leveling
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Experience is going to get faster sooner
Blizzard's plans to speed up the old Azeroth leveling experience 1-58 have been pretty vague so far, about some additions to Dustwallow Marsh and some kind of general speed increase at some point in the future. Drysc has made things a little bit more clear though: we can expect to see a "pre-expansion change to the experience curve and gain." You won't have to wait until the expansion comes out to finish leveling that alt you've always wanted to play but couldn't make time for. Exactly when "pre-expansion" this will be isn't clear of course, but it's nice to know it shouldn't take as long as some had feared.In addition, Drysc goes on to add that they are interested in "refining (?)" a couple of the old-world instances, namely Gnomeregan and Uldaman, because apparently those dungeons tend to get more people more often during the leveling process. "Refining" those dungeons could mean anything from changing some of the trash mobs to really reorganizing parts of the instance, and the effect could be for better or for worse -- several of my friends tremble with hatred at the mention of those two instances, and would much rather Blizzard removed Gnomeregan and Uldaman altogether than encourage us to go back to an "refined" version anytime soon.For my part, any refining of old-world content is a good thing. It would be good to speed through content that most of us have already seen before, and it would be refreshing to revisit some old dungeons with new twists for those of us who haven't already done them to death. Some players, however, are crying bloody murder -- apparently ones who enjoy repeatedly slogging through hours and hours of the same old content and think that everyone else should have to also.
Ask WoW Insider: What's the best of Ask WoW Insider?
Fridays are a time for early happy hour quiet contemplation and reflection upon the past, and in that spirit we're taking a look back at some of the best posts from over the lifespan of Ask WoW Insider. Now that we're all older and wiser -- who *did* end up being the top PvP classes at 70? Best duo for PvP or grinding"What team of classes make the best duo for PVP or for grinding?" Top PvP classes at level 70Just after Burning Crusade came out, we speculated on which classes would dominate in PvP. Were we right? Would you change the answer you gave then? Best ways to make money in Burning Crusade"What are some good ways of making money for levels 60-70 in Burning Crusade? Are there people making money from jewelcrafting yet, should I pick that up? What about good mobs to grind or drops that sell well to vendors or on the AH?" Best way to get instance invites"What are your tips and tricks for convincing a group you've got the goods despite not having seen the inside of the dungeon?" Why are you overpowered?"Dig deep, self-examine and admit it: what makes your class overpowered?" How's WoW performance on a Mac?"I play Wow on a PC, and am looking towards a new computer purchase. One thing that influences my purchase is how well WoW will run on my new computer. I'm leaning towards a Mac, but how well does WoW run on a Mac?" Best way to power level alts"What's your strategy for the quickest power leveling? How do you maximize your time with your alts?" How would you design your own battleground?"What if you could design your own battleground? What would you do different or better than what is currently in the game?" When is it fair to upgrade an epic?"All DKP ideas aside, when is it fair to upgrade an epic over an epic?" Best healing class"Which class would you roll for a purely healing role? Which would you roll for a powerfully healing hybrid who might want to take on other roles from time to time? Relatedly, which healing class is the worst?" Best DPS class"Which classes can dish out the most DPS and which ones make the least amount of DPS?" Favorite WoW podcasts"There are a ton of WoW-themed podcasts out there now -- which would you recommend? What are your favorites?" Great ding stories"Any fun or interesting stories to tell about hitting the level cap? Or more generally, any memorable or unusual dings at any level?" We see that look in your eye, and we know it means you want to send us questions. Ask WoW Insider needs 'em -- send them to us at ask AT wowinsider DOT com!
Ask WoW Insider: Great ding stories?
Welcome one and all to this week's edition of Ask WoW Insider, wherein your questions are published for the public to answer. Last week we looked at optimizing rep grinding, and this week we turn our attention to a more nostalgic question -- what's your best "ding!" story? Obron from Zangarmarsh (ICftB reprazent!) writes: I was thinking, that it always makes my friends laugh when I tell them how I ding'd 70, by discovering a forge camp in Blade's Edge while running by it. Does anybody have some entertaining or funny stories about when they hit 60 or 70? Any fun or interesting stories to tell about hitting the level cap? Or more generally, any memorable or unusual dings at any level? As always, we at Ask WoW Insider are starving for your questions! Send them our way at ask AT wowinsider DOT com.
