Did you pack well enough for the cold? Allie gave great advice on some basic things we need while we’re in Northrend, like food and other consumables. Depending on your level of progression or gear, your approach to questing or leveling out here will vary quite a bit. For well-geared players, it’ll be a breeze to go through most of the zones as gear of item level 146 and beyond (Tier 6 / Season 3) will last a fair bit past Level 75 or so.

While the bare attributes on those items such as Intellect or Strength will often be superior to most quest rewards, other statistics will begin to fall behind such as Hit, Crit, or even Haste as we level and the ratings we need for those to scale become bigger. Here is where lesser geared players get a bit of a helping hand. The plate greens of Northrend, as well as the occasional blues are loaded with Hit, Haste, and other important stats. If you’re going to Northrend dressed in blues or even item level 120-123 epics, you’ll be able to quickly replace pieces that have scale appropriately with your level. In the end, it will all even out.

The gear you have now, as in right now, that’s all you’ll need to be in Northrend. There’s no need to look for upgrades, no need to spend Badges of Justice or Honor, and no need to even do anything. Just go into Northrend, quest (or get BoE drops), and pick up what comes your way. To help you, here’s are some recommended rewards in the starting zones for players who aren’t very well geared yet.

RETRIBUTION / HASTE
Retribution Paladins looking to gear up through the starter zones should look into Howling Fjord, where there is a good assortment of Haste items. It’s going to be very tempting to stack up on haste, and if you’re merely picking up gear to level, then it isn’t such a bad stat to pursue. If you happen to be Level 68 or a fresh Level 70, the green rewards will be excellent leveling tools for you.

1. Runeplate Helm
If you’re a Horde player, this is a reward from Adding Injury to Insult, which is a mini-quest chain involving the Vrykul in Baleheim. The pre-requisites for the quest are Baleheim Must Burn! and Baleheim Body Count, which awards Scavenged Tirasian Plate. For the Alliance, the helm is a reward from Mission: Eternal Flame, which requires destroying some Plague Tanks around Halgrind.
2. Ramshorn-Inlaid Shoulders
Horde players get this at the end of a short quest chain right at Vengeance Landing. Test At Sea is a boming-type quest that leads from The New Plague, which also awards Antique Reinforced Legguards. Alliance players only get this after a relatively longer quest chain which involves riding a harpoon near Utgarde Keep. The quest It Goes to 11 is the only part of the chain that rewards gear.
3. Scavenged Tirasian Plate
As mentioned, the Horde get this rather easily from Baleheim Body Count. The Alliance, on the other hand, get this from Return to Valgarde, which is part of a longish quest chain and is the only quest from that chain with any gear rewards.
4. Onyx Grips
These melee DPS gloves are a reward from Stop The Ascension!, which is started by a random drop from the mobs in Skorn.
5. Antique Reinforced Legguards
Alliance need to complete a short quest chain for these plate legs. The quest, Anguish of Nifflevar, can actually be completed on the way to It Goes to 11. As mentioned, the Horde get this from The New Plague in Vengeance Landing.
6. Ghoul-Crushing Stompers
These boots are a reward from Bring Down Those Shields, with Alliance and Horde versions. This quest involves taking down crystals along the west coast of Howling Fjord, between the Apothecary Camp and Westguard Keep.
7. Featherweight Claymore
Horde players get this very easily from A Tailor-made Formula, just to the west of New Agamand. This is part of one of the more fun Horde quest chains in the zone. Alliance have the quest The Delicate Sound of Thunder, which is a pet-type exploration quest in the Baelgun Excavation Camp.

