Breakfast Topic: How and where do you prefer to level your alts?
by Brandon Cox 
Dec 9th 2011 at 8:00AM
With all the improvements to the leveling process, you'd be hard pressed to find a player immune to the ill effects of altoholism. Everybody (and with the new free-until-level 20 system, probably their grandmothers too) is rolling that one class they've really, really wanted to try but were too put off by the leveling process to actually do so. In many cases, they are rolling several new alts. All those alts adds up to a lot of leveling -- far more leveling than the current content can support, even. Even after three alts, many find themselves having exhausted the zones currently available in the game. It can get stale very, very quickly.
To prevent the dread condition known as burnout, alt-heavy players have to mix things up as they level -- different zones, different continents, dungeons, Battlegrounds ... Anything to break up the monotony. Personally, while there are several zones I never skip -- Zangarmarsh, Netherstorm, Howling Fjord and Grizzly Hills, for instance -- I make an effort to play through the zones in a new order, hopping continents as often as possible, and never running dungeons or Battlegrounds. Sure, the story may be massively fragmented this way, but I've played through it before. I know the story; I'm there for the gaming aspects the second time through. Sure, dungeons and Battlegrounds may be fun and provide quick experience, but questing lets me go at my own speed.
When you level alts, how do you navigate the zones? Do you have a select few favorites that you always level through, or do you try to forge new adventures in new zones as you make your way to 85? Or do you bypass the zones entirely and opt for dungeon or Battleground farming?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Swifteye Dec 9th 2011 8:07AM
I may be boring as all get-out, but I *always* do Silverpine, Hillsbrad, Stonetalon Mountains, WPL and EPL... "Welcome to the Machine" never, NEVER gets old, and you really can't find a better xp/hour ratio in any of the zones that are in the same level range (factoring in things like number of quest spawns, how far apart mobs are, drop rates for quest items, stuff like that).
I also like getting a stupidly-easy skeletal horse on all my toons... the Forsaken have one of the coolest base racial mounts IMHO, and you can't NOT get Exalted (eww, double-negative... *feels dirty*) with Undercity doing all (or even just a modest majority) of Silverpine, Hillsbrad and WPL.
After level 40 I usually just dungeon until about 56, and then finish up in Blasted Lands.
*shrug*
Noyou Dec 9th 2011 5:57PM
I try to get at least a couple new zones with each alt but like you, I have lots of favorite areas. Duskwood for sure. Loch Modan almost all the time. Winterspring. I cherry pick a handful of quests in several areas. I also like to do all the starter zones at some point for easy rep. I also factor in mounts when I consider where to quest. Another thing that dictates where I quest is the professions that my toon has. If it is skinning, I will spend more time in a zone that features a lot of skinnable mobs.
lazymangaka Dec 9th 2011 8:07AM
I do whatever it takes to skip Hellfire Penninsula, and I always go to Nagrand. I also alternate Borean Tundra and Howling Fjord, and always hit Grizzly Hills.
For the 1-60, it's less specific. I really like zones the Undead get swept through, so I tend to head there whenever possible. The new Thousand Needles is also really often so I've hit that a few times.
lazymangaka Dec 9th 2011 8:09AM
*really great
Noyou Dec 9th 2011 6:01PM
I always skip HP too. I'll do some of the first quests there for easy xp. I usually don't quest there until I can fly. Riding through packs of vultures and boars was never my cup of tea. I spend 2-3 levels in Zangarmarsh and a couple in Nagrand. By then I am usually close to hitting Borean.
Brenda Archer Dec 9th 2011 6:27PM
@lazymangaka.
Yes. I always have to do Nagrand. It's a spiritual experience. I loop the music and relax just hunting.
Then, as soon as I can, I send my tanky classes to Howling Fjord, long before they can get any quests, to hunt orange and red mobs. If you're on Alliance there's a spot not far from the boat landing where you can fight alongside npc's and grind a lot of xp very quickly. And I'm looping the music.
Badmedecine Dec 9th 2011 8:08AM
NOT Hellfire peninsula. (which i, most likely, can't type correctly)
boil.san Dec 9th 2011 8:09AM
Alt…?
What is this Alt thingie you speak of…?!?
Seriously though, I have tried alts in the past, but never liked anything besides my one & only main, my Combat Rogue.
Although, come MoP, I will roll a Pandaren Windwalker Monk to try that out, and probably even level cap him! After I level cap my Rogue first, of course…!