A supersonic land mount
One of the most interesting (and most mysterious) things we heard at BlizzCon was that, when the next expansion comes around, Blizzard wants to do things to make the level 1-70 experience "faster." What that might mean is still anyone's guess right now (although my money's just on tweaks to XP numbers), but we know what it won't mean: literally making epic mounts faster.Bwah (nice name) of Undermine asks, since we've already heard that flying mounts in Azeroth is not a possibility, if epic mounts around, say, 300% speed are. If we were able to zoom that fast across the landscape, it'd be almost like flying, and it would definitely make the experience of leveling faster. But Neth says no-- Blizzard wants the world to "feel" big, and making travel even faster would reduce that epic size of the landscape.Unfortunately, that's a bit of a cheat-- slowing players down just to make the land "feel" bigger isn't as good as actually crafting a big land itself. Which Blizzard did, I think, and I doubt 300% mounts would "shrink" the land that much.Of course, saying 300% mounts would make leveling go faster is a cheat, too-- sure, they'd be fun, but do we really need them? A better solution would be to work on making the content so good that we don't want it to go by faster in the first place.
A guide to BC pre-raid goals and how to achieve them
I'm a little compulsive about finishing every quest in a zone. Ok, ok, I'm certifiably compulsive about it. I love exploring all the various corners of a zone and learning their dangers and rewards. Because of this, I barely got through half of the Outlands solo content before I hit L70. After thoroughly enjoying Hellfire Peninsula, Zangarmarsh, Terokkar Forest and having just a taste of Nagrand and Blade's Edge, I hit the level cap. Why should I continue?Starryknight of the Executus server has an excellent answer: completing every Outland quest and running through every dungeon will net you the 5,000 gold for your epic mount, gain the necessary reputation to access later parts of the game and get you keyed for both the Heroic dungeons and Karahzhan. Essentially, you will be ready to jump into the raiding game, if you so desire.To achieve this, he wrote up a general guide on what to do in every Outland zone with links to more specific information about the quest chains for each area. For me, this is what I needed to push on and continue exploring the wonders that Warcraft still has to offer for people already at the level cap. Even if you don't intend to raid, the goal of buying an epic mount is reward enough. Check it out, it may be what you are looking for to refocus your goals in the game if you find your motivation has flagged.
Build Shop: Warlock ??/41+/??
This will be a somewhat unusual (and self-serving) Build Shop. You see, I have a Warlock alt, rolled one day when I was bored at level 60 with my priest, trying to get my Devout gloves. The warlock has always been either Affliction or Demonic Sacrifice-based, but I'd like to try out the Felguard for leveling purposes (currently, I'm at level 55). The question is, what Felguard spec should I use?From my research in the official forums and a few other places, and from playing around with the talent calculator, here's the best I've been able to come up with: 15/46/0 or 5/46/10. Fairly similar, as you can see. However, I'm somewhat uncomfortable with both builds; essentially, few of the points that aren't in Demonology really satisfy me.
Should the expansion add levels to the game?
While I think it's pretty certain that the next game expansion will add additional levels to the game, there's a reasonably sized petition making the rounds on the forums asking Blizzard not to add more levels. The argument, of course, is that we could see a repeat of the Burning Crusade -- all raid content is abandoned as the first quest rewards from new zones equal it while the reputations you spent so much time grinding up now only offers useless, low level rewards. But though I understand the concerns of players railing against new levels, I think they're going to come, anyway -- Blizzard has to give the players who have already burned through Burning Crusade content something new and interesting to do. However, perhaps they've learned a bit from the last expansion... only time will tell.But what do you think? Does the game need new levels, or does that just destroy the things we've worked so hard to achieve?
