Thunder lizards of the Barrens: Thunderstomp

Thunder lizards have been an important feature of Kalimdor ever since Warcraft III. As soon as your Horde refugees reached the new continent you (with a little help from Thrall) had to fight herds of these dangerous lightning-spitting beasties. These creatures seem to be a natural part of the fauna of Kalimdor, with no real connection to any corrupting influence. They're just there, just like the kodo.

Today's rarespawn is Thunderstomp.



What is Thunderstomp, and where do I find it?

Thunderstomp is a rare mob thunder lizard found in the Barrens of Kalimdor.



Thunderstomp can be found in the area close to the path leading to Dustwallow Marsh. Thunderstomp wanders a large area here and can be found almost anywhere east of the north-south road and south of the road into Dustwallow. Thunderstomp is a distinctive dark green in color, quite different from the reddish normal thunder lizards, and this combined with the size of the lizards make it an easy mob to spot.



Hunting the great lizards

Thunderstomp is a hostile mob and will attack anyone that gets close. It attacks by spitting a lightning bolt which jumps between enemies and with an (appropriate) Thunderclap which does AoE damage. However, neither of these abilities are very dangerous, and Thunderstomp is an easy mob to defeat for any class.



Unfortunately, thunder lizards are still not tameable by hunters. Thus, there is not much choice between slaying Thunderstomp, or letting it be. If defeated, Thunderstomp yields a generic magic item.

What is Thunderstomp's story?

As I said in the introduction, thunder lizards seem to be a quite natural form of animal life on Kalimdor. They could be descended from the stegadons of Un'Goro crater, with whom they share the distinctive back plates. In the real world, it is believed that stegosaur dinosaurs used these odd plates to control their body heat. This would be an interesting explanation for the plates of stegadons and thunder lizards as well, considering they live in very hot climates where a reptile can be in danger of overheating.



Thunder lizards would seem to be mostly herbivores, although it is possible they can kill and eat smaller animals with their lightning discharges. However, I think it is more reasonable to suspect that the electricity, large body size and defensive spikes are more likely the signs of a slow-moving herbivore. Thus, while Thunderstomp is hostile, it probably isn't out to eat you.



Thunderstomp is probably the largest, dominant thunder lizard in the area where it lives. The distinctive coloration could be the result of age.

I like rares like Thunderstomp. It looks very nice (even if the thunder lizard model looks rather bad up close, it looks good at a distance) and has an appropriate name and attack. "Visually distinctive" actually goes a long way just to make a rarespawn cooler in my book. Next time you visit the Barrens, look for this guy. He probably won't be there after Cataclysm.

Until next time;
~Dragonshade