I personally cant get to 85 faster than 8 days by hand but hopefully someone finds use for this.
1-85 Guide
Table of Contents:
- Introduction
- Preparation
- 1-58
- 58-68
- 68-80
- 80-85
- Conclusion
- Group Quests
- Short Version
Introduction
As many of you probably already know I recently leveled a second mage from 1-85 in just over 2 days played. I’m sure there are a lot of you guys who hate leveling and want the experience to go as quick as possible, which is why I am writing this guide. Although I did this strategy with a mage it is completely the same on any other class or race for that matter. Obviously every class has its benefits and as a mage I was able to get around easier due to my portals, but again rolling any other class should not slow you down too much.
Preparation
Prior to beginning your leveling you want to make sure that you have all heirlooms available to your class ready to go. Although heirlooms are not necessary, they make things go ridiculously fast. On my second mage I use all heirlooms and the guild 10% bonus giving me a total of 45% bonus experience. Also before you start leveling you need to plan out where you are going to each zone and when, which is more or less what this guide is going to help you with. I stick to the same zones every time I level an alt in every continent. The zones included in my guide may not be the quickest possible but they are the ones I prefer to use due to how well they are connected together.
Levels : 1-58
1 to approximately 20
For the first several levels you are going to want to stick to your races first two zones. For example on my Draenei I stay at Azuremyst and Bloodmyst Isles until around level 18. The reason I said approximately 18 in the sub title is that the rate in which you progress through your zone depends highly on the amount of heirlooms you are using and the race that you choose (some starting zones are faster than others). The most important thing is to know when to move on and when to stay in the zone.
Quest colors to remember:
Green - Generally means it’s time to move to the next zone
Yellow - Ideal zone (Stay here)
Orange / Red - You probably moved a little too fast, I recommend back tracking.
20 to 25
After I finish the first two zones assigned to my race I like to head to Duskwood. Duskwood is a zone that has been highly improved since the Cataclysm has hit. Duskwood now includes a lot more kill quests and therefore helps to make the levels in the zone quick and easy due to the increase experience from killing monsters. Since all these quests are close together it minimizes downtime and helps to maximize you leveling.
25 to 35: Once your quests in Duskwood either run out or turn green head to Northern Stranglethorn. Since Cataclysm Stranglethorn has been split into two questing zones (Northern Stranglethorn and the Cape of Stranglethorn); Northern Stranglethorn is still the strong questing area that it was prior to Cataclysm and still includes many of the same quests such as the Hemet Nesingwary quest chain.
After questing in the Northern half of the zone it is time to move on to the Cape of Stranglethorn. These two zones are very well tied together so if you follow the quests in the Northern part of the zone properly you should have no problem getting through these two zones smoothly and quickly. Following the quest chains in these two zones should eventually lead you to Booty Bay. Once you are in Booty Bay getting to the next part of the guide is easy. When you are the minimum level to move onto Western Plague Lands a War-Mage will offer a quest in Booty Bay and will port you to Western Plague Lands. As soon as this quest is available it is requested that you move to the next zone. This should be around level 34.
Level 34 - 45
A zone that had very few quests prior to Cataclysm has changed drastically to become one of my personal favorite zones. Western Plague Lands has a large quantity of quests in the zone, many of which include a war between the Alliance and Horde which gives the zone an epic feel. Just simply follow the quest chain that the War-Mage gave you and enjoy the quests. This zone will take you from Andorhal up to the Mender’s Stand, Hearthglen and then back to Andorhal again for the final battle with the Horde. This zone should last you to approximately level 40, although you can stay here as long as you want if you are enjoying the quest chain. Just like in Stranglethorn the quests in this zone will lead you to the next part of the guide.
Just like in Western Plague Lands the death of the Lich King has changed this zone for the better and is now a very well done zone. In this zone you will be following Fiona and her friends on a carriage ride across the zone, making stops along the way. This zone is connected very well through one very long quest chain and story line. One tip for maximizing experience in this zone is to pick up Argus’ Journal from Fiona’s Caravan A.S.A.P. Doing so will give you a buff which will increase you experience gain in the zone by 5%.
45 to 52
This is probably the slowest part of my guide. Although the Badlands is connected to Eastern Plaguelands through a flight on a rocket given to you at Light Hope’s chapel and the zone itself has several interested quest chains, this zone only lasts you a few levels which then forces you to do a fraction of a zone in order to get the level to move onto my next part of the guide. After questing in Badlands until about 48 or 49 I moved onto Searing Gorge. Although by this point you will most likely slightly out gear the zone, I found that the beginning quests in this zone are quick and involve a lot of quick kills. Another alternative is moving to Burning Steppes until level 52.
