/play Time for first 5 box team (/w RaF) Question

[wakasm]

Just so I have an idea how slow I'm moving along, what should my play time be looking like for my first 5 box team?

I've stupidly been leveling professions and I'm probably not questing enough, but I wasn't able to find how fast the pro-5-boxers are able to level a team to 60. I was really hoping to get at least 2-3 teams to 60 before I run out of time.

Also, any tips? I'm sure a lot of my time was learning, but I've been doing instances mostly - the only one I've stuggled with so far is Gnomeregan final boss - only stopping to do some quest chains in some of the new content (like Hillsbrad, etc).

If it helps - I'm running a Pally, Mage, Lock Lock Priest team.

Thanks!

[MiRai]

Just so I have an idea how slow I'm moving along, what should my play time be looking like for my first 5 box team?

I've stupidly been leveling professions and I'm probably not questing enough, but I wasn't able to find how fast the pro-5-boxers are able to level a team to 60. I was really hoping to get at least 2-3 teams to 60 before I run out of time.

Also, any tips? I'm sure a lot of my time was learning, but I've been doing instances mostly - the only one I've stuggled with so far is Gnomeregan final boss - only stopping to do some quest chains in some of the new content (like Hillsbrad, etc).

If it helps - I'm running a Pally, Mage, Lock Lock Priest team.

Thanks!
If it's your first time, then I wouldn't worry about any /played times, just enjoy yourself and cruise along. There probably aren't
many people that can give you accurate results here anyway seeing as Cataclysm just changed everything we had ingrained
in our minds after 6 years of playing. Enjoy the first team or two and then try to beat your previous records, you've got a whole
90 days to accomplish this. If I had to guess [haven't leveled a new team with RAF yet] on /played time from 1 -60 a record
would probably be less than 24 hours of /played time, just my guess.

[schilm]

Are you boosting with a high level toon or are you leveling 5 toons at once?

With boosting my first team of Shamans hit 60 in about 40 hours played. (before cataclysm) and my last boosted team (also before cataclysm) hit 60 in about 16 hours played.

That is with RAF 300% benefits, but no bonus XP gear on any of the new toons.

Since Cataclysm, I've been leveling regular on a couple characters (still with RAF 300%) and I have been seeing probably something in the range of 1level per hour give or take on plain questing. Just been enjoying the scenery so haven't been paying attention to leveling rate all that much.

I did run a couple toons through Zul Farak yesterday for a few levels and that instance doesn't seem to be changed much at all. Was seeing somewhere around 800k to 1m XP/hour in there boosting for level appropriate toons. Which is pretty close to what I was seeing pre-cata.

- Max

[Lpwned]

Leveled 4 Shammys to 60 (Half WotLK half during pre cat patch) doing nothing but instances. It was VERY fast. If you are doing instances only like me though, you will have to do instances your level, and not above like you can normally do. You will be hurting on gear. It sounds counter intuitive, but it’s true. I had a few grays when I hit level 60 :P

Quest the rest of the way up. Outland quests are a dream (Kill quests all of them with good XP / hour), Northrend is an absolute nightmare (Collect quests all of them) and Cat is a nice mix.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

The last time I did RAF was back before Cataclysm, so it's probably easier now. That was mostly questing including running the instances at level to finish the dungeon-related quests. It took me about 2.5 days /played to 60 on my druids. I did skinning and herbing on them but didn't max them out as I leveled past the zones so fast.

[katsurahama]

I was familiar with the pre-cataclysm zones and the progression. So many quests changed in 4.0 its like a new game. I kept track of the past two teams I leveled to remember where not to go the next time. Here is my experience so you can learn from my mistakes.

DWARF TEAM - 1 warrior, 4 shaman - TOTAL PLAY TIME 28.5 HOURS. Played with a toddler on my lap sometimes and I have never played shaman ever before.

