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Freedom to Ruul

Escort Ruul, then speak with Yama Snowhoof in Splintertree Post.
  •  
 Escort Ruul from the Thistlefurs.

Description

Eh? Who are you?

<name>? You're no furbolg. They are cursed! They thought I was a bear and captured me, and now they starve me! My strength is failing...

Help me escape, then speak with my sister Yama at the Splintertree Post to the east.

<name>! I must escape!

Progress

Completion



Locations

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Ashenvale
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StartEnd

Reward

You will also receive: 17

Gains

Upon completion of this quest you will gain:
  • 2400 experience ( 14 40 at max. level)
  • 150 Reputation with Thunder Bluff

Related

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Rating: +77 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 01/02/2006 (Patch 1.8.4)
You meet Ruul inside the Thistlefur Village.&nbsp Go into the underground entrance at 38,30, then keep to the left when the path forks.&nbsp Ruul is the big polar bear in the wooden cage right where the path empties into the first big room.

You'll escort him out.&nbsp Be careful - as soon as you get back to the fork in the path, you'll be ambushed by three mixed Thistlefurs.&nbsp He'll head out the way you came in, go left from the entrance, down the hill, and then again to the left toward the gate.&nbsp

As soon as you get to the gate, expect another ambush (again, three mixed Thistlefurs.)&nbsp Be careful - a named level 25 sometimes appears in the gate area as well.&nbsp Once you're out the gate, he'll turn right and head a few yards down the hill before thanking you and sending you on to Splintertree for your reward.

I soloed this with a hunter at 25, but it was tough (I had to restart once).&nbsp I'd suggest clearing out all the thistles between the entrance and Ruul before you talk to him, otherwise you may find yourself fighting four or five when the ambush hits.

His sister is in the inn at the Splintertree Post.&nbsp I turned it in at level 26 for 2,400 XP, 17 silver, and 150 faction with Thunder Bluff.

If you combine this with another Thistlefur quest (Troll Charm and Between a Rock for me), it is worth the extra time.
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Rating: +22 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 10/21/2006 (Patch 1.12.2)
If a quest can go wrong, it will go wrong for me.&nbsp And boy did this one go wrong for my 25 warrior.&nbsp I didn't even know it existed, but had to go deep into the Thistlefur cave to find troll charms.&nbsp Normally they spawn in one area and I can get them there, but this time I ended up going all the way in and found Ruul caged.

Ran out with Ruul, and we were doing fine, even when an idiot shaman trained two adds onto us.&nbsp Things got a little hairy at the entrance to the cave, as a Pathfinder was patrolling into the area just as we started fighting the two Ursas that stand on either side of the entrance.&nbsp This of course aggroed the Pathfinder and the nearby Totemic.&nbsp We got through that fight ok, and I thought we were done.

But no, had to walk him out of the village.&nbsp He very nearly aggroed an entire camp of furbolgs by walking too close.&nbsp Right before the village entrance, we fought an Avenger and Shaman.&nbsp Not a hard fight but left me at about 70% health.

I didn't have a chance to do any healing before he aggroed the village gate guards, two Pathfinders.&nbsp For whatever reasons, my warrior had a lot of trouble just landing hits on the Pathfinders.&nbsp We managed to kill one, but then a nearby Shaman joined in, along with what appeared to be a two Avenger/single Shaman three-man patrol, a wandering spider and the patrolling furbolg leader.&nbsp For those keeping score, it was 25 warrior and 26 Ruul against seven enemies.&nbsp Suffice to say I died quickly and Ruul died about five seconds later.&nbsp It was about to get even worse, as one of the furbolgs started to run off, straight towards the nearest camp.

You have no control over Ruul, so be aware that he will walk into situations above if the time is right.&nbsp To be safe, bring a couple of friends.
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Rating: +20 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 09/15/2006 (Patch 1.12.0)
FYI this is a horde only quest.
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Rating: +19 [-] [+]
By hhallahh on 08/22/2007 (Patch 2.1.3)
I'm a Druid, I love Druids, but this quest made me want to go to Moonglade and give everyone there a great big nutpunch.

