Secrets of the Stonetalon Mountains | World of Warcraft

Happy Friday, everybody! Today, we venture south of Ashenvale into the rugged terrain of the Stonetalon Mountains. All is not as it seems, however, as there are many more hidden details here than first meet the eye! Join us, friend, for a journey through this mostly-forgotten zone!
Video Footage:
- Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft (2004-)
- Some images retrieved from Google Images and WoWpedia
Background Music:
- "The Barrens" from the WoW OST
#worldofwarcraft #classicwow #seasonofdiscovery
Outro Music:
- "Watch Me (Live)" by Greta Van Fleet
Jediwarlock 2023

[@mast3734]

I will never be able to think of the Stonetalon Mountains without thinking of the "WoW's darkest secret" video

[@MichZilla90]

Yep same

[@hezerd6780]

sameeeeeeeeeee

[@simonf.8271]

Blizzard should embrace the Krond the Butcher villain arc :D

[@thewearyexile9000]

True af. That video tricked me furshore.

[@Jediwarlock]

Haha, I'm so glad people remembered that video!! :)

[@AlexeyFilippenkoPlummet]

On a private Classic+ server Turtle WoW, Venture Co. retreat is used as a fully developed starting zone for the goblin race. You start as a Venture Co. mercenary, but later you escape on a flying machine and join the Horde - something reminiscent of the deathknight WoTLK plot. So if anyone wants to play through this zone, it's very much possible.

[@DIEGhostfish]

Yep, saw someone's play it, it looked great. Also had spooky ghosts further scare you off.

[@Jediwarlock]

That is super cool!! I did not know about that before today :)

[@Drakkona123]

That was actually removed, not sure what the area is now. Goblins start on an island now just like in retail.

[@DIEGhostfish]

@@Drakkona123 Oh that's kinda sad but I also now need to see the new island start.

[@Llama_lolz]

Now replaced/updated with an entirely new starting zone off the coast of Durotar. 100% recommend

[@danieliliev1028]

Ah, yes, the SoCal lady killer

[@Jediwarlock]

It's his hideout for sure :D

[@tbcgbvcb]

I'm here to see how many people look up the video to find out

[@austinhancock8204]

That nailed plank to the directional post reading "The Charred Vale" is such a cool, intentional detail.

[@Jediwarlock]

I agree! :D

[@allisonseamiller]

Video idea: Graveyards of Azeroth. Mechanically they're just places to rez, but if there rhyme and reason to their placement from a lore perspective? Do they have lore or history? Or are they just random and purely mechanical.

[@fernandovilla902]

I like that!

[@PandoricaLost]

Love this idea also!

[@alchemyty]

He could go a step further and talk about some of the graveyard resurrection npcs and their history of why they're there... if there is any lore on stuff like that.

[@KevinArcade87]

Also in a lot of locations mostly villages and cities but also some quest areas with belltower whenever the ingame time goes into the next hour you will hear a bell or horn.. or something similar sound there's different ones all around the world.. has anyone ever mapped these locations and all the sounds?

[@GadgetronInc]

I do like the variation of them. Where for instance at Light's Hope chapel, the graveyard is simply a pit for burning corpses to prevent necromancy reanimation.

[@LoveFactoryParties]

Dude as IF after 20 years of being a fairly seasoned vanilla cut content/exploration nerd I'm learning something totally new. I had no idea about the Venture Co Retreat area, this is so awesome! Great video mate!

