Thoughts on levelling changes, post 2.3.

[Simond]

Well, it's been just over three weeks since 2.3 went live, and I thought I'd waffle a little about what effect the changes have had.

Prior to the patch I'd rolled up a new character on a fresh (to me) server and gotten him to low twenties (Ghostlands++). He's now L45, and that's with fairly casual levelling - I was using Braxis' levelling guide, but there's been no all-night levelling runs, no instance PLing, and no "sit in one spot and grind these mobs until you ding level whatever".

However, the best part of the changes, IMO, is the flexibility afforded in where you level now. I was following the guild and was in my low 30s, and it said "Go to Desolace and do blah, blah blah". Checked the "levels" part of the guide and I was actually a couple of levels ahead of where I 'should' have been. OK, I'll skip Desolace completely then, because...hey, it's Desolace! Next up - STV. Meh, done it before. I'll go hit up Arathi Highlands instead. Between the change of the Stromgarde mobs to non-elite and the Dustwallow revamp I skipped all of Desolace and a good three-quarters of STV (I did the game hunter quests because I wanted the rewards, rather than needing the xp), and still ended up ahead of what level I 'should' have been for the next bunch of zones. Planning on finishing up Ferelas this weekend, then on to Hinterlands to get my nice blue quest rewards from killing the (no longer elite) trolls.

And that's on top of the ability to look at individual quests, decide that they're actually not worth it, and just drop them without the 'missing' xp forcing you into scavenging elsewhere for xp.

There's a fun little strategy at higher levels as well - due to the faster levelling, you'll probably have most of EPL + Silithis incomplete by the time you get L58 and Outland-ready. Go to HFP, pick up your easy quested gear upgrades, then go back to EPL/Sili and finish them off. The quest xp boost appears to have been done at zone-level (as opposed to character-level) so the old world L55-60 zones are still giving decent XP all the way up to 62-63...and you'll plough through the mobs like they're not there. (NB: Silithis bugs are no longer elite). This means that you'll probably hit L70 before finishing Blade's Edge Mountains (or even sooner), which gives you two entire zones (Netherstorm & Shadowmoon Valley) where you'll be getting purely cash rewards in lieu of xp. That's a lot of gold.

[Merusk]

Hmm.. if you can hit 62-63 in old-world you'll be 70 around the time you're done with the first node of quests in BM.. provided you do a few instance runs.  My priest (2nd 70) only did the first few quests in SMV and NS when I got her there, and that was starting her out in outlands at 60.  Nice to know.

[Dren]

I agree with all Simond said.  I've been lvl'ing a few more alts through the 20-60 range.  My new druid is now 59 and nearly 60 just from one night of jumping over to Outland.  I'm doing exactly what he said and getting mad EXP and way way better items there.  If I haven't leveled too far up, I'll jump back over and finsih more EPL and other quests.

I noticed a good increase in lvl'ing speed on my lvl 40 mage, but the increase in speed is really felt post 50 IMO.  I leveled the druid from 54 to 58 in just two nights of 2 hour casual play each.

The biggest thing that still makes 20-60 leveling not so fun is all the damned travelling.  It so nice to finally be in Outland where you can stay in one zone and finish everything up before you move on.  So many of the previous quests have you doing Fedex quests and I just do NOT enjoy those.

The first time through was fine because it forced you to travel around and explore, but once is all it is good for.  I much prefer the new zones.  They give you those types of quests but not until you are nearly ready to move on.  You can get all your chain quests to that point and then jump to the next zone to start off with some nice exp rewards and a new quest line.  Now, that's the way to do it.

[Simond]

That's one of the reasons I like using Braxis' guide - it doesn't make the breadcrumb quests less annoying, but it does bundle them all up together, plus makes sure you're ready for the new zone you're being sent to (both level-wise and also any quest pre-reqs).

It's also handy because it's set up for one of the mapping add-ons, so it's all displayed on the in-game map as well.

[Chimpy]

The best thing is the flexibility, I agree.

I do a few quests in a zone, and I don't NEED to finish them all, because I never run into a patch of "man, there are no more quests to do" like you did in the original method.

[Nebu]

The only complaint that I have about the new leveling speed is that the equipment droprate doesn't keep pace anymore.  If you're a) new to a server and b) playing a gear-dependant class (rogue, warrior, etc) you're at the complete mercy of the AH. 

Leveling is going very quickly though.  I can get to the 20's in a couple nights and the pace doesn't seem to tail off until the bonus ends at 60.  When my rogue hit 60 I could REALLY feel the slowdown. 

[Jayce]

The quest xp boost appears to have been done at zone-level (as opposed to character-level)

This means that you'll probably hit L70 before finishing Blade's Edge Mountains (or even sooner), which gives you two entire zones (Netherstorm & Shadowmoon Valley) where you'll be getting purely cash rewards in lieu of xp. That's a lot of gold.

That's some really good advice, thanks for posting it.

I think what they changed was: quests give greater xp, and the xp required to level has been decreased.  So you'll still hit the brick wall in terms of leveling speed at 60, but the quests give better xp.  So you did get to 62 in the old world?  That's pretty awesome.  We're capitalizing on the fact that they added a lot of level 60 content in the year or so preceding BC.

