There is a WoWWiki page now:
http://www.wowwiki.com/Long%2C_excep...den_questlines

-------------------------------------------------

I realize this has been done before, but with the advent of TBC means that a lot of this content is at risk of getting "lost" in the grind to 70. It would be great to have a high-quality resource explaining all the long (more than 10 steps), hidden (not often done), or just exceptional-quality quests in WoW.

I didn't have any luck finding any resource like this on wowwiki or via Google, so I'm going to start one. I did find allusions to lists like this in many places, including a couple links to old official forum threads, but the threads are dead and other lists are nonexistent. I'm also leaving out the longer raid questlines, notably the AQ quest that starts with the Broodlord's head, because it's unlikely that anyone will complete that ever again.

I'm also specifically leaving out TBC questlines because I haven't done them yet, and the number of extremely long lines is far greater in TBC than it was before. Additionally, most of the really long questlines in TBC have a purpose (like key for something, earn huge amounts of rep, etc.), which isn't really the purpose of this list.

Please make an effort to post links to places that detail all the steps in the quests in question, so that questionable inquiry is kept quiet; I'd like this thread to be relatively high-quality and contain relative dense information.

Questlines

1. You are Rakh'likh, Demon (aka, the Fallen Hero questline, or the Badlands Demon questline)

This is one of the longest, most well-written, and most interesting questlines in the game. It's one of the few quests that really convinced me that a nonliner RPG can work as well as a linear one. It has you running all around the world -- from STV to Azshara -- and you end up feeling like you're really part of a larger world, doing something incredibly fun.

The rewards, while once very good for the level, are now far outstripped by quest rewards in TBC, but that doesn't mean the questline isn't worth doing. The final boss is a challenge for any PUG, and even an experienced group with no fore-knowledge of the fight will struggle for a wipe or two. This quest is definitely worth grabbing, even if you're just a bored 70 looking for something to do on a Sunday morning.

2. Linken's Questline

This quest starts when you bring an item found in Un'goro to an NPC named Linken. The line is 13 steps long and ends with a pair of fairly decent rewards (particularly for a Paladin). The questline is detailed in the third comment on this Wowhead page.

Again, the questline gives you the sense of being part of a larger world. All the allusions to Link from the Legend of Zelda are just icing on the cake.

3. Onyxia Key (the questline for the Drakefire Amulet)

This is a huge, mega, mammoth questline that is different for both factions. It is detailed extensive on this WoWWiki page. Any new player should endeavour to complete this at some point -- the storyline that this quest unfolds is a central part of the Warcraft lore.

4. The Missing Diplomat

This is a long, Alliance-only questline that I can't really comment on (because I've never done it), but I've heard many friends who speak fondly of it. It takes you all over, though has mediocre rewards. The end is also a little anti-climactic... in the sense that it doesn't really end, the quest line just finishes. I place it in this list because it's long.

The line starts with these 11 quests, continues with these four, and concludes with this reward.

5. The Tirion Fordring series

This questline gives a lot of backstory about the Scarlet Crusade, and it is the first long elite questline that most players will do. The rewards are spectacular for their level, and the questline is extremely fun, involving disguising yourself as an enemy and walking into their castle. The line starts with the link above and ends with this quest after watching the existing Scarlet commander get ganked. Well worth running through, even at 70, just for the storyline.

Contributed below:
6. A visit with Greatmother. See also the WoWWiki page. Part of TBC, this questline has you involved in Thrall's past. I would assume there is no Alliance counterpart. If you could the entire series and the series required to gain access to it, it's well over 30 steps long from what I can gather. (Thanks to Nite_Moogle)

7. The Archmage's Staff. See also Archamge Vargoth on WoWWiki. Might also check out Malevolent Remnants, which is available after completing part of the Vargoth questline. (Thanks to chase)

8. Screecher Spirits. See also the whole questline. This questline is basically an introduction to Zul'Gurub and Hakkar as a fixture of lore. (Thanks to missiletoad)

9. The Scythe of Elune questline. This looks like a really interesting bit of game. It essentially explains a small piece of the world -- some other questlines listed here try to take a larger view, but this is very focused on a single piece of mythology and unexplained circumstance that is part of the world at large. Looks well-worth checking out. (Thanks to Linnet and several others.) Maledict's hypothesis on these events is worth posting for those disappointed with the end of the line:

Should also check out the GameSpy list:
http://pc.gamespy.com/guides/wowat60/

This page in particular is a list of long-ish questlines from level 52-60:
http://pc.gamespy.com/guides/wowat60...questlist.html

(Though not all of them are really "excellent", in my not-so-humble opinion. The Scholomance key quest, for instance, isn't really that interesting.)


