Blazing through the newbie zones
by Alex Ziebart 
Feb 24th 2008 at 1:00PM
I hate the first ten levels. When I say I hate them I mean I really, really hate them. Oh sure, they may only take an hour or so, but how many times have most of us done them by now? I've been playing the World of Warcraft since the day it launched. Earlier than that if you count the beta testing period.The first ten levels are so, so boring. I have done it dozens and dozens of times by now. I have ten characters of varying levels, and I've had many many low level alts I've deleted over time to make room for new ones, due to my Altoholism. Redoing the starter levels after you have a 70 are as if you are riding your bicycle, and when you decide to take a street you haven't taken before for the adventure of it, someone comes along, pushes you off of your bike, and puts your training wheels back on. Then straps floaties to your arms just in case you ride through a puddle. After that you will probably want to just turn around and go home.
I've taken to solving this predicament with fire. Fiery, to be specific. My good friend Dirk has been with me on many alts now, preventing me from quitting yet another class within 10 levels due to sheer boredom. Dirk does quite a bit for me, one and two-shotting mobs straight out of the newbie zone. He doesn't Bind on Equip, so he is a friend that will last forever. I know that others put Lifestealing on their Dirk, but it just isn't the same. What is life without fire? Not a life for me, that's what.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Zarzuur Feb 24th 2008 1:10PM
1 alt of each class, but don't delete them .. you know it makes sense!!
Jack Spicer Feb 24th 2008 1:13PM
I have to disagree. I love 1-10, mainly because you get to learn a couple new skills and spells every few minutes. How often do you get to feel such character growth in a comparable amount of time?
That being said, I don't compulsively re-roll alts so maybe I haven't played through 1-10 as often as the poster has.
Hank Feb 24th 2008 1:18PM
Training wheels and floaties...you just described how my wife will insist I teach my son to ride a bike. Now, if I could just get away from WoW long enough to find out how old he is...
C.A. Feb 24th 2008 1:25PM
Fiery!+A non-BoE weapon! I feel dumb for never thinking of that! Thanks Alex, you've just made 3 upcoming alts very happy!
Snailking Feb 24th 2008 1:26PM
I'd like it better if Blizz had a /level command like some other games.
Eternalpayn Feb 24th 2008 1:33PM
Which games are these?
Also, that is a pretty good idea... Icy might be good for a lowbie hunter, actually, to get away easy.
Snailking Feb 24th 2008 2:11PM
Here is some more info Eternalpayn:
http://tobolds.blogspot.com/2007/05/does-world-of-warcraft-need-level.html
Atrocita Feb 24th 2008 1:35PM
This is an awesome idea. Especially if you put it on a white, unbindable item and then just send it from alt to alt. I just started a druid on a new server with 3 friends, all playing a different kind of druid. A friend with a 70 on the same server put one of the level 70 armor kits or spell threads on a pair of tuxedo pants for all of us, specific to what kind of druid we were going to be. Golden spellthread for the tree, Runic for the moonkin, attack power for the kitty, stamina for the bear.
They will last us into the 30s, and when we are done with them, we can send them on to the next alt, and trade if necessary. It has made leveling so much easier.
Krick Feb 24th 2008 2:02PM
When I start a new alt, I like to make a level 1 set of gear using the best white quality items available (Wispy Cloak, Squealer's Belt, etc...) with a set of decent, but not quite twink enchants and armor kits. I just put the set together then mail it to my level 1 alt at the first available mailbox.
Usually this gear will last me all the way to level 15 or 20, believe it or not. And it makes the early levels blow by.
The only problem I've run into so far is that when I got my first pet (a boar), my hunter kept pulling aggro, even with normal autoshot.
...
Krick
http://www.tankadin.com
Devant Feb 24th 2008 2:05PM
This is pure ingenious
fail Feb 25th 2008 1:53AM
PURE INGENIOUS< OKAY?
Tau Feb 24th 2008 2:43PM
It reminds me of in Earthbound, when you have the bicycle, and you move really fast. But then you get Paula in your party, and the game is all like, "You can't put 2 people on the bike, so you can't use it anymore." , and then you have to walk everywhere. But remember, at the end of the game, after you escort all your party members back home, it's just you again, and you can use the bicycle.
Rydolomo Feb 24th 2008 3:27PM
Levelling humans and NE are different. Never raised a dwarf yet.
You can raise different races so the levelling below 10 is different.
Strangely enough, it's more boring levelling from 60-70 as it's more fresh in my mind since I done it with 3 chars in the last year. It's almost like reading the same book 3 times.
10-60 takes longer and the new levelling speed is different so you can avoid whole zones now. So I enjoy the 10-60 as a leasurely stroll as long as I don't try and spend all my time on one char. Just mix my times between chars.
Rydolomo
trippy Feb 24th 2008 4:00PM
1-10 I can handle just fine, it's the 11-20 bit that bores me to tears.
Felwrathe Feb 25th 2008 3:31PM
11-20 is the absolute worst part of the game. I've got a new Draenei alt, and it's painfully boring.
Frank Feb 24th 2008 3:55PM
sounds like someone needs their blankie and a bottle of warm milk...
Pingmeister Feb 24th 2008 4:22PM
To each their own. I regularly roll new alts just because the constant DINGs at the lower levels is very invigorating. It's just so great to be running a Quest and Ding unexpectedly. Never seems to happen to me with my higher levels. I am always watching the XP bar move millimeter by millimeter.
After a few low-level Dings I can return to my higher level alts with more enthusiasm.
Skarlette Feb 24th 2008 6:01PM
I actually like the early levels because of the rapid sense of advancement, dinging over and over in such a short time, learning new spells, changing armor constantly, etc.
But just as an experiment, I did something similar to this when I rolled a rogue a couple of months ago.
I had my hunter/leatherworker make up a set of the lowest-level gear, then my enchanting alt put some mid-level enchants on it, and also put a Beastslaying enchant on a Sharpened Letter Opener. Toss in a full set of 16-slot bags, plenty of potions and buff scrolls, and levels 1-15 flew by so fast I couldn't beleive it. That little Beastslaying enchant does wonders when the newbie quests are "kill x amount of this animal." ;)
BillDoor Feb 24th 2008 5:42PM
A pair of white cloth shoes with Run Speed on them is also invaluable.
Pål Feb 24th 2008 6:30PM
I put Fiery on a Skinning Knife. It has one important property over Dirk - it has no weapon type, so anyone can use it from level 1, not just the classes that can use daggers.