Stratholme and ZF Boosting Tips Needed!

[Razuya]

Hey all, just letting you guys know I boosted my pally and hunter to 42 in SM, now I'm moving on to ZF then Stratholme at 45ish.

Has anyone any tips with boosting tips like LoS spots and which parts to pull to not waste time. I have been boosting on my 70 warrior, he is doing really well.

All tips appreciated. Thanks :)

[griffin01]

I had previously posted this how-to, so I will stick it here to help out... and as far as ZF... stay in SM until 45... ZF is more pain that its worth.

I understand that you are using a warrior, so basically in your case you do one group at a time with your WW/Cleave/sweeping strikes. I havent done this with a warrior, but I will give you the pally how-to anyhow.

I used a pally for boosting. After SM at 45 I went to strat and entered dead side. I will break down my pulls here.

I numbered each group within the pull.

as a pally make sure you are specced with blessing of sanctuary... my pally is holy pally with really deacent pvp gear (10k health and mana with 800 spell dmg), use your holy fire spell to pull. make sure to watch your cooldowns as this can get you killed if you dont pay attention.

buffs needed:
blessing of sanctuary
divine shield
righteous fury (spec into righteous fury for dmg reduction)
concecration aura
blessing of protection

first pull, 1 to 5, pretty basic and use your divine shield when you have all 5 groups, consecrate, aoe holy wrath (i think thats what its called), and consecrate again... this should make it easy enough to kill all non elites by the time divine shield runs out. than the basic heal and consecrate combo till they die. You use divine shield first so you have it for the next big important pull.

second pull, 1 to 5, make sure you grab the big green fat guy on the way through. on group 5 there should be a corner behind them, this is where you want to be. It helps prevent kick backs from impacting your heals too much. once you are in your corner, you will BoP yourself and once again concecrate, holy wrath, and heal... BoP doesnt give as much time and wont draw in the casters, so you want to make sure you are at full health before it runs out. side note, do not forget to refresh your blessing of sanctuary when you use your BoP.

third pull you want to time it so the green fat guy pats away from you before you pull. the objective is to make sure he does not join the group on this pull. by this time the divine shield cooldown will be ready, so once you make your pull, basically where the 5th group is is where you will begin killing... concecrate, divine shield, holy wrath consecrate, heal. than more consecrate and heal till they are dead.

fourth pull you want to skip the group with the postman... this group is behind first group you are going to pull. skipping for one reason, the postman does snap kick and if you end up pulling all 5 groups here, you will die. anyhow, just to the left of the 4th group is another corner you will want to stick yourself in to ensure you are not being kicked back a massive distance while you are healing. also, use BoP for this one.

fifth pull once again let the green fatty pat away before pulling because he isnt included. this pull your divine shield should once again be ready so pull away, and divine shield... quick kills.

Once you find all the nooks and crannies in this system, you will get it down to a science... the only buggers here are the eye of naxx's that appear and summon gargoyles if you dont kill them in time. They will appear sometimes during a pull, so i find it best sometimes to wait for them to appear and kill them. or you may just get fortunate enough to have them included in your pulls.

So give that a try, and i hope it works out for you as good as it did for me. I took my 3 shammies in there at 45 and got them to 55... in about 4 n a half hours to 5 hours i got them from 51 to 55... so there was some deacent xp (this is before the refer-a-friend)... also with a few setbacks, so if you get it down to avoid those setbacks... good to go.

good luck.



http://www.seraphimorder.net/stratpulls.jpg ('http://www.seraphimorder.net/stratpulls.jpg')

[Coltimar]

There are many nah-sayers about boosting, so I did a test today. I had 7 full hours to play WoW today (<3 mondays). I took the first 3 hours and just boosted my group through stockades. I would drop 1 team member, add my 70 mage, clear, then switch to drop another teammate. I did this for 3 hours and got almost 4 levels.

I sold stuff, repaired, banked the cloth I picked up and D/E'd a few greens.

Then I started doing DM with just my group of 5. I ran the whole place twice in just over two hours and didn't even get a full level. My team is 23-24. I think I am going to follow some advice I read and start with DM graveyard tomorrow.

[Vyndree]

There are many nah-sayers about boosting, so I did a test today. I had 7 full hours to play WoW today (<3 mondays). I took the first 3 hours and just boosted my group through stockades. I would drop 1 team member, add my 70 mage, clear, then switch to drop another teammate. I did this for 3 hours and got almost 4 levels.

I sold stuff, repaired, banked the cloth I picked up and D/E'd a few greens.

