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For the daily quest hub that is separate from the PvP event, see Tol Barad Peninsula.
NeutralTol Barad
Level: 30-35 PvP
Battle Pet Level: 23 - 24
Tol Barad loading screen
Capital(s) Neutral Baradin Hold
Races HumanHuman Human
DwarfDwarf Dwarf
GnomeGnome Gnome
Night elfNight elf Night elf
OrcOrc Orc
Mag'har orcMag'har orc Mag'har orc
TrollTroll Troll
TaurenTauren Tauren
DemonDemonDemonDemon Demon
Major settlements Mob Ironclad Garrison
Mob Slagworks
Mob Warden's Vigil
Minor settlements Mob West Spire
Mob East Spire
Mob South Spire
Affiliation Baradin's Wardens, Alliance, Hellscream's Reach, Horde, Independent
Former affiliation(s) Kul Tiras, Dalaran, Stromgarde
Location Great Sea
PvP status Combat zone

Tol Barad, pronounced (Tohl bar-AHD),[1] is a ravaged island-prison located west of Gilneas.

History[]

Early history to Second War[]

The citadel of Tol Barad was built by Arathor, the first nation of humans,[2] which makes it more than 1,200 years old. Prior to the First War, Tol Barad was considered a territory of Stromgarde.[3]

During the Second War, the island was a strategic staging area for Alliance forces, from which they struck on the Horde-controlled city of Dun Modr and took it back from the hands of their enemies.[4] The orcs, viewing Tol Barad as an obstacle in their path to the Eastern Kingdoms, mounted a ferocious counterstrike on the island.[5] Unprepared for such aggression, the Stromgarde soldiers were expelled from Tol Barad, and the citadel was razed, a charred symbol of the Horde's brutal victory.[2] Most of the island's inhabitants were slaughtered, their home ravaged, and their remaining spirits crying out for vengeance.[6] Despite this horrific happening, some of the original Stromic population still survived,[7][8] but possibly as exiles since when Rhonin and his gryphon rider escort passed above the island they saw no life more complex than a few hardy weeds and insects.[9]

Aftermath[]

Following the Second War,[10] what remained of the blackened, derelict battlements was left to languish until the wizards of Kul Tiras claimed the isle for a new purpose. Towering walls were again stacked high from the war-scarred stones, but in their cleverness, the arcanists turned the citadel’s defenses inward, designing a mystical prison to hold the most powerful criminals.[2] A Stromic and Tirasian population of men formed the Baradin's Wardens: charged with ensuring that the deadly prisoners locked away in the mystic Baradin Hold never again walk free on Azeroth.[7] Even the Kirin Tor imprisoned some powerful demons in the repurposed stronghold.

When Stromgarde started to suffer a series of catastrophes, the town of Rustberg was abandoned as its population was recalled home. This settlement later became the base of a group of pirates that struck the towns along the shores of Baradin Bay.[8]

Between the events of the Second War and these pirates, endless naval battles happened surrounding Tol Barad.[11]

Cataclysm[]

Tol Barad 017

Baradin Hold

Cataclysm This section concerns content related to Cataclysm.

With the Cataclysm shattering the world, Tol Barad once again became a battleground between the Horde and the Alliance. Warchief Garrosh Hellscream sent the elite warriors known as the Hellscream's Reach to the island, charged with taking it from the humans. Defending it against them were the Baradin's Wardens, the army that originally guarded the prison. However, as the two forces fought for supremacy over the island, something sinister was taking over the prison fortress of Baradin Hold and the whole island in turn. With prison guards murdering each other or letting their charges free, insanity amongst Alliance soldiers, undead corpses rising from their graves, and spirits reliving their final battles.

Mists of Pandaria[]

Mists of Pandaria This section concerns content related to Mists of Pandaria.

By the time of the discovery of Pandaria, the Horde managed to score crucial victories off the coast of Tol Barad.[12]

Legion[]

Legion This section concerns content related to Legion.

Despite the Horde's victories off the coast, the Baradin's Wardens managed to eventually claim Baradin Hold and begin its restoration after adventurers cleared out the demons within the hold, but somehow, the demons took over it and it became lost to the inmates, with all its forces in retreat from the prison.[13] Warlocks under the employ of Gul'dan and the Shadow Council arrived to wade through the ruins in order to find the whereabouts of the Eye of Dalaran, which had been lost to the Twisting Nether in years prior. Having resurfaced here by way of a void terror named Occul'tharon, the warlocks defeated the demon and claimed the Eye; only to later be betrayed as one of the warlocks was in truth a member of the Council of the Black Harvest in disguise as Jergosh the Invoker.[14] It was noted by Allaris Narassin that the Horde and Alliance had ceased fighting over the ruined prison by this time.