I've ignored several quests that were mentioned because I don't feel like most of the population would get anything out of me adding them (the Scepter questline, the Pallie epic charger questline, a number of the maller one-step quests suggested by alienangel. But, I will be adding a page to the WoWWiki about these quests soon. I'll post the link here when it's done. You can feel free to put whatever you want on that page. If I have time, after I make the page, I'll try to include all the stuff listed in this thread. Odds are if one person has remembered the quests this long, they're probably worth mentioning to a larger audience.

-------------------------------------------------

There is a WoWWiki page now:
http://www.wowwiki.com/Long%2C_excep...den_questlines

I have yet to experience TBC content, but I would say the Tirion Fordring quest line was my absolute favorite so far. In fact, most of the WPL/EPL quests were very well done, including the Scholomance and Stratholme quests. These were probably the first quests to actually pull me into the lore behind it rather than feel like another "go there and fetch me 15 gorilla asses" quest.

For the best hidden questline, I'd have to go with the chicken egg quest in Westfall.

Gotta include http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10044 in that list.

GameSpy did a superb resource much like this:

http://pc.gamespy.com/guides/wowat60/

Most of the interesting level 50-60 quest chains, plus level 60 instance guides, plus a bit of info about Zul'Gurub and Molten Core.

I was dissapointed because I didn't realize that turning the quest in with Thrall already there wouldn't yield you the dialog between the two. =(

I remember a quest Gurg referred to in an EJ thread long ago (the thread was about burning through 1-60 and then hitting a "brick wall")...something about a burned-down Inn on the outskirts of Dustwallow Marsh...that I never discovered what the outcome was. After heading back to Theramore Isle, I reported in and said that I had discovered a shield...and nothing else became of it. To this day I have yet to figure out how to finish that quest.

Re: Onyxia Chain: It was my understanding that the Alliance version of this was a very deep and complex storyline involving Humans & politics, but I certainly don't recall anything like that from a Horde perspective.

Yes, that's a great quest line. Also, the Defias quest line is fantastic. It's a shame that Horde get crappy 'ol Ragefire Chasm and a Lieutenant's Insignia and Alliance get a very deep quest line with a fun and unique instance.

Quest line involving Archmage Vargoth begins in netherstorm Area 52.
10 steps long with the final step having you head into Botanica.

It is in style with the old diplomats quest line. Medicore rewards and an ending that leaves you scratching your head wondering if the guy that created this quest got fired or sick.

Actually it reminds me of those 200 word S.A.'s I wrote in jr high, once I hit 198 words I put a period followed my "the end" no matter where I was in the story.

The questline about the scythe of elune in Duskwood. There are some new NPCs in ashenvale also who start a longish questline that fleshes out that story, explains where the scythe came from and how it got to Duskwood also.

That one ended with The Deserters rather abruptly. Similarly, the Chained Essence of Eranikus, which had a sort of ending, but without the pre-requisite of doing the first part.

Talvash's Ring from Gnomer and the letter that you get from the skeleton below the Dun Modr area are sort of "hidden" quests.

"You've done it! After being imprisoned for years, me, a powerful archmage and enemy of the Burning Legion with a now personal vendetta against the blood elves; I'm free!"... [sits there]

Yeah, I was pretty disappointed by that.

It's not an interface issue, really. This comes up all the time in the UI and suggestion forums, so I can't imagine that Blizzard is unaware. However, it is Blizzard who will have to fix it as there is no relevant feature in the UI relating to this.

That Duskwallow questline is even more perplexing for the Horde I think... it culminates in two final parts with an informant being killed, and a Thunder Bluff blacksmith saying "yep, I made that shield" and giving no followup. Right up there with the Eranikus questline on the "Wha..?" Factor. It always felt to me like they meant it to be political inter-faction instigating by the black dragonflight and their tendancy for deception, but never got around to linking the Shady Rest line to the Onyxia key quest lines.

Another world-traveling line full of lore I've always liked was the massive Hakkar chain, starting here. All this backstory involving the troll empires and their desperate worship of an evil being, up to the player's role of being duped into unleashing Hakkar upon Azeroth. The only thing it really lacks is dialogue explicitly stating "hey dummy, ya go to Yojamba Isle for quests from here".

Well, I suppose what goes around comes around; the Horde now has access to a very surprising bit of lore and a very invovled questline involve Grom, Thrall, and the Greatmother...what is the Alliance equivalent? Probably not too much I would expect?