Then I started doing DM with just my group of 5. I ran the whole place twice in just over two hours and didn't even get a full level. My team is 23-24. I think I am going to follow some advice I read and start with DM graveyard tomorrow.

Well, for one you're rotating out a member, and two... it sounds like you're either in the wrong level range or you don't have refer-a-friend.

Best boosting levels (IME):
Deadmines - 10-15 (1-1.5 levels per run, 3-4 pulls)
Stockades - 15-20 (1 level per run, 3 pulls)
SM: Cath - 20-35 (1 level per run average, 2-3 pulls -- I play it safe and make my pulls simple -- I don't have figurine of the colossus and I like to watch TV while boosting)
ZF: 35-45 (1-1.5 levels per run, 4 pulls)
Strat: 45-58 (or even 60) (1 level per run, 5 pulls)
Ramparts (for rep, mostly... boosting starts becoming less efficient here): 58-62

You want the mobs to be red to your lowbies. Red = max experience.

Looting is a bottleneck and will slow you down. Don't do it unless you need the items for some reason. You can get gold fast when you're 70. ;)

[griffin01]

hey Vyndree,

if you have a ZF how to, id love to see it since with my pally, i could pull a ton of mobs, but the problem is when they start running away, they never come back so i run out of mana trying to kill them all... or i get hexed and die slowly since hex wont break from dmg.

[Vyndree]

hey Vyndree,

if you have a ZF how to, id love to see it since with my pally, i could pull a ton of mobs, but the problem is when they start running away, they never come back so i run out of mana trying to kill them all... or i get hexed and die slowly since hex wont break from dmg.

I'm waiting on a how-to from others because mine was terribly inefficient. I found that my chance of not dying of boredom every time they healed was directly proportional to the amount of mobs I pull. So I just decided to pull all the way up to the scarabs, then pull the scarabs (whatsisface in the scarab room resets if you're not careful), then do the room with the zombies (clicking on the graves, whee!), then the room with the gauntlet event, then the gauntlet itself, then I pull everything in the instance (Ghaz'rilla's room) on my way out to reset.

Here's a pic I kicked together in MSPaint.

http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/2381/zfqw4.th.jpg (http://img353.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zfqw4.jpg)

For sanity's sake, I don't suggest people do this with a pally. I did, and I spent AGES killing the little healer mobs. The good news? You can pull a MASSIVE amount of mobs. The bad news? After the melee'ers die, the healers will stick around for like 3x as long -- they just run away, heal to full, come back. Chase the healers down when they run if you actually plan on killing them. Oh, and by the way, the hunters are the ones that will frog you, making you unable to dodge/block/parry until they're done whaling on you. Keep your lowbies out of combat if you expect them to live.

On the last pull, I zone out and reset once the non-healer mobs are dead. It's just not worth my time otherwise.

Oh, and I pull mounted + crusader aura to prevent frogs from happening while I'm pulling.


I don't recommend people do this "my way", it's just the way I did it. :P

[Coltimar]

I don't have RAF accounts. I thought about referring and transferring but it's a lot of cash to deal out :/ I am in the right level range.

[Razuya]

Could I start Strat at 44?

[Vyndree]

Minimum level to zone into Strat is 45.

[Razuya]

Ahh damn, that explains it then.

Oh well, a few more runs of SM can't hurt, I guess...

Would my 70 warrior do alright boosting in Strath? He's good fairly good gear. 3/5 S3 gear. Has Stormherald w/ Executioner too.

[Vyndree]

Ahh damn, that explains it then.

Oh well, a few more runs of SM can't hurt, I guess...

Would my 70 warrior do alright boosting in Strath? He's good fairly good gear. 3/5 S3 gear. Has Stormherald w/ Executioner too.

Any dps-capable class can boost in 60's and below content. It's just some do it faster than others.

Take the pulls slower and you'll do fine.

[Razuya]

Excellent! I'm excited now.. I can hopefully boost them from 45-58ish. Roughly how long do you think it would take? like 7-8 hours or something? I hope faster, as I am using RAF with the 2 level 45's getting the 3x exp.

[shaeman]

I would add that startholme is a real pain to boost if you dont have someone who can remove disease from your 70.

I did this solo on my hunter - and the disease debuffs you. Does damage over time and reduces your ability to bandage, eat or drink.

Having said that - you have your pally running with you so you would be fine.

[Razuya]

I've just done a little bit of Strath, I have a few questions please:

1. It's better to start from entrance B I assume, can someone please post a minimap with an X as to where that is?

2. The mobs are all skulls for my level 45's.. the XP is good, but it will improve as I get into like level 48ish right? When the mobs are red, and not skull.

