Stonard and Swamp of Sorrows quests: Galen, Tok'Kar and the Sunken Temple lead-ins (Classic Era baseline)

Stonard is the Horde's fortified town in the middle of the Swamp of Sorrows, and most of the swamp's quests start there. A smaller set is open to both factions: the draenei exiles at The Harborage in the north-west, and Galen Goodward, the caged prisoner in the Fallow Sanctuary. This page goes through the Stonard givers in order, the neutral quests, the Sunken Temple lead-ins from Fel'zerul and the level 50+ Fallen Hero chain. Every level, XP figure, reward and coordinate is the Classic Era baseline). Forever changes have their own section.

Quick facts

Community-reported, not yet confirmed by Blizzard.

A correction to our own zone guide

Community-reported, not yet confirmed by Blizzard.

Our Swamp of Sorrows zone guide used to list Encroaching Wildlife in the Stonard quest order. That's wrong. Lists Encroaching Wildlife as an Alliance quest from Watcher Biggs (26.8, 59.4), who is friendly to Alliance and hostile to Horde. We've fixed the zone page. The Alliance quests are listed near the end of this page for reference.

The neutral quests (both factions)

Community-reported, not yet confirmed by Blizzard.

These four are listed as both-faction, so Alliance and Horde players share them.

Galen's Escape, step by step

Community-reported, not yet confirmed by Blizzard.

Galen is a level 37 prisoner of the Lost Ones. His spawn points are around 65, 18 to 25 in the Fallow Sanctuary in the north-east of the zone. The escort isn't sharable, so each player has to start it themselves.

1. Start the quest and follow him out. Commenters say he doesn't walk all the way to his camp. He fades out after getting through most of the area.
2. Ride to Galen's Strongbox at 47.8, 39.4, north of Stonard, and open it to finish. A commenter on the Noboru quest describes this camp as a small island with a tent. Commenters warn the camp has level 37 to 39 crocolisks around it.

The reward is fixed, not a choice:

Noboru the Cudgel

Community-reported, not yet confirmed by Blizzard.

Noboru is a level 39 Lost One who wanders. Hundreds of spawn points for him, spread from the western swamp to the middle. Players have reported that his base is the small island with a tent just north of Stonard, the same island as Galen's strongbox, and that he travels with two companions. They also give two useful warnings. The cudgel only drops once, and you have to right-click it in your bags to start the quest. It is grey quality, so an addon that auto-sells junk can sell it before you notice. If that happens and you can't buy it back, abandon the quest and kill him again.

Stonard's Horde quests

Community-reported, not yet confirmed by Blizzard.

All of these are Horde only. They're listed roughly in the order you can pick them up.

The murlocs at levels 41 to 45: Marsh Murlocs 41–42, Inkspewers 42–43, Flesheaters 43–44 and Oracles 44–45. Monstrous Crawlers are 43–44. We haven't printed the three Tok'kar weapons' stats because they aren't confirmed for Forever yet. Check the live tooltip before you choose.

The Neeka Bloodscar quest is a useful bridge. It sends you to Kargath in the Badlands, where Neeka gives Coyote Thieves before you report back. See our Kargath and Badlands quests guide.

The Grilled King Crawler Legs restore 1,392 health over 30 seconds and need level 35.

Fel'zerul's Sunken Temple lead-ins (Horde)

Community-reported, not yet confirmed by Blizzard.

Fel'zerul stands at 48, 55 in Stonard. One commenter says he's upstairs in the same building as the blood elf lady. His four quests lead from the lake around the temple to the dungeon itself.

Pool of Tears is still tagged Elite, but a 2020 report says the patrolling dragonkin are no longer elite and you can avoid them. The artifacts are small bowls and pyramid shapes around the shoreline and on the underwater shelf. Players suggest turning off ground clutter in the graphics settings to spot them. For the fetishes, one commenter puts the drop rate at about 5%, so most players finish them inside the dungeon. Our Sunken Temple quests guide covers the dungeon side.

The Fallen Hero chain (level 50+)

Community-reported, not yet confirmed by Blizzard.

