Wrath of the WoW Leveling Guide

First there was “Vanilla” WoW. With the level cap of 60 and fondly (?) remembered by old timers. Then came the Burning Crusade, with its 10 new levels, new dungeons, new continent (the Oultands) and new gear (rendering much of the old gear obsolete, even the epic stuff.) With it came the Blood Elves and the Draenei.

Now we have Wrath of the Lich King. Wrath brings with it another 10 levels, another whole new continent to explore, new dungeons, new gear (which will obsolete our current gear,) and, of course, the Lich King himself.

Unlike the Outlands, the new continent, Northrend, doesn’t have any level requirement. If you want to send your level 1 explorer there then go for it. Mobs start at level 68 so if you actually want to fight something, then bring along a character of a little higher level. If you’re not high enough level yet then you should get to work.

For the intrepid explorer, who likes to poke around in all the new nooks and crannies of a new area, Northrend offers lots to see and do. If you’re the type who like to level a little faster be aware that the quests in Northrend, like all the other WoW quests, will send you all over the place. A little organizing of your quests will be needed to make your leveling efficient.

As usual, when you hit any new area and start grabbing quests you will note that they send you in all directions, some are local and some send you to other zones. Make a note of which quest sends you where and then figure out the most efficient path to hit those quests. If one, or some, of them take you to the big city wait until you have others in that city and/or you are going to be there anyway, Your class training is one example.

Once people started hitting level 60 they immediately noticed that quite a large number of experience points were needed to hit 61. The same is true for the new levels. 70-71 is something of a long haul, especially if you aren’t organized. If you approach thing willy nilly you will find that each level will take a long time.

Grinding, of course, is something that can be done, but with the loooong levels from 70 onward it seems to me that this will be extraordinarily dull. Take whatever stash of Mountain Dew, pizza, and tunes that you laid in for your pre-70 grind fests and triple it.

You will find that some people hit 80 very quickly after starting Wrath. They don’t do it by grinding or by doing quests randomly. The fastest of them will have leveled characters in the beta test, probably more than one, so already know the routes. Some will use a leveling guide, written by someone who’s done the 70-80 route, probably several times, and laid it all out.

One thing that will help you on your travels is to grab a WoW addon called “Cartographer.” This addon lets you set waypoints which are a big help in finding your way around whichever zone you happen to be in. Grab a quest, locate the area that you want to be in, set a way point, and follow the arrow on your main screen. Cartographer also has the maps for the battlegrounds and the dungeons.

Need info on a quest that the quest log just doesn’t provide? Thottbot.com has details on all of the quests, of any level. Have a question about where to go or what to do? Thottbot.com has the answers. Make it a point to read the comments under the quest data. That’s where the really juicy info is located.

If you haven’t already made that 70-80 (or 1-80) run yet then things can get a little confusing from time to time. If you treat yourself to a pre-written leveling guide then you can eliminate the confusion and just level. These guides are put together by people who have already been there and done that and learned to do it in an efficient manner. A guide will point you in the right direction, tell you where to go and what to do, and cut a whole lot of time off of your leveling speed.

Better yet is if that guide acts as part of the game itself. So not only do you know where to go and what to do, you’re reminded of all the details that you need to know about the quest. Better yet is if the guide updates itself. So once you finish a quest the guide updates to the next one, automatically, resetting the waypoint arrow as well. Even better is if the guide remembers where you left off. If you leave the game for a couple of weeks, or don’t play a certain character for a long time, the guide will pick up right where you left off.

Best yet is if you never have to leave the main screen, look at your quest log, consult Thottbot or any other website, and can just go from quest to quest, bang, bang, bang. Zygor’s Guide does exactly that. It’s a fully automated in-game guide that will get you leveled faster than anything else out there, because it eliminates all the time spent looking things up.

Zygor’s in-game leveling guide answers all the above concerns and its automation is head and shoulders above any other in-game guide available. To see exactly how it works and how much it will speed up your leveling take a look at these videos and the review of Zygor’s Leveling Guide. Get the edge over your friends and hit 80 long before they’re even close.

Zygor's Guides

Zygor's Guides are totally in-game leveling guides for Horde and Alliance. No switching from game to website or document, no switching back and forth from game to map, just fast leveling with no distractions.