01 - 20: THOUGHTS : Too much walking around. Way too many of the available quests are gathering quests. Summon dwarves to a better starting zone.
21 - 40: THOUGHTS : Darkshire -> Ashenvale -> STV -> Hinterlands -> STV/BB -> Theramore
41 - 50: THOUGHTS : EPL -> WPL -> Felwood
51 - 60: THOUGHTS : Winterspring -> UGCrater -> Silithus -> Blasted Lands -> HFP
SKIPPED ALL GATHERING QUESTS AFTER LVL 5 UNLESS NOTED
01 - 05 : Starting zone : NOTE: Too many gathering quests here. Can't skip first couple. Summon to another location in the future. Otherwise just get to LVL 5 ASAP and go to Kharanos.
05 - 12 : Kharanos : NOTE: No gathering quests needed.
12 : Ironforge : Get a ride to Loch Modan after accepting 'Reinforcements for Loch Modan'
12 - 18 : Loch Modan : NOTE: Requires way too much running around. Can skip every gathering quest. PICK ANOTHER AREA.
18 - 19: Deadmines all but last boss. NOTE: Too sloooow. Dont do RFC or WC either - no quests or all gathering. Bosses too difficult with naked shamans, no HOTs, and one crappy heal spell until lvl 20. Paladin-3mages-Druid team was much easier at this level.
19 - 21: Dun Algaz : NOTE : Skip gathering. FYI have to keep waiting for Mountaineer's Ale to respawn. Kill orcs while waiting. Need to be 21 before DARKSHIRE.
21 - 27: Darkshire ***** : NOTE : Need to be 21 before quests are available. These levels went very quickly. Skipped all gathering quests. This is a great zone.
27 - 28: Desolace : NOTE : SKIP! Mistake to come here at this level. Need to find a stationary woman on the road from Stonetalon in order to activate any quests at Nijel's point at this level. Lowest level mob near here is level thirty. Should do Stonetalon before Desolace?
28 : Stonetalon : NOTE : SKIP! Nothing here except one elite kill quest at this level. Waste of time.
28 - 30 : Ashenvale : NOTE : SKIP! I came here too late. Some quests were gray.
30 - 32 : Northern STV : NOTE : Go from Darkshire to here. At 30 the quests are all green. Not such a gankfest anymore thanks to NPC guards at Nessy's camp.
32 - 34 : Northern STV : NOTE : Broke this out because it was slow. Quests started turning gray.
34 - 36 : Went to Booty Bay and got teleport quest to Western Plaguelands. Got to 36 in WPL.
36 - 37 : Hinterlands : NOTE : Only a few quests available in this zone at this level. They were green and quick. Got almost 1 full level.
37 - 38 : Cape of Stranglethorn : NOTE : Few quests at this level. Progress was slow. Ape item collection quest on island wasn't worth it.
38 - 44 : Dustwallow Marsh - Theramore ***** : NOTE : Good area. Should have come a couple levels earlier. Quests were almost all green. Did a small handful of quests in Southern Barrens and 1K Needles too. There was quite a bit of running around over bad terrain - should have gotten epic mount right away at 40. FYI have to listen to Lady Jaina finish her story for a followup quest.
44 : Felwood : NOTE : Need to be 46 for this zone. Only 2 non-gathering quests available at 44 at southern FP.
44 - 45 : Tanaris (Gadgetzan) : NOTE : Gankfest.
45 : WPL : NOTE : Zone is too low. A few green quests. Some quest mobs were gray.
45 - 46 : EPL : NOTE : High percentage of quests are gathering. Skipped all.
46 - 47 : Badlands : NOTE : A WPL quest at Light's Hope transports you here.
47 - 51 : Felwood ***** : NOTE : Good zone once you can get the quests. Arthas battle chain gives tons of easy XP. Take the Furbolg gathering quest - you need to kill a couple hundred of them anyway to get a Winterfall Totem for each party member - this item drop quest gives 25k XP.
51 - 56 : Winterspring ***** : NOTE : Great zone. Get Silithus and Blasted Lands travel quests from the Inn.
56 - 57 : Silithus : NOTE : High percentage of gathering quests. Worm killing quests are tedious.
57 - 59 : Blasted Lands : NOTE : Portal to this area located in Darnassus temple. This zone isn't as crappy after the Shattering.
59 - 60 : Hellfire Peninsula. Can fly at 60 now!