[@KevinArcade87]

Same 😂 I'm so into wow exploration yet in Classic and even now I discovered new locations

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you! There's always something new you can learn about WoW even after all these years! ;)

[@lhfirex]

One thing I remember from the WOW beta is that Stonetalon got a redesign. Early on it was basically the camp at Malaka'jin for the Horde, and almost a straight line from there up to the north with branching paths to the Venture Co. Logging area, the Kobold mine (I forget the name of it, but specifically the one with tons of kobolds in it, not the Venture Co. mine near the logging area), the two Alliance NPCs, the path to Stonetalon Peak, and the Charred Vale + road to Desolace. Webwinder Path was marked on the map, but there was no Shishir Canyon full of spiders, and no Sun Rock Retreat. Or at least IIRC, not the little camp/town you can visit in Classic. There might have been a flight path but that's about all I can think of. I remember the kobold caves/mines area was where Shishir Canyon is in Classic now, and I don't remember anything being where they relocated the kobold caves/mines to. Old Stonetalon would be in one of the earlier Beta builds of the game, if those files are around somewhere, and I'm sure I don't have this zone's old format exactly right. But the only reason it even sticks in my mind is, before the redesign, they had a brief bug where Webwinder Path's discovery tag accidentally gave gold instead of XP like all the other POIs in zones. So a bunch of people walking into the area suddenly heard the coin looting sound and saw they had like ~200g out of nowhere. It was obviously a work in progress zone now that I think about it, especially with how they DID have Braelyn Firehand (if I have her name right) to give you the quest chain that leads up to The Den for Horde players and still had the Barrens quests that lead you to the zone at Crossroads and Ratchet, that are still in Classic today: getting spider eggs, checking in on the goblin guy, killing Venture Co. guys and then the shredders, Gerenzo Wrenchwhistle, etc. But it was kinda wild to see how it got transformed later in beta when they wanted to add Shishir Canyon and the Horde town up at Sun Rock Retreat. Most of the other unfinished zones were locked away until they were ready to fully implement their quests, mobs and NPCs, but Stonetalon was open when they started beta (it had a level cap of 35 when I got in).

[@Jediwarlock]

That's so cool! Thank you for all that info on the early days. :)

[@SeriousFroglet]

turtle wow has expanded the zone and made those areas accessible, with new quests

[@Jediwarlock]

I'm so glad you mentioned that!! That is good to hear... Turtle WoW is doing great things! :)

[@benellis8844]

Just randomly got this vid as recommended. 100% gold. Great editing and interesting stuff not many are doing. Looking forward to binging the other videos lol. I hope SoD blows your channel up!

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks so much!! Welcome to the Jedi Order :D

[@rubbezahl3762]

This place was added on Turtle WoW with full quests, Horde base and starting zone for goblins and even a way that connects to the port.

[@DIEGhostfish]

To the port? You go back there and it has a port?

[@Jediwarlock]

That's very cool! Turtle WoW is doing awesome stuff. :)

[@simonredcsgo]

Ive never been there as horde but there are a few quests for alliance too there. its a good addition

[@balobaev]

@@DIEGhostfish the port is located in the custom subzone called Blacksand Oil Fields

[@Specuh]

Stonetalon mountains had such an important role in wc3 I'm suprised it didn't get a raid or a dungeon back in vanilla.

[@DIEGhostfish]

It was going to have "Stonetalon Peak" after all😊

[@hylje]

WC3 had a bona fide dungeon mission (the first such of the campaign sequence… out of 5?) at Stonetalon Peak proper. Does it even have a closed off entrance in the terrain? It was a place where Medivh hung out so it could even have been added in a later Medivh-adjacent expansion storyline.

[@Jediwarlock]

I agree! The Oracle Cave/barrow den would have been a great place to make larger (like Jaedenar size) or make it into a full dungeon. :)

[@DIEGhostfish]

@Jediwarlock Barrow dens are too small and miserable for a real elite dungeon.

[@tylerbenjamin328]

I LOVE hidden passages in WoW. I'm finding there are a lot of hidden pathways between zones that connect them. Pretty cool. 💖

[@Jediwarlock]

Yes, secret tunnels!! :D or paths too haha

[@PeonLfg]

I think the abandoned camp in the north of the charred vale is a reference to the orc campaign of warcraft 3 RoC when Cairne and Thrall travel to the cave to meet the Oracle. The Harpy Queen of the Vale is even killed in said mission by Thrall and his troops. Most certainly the Venture Co. came at a later point.