1. Mightstone Helm
The Alliance get this helm from a short quest chain from Valiance Keep in the Borean Tundra. The quest, the Hunt Is On, is the third part of a chain that will also give Mightstone Breastplate. The Horde must go through a longer quest chain culminating in Trophies of Gammoth, which should send players back to Warsong Hold after a brief sojourn out East.
2. Chilled Pauldrons
Off to the North of Borean Tundra is Fizzcrank Airstrip, where the Alliance get a quest chain that will reward Chilled Pauldrons midway with a quest called Re-Cursive. Horde players must go to the Taunka’le Village for a short quest to En’kilah called Neutralizing The Cauldrons.
3. Mightstone Breastplate
Horde players get Bury Those Cockroaches after a short quest right at the quarry outside Warsong Hold. As mentioned earlier, this is also one of the first rewards that Alliance players get right when they set foot at Valiance Keep.
4. Girdle of Ripped Space
This nicely named belt is an Alliance-only quest reward from Monitoring the Rift: Winterfin Cavern, the third part of a series. Horde players can take the Amberplate Waistguard from the quest Fallen Necropolis off to the North of Taunka’le Village. Alliance have the same reward from Might As Well Wipe Out the Scourge in the same area.
5. Amberplate Grips
Alliance players at the Fizzcrak Airstrip will have to go through a quest chain that involves looking through poop — Blizzard seems to enjoy making us do that — ending in Give Fizzcrank The News. On the other side of the zone, Horde players will clean up Fizzcrank’s mess with Cleaning Up The Pools from Taunka’le Village.
6. Mightstone Legplates
Just outside of Valiance Keep is a small nod to Westfall where players can get Repurposed Technology, the second part of a two-part series that will reward these fine pants. Horde players do a cool quest called Taken by the Scourge right outside Warsong Hold, a variant of Taken in the Night from Terokkar Forest. Players can sometimes get pretty strong ally NPCs when freeing from the webbing.
7. Moral Sabatons / Chilled Greaves
The Moral Sabatons are a reward from a D.E.H.T.A quest that teaches players the basics of the new vehicle system using a mammoth. If you can’t afford to buy the mammoth mount, then spend some time taking screenshots while doing this quest. Chilled Greaves are a reward from Deploy the Shake-n-Quake! for the Alliance and The Collapse for the Horde. Both quests are the last parts of a four-part quest chain from Fizzcrank Airstrip and Taunka’le Village, respectively.
8. Blubber Grinder
There are several choices of 2-handers from questing in the Borean Tundra (and even the Howling Fjord) that have identical 110.1 DPS, but the Alliance get a sweet mace from The Tides Turn. Horde players will do fine with a 2-handed sword from Cutting Off the Source, part of a quest chain in Warsong Hold.

PROTECTION
The best place for Protection Paladins to get relatively good gear upgrades is from Borean Tundra, where a good number of plate drops have high Stamina. Some of this gear also has crit, which works well with the new DPS-oriented mechanic of tanking. Furthermore, more Stamina on those items works hand-in-hand with Touched by the Light.

1. Amberplate Headguard
The Amberplate items in Borean Tundra have incredibly high Stamina. Take the helm, for example, which has 80 Stamina. Alliance players can get this helm from the quest Back to the Airstrip, from a Gnome East of Fizzcrank’s Airstrip. Around the same area, a Tauren will send Horde players to Return with the Bad News to Taunka’le Village as the last part of a short series.
2. Chilled Shoulderplates
The Chilled Shoulderplates are the the highest Stamina shoulder rewards from the Borean Tundra. Horde players can get this from Stop the Plague, given by the same Tauren with the quest above, and also part of a series. Likewise, the Alliance equivalent is from the Gnome in the same area. The quest is called There’s Something Going On in Those Caves, which is the last part of a four-part chain.
3. Gorge’s Breastplate of Bloodrage
This 80 Stamina breastplate is a Horde-only quest reward from the extremely fun siege-tank quest called The Plains of Nasam. This will be one of players’ first forays into the new siege vehicle system of Wrath of the Lich King. Alliance players will have to make do with the lower Stamina, but higher Strength and Crit Mightstone Breastplate from Enemies of the Light from Valiance Keep.
4. Bogstrok Plate Gloves
A nice piece of armor with expertise, these gloves come from a neutral quest giver King Mrgl-Mrgl, a Night Elf in a Murloc Suit. You know, the one from last year’s BlizzCon. The quest, called Surrender… Not!, will let you experience the thrill of being in a Murloc suit. I mean, you’ve always wanted to wear one, right?
5. Amberplate Waistguard
This belt has a good mix of Stamina and Expertise. Sage Highmesa, the Tauren who gives the quests that reward items 1 and 2, also gives the quest for this belt, called Fallen Necropolis. The Alliance equivalent has the same Gnome for items 1 and 2 giving a quest called Might As Well Wipe Out the Scourge.
6. Amberplate Legguards
Another 80 Stamina item, these legplates are a reward from the Depeche Mode-inspired Master and Servant quest for the Alliance in Fizzcrank’s Airstrip. The Horde get this from Bor’gorok Outpost, where they can perfom the quest Revenge Upon Magmoth.
7. Moral Sabatons
These are rewards from a fun D.E.H.T.A. siege-vehicle introductory quest called Kaw the Mammoth Destroyer where players will ride a mammoth.
8. Rod of Poacher Punishment
While there are a good number of one-hander weapons in Borean Tundra, this one stood out for me in particular because of the speed of the weapon. It’s a 1.6 speed mace with Haste and is on par with all other one-hander weapon rewards in terms of DPS. The fast speed also makes it ideal for the new and improved Reckoning.
9. Plainkeeper Blockade
It’s a toss up between this shield and the similarly Alliance-only Icechill Buckler, but I chose to go with this because we were building up a high Stamina set, anyway. This is a reward from Ned, Lord of Rhinos, a D.E.H.T.A quest that requires you to kill an animal. Those hypocrites. Unfortunately, Horde tanks must settle for a caster shield called The Borean Ward in the zone.

