I recreated my first-ever WoW toon, Ylledon the Nelf Hunter, on Defias as HC-SF. Spent several hours leveling to 9.5, then made the ill-fated decision to enter the Barrow Den before getting my pet. Escaped several close calls, then finally died with quests almost complete, running from one respawn into another. Lesson learned: caves are scary.
Tried again, same character same name, a little bit wiser and more cautious. I earned my pet (Turquoise! The very same owl in very same spot I tamed 14 years ago), had best-available white armor and weapons, and cleared out that barrow den solo. Along with every other quest on Teldrassil. Off I went to explore Darkshore. Where I was promptly ganked by murlocs (I had forgotten over the years they jumped out from that corpse on the beach). By the time I realized how much danger I was in, it was too late to even run (I tried, it was too late).
What are the most common causes/places of death in WoW Hardcore? Any of them notorious?
The most common places to die are places with one entrance/exit or very few entrance exits / Enclosed spaces because running quickly disappears as an option as things spawn behind you as you work your way into a cave/building/up a tower/ etc.
The servers are actually named after Notorious places people die/or units people die to. Defias Pillager (Deadmines) and Skull Rock (Cave just outside Orgrimmar where people die all the time.) There are statistics on what kills people the most, and Defias pillagers and the Warlocks/Voidwalkers in Skull Rock are among the most deadly things in the game. Some more Notorious mobs are Son of Arugals in Silverpine and Snagglespear in Mulgore.
The creatures that have killed the most people are (in order from deadliest to less deadly:
Voidwalker Minion (Skull Rock)
Defias Trapper
Defias Pillager
Kobold Miner
Harvest Watcher
Son of Arugal
The vast majority of HC deaths happen between level 5 and 20.
So I heard, after I died there.
2nd time I did it out of revenge, although tbh I was lvl 11 by then, with lvl 11 pet, and bis white gear (including armor patches on all my armor). So I was OP for it and just doing it out of spite lol.
The murlocs caught me off-guard, probably because it was 7am and I had been playing all night. There were none outside the corpse (someone else had recently cleared?) so I walked up and clicked the corpse thinking this was just info-gathering. Was suddenly in melee with multiple mobs and reacted too slow. And so it goes.
on the east side of loch modan theres a patrol of 3 elites. look out for those.
duskwood has stitches walking the main path from time to time, and around raven hill cemetary theres that elite guy that roams amongst the undead.
those have been commonly known to cause deaths.
i would also avoid the quest “Stranglethorn Fever”
theres also a quest in duskwallow just north up the shore of theramore isle where you need to kill murlocks and theres some passive large snapper turtles in the mix of shallow waters… those shallows tho are part of the route a elite lv 46 coral shark swim pattern… can 2 -3 hit most doing that quest
running the gauntlet from the Loch to Menethil Harbor, just did it level 14 today , I seen at least 20 corps on the road of tears, I made it with 1 close call from a lvl 22 croc.
Daring! I called myself playing it safe on my 2nd effort, avoiding places I wasn’t prepared for. I think I’d still be alive if I hadn’t played well past my bedtime. Haven’t decided what to do next. I still like the idea of re-creating my first ever WoW toon, but wondering how many times I can enjoy re-playing those same quests. Doing it first time in 14 years was wonderful and nostalgic. Doing it 2nd time felt focused and more efficient. 3rd time? 4th? Have not decided yet.
landed in Modan today , got about 20 yards from the flight master just to watch a lvl 22 warrior afk die from a level 12 bear, If I got there 2 seconds quicker I would have killed the bear for him, so even if you think you are safe , don’t afk out in the world.
Thinking it might be fun to play Classic HC the same way folks play D&D: meet at regular times, work in group, etc. Caves would be less scary if always in a group anyway.
Made another Ylledon, back to level 10, and re-tamed my buddy Turquoise (named for his pretty blue beak). Those murlocs on Darkshore won’t know what hit them!
This is my number one biggest problem. Since Im a working Dad, I need to learn not to push too hard too late, as this is the number one cause of my HC deaths.
I learned the hard way that even if mobs are lower level than you they are still deadly if you get multiple of them hitting you. Lost several characters that way.
Almost died at 14 this way. Was hunting rabid bears on Darkshore and got ambushed by a lvl 15 cat. Turquoise (my owl) was able to peel off the bear while I wing-clipped the cat and ran. Used a health potion and escaped with 20% health.
