WoW Rookie: Leveling with PvP
by Lisa Poisso 
Dec 2nd 2009 at 4:00PM
When PvP leveling in Battlegrounds was introduced with Patch 3.2 (August 2009), players rushed to try their blades and spellbooks at this new way to gain XP. It was fresh, it was fun -- and boy, was it fast! It took just one month for Blizzard to nerf experience gains (patch 3.2.2, September 2009), rolling back XP rates to more reasonable levels. Today, while we wouldn't say that Battlegrounds are a recommended way to level up, we do continue to recommend them as a healthy part of your leveling experience. (Yes, I was wearing scrubs and holding a clipboard and stethoscope during that last statement.) Let's take a look at all the reasons you should and shouldn't be PvPing on your path to level 80.
As long as you enjoy pitting yourself against other players in PvP (Player vs. Player), you'll benefit from a smattering of Battlegrounds as you level to 80. If you don't enjoy fighting other players, though, you needn't fret over it. Stick to PvE (Player vs. Environment), which is the name of the game when it comes to leveling up.
If you're tempted by the idea of including PvP along your road to 80, there are a few points worth considering first.
- In every normal scenario, you'll level more quickly engaging in PvE play than by playing in Battlegrounds. Grinding XP in Battlegrounds is not an especially effective leveling technique.
- If you are new to MMOs and/or to gaming, you may find the rapid pace of PvP too frenetic and demanding for now. Take a pass and come back with more levels under your belt. You'll enjoy it more when your familiarity with game mechanics is higher.
- Battlegrounds XP comes from completing Battleground objectives, not from mindlessly killing other players. You need to learn to cooperate with your teammates and follow the basic strategies of each BG.
- You'll miss out on invaluable gear drops and gold if you spend too much time away from questing. This is one of the most important reasons not to spend too much time leveling a first character inside Battlegrounds.
- You cannot increase your weapon and defense skills against PvP targets. Spend too much time in Battlegrounds, and you may find these key combat abilities lagging behind the curve.
- PvP will teach you an incredible amount about your character's capabilities. Playing against wily, unpredictable players will force you how to think on your feet.
- PvP will teach you what the other classes can do, too. As a new player, you'll be at a significant disadvantage facing off against players whose skills and abilities remain a mystery to you. On the other hand, PvP will take those mysterious skills and thwap you right in the face with them –you'll discover what they do, fast.
- As you level, expect peaks and valleys when PvP will be more or less effective and enjoyable. Be prepared for agony when you're at the lower end of any given level bracket. As other players level up and gain class-defining skills and abilities, you may find yourself at a temporary disadvantage until you learn something to compensate. Brace yourself for another change of pace when you hit the 50s bracket and Death Knights suddenly appear on the scene.
- Read our WoW, Casually guide to PvP leveling. (You are reading WoW, Casually already, aren't you? You'll discover lots of tips that make sense for new players, too.)
- Follow our The Art of War(craft)'s ongoing Battlegrounds for Beginners series, starting with the Absolute beginners' guide to the Battlegrounds.
Visit the WoW Rookie Guide for links to all our tips, tricks and how-to's. WoW Rookie walks you through all sort of new-player concerns, from game lingo for the beginner to joining your first guild as a mid-level player and on to what to do when you finally hit level 80.Filed under: Tips, Features, Leveling, WoW Rookie, Battlegrounds, PvP
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Dweeb Dec 2nd 2009 4:11PM
WoW still has PvP?
gwenalynn Dec 2nd 2009 4:12PM
If you're a player returning or rerolling a character, battlegrounds can be a great way to level through areas you may dislike. For instance, my lock did not go to Southshore except to get her felhunter.
Cetha Dec 2nd 2009 4:27PM
my name is Cetha, and I endorse this statement.
Seriously though, if you have a bad case of being an altoholic (as I am just a few levels away from my 8th 80) you know there are quest hubs that you would just as soon never step foot in again. PvP levelling can be a nice place to work out the rest of that lvl so you can move on to a new area.
slyman.is.god Dec 2nd 2009 5:55PM
I totally agree. I just leveled a toon passed Un'Goro and I didn't wanna set one foot in Felwood. So I just warsong-gulched my way to 58 and arrived in Outland without any felwood related trauma. PVP leveling is just awesome.
scissors125 Dec 2nd 2009 4:18PM
I only PvP when I'm one or two levels away from being able to go to a new questing area, and I've run out of quests EVERYWHERE I've gone (which has only happened twice on my lvl 50 rogue toon).
I would PvP from 1-80, but it's somewhat flawed, and it will take years to completely balance everything perfectly without messing up PvE in the process.
danawhitaker Dec 2nd 2009 5:05PM
Not to criticize, but you must have missed some pretty big quest hubs. I got all the way to level 67 on old world quests before ever touching Outlands. There's almost no way to run out unless you simply don't know where to go.
I'm a fan of the traditional level by questing and occasional instance runs method. I can see the appeal of the BG method, but it does appear they have scaled back how effective it is, as I've seen some of the people from my guild who were doing it rampantly before trailing off or making very little level progress for the amount of time they spend in there.