[Chimpy]

If my math is right (guessing how much the dozen or so quests I did pre-70 in Netherstorm and SMV would have been worth as gold) waiting to hit 70 before doing quests in those two zones will get you about 1600g. Tons of quests, each giving 12-25g, each requiring you to kill either mobs that drop good cash outright, or drop a lot of grey items that vendor for a lot of cash.

[Fabricated]

All I know is that I've been blasting through levels on my rogue and priest alt. I got sick of playing my priest all the same though. I really enjoy playing my rogue alt but naturally, it's a class that there are far far too many of.

Also, I have managed to skip 99% of STV thanks to the leveling changes, which makes me unbelievably happy.

[LK]

How's Dustwallow?

[Morfiend]

I dont get the STV hate. Thats one of my favorite zones. But then I guess I play Horde and dont have to run for fucking ever to get to the zone each time. I thought I remembered them saying they added a flight path to the rebel camp. That would make it easer for Alliance. But as Horde I always enjoyed STV, it was one of the better themed zones.

Maybe Ill bust out my baby Shadowpriest and give it a try.

[Modern Angel]

How's Dustwallow?

The new Dustwallow is completely awesome.

[Chimpy]

I dont get the STV hate. Thats one of my favorite zones. But then I guess I play Horde and dont have to run for fucking ever to get to the zone each time. I thought I remembered them saying they added a flight path to the rebel camp. That would make it easer for Alliance. But as Horde I always enjoyed STV, it was one of the better themed zones.

Maybe Ill bust out my baby Shadowpriest and give it a try.

The new FP makes Nesingwary's actually easy to get to. Having to fly/run from Westfall was annoying as hell.

STV is better put together for the horde, with kill X type of mob quests that overlap with the dual faction quests from nesingwary's and Booty Bay. But I think that better polish is more because horde has total dung for questing post-barrens, whereas the alliance had more fleshed out stuff in multiple zones for early levelling. The lvl 30-STV range for horde levelling was always painful, for alliance it was the STV levelling itself that was painful.

[Fabricated]

How's Dustwallow?

Amazing. Lots of cool quests with useful rewards, but I'm just speaking from an Alliance point of view. The alliance got some cool shit slightly furthering the kidnapped king story line, and a gimmick fight with a lurker-below clone on the docks. Mudsprocket is kinda underwhelming but the rewards are nice and so is having a second FP in the zone. Teretha has a path to her place now and has 2 more NPCs that give quests.

[Venkman]

So Braxis' guide is for Horde. Is there one for Alliance that's any good? Working on a Shaman.

[Montague]

So Braxis' guide is for Horde. Is there one for Alliance that's any good? Working on a Shaman.

Jame's alliance guide: http://www.wow-pro.com/node/599

[Venkman]

Ah, yea, James. Wasn't sure that was still current. Thanks.

[Kail]

The one problem I'm having is gold (and was having to a lesser degree before the patch, so I don't know if this is patch related or just yet another manifestation of my inability to master basic economics).  I only have one Alliance character (well, only one who's over level twenty-five or so), and was having trouble levelling him before the patch, so I figured I'd dust him off now and give him a spin.  Logged in and found out that at level 45, he has about two silver, total (and he doesn't have a mount yet, either).  Which is roughly what I recall him having before (I've never been awesome at playing the AH).  But now he's levelling faster, which means killing fewer mobs, but he's still got the same training costs (correct?).  So he's getting less money to cover expenses which are coming more frequently, it seems like.  Presumably, all will be made right, when he hits Outland, where the streets are paved with gold, but in the interim, I'm actually walking from city to city because I can't afford the bloody flight path.

[Selby]

The one problem I'm having is gold

Seriously, sell stuff on the AH.  Either gather it or make it to sell.  At 45 you can run crappy instances over and over again for greens\blues to stick on the AH or DE (enchanting materials tend to go for big bucks) or you can run around gathering ore, herbs, or leather (or a combo of 2 of the 3).  Sucks and is time consuming, but short of starting another character and not making poor financial decisions, this is the only way to really make cash.  Or whore yourself out ;-) (people really do pay for hot naked night elf chicks for some reason).

[Jayce]

I agree with Selby.  Though, you really should be able to do at least one gathering profession while leveling.  Skinning is the least time consuming because you're already at the "node", having just killed it, and you don't have to go out of the way.

But really, if this is your first character on a server, do yourself a favor and get two gathering professions and sell the proceeds until you're rich.  Hell, you might get enough for your mount just skilling mining from 0-200ish.

[Phred]

The one problem I'm having is gold

Seriously, sell stuff on the AH.  Either gather it or make it to sell.  At 45 you can run crappy instances over and over again for greens\blues to stick on the AH or DE (enchanting materials tend to go for big bucks) or you can run around gathering ore, herbs, or leather (or a combo of 2 of the 3).  Sucks and is time consuming, but short of starting another character and not making poor financial decisions, this is the only way to really make cash.  Or whore yourself out ;-) (people really do pay for hot naked night elf chicks for some reason).

