Durotar is the Horde starting zone for orcs and trolls. Thrall chose this land for the orcs to settle in, naming it Durotar after his father, Durotan. After the Shattering, more of the zone is flooded from the Southfury River, and the quests reflect Hellscream's new military rule.

In the south of Durotar are the Echoes Isles, the ancestral home of the Darkspear Trolls. Vol'jin, the leader of the trolls, has relocated here after tensions between Hellscream and the trolls.