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For retail and new players alike looking to discover what all the fuss is about surroundingWorld of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Classic: be warned. Though more streamlined than previous classic expansions, leveling is still no walk in the park. Your wits will be tested, tears will be shed, and you’ll contemplate giving up or switching to an “easier” class altogether.
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The journey from 1 to 80 takes an average of 150–200 hours to complete, with the primary challenge being 70-80 taking anywhere from 20 to 40 hours. We can often get sidetracked exploring all the new zones Northrend has to offer and get stuck in seemingly inescapable death cycles. But fear not! Some of us who’ve embarked on this journey before have gathered a few tips and tricks to make this much more enjoyable for you.
What Consumables To Use
One of the biggest time killers we’ll find during the leveling journey is dying. For the warriors out there, yes we’re talking directly to you, though every class can benefit from this. WOTLK Classic still offers the sudden threat of death, no matter your level. Maybe you accidentally pull one too many enemies, or you’re trying to defeat a particularly challenging foe for a quest. In this instance,a few consumable items can go a long way. Health potions for the classes that can’t self-heal are particularly important in these encounters.
Likewise, for classes known to burn through mana such as mages, warlocks, and some healer specs,a mana potion at a critical momentcould just give you the little bit of damage boost that you need to save yourself from death. Immediately following these tough fights,food and drink help to recover a bit faster to get back into the fray. Likewise, don’t overlook the importance ofhaving yourFirst Aidcaught up to your level. You’ll likely loot cloth aplenty, which you may auction for a little extra gold, or turn into bandages to help get you back in the fight.
Recommended Professions
One greatly overlooked tool to help min/max your time in the game comes from having relevant professions.Gold is always useful when it comes to buying gear, so pairing gathering professions such asminingandskinningorherbalismwill ensure that you may afford to replace that worn-out helm from 15 levels ago.
Or perhaps you want to be a little bit more involved by leveling a crafting profession to reap dividends later on. In this case,blacksmithing,tailoring, or even enchanting may give you just the boost you need from better gear to get you through those tough encounters.
Along those lines,engineeringwas well known for being an overpowered professionin WOTLK. Not only can you make explosives for that extra damage boost, but you’ll also be able to craft your very own ground and flying mount. The speed boost granted byRocket Boots, the slow fall ability granted byParachute Cloak, and theRepair Botto save trips to the city to repair and sell junk will also help greatly reduce travel time throughout the zones.
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How To Gain Experience
There are several ways of obtaining experience in WOTLK Classic. Commonly used methods are grinding, questing, dungeons, and even battlegrounds. However,the best methods are questing and dungeons. Let’s break that down a bit starting with questing.
Questing For Leveling
If you prefer a solo experience, questing is the best option for you, as you will be able to complete most quests by yourself. Keep in mind, certain classes have an advantage here, especially if they can use pets or have the ability to self-heal. Others may find themselves hitting a roadblock from time to time and may require help from a friend or a passerby.
To save time between quest pick-ups and turn-ins,focus on finding quest hubs rather than picking up single quests. This will greatly reduce travel time and maximize the number of quests you complete.
Also, don’t be afraid to abandon a quest if it’s too far away or too difficult!
The table below will help you gauge which quests may require outside help.
Red
Best to wait a few levels.
Another factor to consider is that if you wish to group up with other players,the experience gained will be divided among the partyaccording to how many players are in your group. So before grouping up, verify the rate of clearing makes up for the experience lost.
1
100%
2
50%
3
39%
4
33%
5
28%
Dungeons For Leveling
By farthe quickest route to level cap is through dungeon grinding. you may start as early as level ten by runningRagefire Chasm,Wailing Caverns, or evenThe Deadmines. However, this is going topose a challengeto most at this level, unless you have very good gear and teammates that can carry you through the tough encounters.
This is going to be best suited forclasses that can tank or healas it will greatly minimize queue times.
The table below is a great starting point for most players looking for appropriate dungeons for their levels. Ragefire Chasm and The Stockades are great dungeons as well, however, they are not mentioned as they may pose a slight challenge to get to for opposite faction players.
15-23
24-28
29-43
44-51
50-59
60-63
64-66
67-69
70-72
73-75
76-80
Halls of Lightning
Final Tips
Make sure to keep your Hearthstone location up to date, so you can quickly travel to a main city, or your questing hub if you so desire. With that in mind, one of the most common reasons for traveling to a city is tovisit an auctioneer or banker, so do yourself a favor andupgrade those bags, so you can store more junk items that you’ll forget about than before.
Being rested will give you 200 percent more experience per kill until you run out. This recharges at a rate of five percent every eight hours and up to a maximum of one and a half levels. So make sure that if you log off or AFK for an extended period of time, you do so in a rest area such as an inn.
If your experience baris blue, that means you’re rested!
If you’ve already achieved the max level on a character,be sure to pick up heirloom items. Thechest and shoulder itemsshould be your priority as these are the only pieces that will improve your experience earned by ten percent per item. Any other pieces are bonuses, as heirloom items level up with you, eliminating the need for you to manually upgrade your gear.
Though you can choose to do just questing or just dungeons for leveling,most players find that a mix of both is best. Questing will give you a better feel for the world, allow you to immerse yourself, and is an excellent way for you to gain experience while you’re assembling your dungeon group. Dungeons may give you that extra little experience boost that allows you to get into that cool new zone, or upgrade some of your older gear.
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