The bottom of the top
Hitting 70 is an extremely interesting experience, especially if you've never done it before. You work your way up, through the long 50s and the somewhat shorter (thanks to Outland) 60s, and just as you finish that last bar of 69, the golden flash hits, and ding-- you're 70. For a moment, you cheer-- "I won!" you think. "I'm done!" But then you look at your gear-- dressed in greens and a few blues-- you look at the instances you haven't seen yet, and you look at all the epics out there to collect, and you realize, as spellproof on WoW Ladies so eloquently puts it, that you're at "the bottom of the top."It's not that there isn't more things to do-- there's tons of quests to do after you hit 70, lots and lots of rep to gain, plenty of great PvP, and plenty of instances and raids to run. It's the humbling realization that as much emphasis as both Blizzard and other players place on arriving at 70, it's hardly anywhere near the end of the game. Your level numbers stop rising, but there's still a lot of progression to go.For some players (somewhat like spellpower, as it sounds like she's finding herself in a bit of a hole), it's discouraging realizing that there's so much more to do. I find it encouraging to hit 70-- while your gear isn't that great, you can finally run all the instances you want to run, and even start appearing in raids, even if you don't hit the top of any DPS charts. But no matter how you react, it is definitely a feeling that is unique to reaching "the top" of any MMORPG game. For the first time, you might realize that these games really never do end.
Cutting down on grind time for lowbie pets
Mania's Arcania, which is the new home of the Petopia blog, has a really interesting look at a frustrating problem for hunters-- leveling a lowbie pet with a high level character. Say you're 70 and you want a Ghost Saber. Because the Ghost Saber spawns at only 19 or 20, the only way to currently level it is to basically let the hunter tank (or kite, more likely), and simply bring the pet along for the ride.So how could we fix this? One of Mania's commenters has an interesting idea-- whenever a pet is tamed, it is automatically brought within a few levels of the hunter taming it. If you're 70 and taming a level 20, then when the little green ding flare rises up after taming, the pet suddenly becomes level 65, which is good enough to make the pet not so useless. It doesn't quite make sense (why would a pet be so much more powerful just because you tame it?), but it does take out the unnecessary pet grinding. Mania has other ideas that work well, too-- either make the pet experience relative to the pet (not the hunter, as it is now), or reduce the amount of experience needed anyway. Another idea mentioned is to make the latest rank of Growl open to any tamed pet of any level, but I don't see that working-- even if a level 20 could hold aggro against a level 60+ mob, it's not going to last very long.The only other suggestion I'd have is just to implement a different way to level pets-- maybe a turnin or a special quest at pet trainers that cuts down on the grinding time and method. But no matter how you do it, there's no reason hunters should be forced to go through all this just to get the pet that has the look they want.
The absolute worst class duo
Our reader Josh wrote to us with an common and practical question, saying that he said that he and his girlfriend are looking forward to starting two new alts together and they would like to know what the best classes would be for leveling exclusively together, with no solo play in between. He said, and I quote: "what would the greatest, most face melting/ass kicking/uber pwnage duo in WoW look like?"Now, fortunately for Josh and his girlfriend, we've actually been asked this question before, and anyways this sort of topic comes up lots and lots and lots of times in one way or another. I'm happy to refer them, and all interested parties of two, back to those posts with comments from our insightful readers. Of course if you feel something has changed since those topics last came up and there's a new best duo in the game, feel free to let us know here!But in order to give this post some kind of interesting spin, how about we advice them what not to do! What would be the absolute worst class combination imaginable for two people to level with? It's not as easy as you think -- As our class encouragement breakfast topics have shown so far, each of the classes has their own form of face melting, ass-kicking uber pwnage, and they all seem to have abilities that complement each other, no matter who they're paired with. Still... there has to be a less-than-optimal combination in there somewhere, right?Ideologically, you'd think that paladins and warlocks just would not mix at all, but no, that's not true! Actually they work great together. From my own experience, I remember practicing as a 2vs2 arena team with a mage friend, who is an excellent player, but we still didn't do very well at all. I know it could be just because I may be a terrible druid, or my gear may not be good enough, but it's actually the only time in this game that I've ever paired up with a friend only to feel that maybe our class abilities didn't complement each other well. I thought that if I could level my rogue to join her we might be a lot more successful, but my friend thought that I just needed more practice. Maybe there is no worst class duo! What's your experience?[Check out the girlfriend's answer in the last panel of this great Penny Arcade comic above, and take it as a warning not to choose for your duo a new class that you like toooooo much, or else you might not be able to resist soloing with it when you have free time and your partner doesn't!]