Really if all you have at 40 is 45 silver you're spending beyond your means, probably at the ah. Quest rewards may be crap from 1-60 but you can level in it. Stop spending money and sell loot to other ppl  who can't.

[Ironwood]

The items are all out of whack.

I'm 34 and I've run through Kraul, Downs and SM.  They are ALL a lot easier now.  However, the bosses drop loot that is around 5 levels above what people are now capable of.  Which means you're getting 'rewards' at the end you can't fucking use.

It's a pain in the ass...

[Selby]

However, the bosses drop loot that is around 5 levels above what people are now capable of.  Which means you're getting 'rewards' at the end you can't fucking use.

Oh come on, that is just plain funny.  I know I carried around Arugal's Robe for 2-3 levels after I won it in a roll once.

[Ironwood]

No, I get it, it's just a lot worse at the moment.  I have a 37 axe I've been carrying for 6 levels.

Six.  That's not quite right...

[Numtini]

Actually I find equipment is less of a big deal because I can make do with stuff and avoid some of the more difficult quests where having the absolutely up to date gear is important.

[Mazakiel]

One thing I discovered tonight as my friend ran me through SFK on an alt I've started on his server, is that when they rebalanced the loot from the bosses, they also seem to have for some reason taken out the scripted events where you see Arugal several times throughout the instance before you finally confront him.  Or maybe it was bugged for us or something.  It was something of a disappointment either way.  Other than that, the changes are pretty nice. 

[ShenMolo]

I leveled a Druid from 24 to 60 during the week of Thanksgiving (had the week off).

I use Joana's leveling guide which is 80% quests, 20% instances/grinding.

With the new xp rate, I was able to completely skip the grinding/instancing.

I also skipped questing all the following zones: Badlands, Blasted Lands, West Plaguelands, East Plaguelands, Silithus, most of Tanaris, Burning Steppes, Alterac Mountains, Searing Gorge.

I was out-leveling the guide so quickly it gave me the opportunity to stay away from areas I don't like.

It was great.

[Numtini]

I think Jame is rewriting their guide because I started in on it with a new huntress and it seems to be based on the new experience. Which is kind of creepy at low levels because 3 or 4 quests and you can be done a level. It actually ended up slowing me down since it's geared, so to speak, towards twinks and I didn't have the equipment to do the hard but very XP lucrative and quick if you can do them quests.

[Jayce]

I did Jame's guide on both a mage and a warrior.  Some that the mage breezed through, the warrior couldn't do, and some that I almost skipped because the mage couldn't solo them, the warrior had no problem. So I think which ones you simply can't do are more class dependent than gear dependent. 

[Merusk]

I did Jame's guide on both a mage and a warrior.  Some that the mage breezed through, the warrior couldn't do, and some that I almost skipped because the mage couldn't solo them, the warrior had no problem. So I think which ones you simply can't do are more class dependent than gear dependent. 

Very VERY much so, yes.  Leveling my Horde mage I nearly gave-up because I was trying to kill those guys at the hot springs in 1k.  The fuckers are immune to fire and resistant to cold.  I had to get my wife's warlock (who was 2 levels behind me) to come help.. and she soloed the fuckers.   

[SurfD]

I did Jame's guide on both a mage and a warrior.  Some that the mage breezed through, the warrior couldn't do, and some that I almost skipped because the mage couldn't solo them, the warrior had no problem. So I think which ones you simply can't do are more class dependent than gear dependent. 

Very VERY much so, yes.  Leveling my Horde mage I nearly gave-up because I was trying to kill those guys at the hot springs in 1k.  The fuckers are immune to fire and resistant to cold.  I had to get my wife's warlock (who was 2 levels behind me) to come help.. and she soloed the fuckers.   

god, i remember those mobs.  I STILL hate those things with a passion on my mage.

[Selby]

god, i remember those mobs.  I STILL hate those things with a passion on my mage.

Arcane for the win.  I spec'ed Arcane on my first mage and they were a breeze.  But yeah, when you are used to slinging fireballs and frostbolts it is kind of hard to go back to boring arcane missiles.

[Simond]

Yeah, those mobs are weird because their 'melee' attacks are all elemental damage as well instead of normal melee, so armour does nothing to help you.

[Simond]

Minor update: Just finished circuit 2 of Un'Goro yesterday on my rogue and dinged 56 from the turn-ins. According to the guide, I should be L52 or so at this point.

I;m pretty sure I'm going to hit 58 before even starting Winterspring or WPL, let alone EPL/Silithis.

[Fraeg]

I dont get the STV hate. Thats one of my favorite zones. But then I guess I play Horde and dont have to run for fucking ever to get to the zone each time. I thought I remembered them saying they added a flight path to the rebel camp. That would make it easer for Alliance. But as Horde I always enjoyed STV, it was one of the better themed zones.

Maybe Ill bust out my baby Shadowpriest and give it a try.

a lot of the hate stems from pvp servers with bored 70s wandering through because they know they can go there and shoot fish in a barrel