As the previous comments have stated, if you intend to do this quest solo, it's all but necessary to clear the path between Ruul and the hub that splits into upper and lower paths before his room. This includes the far side of the hub (near the entrance), as those mobs are liable to add during the fight if there's an unlucky runner or Ruul gets positioned badly. Remember to get the caster furblog who paths alongside the upper ramp, as he can easily add during the scripted fights if not dealt with.

The first pack, which appears going down the upper path of the hub and will normally intercept Ruul in the hub, consists of an Avenger, Pathfinder, and Shaman. This pack is the most tricky of the entire quest. A few things to keep in mind:

- Ruul can take a single furblog at a time without taking too much damage, but the furblog will eventually flee and may draw adds. So don't take your eyes off Ruul just because the given fight won't kill him.

- This pack cannot be avoided by trying to stall Ruul and having them despawn before they enter combat. This pack will not despawn within a reasonable timeframe, but will rather travel to the far end of the room and simply sit there, likely on top of other mobs if the room wasn't fully cleared. This will pretty much guarantee a failed quest, and there's really no profit in trying to do so.

- Let Ruul aggro the pack. No matter what. He has terrible, terrible AI and will simply walk past you if you engage the pack first, leaving you to fend with 3 mobs while he goes and fights (and possibly dies) to whatever lies ahead. If you can take these mobs out all at once, I guess that's okay, but it's not easy.

- Whatever your strategy is, take the Avenger down in these packs first. Yes, the Shaman will probably get a heal off, but this is a small price to pay in order to avoid enraging him by killing another mob. He easily does half the DPS of the entire group.

Hopefully these tips help you get past the first pack. After that, things are relatively easy, but still not a cakewalk. Ruul will path through the furblog camp and draw adds... often several at once, which can be quite dangerous. It's advisable to clear ahead of him if you aren't near the end where the second pack of furblogs spawns. If not, remember... whatever you aggro, Ruul is liable to ignore and just keep going past. Don't get in a fight with a mob on the side while Ruul aggros 3.

At the end (past one of the gates, I forget exactly where), you have to deal with another 3-pack. Thankfully, the risk of adds is much lower this time, making the fight more managable. Beat them and you're pretty much in the clear.

Good luck.
Rating: +18 [-] [+]
By h0race on 11/16/2007 (Patch 2.3.0)
The best tactic I've found for this quest is to just point at Ruul in his cage, laugh and keep on walking. He is so not worth the trouble.
Last edited by h0race on 11/16/2007 (Patch 2.3.0)
Rating: +6 [-] [+]
By mootwo on 10/01/2006 (Patch 1.12.1)
This is not an easy escort quest to solo at the stated level due to the fast Thistlefur respawn rate. It is suggested to get a group together to do this quest. If everyone is level appropriate you should pre-clear to the cave entrance just prior to starting the quest.

The two other quests in this area are:
Between a Rock and a Thistlefur - https://classicdb.ch/?quest=216
Troll Charm - https://classicdb.ch/?quest=6462
(These two should be done prior to "Freedom to Ruul" to speed your questing.)
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Rating: +6 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 04/22/2007 (Patch 2.0.12)
Ok i mananged to do this with my 27 rogue.After 2 attempts,because it bugged.

As stated there is an ambush of 3 mobs when you get to the intersection in the cave.

Best thing to do is clear the mobs at the intersection so you only have to fight the 3 of them.Fighting 3 is not so hard because ruul can easily take one down by himself,and aslong as you only attack one at a time the other will attack ruul.remember to kill the healer mob first aswell :)

The rest of the cave is easy,you should only get 1 mob at a time,maybe 2 if you walk into a pat,but you should have no problem with that.

When you get to the cave exit there are 2 mobs at the door,so again you will have to fight 2 mobs,but again not hard.

When i was walking down the path from the cave to the main camp a pathfinder spawned for me,and it was underground so i couldn't attack it,but ruul could.Luckily,as i say,ruul can easily kill one of them by himself so luckily he killed it and we carried on.
The secound time i did this part no mob spawned but at the same point ruul started freaking out like there was a mob there,growling and running around in circles and i though it was gonna bug out again buit luckily after about a minute he stopped freaking out and carried on.