Spiritual Guidance: Leveling your priest
Every Saturday, Eliah or Elizabeth will bring you their thoughts on the Priest class with Spiritual Guidance. Whether it's keeping your fellow players alive or melting their faces, you can read about it here! This post may not be terribly useful to old-school Priests -- it's for up and coming priests or people who have been through one too many attempted instance runs that were abandoned after an hour of "need healer for Ramparts, PST!" (That's the reason I decided to roll my first Priest -- we could never find healers for our groups!) And, while I'm certainly a fan of the class, I'll be the first to say that they aren't the easiest class to level. But there are some tricks and talents that can make the process easier for you -- and, since I'm in the middle of leveling up my third Priest, that's what we're going to talk about today.
Let's get ready to rumb-- err, raid
B Dazzld over on Livejournal has posted her guild's minimum stats required to enter Karazhan, and it should serve as a great guide to those of you wondering if you're ready to start raiding the endgame.I've reposted them all past the jump, so click the link below to see if you're epic enough to join the raid. Truthfully, these stats are considerably lower than you'd need to actually beat all of Karazhan-- Curator is a nice gear check that would probably blow a raid like this away. Of course, the great thing about raiding is that the more you win, the better your gear gets, so even if you can just down the first few bosses every week, you're well on your way to gearing up your ten raidmembers.This kind of thing tends to attract the hardcore people who like to brag that they had +1000 healing at level 60 and if you have any less than that, you're a noob. That kind of thing's not too helpful, because not everyone has hours a day to grind away on gear. But I'll tell you-- my gear sucks compared to most of the people I'm rolling through Karazhan with, and I'm still better than this listing, so it shouldn't be too hard for you, just running 5mans and the occasional heroic, to get to this point at least. So if you haven't been able to join up with a raid yet, or don't feel that you're helping on the raids you're going on, here's an easy guide that can give you something to aim for. And since I know you great commenters will anyway, by all means provide your own thoughts about these gear minimums in the comments below.Update: B Dazzld is a girl, shame on me. Also, updated stats are in the comments. Thanks, B!
Breakfast Topic: Got upgrade?
Leveling up my draenei hunter, I used to keep looking for the next upgraded item I'd be able to use. My most exciting upgrading moment so far came when I reached level 40 and got to put on a full mail set I had bought and put away in the bank just for that moment. Somehow, though, I wasn't able to find many upgrades in my forties, and now starting on my fifties, some of that armor I had saved in the bank is still the best I can find, on the auction or in quests. The surprising thing is that leveling still isn't that hard! Of course maybe it's just because I'm a hunter, and hunters can even level naked if they want to.Still, it makes me wonder just how often we need to try and upgrade our armor leveling up. Is it totally different for the various classes? For example, can a hunter get by with sub-par gear for a long time, while a priest or warrior never could? If you're trying to level a very gear dependent class and just can't seem to find good upgrades, how do you manage?
The fastest class to level with?
