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Quest

Return of the High Chief

A World of Warcraft quest in Dragonblight. Facts and objectives from the current retail game data.

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Top Comments

The highest voted Wowhead comments for this page. They are community notes, not TheWoWDB comments.

2
sunsmoon+23via Wowhead (opens the original comment in a new tab)

Part of the Horde questline for the Wrath Gate event. This quest line is very long and spans the entire length of Dragonblight. Quite honestly, I consider this one of the most important quest lines (thus far) in Wrath. A must-do for any hordeling. :)

In quite a few of these chains there are optional prequests. I will not list these, despite them being in the quest series list, because they are just that: Optional. I will list the LATEST quest available that will start the chain, or the one most likely to pick up while completing other parts of this chain.

Additionally, these quests are Horde Only. I, unfortunately, do not have an Alliance character on the Beta, so I do not have access to any alliance quests. Sorry!

Step names are purely flavor. They generalize what that part of the chain leads up to/is about.

I highly urge everyone to read the quest text. This quest line is quite possibly one of the most epic in Warcraft history and is highly worth the time. Lore lovers and haters alike should enjoy them.

Step 1: Recruiting the Taunka

1.) Into the Fold
2.) Blood Oath of the Horde
3.) Agmar's Hammer

Step 2: Destroy the Nerubians

1.) Victory Nears...
2.) From the Depths of Azjol-Nerub
3.) The Might of the Horde
4.) Attack by Air!
5.) Blightbeasts be Damned

Step 3: Annexing the Taunka

1.) Strength of Icemist
2.) Chains of the Anub'ar
3.) Return of the High Chief
4.) All Hail Roanauk!

Step 4: The Forsakens New Plague

1.) Imbeciles Abound!
2.) The Forsaken Blight and You: How Not to Die
3.) Emerald Dragon Tears
4.) Spread the Good Word
5.) The Forsaken Blight

Step 5: The Red Dragonflight

1.) The Kor'kron Vanguard!
2.) Audience With The Dragon Queen
3.) Galakrond and the Scourge
4.) On Ruby Wings

Step 6: Victory Over the Scourge?

1.) Return to Angrathar
BONUS! Wrath Gate In-Game Cinematic/Machinima outside link to view it
BONUS! Achievement: Veteran of the Wrath Gate!

Step 7: The Betrayal

1.) Darkness Stirs
2.) Herald of War
3.) A Life Without Regret
4.) The Battle for the Undercity

Experience and Reputation totals will be filled in when more information is available.

3
sepirion+17via Wowhead (opens the original comment in a new tab)

Make sure he is in fact still trapped when you click the crystal. If he is still resetting from a recent event, your key will be used but a new event will not start. Drop quest and get it again to get a new key if this happens.

Read all 17 on Wowhead ↗

Quest facts

LevelLevel 15-30
ZoneDragonblight
LocationDragonblight, Wintergrasp
Quest ID12069

Check whether you have already completed this quest in-game: /run print(C_QuestLog.IsQuestFlaggedCompleted(12069))

Requirements

FactionHorde only

Read from the Blizzard quest API.

What to do

WhereDragonblight, Wintergrasp
StorylineDragonblight, step 102 of 149
Rewards6,200 XP

Description

<Banthok hands you the prison key.> You must hurry, {name}. Take the key and use it to unchain my father from the Anub'ar prison. Once he is freed, assist him in destroying the Anub'ar leader, Under-king Anub'et'kan. When the Under-king is defeated, take from his chitinous carapace a fragment as a trophy to present to the Horde at Agmar's Hammer. Let Agmar see the might of the High Chief!

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Where to go

Pins are the quest’s own POI points from the current retail client, projected onto the in-game zone map. The game marks one blob as the quest’s turn-in; the rest are objective areas. Points that fall outside a map’s window are dropped rather than guessed at.

Dragonblight Quest turn-in 2 mapped points
Dragonblight map showing where to go for Return of the High ChiefTurn-inObjective area

In-game waypoint: /way #115 38.1 46.3

Wintergrasp Objective area 1 mapped point
Wintergrasp map showing where to go for Return of the High ChiefObjective area

In-game waypoint: /way #123 66.2 85.8

Coordinates

  • Turn-inDragonblight 38.1, 46.3/way #115 38.1 46.3
  • Objective areaDragonblight 24.9, 39.9/way #115 24.9 39.9
  • Objective areaWintergrasp 66.2, 85.8/way #123 66.2 85.8

Map coordinates of the pins above. An area the client draws as a shape is given by the centre of its points.