Learn more about Zygor's Guides here

Wrath of the Lich King on Amazon

Amazon.com has the upcoming WoW expansion Wrath of the Lich King available for pre-order. The date this thing is due to arrive is on November 3, 2008. Details are here: Wrath of the Lich King Pre-order

I fully expect that the iDemise guys will have a level 70-80 leveling guide update very soon after the expansio goes live, especially if they're in the beta. Since it'll be a free update you're covered if you grab your copy now. Here's the iDemise review.

Funny WoW Videos

Posted on the Azeroth Cookbook: The Five Funniest WoW Videos. Don't think they're funny? Have a better one? Post a comment on that site and let them know what your choice is!

The Cunning Blade Quest

WoW Rogues, at level 10, can do an optional quest for the legendary Cunning Blade, a green dagger that's not really legendary and isn't quite as nice as some that you'll find on the Auction House.

Still, it's a fun little quest to do, it's different for every Rogue race, and if stuff isn't dropping off the AH for you, then go for it.

Here's a complete walkthrough of the quest for every race in WoW: Level 10 Rogue Cunning Blade Quest

Massive Warcraft Gold Blueprint

Admittedly, the best gear in the World of Warcraft really doesn't require much cash (other than a flying mount.) It requires time and effort. You go on many high end raids and finally get your rights to those nice purple drops, or you farm reputation with one or several factions and grab the rep gear for low prices, or you do endless battlegrounds or arena battles for gear that costs zero gold, just lost of points.

But even at the level (70) where you're doing all that stuff you'll want to pay for the repair bills, consumables, gear for alts, etc. Those enhancements for your uber arena gear don't come cheap, either.

While you're leveling up you might even be keeping an eye on the auction house for interesting items (such as that level 38 epic mace I just bought for my 39 Rogue.)

So you're going to have certain requirements for some pretty decent amounts of gold, even without the gear. Depending on your tastes and how many alts you're feeding (and twinking) you might even have a use for a massive amount of WoW gold.

That's where the Massive WoW Gold Blueprint comes in. You'll learn how to make Massive gold in WoW and you'll do it without turning your high level characters into farmers. Check it out.

Druid Quest Guide - The Power over Poison

One of the early Druid quests in the World of Warcraft is the Power over Poison quest chain. This is a rather long and involved series of quests, much like all of the Druid quests, that gives you a spell to remove poison effects from your target.

It's the Cure Poison spell. This is an instant cast spell good up to a 40 yard range, and it cures 1 poison effect on the target.

Here's the whole walkthrough of this quest chain:

• For Horde Druids - Power over Poison Quest
• For Alliance Druids - Power over Poison Quest

Team iDemise Leveling Guide Update

TeamiDemise, a professional Counterstrike gaming group, moved into the World of Warcraft and they've applied their professional gaming skills to a leveling guide. You can see our review of their original leveling guide here: Team iDemise Leveling Guide Review

That kick butt guide has now been updated.

Previously the guide was integrated into your main map using the Map Notes addon. Now they've brought it out to your main screen.

Here's a screenshot with just the main guide window open (see below for the smaller window.) Click the image for a bigger picture.

In this window you can easily find out where you should be leveling by hitting the LRAZ button. So if you're a level 1 Troll, then you pick the 1-10 ranges and then the starting area.

If you're coming in as a level 45 Priest, then you pick the 40-49 range, then the zone appropriate to your level. In this case it would be Feralas.

Hit the "Display" button and you're good to go. It'll list the first quest in the area, where you need to go, and what you need to do. Finish the quest, check the box, hit the next button, and you'll have that detail.

The iDemise guide will group your quests, so you'll be doing 2 or more in any one area. A waypoint arrow is automatically set for one of the quests in the group, though you can go into your main map and set any other waypoint that you prefer.

If you look closely you'll see some red letters at the bottom of the guide. This is your exact location. This might come in handy if you need to come back to an exact point sometime.

In addition...