3. How do I get the key to the city, to open the gates :S?

Sorry, I'm a noob pre-70's etc.

Thanks for the help :)

[shaeman]

I'm not exactly an expert on Start.

Not sure about the entrance. I just went to the main one.

You will get much better xp when the mobs become red to you instead of skulls. I'm experiencing this in SM cathedral at the moment. At 20 my XP started at about 266 (If i remember rightly). At 31 I am now seeing about 377 xp per kill.

If you have the scarlet key from scarlet monastery library you can unlock the doors to startholme.

You can also get a key drop the key to city that allows you to unlock gates between live side and undead side (I believe).

[Freddman]

I've just done a little bit of Strath, I have a few questions please:
3. How do I get the key to the city, to open the gates :S?
Thanks for the help :)
Magistrate Barthilas dropps it on the Undead side, i haven't been in Strath for months but i think you have to go inside the living side, turn right? and go through a gate, the gate will then close i think, and you are inside the Undead side, Magistrate Barthilas is at the very end of the instance, just before Ramstein the Gorger and Baron.

[Xyl41]

I'm having issues with doing Strat on my paladin and could use some extra information.

Raid Holy spec, T4/Badge prot gear (with the Sporregar shield) is what I have for it. I tried Strat last night and could do 3 groups decently easy, but doing a 4th caused me some issues and I never could get down doing 5 groups at a time. Will going prot really be that big of a help for me? Also should I just go 0/49/12 or do a 0/40/21 for sanctity aura?

Edit: Also, I don't have a figurine, is it worth it to farm that trinket up?

Thanks

[Caspian]

I've just done a little bit of Strath, I have a few questions please:
3. How do I get the key to the city, to open the gates :S?
Thanks for the help :)
Magistrate Barthilas dropps it on the Undead side, i haven't been in Strath for months but i think you have to go inside the living side, turn right? and go through a gate, the gate will then close i think, and you are inside the Undead side, Magistrate Barthilas is at the very end of the instance, just before Ramstein the Gorger and Baron.He is at spot 13 on the above map. It also allows you to open the gate to go into entrance B. The SM Scarlett key opens the door to the bosses on live side.

[Razuya]

Alright, those damn Gargoyle things and ghosts are annoying.

How/what triggers the Gargoly'e's and the dark black Ghosts things to spawn and own my noobs? It's annoying... is there any way to avoid it?

[Xyl41]

Eye of Naxxramas spawns the gargoyles. You can just turn and 1 shot them.

[kadaan]

Not sure how you can get a full level per run. I've been boosting my group through UD Strath for a little while and it takes 4-5 30m baron runs per level. Even if I cleared every single npc in both live/ud I don't think that would be a full level.

[Kauppaneuvos]

One tip for stratholme.. You can exploit Baron like skeletons in ST.
Just engage <removed> and /afk.
<removed>
Btw, first post!

[Vyndree]

You can exploit Baron like skeletons in ST.
Just engage <removed> and /afk.

Exploits aren't welcome on these forums.

Since it's your first post on these forums, I'll let it slide.

[ChaoticMonk]

Is the baron boosting method considered an exploit? Can anyone confirm wether it's been nerfed like ST?

[Vyndree]

Is the baron boosting method considered an exploit? Can anyone confirm wether it's been nerfed like ST?

If it involves evade-bugging a mob, you can consider it to be an exploit.

Whether or not it's a bannable exploit is up to Blizzard -- but if you want to be 100% sure you should ask on the Customer Service Forums -- we're not Blizzard.

[Jheusse]

Regarding the Magistrate, doesn't where you can fight him depend on which entrance you come in through? I always read that if you came in through the back entrance he's initially just in that courtyard but flees to the position at the end of the dead side. If you come in through the main entrance and come through from the live side he can be fought in the courtyard just in from the rear entrance. Lockpicking or engineering charges required to get through the shortest route from the front entrance. Also read somewhere that if you were fast enough you could ranged pull him as he flees when you come in the back door.

[ChaoticMonk]

Regarding the Magistrate, doesn't where you can fight him depend on which entrance you come in through? I always read that if you came in through the back entrance he's initially just in that courtyard but flees to the position at the end of the dead side. If you come in through the main entrance and come through from the live side he can be fought in the courtyard just in from the rear entrance. Lockpicking or engineering charges required to get through the shortest route from the front entrance. Also read somewhere that if you were fast enough you could ranged pull him as he flees when you come in the back door.

Both are true. If you come in the main entrance you'll find him at the back entrance and he won't flee. If you come in the back entrance you will see him and he will flee when you open the gate but instant ranged spells will allow you to grab him before he gets too far (works best if you have someone spamming thier ranged instant spell while someone else is opening the gate).

