01-10-2007, 09:20 AM
((Hello Tribe!
The Burning Crusade approaches! Soon many of us will be plunged into the lowbie world again with our new Blood Elves. Once we have explored the brand new Blood Elf starting areas weââ¬â¢ll be back in the familiar Horde zones.
I'm hoping that writing up my leveling strategy will help guildmates who enjoy leveling but are caught in a slump, unsure where to go next.
I currently have six 60s, so I have been through this portion of the game many times. Please add your experience to this thread! I'm always eager to learn of more good leveling areas.
Leveling Strategy
My strategy is to find high-density areas that pack a lot of experience per minute of play. Ideally, these are areas with:
(1) lots of mobs that spawn quickly, don't run, or call others for help
(2) lots of quests such that everything you kill counts towards a quest completion
(3) little travel time
(4) a close graveyard
Such an area is like an elevator: I can rise through several levels in just a few hours. The Camp T thunder lizard area, for example, is an excellent elevator in the 18-22 range. Hillsbrad, on the other hand, is an area I avoid. The farmer quests require a lot of back-and-forth to Tarren Mill. The farmers spawn rapidly, run away, and call for help, which means I can get overwhelmed quickly. The bear and spider quests require an agonizing grind for rare drops.
What level should you be? It's important to hit these areas at the right level. If you hit them at the right time you can rip through the mobs with very little downtime, racking up kill after kill, and troop back to town with four or five completed quests and head out for another round. The experience leaps upwards.
If you hit these areas too early, however, it's a slog. You need to eat, drink, or bandage after every kill or two; adds may kill you; and the whole thing is slow and painful. Conversely, if you hit an area too late, everything is too easy. Sure, you can kill everything quickly, but the experience isnââ¬â¢t as high as it could be.
The ideal level for an area depends on what class you are. In my experience, hunters are power-soloers that can easily kill mobs two or three levels above themselves. Priests, on the other hand, are fragile and have mediocre DPS (at least until level 40), so do best when killing mobs at their own level or a few levels below.
Instances and grinding: Blizzard has designed the zones so that there is enough experience available through questing to get you through the levels without grinding mobs or running instances.
That being said, a run through an instance, with several quest completions, is good for a great deal of experience and equipment. I have not reviewed instances here, since I rarely go into them myself while leveling. As a parent of a small child, I need to be able to stop playing at a momentââ¬â¢s notice. This precludes instances during the day for me.
I do occasionally grind mobs, particularly if Iââ¬â¢m in a slump ââ¬â Iââ¬â¢ve finished one zone but am a little too young for the next one. Some zones have areas that are particularly fruitful for mob grinding, and Iââ¬â¢ve pointed some of these out in my guide.
Blood elf questgivers Bilzzard has confirmed that the Burning Crusade will have blood elves scattered around the world in Horde towns, sending you on new quests! This is quite an exciting development, and will add new things to do in familiar zones.
Early to high teens (about 12-18)
The Barrens
Once I've finished with my race-specific area (Mulgore, Durotar etc.) I hit Crossroads in the Barrens and work through the rich sequence of quests centered on the Crossroads: the hunting quests (plainstriders, lions, raptors), centaur quests, oasis quests, and quillboar quests.
I may skip the northern Barrens quests ââ¬â the Samophlange and Emerald quests -- because they're remote and require painful, unmounted runs back and forth to Ratchet. However, if you need a bump of experience then theyââ¬â¢re worth doing.
I usually avoid the early Undead areas... I just find them too dark and gloomy.
Stonetalon
Stonetalon is an odd area with a few quests spanning about fifteen levels. You can actually start Stonetalon in the mid-teens: the Grimtotem quests (kill count, escort) can be started at level 14-16 and provide a little productive spurt. Then there are good late-teen quests -- the spider and Windshear Crag quests, and then the mid-twenties quests in Charred Vale and the elf area to the far north.
I tend to return to Stonetalon several times depending on my level. There isn't enough there to take me up fifteen levels, but it's useful as a stepping stone and provides a nice break from the Barrens, though it does involve a lot of running back and forth to the Tauren questgivers at the entrance to Stonetalon and to Ratchet. Stonetalon is also a good place for tin, especially that sloping path leading to the elf area.
Silverpine
The Fenris Isle quests in Silverpine are good in the 16-18 range. The mobs are undead so do not flee!
High teens to mid-twenties (about 18-24)
Southern Barrens
Nothing beats the Camp T area, with its multiple hunting quests (including Chen's Empty Keg) and quillboar quests. This area is excellent for levels 18-22. By my criteria it is the best leveling elevator in the game: the thunderlizards are thick on the ground; they spawn fast; they can be taken one at a time with little risk of adds; they don't move, don't run, and don't call others; and the graveyard is right there at Camp T. I can hardly wait until a character turns 18 so I can head down there.