[@zyella277]

they did use zeppelins from some goblins, so couldve been some of first venture co there

[@Jediwarlock]

That's a good idea! It could have definitely been that area as well. :)

[@CarlosCanelaCinn]

now we know where the Socal Lady killer hides

[@Jediwarlock]

Exactly! XD

[@saramauritsson1814]

(in classic) if i remmember correctly that it is in stonetalon, you can use eagle eye as a hunter up on the highest mountain tips there and it has the word HELP on both of them:) found it by acident

[@Jediwarlock]

That's cool! I'll have to investigate ;)

[@bisalissy3846]

There's also the final quest of the Alliance that has you go to Feralas and ask the Wisps to revitalize the Charred Vale. Anyway, I believe the Stonetalon Story is pretty good already and other Zones, like Azshara or Tanaris, need more attention. But I really love Stonetalon for it's beauty and diversity, so I'd take a good expansion of it any day! It's such a shame they messed it up in Cataclysm. I hope there will be more good zone / quest expansions (like Dustwallow Marsh from TBC) in Season of Discovery!

[@Jediwarlock]

I agree... SoD here we come!! :D

[@kalsizzle]

Thats a really cool detail with the signpost I never noticed

[@Jediwarlock]

Right?? Crazy the level of detail they put into some of these things. :)

[@Garouwerks]

The small camp you showed is interesting. I never knew what was going on in the Stonetalon. So this was a huge help. I, as you said, never return there. I only ever went back to find a pet option for my Hunter. So learning all the Lore was really cool, interesting, learning, Neat! lol. Thank you Jedi.

[@Jediwarlock]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! There are a lot of cool little details in this zone :)

[@paulanton2450]

So many memories from back in OG Vanilla, PVPing in my level 30s/40s.

[@Jediwarlock]

It's definitely a PvP heavy zone! :D

[@MarcosGonzalezGPZ]

I love these types of videos. There's one unuse cave at the enter of the road to Charred Vale which seems like it could have been use for something related. I've always liked secret shortcuts between zones, especially the two in Stonetalon that you mention, it reminds me of the ""secret"" hinterlands/western plaguelands shorcut.

[@Jediwarlock]

Yes! I'm guessing that small cave on the road could have once been used for some sort of shaman/ritual questline since I believe there are one or two other caves in the zone that don't serve a purpose either ;)

[@basti7771]

Wow the goblin-valley is the starting zones for goblins in turtle wow :)

[@Jediwarlock]

That's awesome! I did not know that before today. :)

[@filipbergendahl3450]

On the turtle wow servers they expanded stonetalon just like you said, added a quest hub at Venture Co retreat and took the story a bit further.

[@Jediwarlock]

That's so cool! I'm glad Turtle WoW found out about it and decided to use it. :)

[@Donnirononon]

Always loved to quest in this zone and to farm the spiders for hours and sometimes even days

[@Jediwarlock]

It's peaceful :)

[@PandoricaLost]

Those darn harpies 😆 I love questing in Stonetalon, tho. I know it's temp, but you sound a lot clearer with this setup. 😊

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you! :)

[@Azmina_the_warlock]

Great video! Despite classic ST being relatively lacking quest-wise, i always found its still a pretty interesting environment. With the cartel tearing up trees on one side. The harpies and elementals burnt up the other side and the night elven area at the far north all plush and green. The way it was setup with the mountains blocking many views, it gave you a feeling of not being sure what to expect when you came around them

[@Jediwarlock]

It's true! I like the Classic version of it quite a bit :)

[@IgorEngelen1974]

been there plenty of times now. love the ambient music!

[@Jediwarlock]

It's a zone with great ambience/environment ;)

[@syntaxed2]

ST is wellknown for horde players as one enters at quite low level and usually running into higher level alliance.

[@Jediwarlock]

Ooh yes, good point! Better watch out on PvP servers! :o

[@monocerotis6917]

I hope they give the dead zones more life in Seasons like - "Deadwind pass"?? or Moonglade! I hope they adding more quest to Winterspring!