Geography[]

Maps and subregions[]

VZ-Tol Barad

Map of Tol Barad.

PvP zone[]

Added in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, Tol Barad is an outdoor PvP zone, 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 of Baradin Hold.

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

  • Tol Barad - PvP zone (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 City and Orgrimmar once they reach level 85 or by means of a mage portal, Portal: Tol Barad.

PvP battle[]

At the beginning of the battle, the faction that won the last one 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.[15] 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 time-out between battles is 1 hour. Winner is rewarded 3 Tol Barad Commendation per battle and 3 Tol Barad Commendation for the weekly quest B [35] Victory in Tol Barad.

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.

NPCs[]

Main article: Tol Barad NPCs

Resources[]

In the RPG[]

Icon-RPG This section contains information from the Warcraft RPG which is considered non-canon.

Tol Barad, the site of many historic battles in the Second War, is an island part of the nation of Kul Tiras and is now home to a magic prison. Wizards from both Dalaran and Stormwind oversee the complex, and prisoners include enemy mages, lesser and greater demons, warlocks and undead war criminals. The wizards do not allow anyone near the island and keep the prison’s existence a secret.[16]

At some point, the naga attacked the prison and even though the wizards fought them off, Zae'Rathis the Mad, a dangerous blood elf evoker prisoner, escaped amid the confusion. Zae'Rathis is now at large and Kul Tiras' citizens are afraid. The wizards suspect that the naga attack was intended to free the blood elf and he may have joined them. Together they would make a powerful force so the wizards are in need of someone to track down Zae'Rathis and destroy him.[16]

The goblins of Bilgewater Port sent the Fearsome Yacht prison ship to Tol Barad in order to imprison there an orc warlock called Dak'mal who had been causing trouble on Kezan.[17]

Notes and trivia[]

  • As of the end of the Fourth War, the fox on the island is almost extinct. Quartermaster Brazie collects fox kits and gulls to find them a new home or to send messages to SI:7.[18]
  • In Day of the Dragon, Tol Barad is described as "the ravaged island kingdom of Tol Barad".[19] Despite this, Tol Barad has never been noted as an independent nation, but Duke Reginald Baradin II founded the Baradin's Wardens who guarded Baradin Hold, unlike any of the other human kingdoms. It does, however, appear to have its own unique cultural emblem, the owl, separate from those of both Stromgarde and Kul Tiras.
  • Before Cataclysm, Tol Barad was, lore-wise, in Baradin Bay, between Hasic and the shores of Khaz Modan.[19] When asked about this discrepancy, Matt Burns suggested that maybe Tol Barad and Baradin Bay were named after a common historical figure, indicating that he was merely speculating and that it wasn't canon.[20] The existence of Duke Reginald Baradin II gives more fuel to this speculation.
  • The Kul Tiras architecture introduced in Battle for Azeroth resembles the buildings on Tol Barad, especially in color scheme. It is unknown if this is intentional or coincidence, but it is fitting since Tol Barad was once Kul Tiran territory.
  • The player can summon Stromic Footmen and Fallen Grunts as nods to the battle of Tol Barad of the Second War. The grunts are presumably members of the Black Tooth Grin clan, though the battle may have happened when the clan was coming back from the Broken Isles rather than early in the war like originally depicted.[21]
  • The Warcraft II game demo has a mission called Tol Ronal that is situated in Khaz Modan. If not a separate location, it could be an earlier, production name for the island.
  • In Cataclysm beta, Tol Barad's depiction in the Eastern Kingdoms map was smaller when compared to its zone maps. The Cataclysm live version changed the depiction so it had the same size and layout. The new continental maps added in Battle for Azeroth change it back to the Cataclysm beta size.
  • Tol Barad was initially planned to appear in Wrath of the Lich King, but it didn't make it into the game until Cataclysm because Blizzard felt that it didn't fit the story of Wrath of the Lich King.[22]
  • This zone is not affected by the cross-realm zones feature.
  • 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 a third island south of here, though it is just unimplemented terrain (see the minimap in the gallery below).
  • "Tol" is Sindarin for "isle" (as in Tol Brandir) and "Barad" is Sindarin for "tower" (as in Barad-dûr) in the Lord of the Rings legendarium by J.R.R. Tolkien. "Tol Barad" would thus mean "The Isle of the Tower" in Sindarin.