Breanni at WarcraftPets.com has spent quite a bit of time evaluating the nine classes of World of Warcraft and ranking them based on DPS, survivability, speed buffs, and downtime. The result? A very informative discussion of the classes comparative strengths and weaknesses. Breanni's list, ranked from slowest to fastest, with some comments of my own: Paladins: Excellent survivablity, but comprably poor DPS, even with a retribution build. Warriors: Good DPS, but moderate downtime (fight, bandage, fight, bandage, fight, bandage). Shaman: Reasonable DPS, but survivability and downtime issues. (How does a Shaman restore their mana? By sitting down to drink every third fight.) Priest: Spirit tap makes downtime no problem, an.d a shadow build provides great DPS -- but not as good as other classes Mage: Great DPS but poor survivability (cloth armor and low HP)and a good amount of downtime (pesky evocation cooldown). Warlock: Capable of similar damage to a mage, but with pets and more health (usually), they have much better survivability. Druid: A feral build provides great potential to do damage (cat form) and absorb damage (bear form). Combine that with healing ability, and you've got a great class to play. Rogue: Excellent DPS and pretty high survivability, too (vanish, evasion, sprint, etc!). Hunter: High damage, neigh unkillable in PvE, and if they ever do get in over their heads, they can feign death and get away without an annoying corpse run. I have to agree with Breanni's choices for the bottom and top of the list, but I think a lot in the middle could be mixed around. (I think Warlock could compete for the number two spot, personally -- but I tend to play Demonology spec, while Breanni leveled with an Affliction spec.) But enough about my opinions -- what do you think is the fastest class to level?
"Stranglethorn Hole" and the doom of casual WoW?
Recent reports that the general population of WoW players may be going down for the first time cause some concern, enough to even have our post on the subject listed on the BBC for a while. Our readers gave lots of reasons why something was missing from The Burning Crusade, from problems with the new raids, new items, or even lack of anything actually "new" at all. Granted, it is too soon to say whether people are leaving WoW en masse or not, but the concerns raised here are still valid.One of the main problems our readers cited was leveling boredom. The game before Outland is a bottleneck for casual players who want to explore other classes and playstyles but find that getting where they want to be with their new favorite alt would take more tedium and repetition than they're willing to tolerate. Some have the patience and dedication for it, but for others it feels like an impassible jungle.Stranglethorn Vale, sometimes called the "Stranglethorn Hole" (coined by Tobold in reference to black holes, I think), has been the prime example of 1-60 leveling boredom, because at some point between levels 30 and 45, quests in most other areas just dry up, and you're left with little choice other than to help out the goblins in Booty Bay. The Gaming Fascist complains that he couldn't get any characters through the Vale without it feeling like "an affliction or a chore, something I don't really enjoy and fall back to when times get too boring." This was especially infuriating for him since he apparently chose a PvP server and he got ganked a lot there. Anyone tends to feel frustrated and hopeless when your goal is so far away that you have no reasonable means to achieve it.We took a light-hearted look into the future a couple weeks ago, to see what solutions might present themselves in a few years as this problem gets increasingly severe. The fact is that has to be done for casuals who can't or don't want to go raiding, and if trying out new classes and isn't really a feasible option, then what's to prevent them from feeling stuck with nothing to do? More reputations to grind?
The odd couple, playing together
Playing with friends is probably the most fun you can have in WoW-- while it's fun to solo, a good group is where it's at, and there's no better group then playing with people you know. Unfortunately, because even people who have a lot in common hardly ever level at the same rate, level differences grow quicker than expected, and pretty soon it's just not possible to play with friends without someone wasting their time.Until friendship shows up anyway. Lev over at WoW Ladies writes about an interesting duo she made with another player-- after joining up for a quest in Winterspring, they've rolled 10 levels together, and even played on their alts. And the weirdest thing is, she's 22 and he's 14, so you don't think they'd have a lot in common, but she says they play together great (she has a younger brother, and she compares their relationship to that). In the comments, someone about her age confesses to being grouping buddies with an 80-year-old person, and someone else tells a story of leveling up 40 levels with someone they met in game.Makes me kind of jealous, actually-- I've played a long time with the same people at 60 (and now 70), but leveling, I was never at the right rhythm to really grow with anyone else, either in common or otherwise. On my very first character, I played a night elf hunter (duh), and got some help from a night elf priest on how to start playing the game. I still have that guy on my friends list on that realm, and still see him play online, but he outstripped me in terms of levels a long, long time ago (he's 70, and my hunter is stuck in the late 50s). Now, it'd be nice to somehow technically be always able to play with friends (you could have instances that averaged your levels, or just play with premades, which is what I think Guild Wars does), but I think that's just one of the drawbacks of having a leveling system-- unless you only play those characters together, someone will always fall ahead or drop back.