Nearby on the Dragonblight map

Quests whose map markers the client places closest to this one on Dragonblight, nearest first. Distances are straight lines between the markers.

Getting there

Horde flight points closest to the quest’s turn-in marker on Dragonblight:

  • Agmar's Hammer, DragonblightHorde · about 40 yards north-west
  • Kor'kron Vanguard, DragonblightHorde · about 1,200 yards north
  • Moa'ki, DragonblightAlliance and Horde · about 1,200 yards south-east

From the turn-in, the objective areas lie:

  • Objective areaabout 780 yards west
  • Objective areaabout 880 yards west (on the Wintergrasp map)

Straight-line distances in yards between the quest’s own map markers (QuestPOI) and the client’s flight-point positions (TaxiNodes); flight paths and terrain are not modelled.

Related
Experience6,200 XP
ReputationHorde Expedition +500, The Taunka +500

Reward details

Reputation: Horde Expedition +500

The combined forces of the Horde in Northrend, spearheaded by the Warsong Offensive.

Reputation group: Wrath of the Lich King.

Other quests in Dragonblight that reward Horde Expedition reputation: The Lost Empire (+150), Strength of Icemist (+150), Chains of the Anub'ar (+250), WANTED: Gigantaur (+350), Strengthen the Ancients (+250).

Reputation: The Taunka +500

These hardy people are cousins of the Tauren and have become valuable scouts for the armies of the Horde as they march northward.

Reputation group: Horde Expedition.

Other quests in Dragonblight that reward The Taunka reputation: A Tauren Among Taunka (+10), Into the Fold (+250), The Taunka and the Tauren (+10), Blood Oath of the Horde (+150), Strength of Icemist (+150), Chains of the Anub'ar (+250).

Item facts are the current retail client’s (ItemSparse); the specialisations for a pick-one item are the ones the Blizzard quest API lists; faction and currency text is the client’s own. Lowest listed price = the US commodity auction house now.

Storyline

Dragonblight

Part 102 of 149.

Previous: Chains of the Anub'ar · Next: All Hail Roanauk!

  1. 97In Search of the Ruby Lilac
  2. 98Return to Soar
  3. 99Where the Wild Things Roam
  4. 100Strength of Icemist
  5. 101Chains of the Anub'ar
  6. 102Return of the High Chief
  7. 103All Hail Roanauk!
  8. 104The Might of the Horde
  9. 105Attack by Air!
  10. 106Blightbeasts be Damned!
  11. 107The Kor'kron Vanguard!
  12. 108Audience With The Dragon Queen

Showing steps 97 to 108 of 149.

Storyline order is the client’s own QuestLine data from the current retail build.

Where this quest fits

Before this quest

Taken from the storyline's own step order.

  • Chains of the Anub'arDragonblight · Level 15-30

    They have my father bound by magical chains in the middle of Icemist Village. From what I have been able to gather, the prison is controlled by three powerful Anub'ar magi - each holding a piece of the key. Scour Icemist and locate the magi. Kill them and take their key fragments.

After this quest

Taken from the storyline's own step order.

  • All Hail Roanauk!Dragonblight · Level 15-30

    Like the tauren, Forsaken, trolls and blood elves, so too do the taunka need a leader born of their own blood. The one you saved from Icemist, Roanauk, will be this leader. <Overlord Agmar hands you a parchment.> I give to you something familiar - the blood oath of the Horde.

The storyline at a glance

Dragonblight has 149 steps, from The Liquid Fire of Elune to Really Big Worm.

Maps its steps are placed on (steps per map): Dragonblight (144), Crystalsong Forest (5).

Steps of this storyline count toward:

Other storylines on the Dragonblight map

Steps, storylines and map placement from the client’s QuestLine, prerequisite and QuestPOI data; neighbouring quest text is Blizzard’s own (quest API), shortened to its opening sentences.