Great grinding spot: everything that moves around Camp T in the Southern Barrens -- thunder lizards, zhevras etc. (levels 20-21). I frequently stay here slaughtering beasts until level 22.
After about level 22 I head further south to do quests: scorpions, the second stage of Chen's Empty Keg, multiple quillboar quests, and the dwarf sequence. This area is a little less efficient but still fairly fast. I'm usually here until the mid-twenties, 24 or 25.
Ashenvale
Ashenvale is a decent leveling area, though it is not as efficient as the Southern Barrens. The shredder pages quest, the outrunners, the Ashenvale hunt, the water elementals at Fallen Sky Lake (donââ¬â¢t forget to kill the named elemental), the satyrs (with their annoying weak heart attack), the Ordanus questline, and Warsong Supplies are worth a good level.
The nagas on the coast and the furbolgs north of Astranar offer some good grinding in the early 20s, but they're far from everything else and are surrounded by pretty sparse territory.
All in all, for the early 20s, I prefer the Southern Barrens, and Thousand Needles for the late twenties. But if you're in a slump in the mid-twenties, Ashenvale may have what you need.
Late twenties
The late twenties can be a bit of a slump. The pickings here are rather slim.
Stonetalon
Stonetalon offers some possibilities in Charred Vale (the harpies are 24-28), and in the elf area to the north (the Forest Magic quest is a good one).
Thousand Needles
Thousand Needles is a good questing area, though it has lots of running back and forth to centaur camps, harpy areas, wyverns, and elementals. It has several productive spurts: the three Grimtotem quests are good (the 3 documents, Arnak, and the escort quest -- best done in a group), the water elementals are good if you aren't melee, and the wyvern area is a nice dense little spot (don't forget the escort quest above and behind the wyverns). Donââ¬â¢t forget the questgiver in a cave high up on the cliff northeast of Freewind Post ââ¬â this starts a nice quest sequence that will take you to several zones. I tend to avoid the harpies because I dislike their screeching and running, but that's just me.
Hillsbrad
The alternative to Thousand Needles is Hillsbrad. I find the farmer, bear, and spider quests quite painful... farmers run and call for help and spawn really fast; the spider and bear quests are rare drops; and the graveyard is far away. But if you need a leg up to the next level, Hillsbrad may have what you need.
The Burning Crusade approaches! Soon many of us will be plunged into the lowbie world again with our new Blood Elves. Once we have explored the brand new Blood Elf starting areas weââ¬â¢ll be back in the familiar Horde zones.
I'm hoping that writing up my leveling strategy will help guildmates who enjoy leveling but are caught in a slump, unsure where to go next.
I currently have six 60s, so I have been through this portion of the game many times. Please add your experience to this thread! I'm always eager to learn of more good leveling areas.
Leveling Strategy
My strategy is to find high-density areas that pack a lot of experience per minute of play. Ideally, these are areas with:
(1) lots of mobs that spawn quickly, don't run, or call others for help
(2) lots of quests such that everything you kill counts towards a quest completion
(3) little travel time
(4) a close graveyard
Such an area is like an elevator: I can rise through several levels in just a few hours. The Camp T thunder lizard area, for example, is an excellent elevator in the 18-22 range. Hillsbrad, on the other hand, is an area I avoid. The farmer quests require a lot of back-and-forth to Tarren Mill. The farmers spawn rapidly, run away, and call for help, which means I can get overwhelmed quickly. The bear and spider quests require an agonizing grind for rare drops.
What level should you be? It's important to hit these areas at the right level. If you hit them at the right time you can rip through the mobs with very little downtime, racking up kill after kill, and troop back to town with four or five completed quests and head out for another round. The experience leaps upwards.
If you hit these areas too early, however, it's a slog. You need to eat, drink, or bandage after every kill or two; adds may kill you; and the whole thing is slow and painful. Conversely, if you hit an area too late, everything is too easy. Sure, you can kill everything quickly, but the experience isnââ¬â¢t as high as it could be.
The ideal level for an area depends on what class you are. In my experience, hunters are power-soloers that can easily kill mobs two or three levels above themselves. Priests, on the other hand, are fragile and have mediocre DPS (at least until level 40), so do best when killing mobs at their own level or a few levels below.
Instances and grinding: Blizzard has designed the zones so that there is enough experience available through questing to get you through the levels without grinding mobs or running instances.
That being said, a run through an instance, with several quest completions, is good for a great deal of experience and equipment. I have not reviewed instances here, since I rarely go into them myself while leveling. As a parent of a small child, I need to be able to stop playing at a momentââ¬â¢s notice. This precludes instances during the day for me.
