Dragonflight – The Waking Shores Herb Gathering Route

In Dragonflight, herbs are not zone-related as is the case for other expansions. Similar to BfA, they’re biome or environment related. For example, Writhebark grows near trees and shrubs, Bubble Poppy on riverbanks or near water, Saxifrage on high peaks, rocks, and caves, and finally Hochenblume can be found pretty much everywhere.

The Waking Shores is the Dragonflight starter zone. It’s abundant in Hochenblume, but you’ll also find Bubble Poppy, Saxifrage, and occasionally Writhebark. So, here’s a route that will grant you a pretty decent amount of these herbs, without too much aggro to fight off.

Requirements:

• Dragonflight Herbalism
• At least 4 Dragonflight Vigor
• Dragonrider’s Cultivation (Dragonflight talent)
• GatherMate2 addon (optional)

Where to go:

There are multiple neutral camps in the Waking Shores, so you can start at any of them as long as you have unlocked it. However, Wingrest Embassy or Skytop Observatory are some of the best places to start your gathering sessions as they’re close to the Restless Wetlands. This area has multiple possible herb spawning points; sometimes you’ll see 3-4 on your radar.

What to do:

Follow the route above and gather all the Hochenblume, Saxifrage, Bubble Poppy, and Writhebark that you can find. Differently put, you should stick to the river basin that covers most of the central part of the zone, reaching up to the northern point, to the southwest, and to the east.

The areas with the most herb nodes that you shouldn’t leave unchecked are:

• Restless Wetlands (78, 46)
• The area around Skytop Observatory (74, 54)
• The area south of Life-Binder’s Conservatory, at around (53, 34)
• Overflowing Rapids, at around (52, 50)
• Wild Preserve, at around (42, 80)
• Flashfrost Enclave (55, 81)

You can also add to the list the river beds all around Dragonheart Outpost (64, 50).

The Obsidian Citadel area also holds several herb nodes, but the area is packed with aggro elites and also players questing, so it can be a waste of time. The Scalecracker Keep (up northeast) doesn’t have too many herb nodes, and it’s a rather large area to cover – again, not worth it.

Loot:

After one hour of gathering herbs following this Waking Shores route, I got the following valuables:

• Hochenblume x 218
• Saxifrage x 37
• Bubble Poppy x 38
• Writhebark x 5
• Lava Beetle x 64
• Rousing Ire x 33
• Rousing Frost x 40
• Rousing Air x 3
• Rousing Order x 10

Of course, depending on your Herbalism skill, you’ll get more or fewer herbs, and of different qualities. My Herbalism skill for this session was around 50, with 25 points trained in Bountiful Harvests (and nothing else).

Tips:

Dragonflight isn’t exactly like the standard WoW flying; it requires some finesse and skill when gathering herbs or minerals. First of all, when flying at a high speed, it can be difficult to spot the exact location of a resource on the ground when it pops on your radar. So, it’s best to fly to the highest nearby point (the resource might sometimes be there). Once you’re at the highest point, it’s easier to pinpoint and descend on the resource. If you stop on a lower level than the resource, you might have to wait a bit until your Vigor recharges in order to fly higher.

Although the Dragonflight skill and a dragon mount are available early in the game, Goblin Glider Kits can be quite useful too when gathering herbs or minerals. For example, if you aggro some mobs or get attacked by an enemy player while you’re on a tall cliff, you can pop a glider and escape to save time, rather than fight them. Goblin Glider Kits are rather cheap nowadays.

Of course, to increase your herb gathering efficiency, you can either wear gathering items that grant Finesse, Deftness, and Perception or use phials/potions that grant these stats.

If you’re at least level 5 renown with the Dragonscale Expedition, you’ll be able to gather treasures from Disturbed Dirt and Expedition Scout’s Packs. So, having a few Sturdy Expedition Shovels for the dirt is a plus. There are plenty possible spawn locations for packs and dirt on this route.