You then walk through the main camp.
Strangely ruul has a very low aggro range for the mobs in the camp,so mostly you should only get one mob at a time,maybe 2 if you walk into a pat.You should only get more normally if YOU actually aggro the mobs yourself so try to stay out of aggro range of the mobs around you.

The only problem comes if you are unlucky enough to walk into the named mob or the rare spawn then it will get tough.
I actually encountered the named on my first try,while fighting 1 mob he pat'd into me and called 2 other's over.The annoying thing was that i managed to kill all but 1 of the mobs and was fighting it when ruul decided to die for some reason,even though there was only one mob and it had only been hitting me? So another bug,and hence why i had to do it twice.
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Rating: +5 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 01/05/2007 (Patch 2.0.1)
To put it bluntly, Ruul is a friggin' moron. He *will* walk through the *middle* of the furbolg camps, so expect aggro and links from 5 to 10 mobs at a time.
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Rating: +3 [-] [+]
By Minoton on 03/20/2007 (Patch 2.0.10)
I agree with both mootwo and Ormriss: pre-clearing is very wise. In addition, two quest-related spawns of three mobs each will attack, one inside the caves as you exit the smaller passage into the main hallway, and another as you leave the caves. Ruul will take the path to the left as you descend the hill outside the cave entrance. Taking out mobs that seem likely to intersect his path seems wise, as there are a couple of camps where, if you are unlucky, five or six mobs will draw aggro.

By the time I had escorted Ruul outside, the mobs there had already begun to respawn.
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Rating: +3 [-] [+]
By HighFive on 05/01/2007 (Patch 2.0.12)
There are two scripted ambushes, consisting of a Shaman, Pathfinder and Avenger(or Ursa, or Den Watcher). One is inside the cave when you reach the fork, the other one - outside, near the place where Dal Bloodclaw roams.

I soloed it as a level 26 frost specced mage.
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Rating: +3 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 01/02/2007 (Patch 2.0.1)
lvl 24 shammy and 26 bear vs 2 pathfinders, 1 totemic, 1 avenger, the named one AND a frikkin 25 rare spawn!

just when i thought we were done :(
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Rating: +3 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 02/08/2007 (Patch 2.0.6)
After i got out the village I had to try and take on so many i couldnt count. Probably 6-7 at once. So basically it went from 1 mob at a time to 7. hmmmmm......
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Rating: +3 [-] [+]
By emero510 on 11/23/2007 (Patch 2.3.0)
After patch 2.3, Thislefur Hold in Ashenvale was significantly nerfed. This is easily soloable now. There are way fewer mobs in the hold, slower respawn rate, and Ruul has a significantly higher hp and armor. And if they don't mind not being able to loot, healing classes can just sit back and let him do most the work of single mobs while healing him. They'll have to get their hands dirty on the groups though, Ruul sucks as an AOE tank. Did it with a 25 Paladin and neither Ruul or I even got close to 50%.

Before the patch, I couldn't do it with a 28 Druid to save my life.
Last edited by emero510 on 11/23/2007 (Patch 2.3.0) – edited 2 times
Rating: +2 [-] [+]
By Procris on 12/28/2007 (Patch 2.3.0)
I tried soloing this as a 26 shadow priest as the quest does not suggest you need any help or group and it was also green to me. The thing with this quest is, for the most part its not hard at all, the mobs are very easy to kill if you only have to fight 2 at a time, the problem comes when they "spawn" to attack you. As far as i can tell they spawn 2 at a time and at the end they spawn 3 at time. Now the problem arises when your already fighting the furblogs that patrol the area, so i was overwhelmed by 4 of them, they also flee before they are about to die so you will need to kill them quick.

