Level 1-60 in less than 6 days
by Amanda Rivera 
Nov 13th 2007 at 6:01PM
Now a couple weeks ago I started a little experiment to see fast it took to level before and after the patch. I didn't get far -- I blame NaNoWriMo -- but luckily I wasn't the only one with this idea. Agent of Shattered Hand recently finished leveling a character from 1-60 on the PTR. So exactly how long did it take? In the end his /played was a 5 days, 5 hours. He did a few things differently than we would have to prove exactly how improved the experience gains really are. For instance he logged his character out without using inns in order to minimize the amount of rested XP he received, presumably so that the experiment would run mostly using normal experience as a condition.
What exactly does this mean? Well, Agent says that before Patch 2.3 players took around 8 days minimum to reach level 60, sometimes more if you were dilly dallying the way I did. Now with some streamlining you can level your character in just a few days. Now something I'm not clear on, but I certainly hope to be later on this evening is Agent's praise of the developers showing "items that are picked up for quests." I assume this has something to do with corpse sparklies. Maybe there's a new type of sparkly that shows only when a quest item is available to loot off a mob. We shall see in a few short hours.
In the end, what the developers removed from the game is the grind. You no longer have to grind your levels, since there are enough quests to do at each level and you are getting enough experience from them. This has been my bone of contention with RPGs for a long time, and I am grateful that Blizzard has learned from their experiences (read mistakes) and changed the system. Now we will hopefully have more people at endgame to experience the wonderful content that is currently only accessible by few.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Smurk Nov 13th 2007 6:09PM
If you have no outside source of money for a new character, this probably makes it a lot harder to generate your mount money by level 40, no?
Naix Nov 13th 2007 6:08PM
Thank you Blizzard. Your well on your way to becoming a top MMO.
Tekkub Nov 13th 2007 6:09PM
"Maybe there's a new type of sparkly that shows only when a quest item is available to loot off a mob."
Most likely was referring to how all quest item nodes in the old world now glow, like the outland ones do.
Ever looked for those lil blue bottles on the coast of Hinterlands? That was a bitch before this patch...
Gorrn Nov 13th 2007 6:13PM
Joana of http://www.joanasworld.com/ has been doing this forever. He already beat the 5d 5h statistic in the article.
Hopefully he'll update his speed run after the patch with another brand new toon.
MM Nov 13th 2007 6:20PM
While I'm all for additional content in the 1-60 range, I don't really think dumbing it down is the right answer. It's already possible to quest (as long as you're willing to do the occasional instance quest) all the way to 60 without ever doing serious grinding, even if you omit Stranglethorn completely, and more so with rest bonus. Personally I don't like Outlands at all; aside from being grind-a-riffic it lacks much of the charm and humour that made Azeroth so appealing, so I don't really appreciate Blizzard's attempt to accelerate players into their farm-focused content.
But I do like the look of the new quest hub in Dustwallow. That place needs some love and anything involving goblins is going to be great. Perhaps Blizzard have noticed that people don't actually enjoy being ganked constantly in the beautiful jungles of Stranglethorn.
Verit Nov 13th 2007 6:26PM
@5
I suspect Dustwallow will be the new gank zone. Reason STV was super awful back in the day (its still bad don't get me wrong) was bored lvl 60's waiting to do ZG.
Luckily no-one runs Onxyia anymore.
Mackenzie Nov 13th 2007 6:29PM
Why wouldn't you?
Free gold and free 18 slot bags.
Thunderhide Nov 13th 2007 6:29PM
Using the Brian Kopp guide I beat the 5 day mark myself. I bet you could get this done in 3 days or so now. Looks like I have something new to test out. :)
makabak Nov 13th 2007 6:54PM
I've been leveling DPS classes from the start, and just recently tried leveling a priest. This XP bonus came just in time...I'm hardly to 20 and ready to slit my throat already.
Paul Nov 13th 2007 6:55PM
5 said "Personally I don't like Outlands at all; aside from being grind-a-riffic ..."
i'm confused, are you referring to leveling to 70's in outland being full of grinding? because i haven't had to grind at all up to at least 65, it's been all questing. you may be doing something wrong
now if you are referring to grinding for stuff for raids at 70, that's another story, and one i have no knowledge of
Spenda Nov 13th 2007 7:02PM
@10:
I'm with you. I much, much prefer Outlands to Azeroth. There are just so many quests to do, and you get a new zone every other level. There is just so much more to do.
The only parts of Azeroth I enjoy questing currently are the new zones added for BC. The pacing and quest rewards of those 4 zones is just right, and very much in-line with the style of Outlands.
hpavc Nov 13th 2007 7:26PM
Not enough money for level 40 mount? Do people really have this problem? I level many toons and this has to be some fable of old, like walking up hill to school both ways.
Unless your regearing your character ever level in the AH or something, I cannot see how a mount at 40/60/70 is not ezmode.
I guess if your stopping to pvp and need to gear up / semi-twink for that sure. But thats not leveling in the sense of this context.
makabak Nov 13th 2007 9:28PM
hpavc, I would guess it depends on which professions you have. I leveled my main to 70 with tailoring and enchanting. I didn't get my first mount until level 42.
My hunter, however, has leatherworking and skinning, and I had 40+ gold when I hit level 40.
Torash Nov 13th 2007 7:54PM
I remember when TBC came out, a shaman in the alliance of my server did 1-70 in 4day 12h
Should be really easy now
Paul Nov 13th 2007 7:57PM
@12 um, ACTUALLY, i did walk up hill both ways to class. ask any UCLA grad and they'll say the same
Kats Nov 13th 2007 8:10PM
I'm surprised that the article did not mention that Agent of Shattered Hand is Brian Kopp. He did this leveling to help him develop the revisions to his guide for 2.3.
Kamileon Nov 13th 2007 11:03PM
8 days minimum for pre-2.3 speeds is a slow estimate. So if the same person who says that 8 days is minimum can do it in 5 days in 2.3, those of us who did 5 days (or close) should be breezing up alts in just a couple days /played.
Druin Nov 13th 2007 11:07PM
Glad to see someone else who plays WoW is doing NaNoWriMo :)
Ahoni Nov 13th 2007 11:45PM
@16
"My hunter, however, has leatherworking and skinning, and I had 40+ gold when I hit level 40."
My first toon had enough gold to buy a mount at 40. A full 100g. Every toon I've made since then has surpassed that. My most recent 40 has 160g left after buying his mount. I don't play AH games. I just vendor gray/white trash, AH greens that will sell, and vendor the rest. Mining helps, but is not necessary. First toon was leatherworking and skinning. 2nd had tailoring. Anyone who has trouble getting mount money at 40 just isn't trying.
jon Nov 14th 2007 3:11AM
why is this such a big deal? i leveled my rogue in 4 days and leveled 60-70 in a week. big whip. lern2play.