Azeroth Interrupted: Introducing friends and family to WoW
Each week, Robin Torres contributes Azeroth Interrupted, a column about balancing real life with WoW.You play WoW... a lot. Your non-playing friends and family don't understand and feel neglected. So you have the perfect solution: introduce them to WoW! Be careful what you wish for. You may find that your brother (or bestfriend or significant other) has a not so pleasant online persona. Here are the most common categories of noob inductee to watch out for:The Timesucker: This person is usually playing while working or parenting. You make an appointment to play with her and she's there: on time and enthusiastic. But then the phone rings. A little later, a child needs discipline. You finally finish a quest and an afternoon snack must be prepared. So many understandable priorities take precedence over WoW and you end up spending an hour or more hanging around the Valley of Trials all dressed up and no one to power level.
A few tips for starting Heroics
Most players by now that started rolling to 70 when the expansion hit are probably either just starting or in the middle of running their first few Heroic dungeons. I fall into that group-- my guild has had a few folks running Heroics for a while, but the majority of us are just now starting to pick up the Revered rep needed in the different factions to make running Heroics a regular possibility. So here's a few tips I've picked up just in the past few weeks or so about how to get started running the most challenging 5mans in the game. Please feel free to add your own below.-Easiest Heroic: in general, you're going to want to start in the Slave Pens. I've heard good things about Underbog and Old Hillsbrad (Ramparts is comparably easy as well, especially if you've got your FR gear on), but really I've found that Slave Pens is a good indicator of whether your group is ready for Heroics or not, and it seems like Cenarion rep is pretty easy to come by, so you've got lots of keyed folks to choose from.-Best place to get badges: Heroic Mechanar. Even the Gatekeeper minibosses, who don't give good loot in the normal instance, will drop Badges for you in Heroic, which means that if you skate through this place in under an hour, you're earning five badges in that time.-In Heroics, it's not the bosses you have to worry about, it's the trash. Trash hits hard (really hard), so there's no room for error (read: letting the mobs go after clothies). If you don't have the standard CC you need (and you should-- heroic groups are best when every class type is well-represented), then fear is your friend, because in most heroics two hits are enough to cause a wipe.
Ask WoW Insider: Best way to power level alts?
It's time once again for our weekly dose of Ask WoW Insider, wherein we publish one reader's question for everyone to answer. This week's question comes to us from Richard, who has a slew of alts he's interested in leveling quickly: I've been playing for about a year now and have leveled a bunch of alts. My main and an alt are 70 and 64, respectively. But I have a bunch of alts all in the 10-35 range that I would like to get up in level. Some of my friends are in the same boat and we're trying to figure out the best way to maximize our leveling time. I've heard everything from solo'ing is faster, to run same level groups, to a high level 5-man instance with a couple high levels and have the lowbie hang back as you clear the place. I'd love to hear people's ideas on power leveling alts. So, what's your strategy for the quickest power leveling? How do you maximize your time with your alts? Got questions? Get answers. Send us your burning inquiries at ask AT wowinsider DOT com.
Hellfire at level 55
A week or so ago, a friendly lock in our guild summoned me out to Honor Hold to train in Enchanting. It appears to be bothering people that this is possible, that we are somehow abusing the system. I don't feel that I am, and in fact I was able to summon an entire group ranging from 51-55 for some Outland fun. We killed boars, a lot of them, and enjoyed ourselves immensely. It's interesting to note that although I cannot pass through into Outland, I am able to go through the Dark Portal into Azeroth. To me this is the sign that what I am doing is not against the design of the game. It's more like that shortcut to UBRS, built into the game for those resourceful enough to find it. I have yet to be able to get a quest, but I get plenty of looks from other players. Most are supportive, and many have helped me survive those times when I managed to attract too much attention from the wandering wildlife. Some have watched me die and laughed at my corpse. It matters not. What matters is that I can level my Tailoring and Enchanting again, I can use all that Netherweave I have been gathering, and I am having the time of my life. I have rediscovered the joys of grinding. I find it a better use of my time grinding the levels until 58 in an environment where the exp gain is so high. It sure beats Silithus and those darn Dredge Crushers.
