Since the level cap has not been raised we are still stuck at level 89, but at least we can now travel to the Townlong Steppes and start questing and exploring there.

Remember that great wall we saw when we ventured into the Valley of the Four Winds for the first time? Well, this area lies beyond that wall. I expected nothing but hordes of Mantid and Yaungol, but the first line of defence lies well inside their territory and I spotted quite a few Panderen warriors and war camps throughout the region.

The area is almost completely surrounded by the sea and the great wall, which helps to contain the numerous Mantid swarms in. Along the southern border you will find a big valley that can be crossed by walking over the remains of a fallen tree to gain entrance to the Dread Wastes. On the central plains you’ll find some hills and a couple of giant, mystical trees.

You’ll enter the area through the wall on the northern side and immediately face some Yaungols in combat. As you continue questing you will advance southwards and towards the shore, facing more and more Mantids.

Once at the shore, you’ll see three large islands not too far from the continent. These were cut off from the continent, probably by the Pandarens in order to halt the Mantid invasion. A Shado-Pan encampment is the first line of defence against invasions from those islands.

When you take the time to fly or swim to those larger islands you’ll find some sort of Mantid encampment on one of them. Another island is home to some Mogu, who are capturing cloud serpents and turning them to stone for some unknown reason. The remaining island features one of those big trees and will later be the entrance to a new instance that will take place inside said tree.

Most likely, you already noticed that all other areas have at least one temple and the Townlong Steppes is no exception. The temple of the ox, Niuzao Temple, is located on the same island as the tree and will also be part of the instance. While it may be crumbling, the Black Ox is still protecting its grounds from the Mantid siege.