I've found the people who complain about solo questing and BG instead usually just suck at picking quest hubs that are suitable to soloing at their level. They insist on going to at-level quests that take a lot longer to complete than green-level quests several levels below them that will fly by but still give tons of XP. I also don't understand how running the same battleground repeatedly to level isn't as boring, if not moreso, than running a quest hub a few times across various alts. To each their own I guess. But I refuse to grats anyone in my guild who gets a ding when in a BG.
scissors125 Dec 2nd 2009 5:16PM
I mainly just PvP because I've run the instances in my level range too many times, and are bored of them, and I don't want all of the other main questing hubs to be boring whenever I finally decide to roll alts. I know that everything will eventually get boring anyways, but I don't want that to happen until I have a few 80s under my belt.
Ben.Berchik Dec 2nd 2009 5:30PM
FAIL!
I have 4 lvl 80's
and am on my way to my 5th and 6th (i want to have 1 80 of each class) and thats not counting the million alts i have gotten to 20 or 30 then deleted (ok i exagerate)
For my latest toon (hunter) i have lvl'd exclusivly through BG's......questing (after you have done them that many times) becomes extreamly boring, and BG's are actually really fun to lvl.
As a full BoA hunter (chest/shoulders/gun/staff/2xtrinkets) i'm usually effective at lower end of my bracket (through slowing and freezing) as a suport toon and most ignore me due to my low lvl, at the higher end of my bracket i turn into a killing machine having effectivly played with a handicap for 5 lvls. I know its the same BG's over and over, but the unpredictable nature of group composition, and oposing players skill that keeps things interesting. Every couple of lvls i will increase my skills(i.e defence) and proffesions, then go back to BGS. You can always predict what a Mob will do, not so much a player (even if your have rough idea of what they "should" be doing) which keeps things interesting.
Dere Dec 2nd 2009 5:37PM
PVE leveling is cake. With the additions of heirloom items there really is no reason to try and level in BG's other the the last two level of your bracket for the honor you get and the fun that can be had. Oh and the 50-59 bracket is really for DK only and the odd healer type person that want to tag along to heal a DK. Anyone else will get face rolled to death. Really though not saying Grats to someone just because they chose to level differently then you is not really cool. Maybe they don't get as much out of the old world as you do? Maybe you could come down off that pedestal you have built and spend sometime with everyone else that just wants to have fun and play the game their way? Or if that doesn't work you can just stay up there and not talk to anyone foregoing that which makes this an MMO, and the fun that can be had at sharing other peoples joy and achievements.
Jordan Dec 2nd 2009 6:08PM
"But I refuse to grats anyone in my guild who gets a ding when in a BG."
Really? You're a mean one, Mrs. Grinch.
Noctiluca Dec 3rd 2009 1:49AM
"But I refuse to grats anyone in my guild who gets a ding when in a BG."
Wow, Dana. I don't really care for your comments ever and wish I could /ignore you somehow, but this one is just ridiculously stupid. Just because that's not how you choose to play the game doesn't mean other people absolutely enjoy it.
After a few 80s, the questing gets old and PvP is a nice change of pace. I am leveling 2 toons right now through pure PvP and love it. It might be slow, but I enjoy every second of it. I would never insult someone or not congratulate them for dinging based solely on how they choose to level - be it PvE, grinding, or PvP.
To each their own.
jeblueyes Dec 2nd 2009 4:24PM
I found that the 50-59 bracket zoomed by, but once I was in the 60 bracket I had to go back to questing because the 60s bracket was horrible for xp gains.
xvkarbear Dec 2nd 2009 4:27PM
Really? Because I found 60-70 much faster then the grind from 70-80 (going from two to three bars per AV to maybe one and a half. Heirloomed).
It might be because the amount of experience you need to go from 60-70 is like, twice what it takes to go from 1-60.
gwenalynn Dec 2nd 2009 4:31PM
I don't think its subpar xp gains- its subpar playing in the 60s that drove me back to pve in the 60s on both of my toons. That, and it takes forever to get into a bg in the 60s.
Royal Dec 2nd 2009 4:54PM
I agree the 50-59 AV bracket flew by so fast. I didn't quest during that time. Just leveled herbing while waiting for the next BG which happened quite often. Now the 60-70 bracket seems a lot slower and maybe due to the BGs don't pop up as often. But it is perfect timing b/c I hate old world leveling and this let me jump into outland quickly.
paul Dec 2nd 2009 5:15PM
I was planning on the 51-60 AV leveling, but since we can now only queue for 2 battlegrounds at a time, and a battleground only starts when the total number of people required are queuing, I havent seen a single AV pop uo in the 51-60 range.
I cant seem to get my head round the reasons for the 2 queues maximum change, as far as I can see, there was no need for Blizzard to put it in. Is there a reason that I'm missing?
Eturyu Dec 2nd 2009 5:43PM
Agreed, They stole xp in BG's from warhammeronline, i wish they had stole the "Que all" button as well =( *tear*
paul Dec 2nd 2009 6:25PM
As far as I can see, the only reason is that you dont leave half way through for another BG, and I think thats the same reason why we cant queue for BG's and the new LFG in 3.3 at the same time too.
Surely, a better way to handle it would be to allow players to queue for all BG's and Instances at the same time, but whenever you enter one it removes you from the other queues?
Magus Dec 3rd 2009 2:06AM
"If you remember the 60's, you weren't there."
xvkarbear Dec 2nd 2009 4:25PM
"PvP will teach you an incredible amount about your character's capabilities. Playing against wily, unpredictable players will force you how to think on your feet."
Quoted for Truth, wholeheartedly.
I never played my Druid nearly as well until after I leveled her in battlegrounds.