[katsurahama]

I forgot to mention in the previous post that I have many 60 locks and mages scattered around both continents that I can use to start chain summoning or open portals with.

I was familiar with the pre-cataclysm zones and the progression. So many quests changed in 4.0 its like a new game. I kept track of the past two teams I leveled to remember where not to go the next time. Here is my experience so you can learn from my mistakes.

GNOME TEAM - 1 rogue, 4 priests : TOTAL PRODUCTIVE PLAYED TIME 21 HOURS.
1 - 7 : STARTING AREA : Take gathering quests - not much choice.
7 - 14 : Dun Morogh : Take easy gathering quests. TIME PLAYED 2.5 HOURS
14 - 15 : Ironforge : Quest brings you here.
15 - 18 : Loch Modan : Just did first few Trogg killing & delivery quests : TIME PLAYED 3.75 HOURS
18 - 21 : Redridge Mountains : Wasted some time getting flight points between here and Stormwind. Also went to buy mounts. : TIME PLAYED 5.5 HOURS
DROPPED ROGUE - GRANTED A DWARF PALADIN UP TO 21
21 - 23 : Darkshire : Wasted over an hour creating, summoning, granting up, training, and running Paladin to FPs: TIME PLAYED 7 HOURS
23 - 31 : Darkshire : Leveling slowed down around 29. TIME PLAYED 9.5 HOURS
31 - 34 : Desolace : NOT A GOOD ZONE. Too much running around. Wasted 30 minutes creating macros. Wasted 30 minutes(!) waiting for a satchel to respawn. Do not do burning blade quests past the first one. TIME PLAYED 11.5 HOURS.
34 - 37 : Hinterlands : Do supply box gathering quest. It opens up other quests. TIME PLAYED 12.75 HOURS.
37 - 40: WPL : Get travel quest from Hinterlands for free FP to this zone. TIME PLAYED 13.5 HOURS.
40 : Ironforge : Riding training, spells, equipping items, talent points, etc.
40 : Ironforge : Wasted another 30 minutes because I summoned myself to Wetlands instead of Theramore. Also, forgot to train LVL40 riding skill. =/ TIME PLAYED 14 HOURS.
40 - 43 : Dustwallow Marsh : This is a 35-40 zone so the quests are all green. TIME PLAYED 16 HOURS.
43 - 46 : EPL : Did some gathering quests. Eyes. Skulls. Afk 90 minutes. TIME PLAYED 19.25 HOURS.
46 - 47 : Zuk'Farak : COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME. TIME PLAYED 23 HOURS.
47 - 48 : EPL : TIME PLAYED 23.5 HOURS.
48 - 49 : Badlands
49 - 54 : Felwood : TIME PLAYED 27 HOURS
54 - 58 : Winterspring : Do the vase collection quest in the tunnel with the spiders. WASTED 30 MINUTES AFK. TIME PLAYED 29 HOURS
58 - 60 : Blasted Lands : TIME PLAYED 29.5 HOURS (-8.5 HOURS WASTED = 21 HOURS)

My next team will be a paladin, 3 hunters, and a priest. I will keep track of them as well. After that I think all 5 accounts are full, which is unfortunate since I enjoy questing them up from level 1.

[alcattle]

Great job. I think we can do better moving zone to zone. I want re-do the RAF guides that were done here.

