Tol Barad

Tol Barad
Level 85 PvP
Tol Barad loading screen
Affiliation	Contested
Location	Baradin Bay

For the daily quest hub that is separate from the PvP event, see Tol Barad Peninsula.

Tol Barad is a ravaged island kingdom located west of Gilneas. Before the Cataclysm, it was in Baradin Bay, between Hasic and the shores of Khaz Modan.

History

This section concerns content exclusive to the Warcraft novels or short stories.

During the Second War, Tol Barad was an island citadel belonging to Stromgarde. The island was also the site of a fierce battle between the Horde and Alliance. The Horde, having already conquered most of the dwarven lands, were preparing to strike out into the northern kingdom of Lordaeron. At the time, the island was being used as a staging point to strike back at orc raiders. In response, Orgrim Doomhammer launched an invasion of the island. Overwhelmed by the orcs, no life more complex than a few hardy weeds and insects survived the Horde's bloody victory. An aura of death seemed to radiate from the island, and the original fortress was razed to the ground. Tol Barad became a frightening symbol of the Horde's merciless tenacity and barbarity.

This section concerns content exclusive to the Warcraft RPG and is considered non-canon.

Years later, after the Second War, the island nation of Kul Tiras claimed the former stronghold and established a magic prison over the ruins of the old fortress. Wizards from both Dalaran and Stormwind oversaw the complex, and prisoners included enemy mages, lesser and greater demons, warlocks, and undead war criminals. The wizards did not allow anyone near the island and kept the prison's existence secret.

This section concerns content exclusive to Cataclysm.

After the Cataclysm, however, Tol Barad became once again a contested zone between the Alliance and the Horde. The Horde elite regiment of Hellscream's Reach was charged by Garrosh Hellscream to take the island for the Horde. Baradin's Wardens is an army that originally guarded the prison, but aligned themselves with the Alliance after the Horde started attacking Tol Barad. As the Alliance and Horde fight for supremacy over the island, something sinister has taken over the prison fortress of Baradin Hold.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

This section concerns content exclusive to Cataclysm.

Tol Barad is an outdoor PvP raid zone in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, very similar to Wintergrasp in Northrend. However, the island is also similar to the Isle of Quel'Danas in that it is a major daily quest hub. Battling for control of the island are the Baradin's Wardens for the Alliance, and Hellscream's Reach for the Horde. Whichever side controls the prison on Tol Barad gains access to more dailies and the dungeon instance Baradin Hold.

In World of Warcraft, Tol Barad consists of two zones:

• Tol Barad - PvP area (location of the battle) as well as a daily quest hub for the faction that controls it. This PvP area is also home to the Baradin Hold dungeon.
• Tol Barad Peninsula - A daily quest hub for level 85 players regardless of who controls Tol Barad.

Players can enter Tol Barad by portals from Stormwind and Orgrimmar once they reach level 85 or by means of a mage portal, Portal: Tol Barad.

PvP Battle

At the beginning of battle, the faction that won the last battle is set as "defending" while the other is "attacking". Defending players start on top of Baradin Hold (players can float down the central chains or off the edges), and attacking players start on the Blackstone Span. To win, the attacking force must capture all three buildings at the same time: Ironclad Garrison to the north, Slagworks to the southeast, and Warden's Vigil to the southwest. The battle lasts for 15 minutes, but can be extended by 5 minutes for each of the towers the attacking force can destroy using the Abandoned Siege Engine which can be piloted by any attacker who has earned an honorable kill in the current battle. The defender's goal is primarily to prevent the attackers from capturing all 3 buildings, and secondarily to prevent the extension of the battle time by destroying the active Siege Engines.

Buildings are captured by a simple presence mechanic - the faction with the higher number of players near a flag will move the capture meter in their favor over time, very much like Eye of the Storm. The rate of capture based on presence is steady, but is affected by two new mechanics. Each time a member of one faction is killed in the immediate vicinity of the flag, the capture meter is "nudged" in favor of the opposing faction. Also, the attacking force gains a 200% capture rate while they control 2 buildings and the defending force also has a 200% capture rate while they control all 3 buildings as of patch 4.0.6.

The Battle for Tol Barad plays out every 2.5 hours. Players may queue for the battle 15 minutes before each starts and while in progress. The queueing system will attempt to match each faction's total players 1-for-1.

Three Tol Barad Commendations are awarded for a win.

Questing

Main article: Tol Barad quests

Several daily quests become available to the controlling faction in between battles in the center of the map at Baradin Hold. One set of quests is always there, the other focuses on one of three cellblocks around the island.

Maps and subregions

Tol Barad map

Resources

• Herbalism
  •  [Azshara's Veil]
  •  [Cinderbloom]
  •  [Whiptail]
• Mining
  •  [Elementium Ore]
  •  [Pyrite Ore]

Inhabitants

Main article: Tol Barad NPCs

• Demonic hound (one, Svarnos)
• Crocolisks
•  Draenei
•  Dwarves
• Ettin (one, Problim)
• Floating eyes
• Foxes
• Ghosts
•  Gnomes
•  Humans
• Imps
•  Jungle trolls
• Oozes
•  Orcs
• Pit lord (one, Argaloth)
• Rats
• Shivarras
• Skeletal mage (one, Archmage Galus)
• Snakes
•  Tauren
•  Undead
• Void terror (one, Occu'thar)
• Wrathguards

Videos

• Tol Barad (zSprawl.com)
• Tol Barad Preview
• Tol Barad (WoW-Serbia.com)
• Tol Barad (Cataclysm beta)
• Tol Barad daily quests (Yogscast)
• Tol Barad Peninsula
• Tol Barad Peninsula (WoW-Serbia.com)

Gallery

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  Concept art of Tol Barad in The Art of World of Warcraft.

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  Tol Barad's position in Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness.

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  Tol Barad in the Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness human campaign.

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  Tol Barad in the Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness orc campaign.

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  Tol Barad in the World of Warcraft manual map.

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  Tol Barad at the Game Systems panel at BlizzCon 2009.

Screenshots

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  The Slagworks

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  The Slagworks

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  Another view of the Slagworks

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  Baradin Hold

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  Baradin Hold

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  Blackstone Span

Trivia

• "Tol" is Sindarin for "isle" (as in Tol Brandir) and "Barad" is Sindarin for "tower" (as in Barad-dûr) according to Lord of the Rings' appendices. "Tol Barad" would thus mean "The Isle of the Tower" in Sindarin.
• The Tol Barad art was the instance loading screen for the Scarlet Monastery before it was split into four wings.
• Tol Barad Peninsula is not a peninsula.
• Although Tol Barad is visible on the map of the Eastern Kingdoms, it is housed in a separate instance and thus cannot be accessed by flying from Vashj'ir or the Ruins of Gilneas. Instead of the two islands, the main map only has fatigue water at their supposed locations.
• There is an island south of here; through a sight spell it's just unimplemented terrain.
• Although it is currently affiliated with Kul Tiras and Stromgarde, Tol Barad was originally a lesser kingdom that was conquered by Stromgarde.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Wowhead