15 hidden places worth visiting in WoW Forever

Forever beta find. Zephras Isle. A little gathering of frogs sits above a waterfall. Visit them and you can pick up Musical Gustjumper. If you're already in the starting zone, it's a short detour.

Follow the road south from the starting village, then head toward the top of the waterfall. Stay up there. A log lets you reach the rock where the frogs are sitting, and that's the area marked on the map.

Target a frog and type /sing. It'll respond, the group will disappear, and a new frog will appear on the log. Click that one to collect your pet.

Players could do this at level 1 in the beta, though you'll still want to avoid patrols on the way. Coming from the mainland? I'd check whether your character can reach the island before planning the trip.

Changed in the Forever beta. Duskwood, roughly level 25-30 for the trip. Stalvan Mistmantle is familiar from a long Classic quest chain. The patch of land north of Darkshire now has another reason to draw your attention. A much larger, rather ominous manor has appeared nearby.

Head north from Darkshire toward the old house. The pin marks that familiar landmark. It isn't the exact location of the new instance portal. Clear any nearby undead before settling down to admire the architecture.

I'd visit even without a quest. This seems like a lot of house to leave as scenery.

There's a dungeon entry in the database, and beta players found a portal. That doesn't mean the dungeon will be playable at launch. We'll add bosses, loot, and entry details once there's something solid to work with.

Classic. Hillsbrad Foothills, around level 25-30. Rogues usually hear about Ravenholdt through class quests. Everyone else can spend ages running through Hillsbrad without noticing the path to the estate.

Look north of Durnholde Keep for the narrow uphill trail near 75.4, 24.3. It winds up the slope and reaches a short cave. Walk through, then follow the path to the manor.

You don't need to be a Rogue to visit. Leave the chest in the passage alone, though. In Classic it's part of a Rogue trial, with an unpleasant surprise for the curious.

The maps can be confusing here. Hillsbrad is the useful map for finding the approach, while estate NPCs may show up under Alterac Mountains. Trying to reach their pins straight across the ridge won't help.

Classic. Arathi Highlands, around level 35-40. Beyond the fortress is a small cove with a ship, a dock, and its own quest givers. You won't see much of it from the main road.

Go around the outside of Stromgarde's walls and look for a passage through the rocks on the southern side. The short tunnel leads to the shore. Our pin marks the camp near Shakes O'Breen, so don't mistake it for the tunnel entrance.

Swam in? You don't have to swim all the way back. Find the passage from the cove and walk out onto dry land.

Watch your reputation here. If you've made enemies of the Steamwheedle Cartel, check NPC name colors before walking into camp. Exploring the wrecks offshore is a separate job, and there are mobs underwater.

Classic. The Arathi-Wetlands border, with an Alliance quest available at level 25. Most players run straight across the bridge. Below it lies a dwarf's body trapped beneath rubble, with Waterlogged Letter nearby.

Reach the water and dive toward the marker. These coordinates use the Arathi Highlands map. Look beside the body and the rock for a small letter, rather than a large chest.

The discovery starts Sully Balloo's Letter. Take it to Sara Balloo (63.8; 67.6) in Ironforge. It's a small story about a soldier's family, and I'd take a moment to read it.

Don't leap off the bridge blindly. Find a way down to the water first, and keep an eye on your breath bar. Horde characters can see the location, but the quest chain is for Alliance.

Classic. Westfall, around level 15-20. Captain Grayson waits beside a lighthouse on a small island off the southwestern shore. He's easy to miss if your Westfall route runs straight from Sentinel Hill to the Deadmines.

Head down to the southwestern coast and swim the short gap to the island. Avoid the shore's murlocs or pull them one at a time. There's no need to jump off a cliff to save a few seconds.

The captain offers Alliance quests. Talk to him before clearing the beach if you want credit for those kills.

Even without a reward, the lighthouse makes a nice change after hours of fields and harvest golems.

Classic. Elwynn Forest, an easy early visit for Alliance. Donni Anthania lives in a separate little house north of Goldshire. The cats outside give the place away.

Leave the road between Goldshire and Northshire and head for the house at the pin. It's close enough to the Human starting route that you needn't wait for a mount.

She sells companion cats. They won't help with a pull, but you can leave with a new traveling companion if you've got the silver. Check your collection before buying a duplicate.

Retail videos sometimes bring people here for other secrets. Those steps don't automatically apply to Forever. For this visit, you're looking at the regular vendor. Horde characters are in enemy territory here.

Classic. The Barrens, roughly level 10-15 for the surroundings. A hill west of the Crossroads holds a small memorial with Koiter beside it. It honors Blizzard artist Michel Koiter, who died during WoW's development.