It depends on class i think, i can easily see a paladin or mage soloing this without any trouble at all.
Rating: +2 [-] [+]
By studdie on 01/19/2008 (Patch 2.3.2)
If you're a warlock, i suggest knowing the spot where the 3 adds spawn, and voidwalker sacrifice / resummon right before they spawn. Of course to know the spot, you'd have to have tried this quest. This tactic worked for me because I failed the first time. A hard solo quest for this level.
Rating: +2 [-] [+]
By Smorfty on 02/16/2008 (Patch 2.3.3)
He has about 2 min respawn time if you fail the quest.
Rating: +2 [-] [+]
By B00gy on 04/27/2008 (Patch 2.4.1)
Easy soloed by 25 warlock. But just be prepared for 3x Thistlefurs that suddently spawn up.. :)
Rating: +1 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 02/08/2007 (Patch 2.0.6)
Aband your Q and try again?
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Rating: +1 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 10/11/2006 (Patch 1.12.1)
(NPC #12837) is here for you guys and gals who cant find her or to lazy to use search for her name
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Rating: +1 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 02/28/2005 (Patch 1.2.0)
It seems when you get all the way through the hall right where his cage is, about 6 of them spawn, i havent finished the quest, im a 29 shaman and have failed twice trying it solo.
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Rating: +1 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 08/13/2006 (Patch 1.12.0)
this quest is so retarded. i did it with troll charms and luckily, got all the troll charms. i thought the path was clear but while we're walking into the center of the camp, 7 furblogs come out of nowhere. im a lvl 30 shaman and i even rez and that just aggroed MORE furblogs. i saw this one low level do it and make it out only because she had a lvl 53 with her. lucky person. i think you should team up with someone for this quest. a real pain.
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Rating: +1 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 08/21/2006 (Patch 1.12.0)
i did the quest, he transformed and told me to go to talk to yama but when i go to talk to her, i cant complete why?
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Rating: +1 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 02/27/2005 (Patch 1.2.0)
he likes to just walk off, like there is nothing to fear.. just walks straigh into like 7 of them.. if you die and can make it back there before he dies.. then you can still complete the quest.

Edited, Sat Feb 26 21:50:15 2005
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Rating: +1 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 01/11/2006 (Patch 1.9.1)
I remember doing this on my first char, months ago. It seemed so hard then... but I just solo'd it on a level 26 rogue easily. Used evasion twice and a healing potion once, that's all - even when the stupid bear managed to pull 4 furbolgs and a bear, neither of us died :)
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Rating: +1 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 11/25/2005 (Patch 1.8.3)
Escort quest with no rewards or follow-ups? Blizzard can just stick it up somewhere.

Edited, Fri Nov 25 08:53:35 2005
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Rating: +1 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 07/31/2005 (Patch 1.6.0)
Location of Ruul is 41, 34.
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Rating: +1 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 04/13/2005 (Patch 1.3.2)
Where the heck is Yama Snowhoof? Been scouting the entire camp and can't find her.
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Rating: +1 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 01/02/2006 (Patch 1.8.4)
Just soloed this on my level 27 priest. It took two attempts - the first time I got pounded at the junction where the three furbolgs spawn on top of you.

Second time around, I made sure it was clear from the entrance of the cave right down to the npc .. When we got to the bit where the three spawn on you, I let Ruul deal with one himself and killed the other two. The shaman needs to be killed first or he'll heal. I had to psychic scream to get them off me so I had enough time for a heal - they chew through pw:s in a couple of seconds.

Once your out of the cave it's all fairly smooth ... there's another place where you have furbolgs spawn on top of you, but they're a lower level so it's not so bad.
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Rating: +1 [-] [+]
By nisx on 08/30/2019 (Patch 1.13)
White bear inside the cage, 5+ mins respawn timer
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Rating: +1 [-] [+]
By Aerandul on 01/03/2008 (Patch 2.3.0)
As a 23 shaman, I was overwhelmed by the firsst and second packs. I managed to clear the first pack after clearing every mob nearby, and strategic totem planting, and so on, however I was unprepared for the second pack, and they, and 3 adss, stomped me. I'll be waiting another few levels before seeking vengeance...
Rating: 0 [-] [+]
By kolg on 01/21/2019 (Patch 1.13)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND1hY3raLAw&feature=youtu.be
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Show comment   Rating: -2 [-] [+]
By Anonymous on 01/02/2007 (Patch 2.0.1)
Show comment   Rating: -2 [-] [+]
By hhallahh on 08/22/2007 (Patch 2.1.3)
Show comment   Rating: -2 [-] [+]
By CptCondra on 11/14/2007 (Patch 2.3.0)
Show comment   Rating: -2 [-] [+]
By Pexx on 03/25/2008 (Patch 2.4.0)
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