Speculation[]

Questionmark-medium
This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

The strange, dark magic that has raised many of the inhabitants of the island's north, both recently killed and long dead, as various forms of undead is almost surely the same cause behind the insanity within the prison complex. It is possibly the result of the powerful demons held within Baradin Hold, but many of these creatures appear to have been let out by their own jailers, the deranged Wardens seen across Tol Barad, in league with at least some of their former prisoners. As such it could be feared that whatever ancient horrors lurk beneath the Great Sea are behind the madness of all Tol Barad. Alternately, Alizabal and the other demons did do it.

Gallery[]

World of Warcraft maps
Other maps

Videos[]

Patch changes[]

  • Legion Hotfix (2016-10-28): Fixed a bug where several items from Ashran, Tol Barad, and battlegrounds were not usable.
  • Legion Hotfix (2016-09-14): The time-out between battles was increased to 1 hour.
  • Legion Patch 7.0.3 (2016-07-19): The time-out between battles was reduced from around 2 hours to 15 minutes.
  • Warlords of Draenor Patch 6.0.2 (2014-10-14): Players can no longer queue for PvP zones through the PvP interface.
  • Mists of Pandaria Patch 5.1.0 (2012-11-27): The growing conflict between the Horde and the Alliance has spilled across the face of Azeroth: level 90 players can now queue for Wintergrasp and Tol Barad via the PvP tab to battle one another in these epic conflicts.
  • Cataclysm Patch 4.3.0 (2011-11-29): The queue in the Honor frame now displays the status of and lets you queue for Tol Barad and Wintergrasp while on every continent.
  • Cataclysm Patch 4.0.6 (2011-02-08):
    • Attacking forces will receive a 200% capture speed bonus when they control 2 keeps.
    • Defending forces will receive a 200% capture speed bonus when they control all 3 keeps.
    • Daily quest creatures, herbs, minerals, etc. will only spawn when Tol Barad is in the quest phase between battles. There will be 5-minute and 1-minute warnings before the quest phase ends. The quest phase ends 15 minutes before the battle for Tol Barad begins and queuing is made available. At that time any players in the daily micro dungeons will be ported just outside. This does not apply to Tol Barad Peninsula or the daily quests there.
    • The weekly PvP quest B [35] Victory in Tol Barad now awards 200 Honor Points and 3 Tol Barad Commendation.
    • Players can now see the status of Tol Barad on the World Map no matter where they are. The time to the next battle is displayed by zooming into the Tol Barad section of the map. The current controlling faction can be seen on the Eastern Kingdoms map.
  • Cataclysm Patch 4.0.3 (2010-11-16): The leader of Wintergrasp raids can no longer kick players from the raid (this change will also apply to Tol Barad in Cataclysm).

See also[]

References[]

 
  1. ^ Warcraft II human mission briefings at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpEXhNjEeHY 4:08
  2. ^ a b c Tol Barad - Game Guide
  3. ^ File:Chronicle2 Eastern Kingdoms Before the First War.jpg
  4. ^ Tol Barad (WC2 Human)
  5. ^ Tol Barad (WC2 Orc)
  6. ^ The Well of Eternity, chapter 1
  7. ^ a b Baradin's Wardens#History
  8. ^ a b Ask CDev#Ask CDev Answers - Round 3
  9. ^ Day of the Dragon
  10. ^ Baradin Hold#Dungeon Journal
  11. ^ Inv misc seagullpet 01 [Rustberg Gull]
  12. ^ H [10-35] The Art of War
  13. ^ Inv misc book 11 [Prison Manifest]
  14. ^ N Warlock [10-45] An Eye for a Scepter
  15. ^ Cataclysm Preview: Tol Barad
  16. ^ a b Lands of Conflict, pg. 102
  17. ^ Lands of Mystery, pg. 79
  18. ^ World of Warcraft: Exploring Azeroth: The Eastern Kingdoms, pg. 104
  19. ^ a b Day of the Dragon, pg. 121
  20. ^ Matt Burns on Twitter: "--named after a common historical figure. Just speculating--not canon. :)"
  21. ^ Matt Burns on Twitter: "It's possible a battle happened as BTG was coming back from the Tomb of Sargeras."
  22. ^ perculia. 6.2 Mamytwink Interview: Hellfire Citadel Planned as Last Warlords Raid, and More. Wowhead.
  23. ^ Mumper on Twitter (2014-04-03).​ “An early layout for Tol Barad. We removed the channels but the shape and POIs ended up pretty close to final.”

External links[]

Tol Barad Warlock scenario
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