Head west from the Crossroads and look for a way up the hill. The pin follows the NPC's position in the Forever database. Retail's Northern Barrens uses a different map, so its coordinates won't match.

There's no promised buff or treasure chest here. Walk up to the memorial and have a look.

Of all these detours, this is probably the one most worth taking slowly.

Classic. Duskwood, reachable while leveling through the zone. A green clearing, an enormous tree, and a portal sit in the middle of a very dead-looking forest. After the graveyards around Darkshire, the change is striking.

Look for the passage north from the main road into the central grove. The pin marks the tree and portal area. You can admire it without stepping into anything.

Classic's Dragons of Nightmare could spawn here. The level of ordinary Duskwood mobs tells you very little about the safety of that clearing. See a huge dragon with a skull for its level? Give it room.

We'll check how Forever uses the site after launch. Season of Discovery's events and runes aren't something you should expect here by default.

Classic. Arathi Highlands, around level 38-40. East of Hammerfall, a kobold-filled gorge leads into the mountains. The cave beyond it is part of The Princess Trapped.

Approach the gorge from southeast of the settlement, then head uphill toward the cave. The map marks its entrance. Inside, follow the upper passages toward the crystal without dropping down after every mob you spot.

Pick up the quest before going in if you want its drops. Clearing the place first is a good way to earn yourself a second trip.

The quest's minimum level doesn't make the cave comfortable. Packs are close together, and some mobs cast spells. Bring someone along or return a little later, when an extra pull won't send you straight to the graveyard.

Classic mechanic, awaiting a Forever launch check. Feralas, around level 45-50 for the journey. Those two towering rocks look like background scenery. In Classic there's a proper way up one of them, with no climbing tricks needed.

Find Marli Wishrunner at the base in northern Feralas. This NPC sends you to the top in Classic. The pin marks where to ask for the ride, not where you'll arrive.

Up top, Kalin Windflight sells a parachute for the descent. Read the item's tooltip and put it on your bar before jumping. The Classic item expires, and its effect has a limited duration too. Using it immediately after leaving the summit can end badly.

Until the lift and parachute have been checked in Forever, I'd hearth back. A good view isn't worth an awkward corpse run under a cliff.

Classic. Azshara, around level 50 or higher. Loramus Thalipedes lives on an island off the southern coast. A demon hunter in old Azeroth, long before you could choose the class yourself.

Reach Azshara's southern shore, then swim toward the marked island. Stay near shallow water where you can. If the fatigue bar appears, you're heading too far out to sea.

Loramus belongs to a long quest chain that starts outside Azshara. If he doesn't offer the whole story when you arrive, you may be missing earlier steps.

I'd work this into a trip around the zone. Don't swim over expecting an instant rare reward. The quests take work, but meeting the island's unusual resident is a good reason to stop.

Classic. Stranglethorn Vale, around level 50. Princess Poobah is stranded on an island southeast of Booty Bay. A message in a bottle leads into her story, which involves rather more gorilla trouble than your average quest camp.

Swim over from the eastern shore of southern Stranglethorn. The pin marks the prisoner. Don't assume the island is empty just because it looks clear from the water. Some of the cats are stealthed.

In Classic, the chain starts with a bottled message on the coast. Find it and accept the quest first if you're here to follow the story. Otherwise, the NPC may have no follow-up for you.

Save the big gorilla fight until you're ready. A sightseeing trip and a high-level solo quest aren't quite the same plan. We'll check the full chain in Forever after release.

Classic. Un'Goro Crater, around level 50-55. A Wrecked Raft lies beside a small pool. It's easy to overlook when you're watching for dinosaurs, but it starts a lengthy story with some familiar Zelda references.

Look in the southeastern part of the crater. Once you've taken the first quest, check the water close to the bank for the next object. You don't need to cross the whole zone yet.

The opening quest is It's a Secret to Everybody. The route gets much longer after this, so leave space in your log and a little more than five minutes in your evening.

Our pin marks the raft itself. Large mobs still patrol the area. Step away from their path before reading through the quest text.

Classic. Silithus, best left until close to level 60. Hermit Ortell hides in a cave in the southeast. He's away from the main camp, with his own part in the Twilight's Hammer story.

Travel southeast from Cenarion Hold toward the mountains. The marker is the hermit's position inside the cave. Look for an entrance at the base, rather than trying to reach the pin from above.

A Classic quest chain from Cenarion Hold leads here. You can visit before doing it, but check the prerequisites if you're expecting quests. Finding an NPC doesn't unlock all their dialogue.

I'd leave this stop for last. Silithus is a rough place for a level 30 tourist, and its high-level chains still need checking in Forever. We'll update the entry if the cave gets a new story.