[@Jediwarlock]

I agree! I think Winterspring has a great opportunity to get more quests if they introduce Hyjal in SoD since it's basically the doorstep of Mount Hyjal already! :)

[@KevinArcade87]

On 0.5.5.3494 (Alpha) there is a bunch of structures visible on the map at the Venture Co Retreat area. Where the Horde base is used to be an island

[@Jediwarlock]

That is cool! I did not know about that. :)

[@cytoid7062]

I honestly think they might've stopped development on that area once they realized they've basically telling the same story as with Ashenvale with the Warsong vs. Sentinels, and they focused on that instead with us getting the battleground and reputation. I wish we could've gotten a Stonetalon World PvP focused area, but maybe we will in Season of Discovery, they're just doing Ashenvale first.

[@Jediwarlock]

That is a good point! Ashenvale will definitely be the main hub in Part 1 of SoD... I'm curious to see where they go next!

[@balobaev]

3:40 I believe this area is where Amani'Alor is located on Turtle WoW. (It is a Revantusk troll settlement)

[@Jediwarlock]

I haven't been on Turtle WoW before but that sounds legit! :)

[@balobaev]

@@Jediwarlock you should try TWoW, it's infinitely more interesting than SoD

[@Siganaga]

Venture Co must have great benefits for how much they send people to their deaths and still have a healthy amount of employees.

[@Jediwarlock]

It's true! In the lore it's stated that the Venture Co. pulls some of the greatest scientists from the other goblin cartels... something must be bringing them there! XD

[@TheCheezusCrust]

many of these places hidden away are just meant for flightpaths to not be so dull

[@afterwalker6773]

I love speculative videos about unfinished content like this and I'm subscribing in the hopes that you will make more.

[@Jediwarlock]

I will definitely make some more in the future! :)

[@saroxasylum]

Great video Master!

[@Jediwarlock]

You are welcome! :D

[@General12th]

Hi Jedi! I love these videos. They offer so much insight into cut content and what could be made in Classic+ or WoW 2.

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks! I definitely think it could be a possibility for Season of Discovery :)

[@GamerClint-z3u]

Nice video 😊

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you! :)

[@sordschie3944]

I loved to roam this region with my young orc shaman, aaaah great times. And a fittingly great video 😎

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you! :)

[@DrahcirC3]

Very good video, want more like these

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you! I'll definitely make more in the future. ;)

[@artjomraznjak8388]

Thank you!

[@Jediwarlock]

You are welcome! :)

[@jotuls5579]

This is the place Turtle WoW made the Goblin starting zone isn't it?

[@Jediwarlock]

That is what people have been telling me! It's cool they ended up using this place. :)

[@cavetroll666]

such a mysterious zone

[@Jediwarlock]

Agreed! :)

[@The_Potionist]

Beware of Krond, some are saying he's a maniac! 😅

[@Jediwarlock]

I'll watch out! :o

[@simpack27]

Really interesting. Ty for that

[@Jediwarlock]

You are welcome! :D

[@EdgedShadow]

It seems odd there wasn't a dungeon or raid dealing with the Oracle's Cave from WC3, where Thrall and Jaina first met.

[@Jediwarlock]

I agree! I think instead of the stock druid area we got in-game, it could have easily been made into a Jaedenar-sized area or even its own dungeon/raid like you say :)

[@l.matthewblancett8031]

so much space to use in classic azeroth lands - always wonder why they dont use these kinds of spaces for xpac content

[@Jediwarlock]

Very good question! Maybe they will in SoD :)

[@MrDonu7]

turtle wow is incredible, check it out, especially STM. The more I learn the more changes there make sense!

[@Jediwarlock]

I'm very tempted to! :)

[@DesTries]

Okay what's with the turkey placed into the charred vale lol

[@Jediwarlock]

Just a little Thanksgiving reference XD

[@m0tv1nd]

4:05 Whats up with the giant turkey?

