Kobold Camp Cleanup is the second quest in the Alliance starting chain in Northshire Valley, handed out by Marshal McBride right after A Threat Within. It is a straightforward kill quest, but the target name matters more than new players expect, because the camp north of the abbey is packed with two similar-looking kobolds and only one of them counts.
Quick answer: Kill Kobold Vermin in the camp north of Northshire Abbey until the counter fills, then hand the quest back to Marshal McBride for 25 copper and 170 experience.
Kobold Camp Cleanup quest details
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Quest level | 2 (requires level 1) |
| Faction | Alliance |
| Start and end NPC | Marshal McBride |
| Zone | Northshire Valley, Elwynn Forest |
| Objective | Kobold Vermin slain |
| Money reward | 25 copper |
| Experience | 170 (225 in Season of Mastery) |
| Reputation | Stormwind |
| Sharable | Yes |
The whole quest takes place inside Elwynn Forest, so there is no travel and no flight path involved. It is sharable, which is useful if you rolled a new Alliance character alongside a friend and one of you skipped ahead.
The required kill count is not identical across every version of the game. Classic asks for 10 Kobold Vermin, while the original Northshire version of the quest listed 8, and an early beta build used 7. Trust the counter in your own quest log rather than a fixed number.
Where to find Kobold Vermin in Northshire Valley
Leave Northshire Abbey and head north into the woods. The kobold camp sits in a clearing with tents and campfires, and the spawns are spread around that open ground rather than packed into one tight cluster. Individual Kobold Vermin also patrol the nearby field and stand near the larger trees at the edge of the camp, so you rarely have to wait for respawns if you keep circling.
These are the lowest-level enemies in the starting area and they do not hit hard, but they will pull one another if you fight in the middle of a tent cluster. Work the outside edge of the camp inward and you can take them one at a time.
Kobold Vermin vs Kobold Worker: Only one counts
The single most common mistake here is killing the wrong kobold. The camp contains both Kobold Vermin and Kobold Worker, and only Kobold Vermin advance the objective. Check the name on your target frame before you open with a spell, because the two models look close enough to blur together at low resolution.
Workers will sometimes aggro you anyway while you are clearing the camp. Kill them if you have to, take the copper they drop, then go back to hunting Vermin. The kills are not wasted experience, they just do not move the counter.
How to clear the camp efficiently
Turning in the quest and confirming completion
Run back south to Northshire Abbey and speak to Marshal McBride. He asks how the hunting went, and completing the turn-in gives you 25 copper, 170 experience and Stormwind reputation. The exchange ends with McBride noting that kobolds are thieves and cowards, but dangerous in numbers.
If you want to verify completion later, the game tracks the quest by ID. Paste this into chat to check the Classic version of the quest:
/run print(C_QuestLog.IsQuestFlaggedCompleted(7))A result of true means the quest is already logged as completed on that character.
What Kobold Camp Cleanup unlocks next
Handing the quest in opens the next step in the Northshire chain, Investigate Echo Ridge, which leads into Skirmish at Echo Ridge and eventually Report to Goldshire. It also unlocks your first class quest, delivered as a letter that differs depending on what you rolled.
- Mage — Glyphic Letter
- Priest — Hallowed Letter
- Paladin — Consecrated Letter
- Rogue — Encrypted Letter
- Warlock — Tainted Letter
- Warrior — Simple Letter
One caveat for players coming from modern retail World of Warcraft: this quest was removed in patch 4.0.3a when Cataclysm rebuilt the Northshire starting experience. It only exists in Classic-era clients, which is why you will not find it on a new character in the current retail game.