52 - 58
At level 52 find a way to get to the Swamp of Sorrows. The first quest hub I start with in this zone is Bogpaddle on the far East Coast. This quest hub will eventually take you all across the zone where you will end up in a fight against the horde (again, noticing a theme yet?).
Whenever you finish this zone or the quests turn green (Around level 55) move onto the Blasted Lands where you will stay until you reach 58. There is no telling how many quests you will need to do in this zone because the multiple variables involved in leveling such as rested experience, heirlooms, etc. When I leveled my second mage I stayed into this zone until the Blood Mage quests, at that point I hit level 58 and moved onto the Outlands.
58- 68
I have done this part of the guide probably about 11 or 12 times personally and doing this continent this way has always seem to be the fastest for me.
58 to 62
The only starting option in Outlands is Hellfire Peninsula. While in this zone there are certain quest hubs I prefer to do and some I prefer to leave alone. Of course if you do not have all the heirlooms you may be required to do the extra quest hubs. I always start in Honor Hold and do all the quests associated around that area. Once you have done more or less every quest on the Eastern part of Hellfire I like to move to the Temple of Telhamat. Why the time you are done at the temple you should be level 61 or 62.
62 to 64
Just like in Hellfire there are certain quest hubs in this zone I prefer to skip. While in Zangarmarsh I generally try to stay away from the Sporeggar questing area. Other than that all of the other quest hubs are relatively quick and should help you cruise through these levels with ease.
64 to 68
My favorite leveling zone in this continent is by far Nagrand. This zone is extremely open and has a lot of quick kill quests allowing you to speed through these levels fairly fast. In Nagrand I always due every quest I can find. There are 4 major questing hubs in this zone that I like to take one at a time. I always start at the Hunters Camp in the North Eastern Corner to the zone; just like in Stranglethorn these quests are quick and easy. Now head to Telaar, then go to the Throne of the Elements, and finally go to the Consortium camp in the West. Along the way some quest givers worth noting are the blind Night Elf in the western portion of the zone between the 2 forge camps, the Blade master in the Burning Blade ruins, and the Ring of Blood in the Laughing skull ruins in the North. This zone should last you until 67 but if you can somehow stretch it out to 68 through a BG or dungeon or something it would be ideal to save you from the travel time up to Netherstorm.
If you cannot make Nagrand last until 68 you are forced to move on to another zone. At this point there is no zone of preference so you have a few choices. You can either go to Netherstorm or Blade’s Edge Mountains, or you can do a BG / dungeon. If you choose to continue questing until 68 just find the first quest hub in either Netherstorm or Blade’s Edge and do a few quests until level 68.
LK - 68 to 80
This part of the guide will take you all the way through Northrend. The reason this part goes up to 80 and not 78 is because the new Cataclysm zones require you to be level 80 to begin questing in them (I know its lame).
68 to 72
In the Northrend there are two starting zones that are equal in level. I go to Borean Tundra over Howling Fjord about 90% of the time. I find Borean to be a lot quicker as far as questing goes and helps you to move on as soon as possible.
In Borean Tundra I do every quest and often get the achievement for this zone. There are countless quest hubs in this zone but as far as I am concerned there are 7 major quest hubs. The first will be Valiance Keep. This quest hub will take you off to 4 or 5 different mini questing hubs. Amber Ledge is usually my next stop. This zone is very brief but is required in order to unlock the next hub. Coldarra will give you 4 or 5 quests at a time allowing you to do them all at once and get a huge burst of experience. By this point you should be level 70 which means you can do the D.E.H.T.A’s quests. The druid camp is located in central Borean Tundra just West of Kaskala. Also near this quest hub is the next major hub the mage hunters dig site. In this area you will see a giant stone face statue that you can’t miss. The last two quest hubs are the Fizzcrank Airstrip and the Murloc camp on the North West coast. These hubs can be done in any order and it will not affect you speed.
72 to 74
Dragonblight has 4 major quest hubs. You can do these quests in any order you feel, I usually start with the quests at Wintergarde keep so I can unlock the group quests and have a guildie or a friend knock them out for me at some point. The 4 major hubs are Wintergarde Keep, Stars Rest, Wyrmrest Temple, and Mao’ki harbor.
