It is a massive zone that is underwater and is an absolutely unique experience. I remember people hating on it during Cata but I really didn’t understand why
You get access to it at lvl30 (Cata expansion) and I highly recommend it. It may not be the fastest way to get to 50 but honestly what else is there to do in the game??
edit: forgot to say you get an underwater mount really early into the zone
edit x 2: I also forgot to say Vashj’ir is MASSIVE and is more like a continent than a zone (has 3 different zones) so chances are you will probably level 30-50 within this continent. If you want to know where it is it is directly left of Dun Morogh
was never a fan of this zone I know a few players love it but not me so not a fan of deep water LoL but I did do the whole zone and you are right
It so different that any other zone
on a side note there is also a rare out there that drops a sea horse mount
I absolutely love it. It’s arguably the most unique zone in the game. Would I want even a majority of zones in the game incorporate the z-axis into combat, like Vashj’ir does? No. But having one zone from an expansion many years ago is awesome. I was quite sad when they scrapped the Throne of the Tides raid they talked about, due to the complaining of the zone.
That’s where I just leveled a character. I still go there because I’m still hoping to get the mount from Poseidus. I doubt that I ever will, tho. That is one I hope they put in BMAH.
I went there on this character for a bit but the general absurdity of literally being on fire in the depths of the ocean made me go Deepholme instead. I don’t recommend Deepholme until you can fly, after that it’s probably my favorite zone. Appeals to the same part of me that likes gnomes and dwarves.
Cata is actually great for leveling if you do better with linear questing. I recommend it to people new to the game because it’s a pretty straightforward path in each zone and you’re less likely to lose track of your quest chains.
(Plus you need to quest there to open some portals and flight paths that you may want to use later.)
Vashj’ir is only good if you’re a druid. Because for some reason aquatic form with the zone buff makes you move uncontrollably fast. Otherwise I can’t stand that zone because you move soooo slooooooow
You are able to switch expansions as you go, picking and choosing which zones to play in. You can go to Vashj’ir and if you don’t like it switch to a different expansion and continue on with your journey
Vashjir can be a “nightmare” for players who don’t do well playing in 3 dimensions on a 2 dimensional screen. Otherwise it’s a very nice zone.
It can be frustrating to be constantly confused as to whether you’re actually facing your target. You don’t have ground shadows or anything like that to orient you. You’ll know pretty quickly whether that’s an issue for you when you get there.
Man, I think Cata gave us some of the best questing zones ever. Uldum is my all-time favorite. How can you not love those Harrison Jones quests? And that one Goblin with a German accent, I forgot his name. The whole place is great.
Vash’jir was a good time back in Cata. I wouldn’t want the whole game to be like it without some better swimming mechanics, but I definitely enjoyed playing through that zone.
Makes you realize that Blizzard used to try new and different things with their zone design. In some ways, Vash’jir was a spiritual successor to zones like Storm Peaks where you simply couldn’t advance unless you could fly, because the zone was designed to be like that. These days, the zones are all the same, running up and down paths that make you go back and forth across terrain until, a year later, Pathfinder finally allows you to tell the zone to frag off. The art team still makes the zones very pretty and visually distinctive, but the actual design of the zones has gotten lazy.