Lloren Dec 9th 2011 8:12AM
As quickly and with as little questing as possible, especially from 60-80. Outlands and Northrend both make me want to rip my eyes out. 1-60 still has enough options and goes so quickly that it's relatively fun and does have some occasional story value.
Revnah Dec 9th 2011 8:17AM
The ones I always hit are:
Ashenvale
Feralas
Zangarmarsh
Howling Fjord
Grizzly Hills
Vashj'ir
Revnah Dec 9th 2011 8:21AM
I forgot Winterspring in this list, I usually go there too :-)
Jason Dec 9th 2011 8:17AM
I rarely level through dungeons unless it's a guild group of similarly leveled toons.
I tend to change it up as much as I can when questing, but there are two zones I always visit - Nagrand & Sholazar Basin. Whether you skin, herb or mine there's plenty of nodes/beasties for you in those zones. I also always hit the Argent Tournament @ 77 so that I can double dip on daily quests and normal quests in Icecrown to get to 80 that much faster.
tobiasmoller Dec 9th 2011 8:19AM
I HATE questing.. i really really hate it. I often just grind and train untill 10 or 15 so i can start pvp/instance level. :)
My new main from Wotlk just got the 500q achie.. :P
Iron Tusk Dec 9th 2011 8:31AM
I confess: I'm an altoholic. *sob*
I have one rule: the only things allowed in Outland are the starting Hellfire quests (to unlock the dungeon quests) and the Nagrand quests. Everything else is out of reach - dungeon leveling is faster and less annoying.
Hit 68? Do Vengeance Landing (Howling Fjord) quests, do a LOT of randoms, do some Borean quests, hit 74, do Venomspite (Dragonblight), more randoms, hit 76-77, Sholazar, EVEN MORE RANDOMS, 80 (with heirlooms and guild).
Tried to level in Battlegrounds, but my horrible PvP skills left me crying over my dead body.
Noyou Dec 9th 2011 6:07PM
Dungeon leveling is less annoying? Really? Questing does get boring, especially after having run it 10 times over now. I'd still rather take that then subject myself to the random douches that propagate LFD.
Iron Tusk Dec 9th 2011 10:59PM
Yes, I consider Random Dungeons in the Outland range to be less annoying, but that's because I'm fed up with Outland questing.
In the Northrend range, things are even better: after 4.3, the quest npcs are all at the start of the dungeons, so that's easy xp. Pair that with the reduced amount of xp needed to level in the 70-80 range and you'll see that dungeons give a very good return.
ejunk Dec 9th 2011 8:31AM
I try and do something a little different every time, which is possible now that leveling is so fast. neither of the last two toons that I played beyond level 50 set foot in STV, for example, and neither of them took the same path through azeroth.
Like a lot of people I often get stuck at 58/59 - unable to bear the task of going through the hell that is Hellfire Peninsula. that place is awful. I loved Outland during BC, but now that 1-60 has been entirely re-imagined, most of those zones are pretty stale. I still love the BC instances, though.
Swifteye Dec 9th 2011 8:48AM
I always, ALWAYS stay in Azeroth until level 60 (really easy to get there with the quests in Blasted Lands).
Hellfire Peninsula is *marginally* less annoying when you're actually able to fly, and if you wait until 60 to go to Outland, you can technically skip HP altogether and just go to Zangarmarsh if you want.
Just sayin'.
LynMars Dec 9th 2011 10:39AM
Last time I leveled a toon through Outland, I actually finished the 1-60 zones I was leveling in (starting with Plaguelands; it was a toon who had been sitting awhile) and followed the storylines and breadcrumbs to Blasted Lands. I stayed til lvl 62 (when she'dexhausted those quests) and went straight to Terokkar. It didn't feel like a chore to do so either, with guild exp bonus and streamlined leveling (I took off most heirlooms ages ago to try to slow her down at least a little!).
Someone I know, back in Wrath, leveled a character without ever going to Outlands. It took a LOT of Classic questing, dungeoning, and some farming of low level mobs in Northrend. This was before gather skills gave exp as well. I bet it'd be even easier to try now; see how much content one can skip. Even doing grey quests gives some exp...
Shethornclaw Dec 9th 2011 8:39AM
Two words Dustwallow Marsh.
Perfect linear questing start in Theramoore end in Mudsprocket gain about 4 to 6 levels.