[katsurahama]

HUMAN TEAM - paladin, 3 hunters, 1 priest
1 - 10 : Starting area & Goldshire : Best starting area so far. Took blackrock orc weapon gathering quest and boar rib (billy's pie) gathering quest. TIME PLAYED 1 HOUR
10 - 13 : Elwynn Forest : Way too much running and lots of gathering quests (skipped). TIME PLAYED 2 HOURS
13 - 17 : Westfall : LOTS of running around. TIME PLAYED 3.75 HOURS. Wasted 20 minutes trying to log all five toons in - having login problems since Patch 4.0.
17 - 21 : Redridge Mountains : Did box and gnoll collar collection quests. Went to SW at 21 to get mounts and about 10 levels of spells. Wasted 20 minutes. TIME PLAYED (forgot to check)
21 - 31 : Darkshire : Did rot bloom gathering quest. TIME PLAYED 7.75 HOURS
31 : IRONFORGE : equipping 10 levels of items, getting spells, cleaning inventory, making macros, wasted about 45 minutes : TIME PLAYED 9.25 HOURS
31 - 35 : Hinterlands : Did box collection quest. TIME PLAYED 10.25 HOURS
35 - 38 : WPL : TIME PLAYED 11 HOURS
38 - 43 : Dustwallow Marsh : TIME PLAYED 13 HOURS
43 : Stormwind : Spent 30 minutes getting spells in SW and traveling to Ironforge to get the FP there. Terrible lag in SW since patch 4.0
43 - 46 : EPL : Did eye gathering quest. Not worth it if anyone else is questing there - gank spot. Skipped doll quest. TIME PLAYED 15.25 HOURS
46 - 48 : Badlands : Did three quests in Searing Gorge : TIME PLAYED 16.25 HOURS
48 - 52 : Felwood : Quite a bit of running. Skipped all the collection quests I usually do in this zone. TIME PLAYED 18 HOURS
52 - 57 : Winterspring : TIME PLAYED 19.5 HOURS
57 - 60 : Blasted Lands : Last 5 minutes were the first couple go here, go there, welcome here quests in Outlands. TIME PLAYED 20.75 HOURS (minus 1-2 hours wasted = under 20 hours).

NOTE: A lot fewer zones this time around. BTW, hunters do so much damage a tank wasn't necessary except when gathering up a bunch of mobs for the sake of convenience (this isn't always possible and this team has no real AOE anyway). For someone thinking of leveling hunters I would do either 4 hunters + a healer or even just 5 hunters.

[Kekkerer]

Get a friend or pay a random to boost you from 57 to 60 in ramparts, with RAF you get those 3 levels in less than 30 minutes, 1h if you're 5 boxing since you need to separate your toons to groups of 2 and 3. With Cataclysm the minimum entry level was changed to 57 from 55.

Edit: It's much easier to organize a boost now since you can summon at the stone, this method will save you roughly 1 hour and anyone who is lvl 85 can pull the boost off in less than 10 min per instance, gear is not important.

Edit2: I realise that the point of the guide is to aid people who want a solo play experience but I have found the last 3 levels before outland to be extremely tiresome (have levelled 2 teams of 5 past this point post cata).

[katsurahama]

It took me 45 - 75 minutes to get the last 2-3 levels in blasted lands. The zone used to be a nightmare of low-drop crappy collection quests but those are gone in Cataclysm. The last 2-3 levels go very quickly there, as shown above. I dont know if the zone still sucks for horde or not...

[katsurahama]

I tried hellfire ramparts on a team prior to these using the LFD tool. At 58 i got over 2k xp per kill. You need a real tank-3 dps-healer group though because patrols and runners can get a big mob on you sometimes. Halfway through the instance i went back to questing but someone with experience 5 boxing instances could do well here. I did try the same team here at 60 and it was much easier.

[Ualaa]

Just level 5x of every composition you think you might enjoy down the road.
Don't worry about the spec now.
Just get a lot of options to choose from.

[cj252]

my /playd was 1 day on my first grp long time, did a 2 grp now in cata used 3 days whit about 3-5 houers playing time :)