On another tangent, the questline that gets my vote for the one most eagerly anticiapting its continuation in a future expansion pack is the Uldaman / Discs of Norgannon line that comes to a cliffhanger by sending you to an as-of-yet-unopened instance, Uldum. I expect we'll learn more about it when Northrend is opened, as the third Dwarven city, Ulduar, resides there, making it a good candidate for continuance/closure.

Based on the amount of lore involved with the three Dwarven cities, Uldaman itself was very underwhelming and small (though the final boss encounter is still fun to this day), so I would hope that they take it up a notch with the 2nd and 3rd cities.

I have fond memories of these two quest lines from Darkshore:

Bashal'Aran - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=954

For Love Eternal - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=963

Maybe they're just sentimental memories of how much fun the game was in Feb 2005, but they're the only quests I bothered doing again in the whole depressing zone when I levelled a night elf alt a year later. They've very nicely written, very sad, and the latter at least has a long cutscene at the end that's worth watching.

Continuing the trend of soppy and heartwrenching quests, there're these two in Duskwood:

The Weathered Grave - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=225

Sven's Revenge - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=95 - A very long chain that sends you around quite a lot. Make sure you read the quest item's for the good bits about the tragic deaths, riders out of deadwind pass, and the Scythe of Elune

The legend of Stalvan - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=66 - this one isn't really sad, but engaging and long. Read quest items.

The plaguelands have several nice questlines dealing with families shattered by the war or by death, and helping them find closure:

The thoroughly heartbreaking quests involving Pamela Redpath - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=5142 - especially the last one with the doll T_T

Better Late Than Never - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=5022 - has more impact after you've spend a while in stormwind and seen Old Emma wandering around (the horde equivalent is Jeremiah Felstone).

A Letter Undelivered - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=361 - a short little gem of a quest in Tirisfal that set the character for the forsaken quite nicely in my mind

All in all, I can't think of TBC quests (alliance ones anyway) that had as personal a feel as some of the Azeroth ones. Plenty of fun stuff in TBC, nothing memorable for the same reasons, except perhaps the Tornheart series.

Also, if you can manage it, I'd recommend picking up Broodlord Lashlayer's head in BWL to start the AQ sceptre-shard quest line. Even if you don't do the raid portions of it, a lot of it is soloable and cute.

The set of parallel quests for hunters to obtain Rhok'dellar are quite extensive too, and the fights are fun - but you need to be a hunter and get a leaf out of MC to start it. I still have my bark thing to summon the ghostly ancients in felwood when passing by. I wish they let us do the fights again, they were a lot of fun to do too, aside from over crowding.

I seem to remember my rogues doing some pretty engaging class quests as well, that built up to a major anticlimax.

I've always enjoyed this questline:

http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=637

It gives you a quest chain from the King of Ironforge to go to Hillsbrad and gather some Granite from the yeti cave, to make a statue for the lady's late husband.

sadly outdated and probably never be done again at this point, the scepter questline. after having been 60 for over a year or so and basically only raiding at this point, this little questline was such a nice fresh breath of air.
requiring you to fly all over the world, into familiar places but new spots you never been before , get a swim speed buff to reach some far out island, dress up as a gnome to fight some giant ape, that whole questline was just awesome.

The blood knight epic mount quest deserves a mention. Gather supplies to reinforce the wards holding the kidnapped naaru, fight off a mini scourge invasion, burn down the church in Stratholme where the order of the silver hand was formed and then kill the six paladins that come to put out the flames.

One of the few quests that felt vaguely uncomfortable to do.

Wow... Blood Knights are a mean crew indeed.

I did find it amusing/interesting one of the six Paladins was called Cathela the Seeker, reminded me immediately of Cathela here on the forums. I didn't take note of any of the other names, though I'm contemplating checking it out again now I'm 70, I kept the quest item for that part of the quest around.

On the more disturbing note of that quest; the only reason the Blood Knights even want to do all that is to proof to the Order of the Silver Hand that they are the true masters of the Light; it's basically a purely selfish quest.

I have to say that the fight inside the church was fairly epic. You don't get a lot of fights where you're outnumbered, cornered, and fighting in a burning building. About the only way they could make it better is to have the building collapse after a minute, killing anyone still left inside. I felt a little dirty, but not much so considering I'd already peed on Uther's grave and gotten away with it. The Silver Hand desperately needs to be reborn.

The lore with the Blood Elves and Naruu gets a little brain-bending when you consider the leader of the Scryers had a vision involving the Naruu being the salvation of his race... and the BEs left on Azeroth have one chained up under Silvermoon, from which they are drawing energy...

Hey, you get his kick ass staff. IMO all guild kill shots should have 25 images of Archmage Vargoth standing next to the corpse.