74 to 76
The next zone is Zul’Drak. I never complete this zone because I personally do not care for the Scourge quest chains or the Death knight Quest chains. In this zone I start at The Argent Stand and progress through the zone from there skipping the Death knight camp entirely. If you do not mind the Death Knight Quest chain you can do it no problem and just simply stay in this zone a little longer. I generally just follow the quest chains given by the Argent Stand and head to Zim’Torga when I run out of quests in the Argent Area. I continue questing in this zone until 76 then I head to Dalaran for the next part of the guide.
76 to 78
Once in Dalaran head to the flight path area and you should see a mage offering a quest to send you to Sholazar Basin.
Accepting the quest in Dalaran will put you on a helicopter that will take you to Sholazar. Sholazar is a lot like Nagrand in the sense that it is have a lot of killing quests and is a fairly fast zone to get through. I almost always get the achievement for this zone by doing all of the quests. Just simply start at the Hunting camp in the West and follow that chain, this chain will lead you to the Avatar of Freya and the Wolvar eventually.
78 to 80
Icecrown will be your last questing zone in Northrend. I find this zone has a lot of quick quest chains that evolves multiple quests at once and is generally a lot faster than Storm peaks. Start this zone at the Argent Vanguard and complete the whole chain leading up to the Crusader’s Pinnacle. After taking the pinnacle I leave the Argent Crusade (Do not follow the quest far up North, too much travel time in that chain to make it worth it). Pick up the Argent Quests then move to the flying alliance gun ship; here talk to the Death Knight that will lead you to the Shadow Vault. After the Shadow Vault has been captured you can do all of the quests that involve the Jotunhiem area to the west. From here on it really depends on where you are as far as levels. There are a few other strong questing areas in the zone, one being the Argent Tournament. Although these quests are dailies they still reward good experience and are quick. Also you can just start completing the quests that are given off the Gun Ship until you reach level 80 or even fly to the far West shore where you will find the Ebon Blade quest hub. This part is really your choice it is just essential that you get to 80 as fast as you can.
Cata - 80 to 85
80 to 82
Once you hit level 80 its time to move onto Mount Hyjal. This zone uses impressive phasing to enhance a very epic quest chain. Apart from a good story this zone will make your first few Cataclysm levels extremely quick compared to the alternatives. While in this zone I recommend you run Blackrock Caverns at least once because the quests in the dungeon will give you quick and easy experience. If you hit 82 before you are done this zone just continue questing in this zone and proceed to the next zone once you run out of quests.
82 to 84
Deepholm is not one of my most favorite zones to quest in but unfortunately there is no alternative at this point in the guide and you must tough this part of the guide out, unless of course you enjoy Deepholm. To make things worse for this guide to work you must complete every quest in this zone to reach level 84. If you do not reach level 84 while in Deepholm (and chances are that you won’t) you must head to Uldum to finish up the rest of your level until 84.
84 to 85
The final zone to this guide is indeed Twilight Highlands. Twilight Highlands starts off extremely strong and will help you to blow through the first part of your level. Unfortunately this zone quickly dies down and may make your last level feel slow. While in Twilight Highlands make sure to complete the ring of blood like event to get some quick and easy bars. When I did this guide I completed quests up to the red dragons when I hit level 85.
Conclusion / Summary
Gratz on your new level 85! Now get to chain running heroics! Thank you for using this guide and I hope you found it to be useful. I completed 1 to 85 in 2 days and 1 hour; hopefully you will get the same if not better results. Best of Luck!
Group Quests
Here are some zones that I recommend getting a higher level to help you on to optimize leveling.
Nagrand: Ring of Blood and group quests
Dragonblight: Wanted Quests and other group quests
Zul’Drak: Ring of Blood
Twilight Highlands: Ring of Blood
TL : DR
- 1 - 20: First two starting zones
- 20-25: Duskwood
- 25-35: Strangle thorn (North and South)
- 35 - 45: Plague lands (West and East)
- 45-52: Badlands
- 52-55: Swamp of Sorrows
- 55-58: Blasted Lands
- 58-62: Hellfire Peninsula
- 62-64: Zangarmarsh
- 64-68: Nagrand
- 68-72: Borean Tundra
- 72-74: Drangonblight
- 74-76: Zul’Drak
- 76-78: Sholazar Basin
- 78-80: Icecrown
- 80-82: Hyjal
- 82-84: Deepholm
- 84-84: Twilight Highlands
Credits to Malichi
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