I do occasionally grind mobs, particularly if Iââ¬â¢m in a slump ââ¬â Iââ¬â¢ve finished one zone but am a little too young for the next one. Some zones have areas that are particularly fruitful for mob grinding, and Iââ¬â¢ve pointed some of these out in my guide.
Blood elf questgivers Bilzzard has confirmed that the Burning Crusade will have blood elves scattered around the world in Horde towns, sending you on new quests! This is quite an exciting development, and will add new things to do in familiar zones.
Early to high teens (about 12-18)
The Barrens
Once I've finished with my race-specific area (Mulgore, Durotar etc.) I hit Crossroads in the Barrens and work through the rich sequence of quests centered on the Crossroads: the hunting quests (plainstriders, lions, raptors), centaur quests, oasis quests, and quillboar quests.
I may skip the northern Barrens quests ââ¬â the Samophlange and Emerald quests -- because they're remote and require painful, unmounted runs back and forth to Ratchet. However, if you need a bump of experience then theyââ¬â¢re worth doing.
I usually avoid the early Undead areas... I just find them too dark and gloomy.
Stonetalon
Stonetalon is an odd area with a few quests spanning about fifteen levels. You can actually start Stonetalon in the mid-teens: the Grimtotem quests (kill count, escort) can be started at level 14-16 and provide a little productive spurt. Then there are good late-teen quests -- the spider and Windshear Crag quests, and then the mid-twenties quests in Charred Vale and the elf area to the far north.
I tend to return to Stonetalon several times depending on my level. There isn't enough there to take me up fifteen levels, but it's useful as a stepping stone and provides a nice break from the Barrens, though it does involve a lot of running back and forth to the Tauren questgivers at the entrance to Stonetalon and to Ratchet. Stonetalon is also a good place for tin, especially that sloping path leading to the elf area.
Silverpine
The Fenris Isle quests in Silverpine are good in the 16-18 range. The mobs are undead so do not flee!
High teens to mid-twenties (about 18-24)
Southern Barrens
Nothing beats the Camp T area, with its multiple hunting quests (including Chen's Empty Keg) and quillboar quests. This area is excellent for levels 18-22. By my criteria it is the best leveling elevator in the game: the thunderlizards are thick on the ground; they spawn fast; they can be taken one at a time with little risk of adds; they don't move, don't run, and don't call others; and the graveyard is right there at Camp T. I can hardly wait until a character turns 18 so I can head down there.
Great grinding spot: everything that moves around Camp T in the Southern Barrens -- thunder lizards, zhevras etc. (levels 20-21). I frequently stay here slaughtering beasts until level 22.
After about level 22 I head further south to do quests: scorpions, the second stage of Chen's Empty Keg, multiple quillboar quests, and the dwarf sequence. This area is a little less efficient but still fairly fast. I'm usually here until the mid-twenties, 24 or 25.
Ashenvale
Ashenvale is a decent leveling area, though it is not as efficient as the Southern Barrens. The shredder pages quest, the outrunners, the Ashenvale hunt, the water elementals at Fallen Sky Lake (donââ¬â¢t forget to kill the named elemental), the satyrs (with their annoying weak heart attack), the Ordanus questline, and Warsong Supplies are worth a good level.
The nagas on the coast and the furbolgs north of Astranar offer some good grinding in the early 20s, but they're far from everything else and are surrounded by pretty sparse territory.
All in all, for the early 20s, I prefer the Southern Barrens, and Thousand Needles for the late twenties. But if you're in a slump in the mid-twenties, Ashenvale may have what you need.
Late twenties
The late twenties can be a bit of a slump. The pickings here are rather slim.
Stonetalon
Stonetalon offers some possibilities in Charred Vale (the harpies are 24-28), and in the elf area to the north (the Forest Magic quest is a good one).
Thousand Needles
Thousand Needles is a good questing area, though it has lots of running back and forth to centaur camps, harpy areas, wyverns, and elementals. It has several productive spurts: the three Grimtotem quests are good (the 3 documents, Arnak, and the escort quest -- best done in a group), the water elementals are good if you aren't melee, and the wyvern area is a nice dense little spot (don't forget the escort quest above and behind the wyverns). Donââ¬â¢t forget the questgiver in a cave high up on the cliff northeast of Freewind Post ââ¬â this starts a nice quest sequence that will take you to several zones. I tend to avoid the harpies because I dislike their screeching and running, but that's just me.
Hillsbrad
The alternative to Thousand Needles is Hillsbrad. I find the farmer, bear, and spider quests quite painful... farmers run and call for help and spawn really fast; the spider and bear quests are rare drops; and the graveyard is far away. But if you need a leg up to the next level, Hillsbrad may have what you need.