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanksgiving in America was last week ;)

[@beachmaster3486]

I never knew about that secret trail

[@Jediwarlock]

Me neither! It's hidden in plain sight! XD

[@erejnion]

I'd love a Venture Co themed dungeon there.

[@Jediwarlock]

That would be cool! Maybe the goblins delving into the side of Stonetalon Peak and running into the barrow dens from Warcraft III where Jaina and Thrall met! :D

[@HaroldMinion]

I wonder how this zone looked in alpha, if there indeed was some content cut close to the finish line!

[@Jediwarlock]

Yeah, it would be interesting to explore!! :)

[@Shokisan1]

Awesome

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks! :)

[@Chocoboranger]

I hate how Cata ruined this zone.. among most of the old world zones.. But this palce was a special place and its just a shadow of what it once was just to make room for memes.

[@Jediwarlock]

Yeah! Cata hindered more zones than it helped in my opinion.

[@Blackread]

Never played horde, but the vanilla town is pretty broken in Classic. There's an empty house that has such bad occlusion that no matter how you position yourself the camera will glitch out and the building disappears. The whole area feels very unfinished.

[@Jediwarlock]

I agree! There is definitely room for additions here.

[@Ilikefinalfantasy795]

you produce good content, cant wait for you to get to 20k subs. would you do a video on the ironforge airport and the throne room under the city?

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks so much!! That would be a fun video... two of the greatest "secret" spots in Classic! :D

[@antoniodiaz4791]

Chek out what Turtle WoW made in this area, a whole new experience.

[@Jediwarlock]

I reallllly want to check it out! :)

[@romanrussu3403]

Actually, player can get there, you just need to jump in the right place. It's also really easy

[@Jediwarlock]

I need more practice haha, that's cool that it is accessible to players! :)

[@xxmiami]

I actually mapped them out and its a very odd symbol.

[@Jediwarlock]

What did you map out?

[@Wayclarke]

I think the goblins were innocent. Maybe it was just a spa retreat.

[@Jediwarlock]

Of course! They are the most misunderstood after all.

[@seankiernan7327]

4:04 wtf is that thing on the right

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanksgiving Turkey XD

[@jamal_rahman]

love the video but please get a pop filter for your mic 😅

[@Jediwarlock]

Hopefully my next vid is better... I didn't have the filter on my setup during holiday. :)

[@dang_doyle]

Stonertalon, and Deadwand Pass are easily the Most forgettable zones in vanilla

[@Jediwarlock]

Agreed! Classic+ has the chance to make both of those more relevant ;)

[@Dreadpigmelee]

i had no idea about this

[@Jediwarlock]

I'm glad I could show you something new! :D

[@lorewalkercho7291]

i know classic content pre cata is your bread and butter but i was wondering if you'd ever make videos exploring the ocean around legion's broken isles? theyre really cool and ive always wanted to but it would take so long

[@Jediwarlock]

Ah, more Azeroth's Deep Dives!! A lot of people have been asking... maybe I'll check out retail someday ;)

[@squizill]

It was designed by Krond 😢

[@Jediwarlock]

Ah yes, I am familiar with that!

[@sebastianponzo89]

So Cal, were you a lady killer?

[@Jediwarlock]

Haha, I'm so glad people remember that video! XD

[@powernerdpro2064]

Use a pop filter pls :>

[@Jediwarlock]

This was recorded on my temporary setup so hopefully today's video sounds a little better! :)

[@powernerdpro2064]

@@Jediwarlock ok thx =)

[@asswipe4673]

I’ve been playing this game for most of my life and I thought I knew absolutely everything there was to know, down to every quest and secret and bit of cut content. I had never heard of the Venture Co. Retreat before. I love this obscure stuff, please keep em coming :)

[@Jediwarlock]

More on the way! My motto is that you can learn something new about WoW everyday if you explore hard enough ;)

[@YoureSoCreezy]

you can never know everything about this game. its too vast. heck i knew about the venture co retreat but didnt know about those small paths connecting sunrock retreat to the charred vale

[@IvyTinwe]

The Venture Co. Retreat is used as the Goblin starter zone in Turtle WoW! Didn't know that it was a leftover of an abandoned storyline. I wish there was more information about what was dropped (and why), if they just lost interest or ran out of time..

