World of Warcraft Classic Horde Hunter Guide to Owl Taming

I started playing World of Warcraft in 2005 with a human mage. This was an obvious choice as I played a wizard in Dungeons & Dragons in the glorious 80s and just loved casting flashy spells. When I decided to experience the other side of the game with a Horde character, I wanted a class unlike what I played before. This resulted in the orc hunter whom charged through the Dark Portal into Outland and will stand proudly by the campfire in my Warband. The hunter’s appeal to my has always been the variety of beasts I could tame and send into battle. This appeal was heightened by the Petopia website which featured all tamable beasts and their details.

It was here I learned of owls, which I loved, and how low-level owls were only found on the Night Elf capital zone of Teldrassil. Being an Alliance zone and an island posed some taming challenges, but I embraced them as a personal quest. I found online tips to making the journey, and completing it the first time was a gaming high point. I happily relived this experience several times through the recent iterations of World of Warcraft Classic and have laid out the steps for other Classic Horde hunters. Unfortunately, this won’t work for World of Warcraft Classic Hardcore since you have to die twice.

Owls Know They Are Cool

Owls are meat eaters and have medium health and armor, but rate high on damage. Active Abilities include Growl, Claw, Screech, Cower, and Dive. Growl is an aggro holder. Claw is a direct damage attack. Screech hits an enemy for damage and lowers the melee attack power of all enemies in melee range. Cower lowers the pet’s threat level. Dive increases the pet’s movement speed for 15 seconds. The target for taming is the Strigid Hunter. These grey birds are level 8-9 and recommended because they know Claw 2 when tamed.

Onward to the North

The overwhelming majority of the journey involves road travel which is helpful. I completed this run on my level 15 orc and so I started at the Crossroads. It’s a good idea to stable your current pet and tame a placeholder, to act as aggro fodder and give you the little extra time you need to escape any unpleasant encounters.

Even traveling the road, it’s possible to draw attention of nearby higher level mobs. One trouble spot is near the small lake when you first cross into Ashenvale. There is a level 25 Shadethicket Stone Mover who wanders close enough to the road to aggro. This is a good time to have the placeholder pet handy. Once you run clear and rez your pet, the rest of the trek through Ashenvale is fairly eventless, until you reach Astranaar.

The road passes right through this Alliance stronghold but you can avoid it by going offroad before the guards detect you and swimming safely around. Once clear of the town, rejoin the road far enough down not to aggro the other guards and continue on your way. The path will be clear until reaching Darkshore.

The southern end of Darkshore is populated with level 17 Grizzled Thistle Bears and level 18 Moonstalker cats. Some of them wander close to the road but I shifted side to side and didn’t draw unwanted attention. Darkshore does have some nice cat designs for potential future taming runs.

Things get tricky when approaching Auderdine, our destination. The owl homeland sits beyond the Veiled Sea so we need to hitch a ride on an Alliance ship. First step is getting to the northern dock. The best way I found is heading west cross-country to the sea south of the town. Not only are there bears and cats, but you hazard running into high level Sentinels if not careful.

I tried performing this maneuver north of town, but was killed several times by Sentinels and closely packs mobs. Stick the south and swim out and along the shore, passing under the pier until reaching the northern most dock with the two guards. Be mindful and swim clear of them.

Dying is an essential part of this stage of the plan. Once positioned near the dock, slip beneath the sea and drown. Your ghost will spawn at the Auderdine graveyard and from there, run through town, down the pier, and wait for the ship at the dock.

Don’t worry about the guards. You’re not going to Resurrect on the dock. Once the Alliance ship arrives, run aboard and head to the top back. Slip off the side behind the wheel, and land on the curved hull. Move away from the dock, and Resurrect. The guards won’t sense you and there are no guards on the ship. Enjoy the ride.

Across the Veiled Sea

The ship docks at Ruttheran Village but jump off and swim ashore before then. While this next step seems daunting, it’s actually easiest part of the journey. The pink glow on the second picture below is the portal entrance to the Night Elf of Darnassus. Heading towards it will aggro a Sentinel and lead to swift death, but this death is also part of the plan.

Your ghost will appear at the Dolanaar graveyard on Teldrassil. Accept Resurrection and wait for Rez Sickness to pass and move on to the final leg of the journey. Strigid Hunters are located in the northern part of the zone. You can travel on the road, but there are mounted Sentinels so be aware as you make your way.

The Hunters are yellow mobs so you won’t be attacked if you want to pass a few to reach the one with the desired level. At this point, abandon your placeholder pet and tame your bird.

Once tamed and named, feel free to run about killing mobs or hearth out and show off your new guided missile.

Hunters have a multitude of pets to tame, and finding ways to traverse dangerous lands to find them and level their skills is a huge reason for my enjoyment of World of Warcraft Classic.