Here's a screenshot with all the windows open. You have the main guide window (seen above) plus...
+ The drop down menu where you can learn where you should be leveling
+ Pro tips - iDemise includes a number of tips to make youir gaming more efficient. I think they could expand on this, but the ones they provide are quite good.
+ The options menu - Currently you can only adjust the transparency of the main guide.
+ A talent build. The guide notes which class you are and will provide a very solid recommended talent build for your character. You don't have to use it, but this is a great thing for players unfamiliar with the class.


The guide window can be minimized and moved anywhere. Restore it to full size anytime you like, check off what needs to be checked, then reduce it.

Note the green waypoint arrow at the top of the screen. This is set automatically.

Points are also automatically placed on your main map, so you can always see where you are in relaltion to where you have to go.

Flexibility - You can pick here you want to go and what you want to do. Don't want to do a particular quest? Skip it and go to the next one. Want to do one that isn't mentioned? Go for it.

Good memory - Log out and come back in and the guide will remember where you left off. That's a big improvement over the old version or a PDF or website guide.

Free updates - When you grab your copy of the guide you'll be entitled to free updates for the life of the guide.

Got questions? You'll also have access to a forum where you can ask questions and kick ideas around with other guide users.

Quibbles

• I did manage to lose the guide once. I had the minimized window near the bottom of the screen and when I maximized it the window moved offscreen or otherwise disappeared. I haven't been able to repeat this, despite many tries, so I think it was a one time thing. Logging out and then back in fixed it.
  
• It's not automated. oooo... big issue, right? You do have to check things off and hit "next". It'll let you pick where you want to go and what you want to do, or skip.
• That IS a really big window, isn't it? For most of your quests it will be a mostly empty window. Fortunately, you can minimize it at any time.
• There are a few typos and there may be some small errors (the author requests feedback,) but in our testing it's pretty solid and the typos aren't significant.
  

More Likes:

• No lengthy grind sessions. This guide is all quests. In our experience you'll probably find yourself a little ahead of the guide at most times. On rare occasions you might have to grind for a bar of XP. 99.9% of the time you'll be questing and leveling fast.
  
• Fast leveling - This guide just feels fast. Our expert used the old guide from 20 to 70 with a Blood Elf Pally and loved it. Now it's faster, since there's no switching back and forth to a map or setting waypoints. I'm running a Troll Rogue with the guide and I'll post times to several levels later. I'm not a speed leveler so you should easily be able to beat any time I come up with.
  
• Talents - As mentioned above the talent builds are cool. Yours may differ and you certainly aren't required to use theirs, but it's nice when playing unfamiliar characters.

iDemise boasts a leveling time of just over 6 days to level 70 and we think this can be done if one follows good speed leveling practices. That is: don't dilly dally at the auction house, spend time doing misc stuff, etc. Hit the quests bang bang bang and you'll level fast.

Oh, by the way, the iDemise Leveling Guide is available for both Horde and Alliance.

Get your copy of the TeamiDemise 1-70 Leveling Guide here.

The Complete Rogue Lockpicking Guide

While I was leveling my Rogue I came to realize that it might be cool to level my lockpicking skill, as well. The guides I found elsewhere were ok, but I still had some questions.

So I wrote my own. Actually, the one linked below is a rewrite. If you're level 16 and just starting to pick locks, or if you're 70 and getting tired of the snickers when you can't open someone's box, then you'll find what you need in the guide. Here it is: the Rogue Lockpicking Guide

Joana's Horde Leveling Guide Reviewed

If you play the Horde site (good for you!) and you'd like to take the fast route to 70 then you should check out Joana's Horde Leveling Guide.

While this is an online ebook (and some guides are entirely in-game these days) I think you'll like the speed that you'll get to 70 and all the extras that come with it. In addition to the leveling guide you get:

• Lots of tips on how to level faster
• A Hunter talent build
• Coverage of the Hunter class quests
• Hot Keys for Hunters and Warlocks
• Links to Thottbot and related sites for every single quest in the guide, for really in-depth info.
  
• Videos covering not only specific quests, but the entire 1-60 leveling run ( a 1-70 video is in the works.)
• User submitted guides (22 of them) covering all classes and which provide tips and tricks and builds for all those classes.
  

Sounds good to me. I used it to get my Blood Elf Rogue from 1-70 in decent time (spent too much time sightseeing for it to be a speed run) and recommend it highly.

For more info check out this detailed Joana's Horde Guide Review