The Fallen Hero of the Horde stands at 34.2, 66 in the south-west of the swamp. His chain is for players coming back at a higher level.

Quest	Level / req	Side	Route	XP
Fall From Grace	50 / 45	Horde	Fallen Hero → Fallen Hero	470
The Disgraced One	50 / 45	Horde	Fallen Hero → Dispatch Commander Ruag (47.8, 55)	1,200
The Missing Orders	50 / 45	Horde	Ruag → Bengor (45, 57.2)	1,200
The Swamp Talker	55 / 45	Horde	Get the Warchief's Orders from the Swamp Talker (level 50)	5,650
A Tale of Sorrow	—	Both	Fallen Hero	600
The Stones That Bind Us	57	Both	Blasted Lands stones	7,550
Heroes of Old	—	Both	via Corporal Thund Splithoof (33.4, 66)	3,000
Heroes of Old	—	Both	Final step	6,000, Shard of the Splithooves

The Swamp Talker's spawn points cluster around 60 to 64, 83 to 84. The Stones That Bind Us sends you into the Blasted Lands. Levels shown as "—" weren't in the data we checked, so treat them as.

Where the givers are

Community-reported, not yet confirmed by Blizzard.

Map pins: coordinates. The outline is decorative. The full zone map is on our Swamp of Sorrows zone guide.

Alliance quests in the swamp (for reference)

Community-reported, not yet confirmed by Blizzard.

Alliance players don't have a town here. Watcher Biggs (26.8, 59.4) gives The Lost Caravan (level 35, 2,750 XP), Encroaching Wildlife (level 37, 8 Young Sawtooth Crocolisks, 10 Sorrow Spinners and 10 Swamp Jaguars, 2,850 XP), Driftwood (level 42, 8 Sundried Driftwood, 3,450 XP) and Deliver the Shipment (level 42, to Quartermaster Lungertz in the Blasted Lands, 2,550 XP). Alliance players also share every neutral quest above.

A sensible order (Horde)

Community-reported, not yet confirmed by Blizzard.

1. At 35, take Helgrum's Neeka Bloodscar if you're heading to the Badlands next, and take Magtoor's Draenethyst Crystals at The Harborage.
2. At 38, clear the Lost One camp and do Galen's Escape. Kill Noboru if you see him and hand the cudgel to Magtoor.
3. At 40, take Dar's Lack of Surplus and Fresh Meat, then ride to Tok'Kar for the second Lack of Surplus and the Threat From the Sea chain.
4. At 43 or higher, do Pool of Tears and the Atal'ai Exile trip, and save The Temple of Atal'Hakkar for a dungeon run around 50.

WoW Forever notes

Community-reported, not yet confirmed by Blizzard.

• Level cap: Blizzard's 26 Oct development notes say players can now level up to a maximum of level 30. Every quest on this page needs level 29 or higher, so the swamp is above the current beta cap. whether quest levels or XP will change when the cap rises.

FAQ

Can Alliance players do Galen's Escape? Yes. It is listed for both factions, with +50 Alliance or Horde reputation depending on your side. [Unconfirmed]

Where is Galen's strongbox? At 47.8, 39.4, north of Stonard. Commenters describe it as a small island camp with a tent and crocolisks around it.

Is Pool of Tears really elite? Tags it Elite, but Players have reported that the dragonkin around the pool are no longer elite and the artifacts can be collected without fighting them. [Unconfirmed]

Where do Horde players go after the swamp? Helgrum's Neeka Bloodscar quest points you to Kargath in the Badlands.

Related

• Swamp of Sorrows zone guide
• Kargath and Badlands quests
• Sunken Temple quests
• Blasted Lands zone guide
• The Hinterlands zone guide
• Elite quests 30–60

How we checked this: quest, NPC, object and item data comes read on 3 Nov 2026 (AEDT). Forever quest names were checked against the listed tooltips. The Forever level cap is from Blizzard's 26 Oct development notes. Tips marked as commenter reports come from player reports, not official sources.

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