[@Shokisan1]

That's awesome

[@Jediwarlock]

Very cool! I did not know about the Turtle WoW zone! :)

[@ChanchoWins]

Stonetalon Mountain is missing a lot considering it had a dedicated mission in Warcraft III. Medivh met with Jaina and Thrall at a cave at the very top of Stonetalon Mountain, a section wich was held by humans who decimated the forest area around the peak. In the mission you need to push thourgh the skies as Thrall's forces. The area is also revisited in the extra campaign.

[@DIEGhostfish]

TWO surface missions and thr Medivh dungeon.

[@Jediwarlock]

I agree! They could have easily added more to this zone based on the WC3 lore... maybe even a dungeon or Jaedenar-sized area for the Oracle Cave/barrow den instead of just the stock druid area we got in-game. :)

[@ChanchoWins]

that's right@@Jediwarlock

[@ChanchoWins]

LOL @@DIEGhostfish

[@maruraba1478]

i love stonetalon, it is my fav zone by far. its just so great. sunrock retreat has a few "secrets" too and the waterfall venture co area. also some really cool areas like the grove in the north or the charred vale. cata did add some cool stuff to the zone, but overall it just screwed it all up

[@Jediwarlock]

I agree! Post-Cataclysm I feel like there was Way Too Much stuff added onto the map and it got way too convoluted! The Classic zone had that lonely charm to it. :)

[@Clockwork_Enby]

Fun fact; until very recently, the venture co retreat was the starting zone for goblin players on turtle wow

[@Jediwarlock]

That is so neat!! :)

[@DIEGhostfish]

I wish stonetalon kept some ruins of the old human buildings Grom and Thrall destroyed, maybe some quilboar areas too since they were creeps there.

[@Jediwarlock]

I agree there is definitely room to add more! You have some good ideas. :)

[@balobaev]

On Turtle WoW there is a quilboar area called Bramblethorn Pass

[@DIEGhostfish]

@@balobaev Oh cool! I remember reading an idea about quilboar vines running through old alliance ruins to combine my ideas, but I'm glad they're in.

[@balobaev]

@@DIEGhostfish Turtle also added to Stonetalon a dwarven settlement Bael Hardul (which is probably a remnant of Alliance expedition from WarCraft III), new Venture Company-themed subzone named Blacksand Oil Fields and Horde-aligned goblin base called Powder Town

[@KevinArcade87]

There's also a large textured area in between Desolace and Feralas. Directly north of Dire Maul

[@Jediwarlock]

I'll have to check it out! :D

Lack of quests? Horde had more than enough

[@Jediwarlock]

Good point, I suppose specifically I was meaning on the Alliance side... besides that one Charred Vale questline and a couple of fetch quests coming from WAY far away, there's not a lot going on for them here.

[@eddoukos262]

Wow just wow

[@Jediwarlock]

:)

[@DualityOttawa]

Hey man, great video as always. Keep em coming!

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks so much! More on the way! :)

[@DrZheng-ii1zd]

The Socal lady killer?

[@Jediwarlock]

Haha, I'm glad people remember that video! Such a great hoax XD

[@lilfur]

Hmm... is this venture co area still in place after the events of cataclysm? I'd check myself but i'm currently elbows deep in work while i listen, hahah

[@Jediwarlock]

I don't believe so... from the Cataclysm map it looks like the Thal'darah Overlook takes its place on approach to the Charred Vale... there could be other hidden secrets on the western slopes though! :)

[@iug1925]

I have no idea why this zone is one of my favourite. It's very peaceful, I simply love questing there.

[@Jediwarlock]

It's very calm and unique in terms of atmosphere :)

[@iug1925]

@@Jediwarlock yeah and it might sound a bit weird but I think, of all the classic zones, this one really aged well.