Stinging Winds

The Stinging Winds in the Borderlands is located in the Kehjistan empire, not far from Alcarnus and Lut Bahadur.

Background

No one really bothered with the Stinging Winds desert area until about 400 years ago, when precious ore was found there and Alcarnus as well as many smaller settlements appeared to do mining. The discovery of the Dahlgur oasis and a third town in the Borderlands made the area full of life and trade.

In later years, Hakan II has seen fit to withdraw the support of Caldeum from the wastes and leave those who live there to their own devices. At the moment, no caravan is safe and refugees from the Borderlands come to Caldeum every day.

The refugees report on cultist activities in the area and in Alcarnus.

The Stinging Winds area is reasonably closely located to the Sundered Pass, from where help has been sent.

Besides dangerous animals and demonic monsters, the land is populated with tiny desert creatures, snakes and insects, that are less dangerous.

Game Level

Map of the BlizzCon 2009 demo, showing a snippet of Act II.

The Howling Plateau was one of the first levels of the BlizzCon 2009/GamesCom 2009 demo, and is basically a far better looking version of the Diablo II Aranoch desert levels. The terrain featured visible winds carrying clouds of sand across the plains with dust storms kicking up. The aforementioned desert creatures are critters, which dies if run over.

The Stinging Winds level is located next to the Canyon Rim Mines. The two are separated by three bottlenecks.

Stinging Winds is not only a level; it is actually the name of the entire mining area you play in.

Male Wizard at the entrance of The Stinging Winds.

References

• Writings of Abd al-Hazir: Borderlands
• Kotaku GamesCom Diablo 3 hands-on
• Map of Act II