HOLY / CRIT
It’s slim pickings for Holy Paladins over at the Howling Fjord, where most quest reward plate have no Intellect and a smattering of different stats. On the other hand, the plate rewards from Borean Tundra are excellent leveling pieces because of the crit. This is great for Holy Paladins and the newly improved 6-second Holy Shock. Among other things, of course.

1. Seabone Heaume
I didn’t even know there was such as word as heaume, but it’s apparently how Inspector Clouseau would pronounce ‘helm’. Anyway, Horde players can get this quest from Garrosh’s Landing, through the quest called Burn in Effigy. Alliance get this as a reward from a corpse, who gives the quest The Late William Allerton.
2. Sinking Pauldrons
The Night Elf in a murloc suit King Mrgl-Mrgl gives the quest Oh Noes, the Tadpoles! to both factions, which is the start of a series. It’s an awesome quest that involves a lot of cute, baby murlocs.
3. Chestguard of Salved Wounds
Wendy Darren just outside of Valiance Keep will give the quest Take No Chances, which requires players to burn infected grain (the Horde at Vengeance Landing have to burn corpses…). Horde players can get this from a quest chain ending with Vermin Extermination, just East of Warsong Hold.
4. Amberplate Grips
Strangely, there are no spell power plate gloves in the Borean Tundra, but thankfully crit and haste both work for attack and spell power, making these Strength gloves a moderate alternative if you don’t have better. Horde players get this from Cleaning Up the Pools in Taunka’le Village while Alliance players get it from the end of a quest chain, Give Fizzcrank the News.
5. Lost Crusader Waistguard
This crit and spell power plate belt is a reward from a quest called A Visit to the Curator, the last in a short chain from the Kalu’ak.
6. Benign Crusader’s Plate
These Horde-only plate pants are a reward from the very first part of a short series of quests North of Warsong Hold. The quest, Foolish Endeavors, has players fighting alongside Saurfang himself. So let him do all the work. Alliance and Horde players can opt to get the Intellect-laden Plainwatcher Legplates, a reward from the D.E.H.T.A. quest The Culler Cometh.
7. Earthborn Greaves
This is a reward from the Horde-only quest Defeat the Gearmaster, where players will need to kill a Gnome that looks like Astro Boy gone wrong. Alliance players will have to miss out on the crit rating but get a good alternative with Mendicant’s Treads, a reward from It’s Time For Action, the middle quest of a moderately long series by Valiance Keep.
8. Medic’s Morning Star
As with weapon choices, there are several to choose from in Borean Tundra. However, the only other spell power weapon that Paladins can use has Spirit, so it’s probably better to still with the Intellect of Medic’s Morning Star. Horde players get this midway through a short series right at Warsong Hold, Cutting Off the Source. Alliance players also get this early on from a chain by killing Nerubians outside Valiance Keep in The Siege.
9. Borean Ward
The Borean Ward is a decent mix of crit and MP5, albeit not having any spell power whatsoever. This is a reward at the end of a short D.E.H.T.A. quest chain called The Nefarious Clam Master, part of the ‘master’ series of kill quests in Borean Tundra.