[rebjorn]

I would add that startholme is a real pain to boost if you dont have someone who can remove disease from your 70.



I did this solo on my hunter - and the disease debuffs you. Does damage
over time and reduces your ability to bandage, eat or drink.



Having said that - you have your pally running with you so you would be fine.

Jungle remedy! Cheap and efficient.
I used to farm strat with my hunter and when I sometimes forgot, I could do nothing but go back and get it.

[~Sanjoin~]

Hi all

I was dualboxing for a while, my 2 ele shamans in BGs and arena. (the second shaman was a gift from a friend that retired)
was very nice and funny, but someday I wanted MORE!!

so, with the new possibilities I bought 3 accs, linked two of them with the other and started playing ...
first three shadow priests. (4 days ago, not even 2 days played) They are now lvl 61 and a third shaman lvl 60 with gifted levels .. and YEAH, the totem quests give almost a level xp from 59 to 60 Oo great!!! :D

so, here was the how I did it. Lvl 1-10 startzone quests ... preaty fast ..
lvl10-15 Deadmines (5 runs)
lvl15-20 Stockades (5 runs, yes, I'm alliance)
lvl20-35 SM Cath (guess 15 runs (20-30 mins a run i belive))
lvl35-45 ZF going through the whole ini, killing everything that comes my way (10 runs)
lvl45-55 Strath (all undeads, not only baron side)(here I began boosting with my both ele shamans, lesser XP, but more than double as fast) (guess 15 runs)
lvl55-60 first ini on hellfire penninsula, dont know the english name for it, sorry (6-8 runs, and nice drops for later) (again, boosting with my two ele shamans, easy)
after that was done (not even 2 days played, as I said) I began the quests on hellfire pen and well, you know, fast and still nice xp, so lvl 61 came fast.
Only the collect quests suckalot, so I left them behind.
I'm almost 62 now and going to rock the Marshes :D

btw, I began boosting 3 WLs, absolutelly same way of doing it.
works very great. (I use Keyclone, very nice thing and best 10+10$ I ever spent :D)

greetz from germany

[Perrigrin]

I was dualboxing for a while, my 2 ele shamans in BGs and arena. (the second shaman was a gift from a friend that retired)
was very nice and funny, but someday I wanted MORE!!
Beware that that account from your friend don't have your name on it - and thus you run the risk of being banned, just a heads up.

[Aethon]

I'm about to move on to SM with my guys right now. I'm using a mage, though and while I have close to 10K health, it still seem to lose hp more then I would like.

For SM, does everyone just do Cath because it's the fastest to get the big groups together? I was just thinking about doing Library for the first few levels (until they get to ~25) because not only are the mobs a little lower level, but also any mob more then 5 levels higher all give the same XP anyway.

Mainly, I was thinking I would be able to pull a few more mobs in library then in cath, but it's a moot point if it's physically easier and faster to pull the mobs in cath.

[hendrata]

Hello,

Can I ask how exactly you are boosting Strat that fast? I am boosting with a level 80 heroics geared mage. My biggest problems are:
1. Diseases. My lowbies can't remove them either. I may need to just buy plenty of potions for this one.
2. Eye of Naxxramas. Dam annoying
3. Pull size.

So which part of Strat are you clearing? Is it from the service entrance all the way to baron, or main entrance all the way to the big tunnel? or both of them? And as a mage, how big should I pull? My ice barrier usually hold up fine, but I get silenced by the banshees, and knocked back by the patchworks. That's really annoying.

[dougie700]

Seems like an old post but will put my twopence in anyways :P

I use a Level 80 prot pally for boosting in strat, kills 2 birds with one stone, 1st is to boost my aslts up and second covers as a mount run.

I have not done it for a while last time was mostly ilvl 200 gear and maybe a couple of naxx items. But even then i could pull huge groups, drag em back to the entrance or wer i left my alts and burn them down with consecrate, holy wrath and wotnot. I only did the undead side (faster runs) as i think a pally can burn down undead a lot quicker esp if you have sense undead on for the extra damage. the only thing that was giving me problems was the spiders webbing me the same time i got silenced Hand of freedom, divine sheild (also popping divine sheild wen frogged in ZF works as well, but use sparringly lol )

Am doing ZF at the momment with 4 shammies (lvl 40 atm ) and wen i hit 45 they will be heading to strat, looking forward to strat as now in T9 and equivilent gear and wondering how i will do compared to the lesser gear.

thanks anyways for my two pence :)