Baine survives the assault and exposes Magatha's plot. The Grimtotems are permantly expelled from the Horde and Baine becomes new leader of the Tauren.

Some time after this occurs, the Troll players see a vision of a confrontation between Vol'jin and Garrosh. I suspect that Vol'jin confronted the Warchief because he was angry at Cairne's death and Garrosh's raw brutality. Their conversation does not end well with Vol'jin promising that he will be the one that kills Hellscream when the time is right. Garrosh has anyone he is suspicious about expelled from the centre of Orgrimmar, and has himself surrounded by loyalists.

If you didn't like Garrosh before, you probably won't like him now. He orders his men to destroy his enemies with savage strength. Although, he is not totally barbaric. There is an ambitious Horde commander that decimates a defenceless Druid settlement in Stonetalon Mountains. The Horde commander is very proud of himself and when Garrosh is alerted to what happen the Warchief is disgusted. There is a scripted scene between the commander and Garrosh, with Garrosh raging at the commander and asking if he was proud of slaughtering sleeping infants. The scene ends with Garrosh snapping the commander's neck using Gorehowl(his father's axe that was once in Karazhan).