As part of an ongoing series, Staff Writer Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland is going zone by zone in World of Warcraft, discussing the changes since Cataclysm, quest rewards, locations of interest and more.

Rare and interesting things: Most of the rare sights in the zone are in the form of rare monsters. Perhaps one of the most comical is the Lost Son of Arugal, a rare spawn worgen who wanders the zone. The spawn is thankfully non-elite, but as tribute to the former elite versions who wandered the woods near the Greymane Wall, he gives a debuff when you get near to him.

Several other notable NPCs make a reappearance as rares. Thule Ravenclaw, formerly part of the Forsaken storyline as leader of Fenris Isle, now occupies a small camp north of the Forsaken Front lamenting losing his home. Fenwick Thatros, previously a mark for a rogue quest, is now a neutral rare fisherman just looking for a bit of peace and quiet. During my travels I also ran into Aquarius the Unbound in Ambermill and Gorefang, who only dropped a lousy white item.

Finally, avid pet-collectors may remember the Black Tabby Cat formerly only available from Dalaran NPCs and the rare Dalaran Spellscribe in the zone. With the Cataclysm the Spellscribe is gone, but never fear – the Tabby is still available as a drop off any Hillsbrad enemy. Actually, fear a lot; it went from a 15% drop off a rare spawn to a .01% drop off any random enemy in Hillsbrad. That bites if you're a Horde player trying to acquire this pet – but it's much better as now the Alliance can actually find it.

Dungeon: Shadowfang Keep: I'll admit, the first time I ran Shadowfang Keep I was confused by the new story. I remember Arugal and his Worgen, as well the ghosts of the former denizens of the castle; but with the Cataclysm we suddenly have Godfrey and his goonies. The storyline explains quite well who these characters are and why they are in Shadowfang, so I suggest running the zone as a Horde character to get some background; it's enough to say that both the Horde and the Alliance have good reasons to hate Godfrey (see the picture below) and want him dead. The dungeon itself is available from level 16-26 through the dungeon queue, and then again at level 85 on heroic mode.

Final Thoughts: If you're a lore buff, you'll love Silverpine Forest. There is a ton of action and a very strong story flowing through the entire zone. This is probably the best glimpse into Sylvanas Windrunner’s life since the Lament of the Highborne in the Burning Crusade. At the same time, I felt like the zone held my hand a bit too much. Once all the questing was over, I felt I would never have a reason to visit Silverpine again. Never having more than a couple of quests at a time made the path through the zone extremely linear.

That said, the story makes a fantastic transition from the Wrath of the Lich King to Cataclysm, wraps up the Gilneas and Tirisfal Glades plotlines superbly, and sets up Hillsbrad well as the next Horde zone to visit. I recommend taking at least one character through the zone, in the same order I did: a new Worgen character up until they leave Gilneas, then a new undead character through Tirisfal and into Silverpine. You won't be disappointed!