Levelling Question

Hi - I'm 5 boxing, BEs 1xpally 3xmage 1xPriest and they're around level 14/15. I also have a BE 70 lock on the same server who is my main. The reason for me boxing is the usual, I was tired of trying to find groups so I thought I'd make my own. My ideal endgame group is pally lock 2xmage and priest so here's the question:
Since I'm aiming for a group at 70 that includes my lock, should I just be running instances over and over again with the lock as primary and just have the others on follow? I've seen the content too many times zzzzzzz so I'm not bothered about missing out on anything. I'm having fun with the current 3mages but the levelling is too slow.

I've been running my 4 lowbies through instances with my 70 warrior and I think its faster than questing. I'm at SM now. I'd say its cool :)

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Originally Posted by Gallo

I've been running my 4 lowbies through instances with my 70 warrior and I think its faster than questing. I'm at SM now. I'd say its cool :)

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:) thanks - so do they do anything or do you just have them as an appendage?

Theyre just an appendage... I sometimes have my priest heal the warrior, but its tough when the heals are like 200 and my warrior has 12k health lol.

Took the kids through SFK - very nice to have a pally along when pats occasionaly took out a member lol. The team got 7000xp average for the run each, gotta be happy with that for an hour on follow. Also ended up with lots of enchanting mats from the useless greens.

Question: If I started 4 draenei shaman (I already have 1 Lv. 70 Shaman) they are currently Lv. 4, started 30min last night only. Should I skip everything and bring them to deadmines and run them through right away? Or should I wait until they are Lv. 15ish to start doing that?

Sorry for asking, I just don't want to run all the way out there to fight out on my own if I can help it. ^^

lvl 10 or 11 should be good enough for deadmines. You just dont want your newbie characters to aggro things from a room away :)

Good suggestion thank you, I'll try that hopefully tomorrow I'll have time.

Ive been boosting my 2 alts trough instances aswell with my 70 mage.
Started in RFC, then to SFK. i stayed in SFK till level 20. (about 4 runs per level).
They are now level 35.
it SM Cath starts with about 7K xp per level, (unrested) and now at level 35 they get between 13K-14K xp rested per run.

As i do a full SM Cath run in 10-15 minutes, this is pretty nice.

I keep on doing this till they are level 47 as then my other chars will join the group and we will be doing ZF and stuff like that.

i would say boosting through instances is the fastest way to level. but you do miss out on training your multibox skill, but that is also trainable at higher levels.

i worked it out by liturally just watching the incomming XP, when i had a friend running with my locks in DM i wsa getting 18-35 xp a kill the mobs were the same level as me.

this was about 5-10 xp less than what i could kill outside of an instance on my own.

running RFK with my 5 chars now started 24x2 and 29x3(with alot of rested) and they are now 26x2 and 32x3, ill probably carry on running RFK for quite a while as the level 32 characters are getting about 82-100xp a kill which is more than the level 26 characters. im waiting for about level 34 with the last 2 before going GY and Lib i went there tonight but the mobs were too high for my priest to heal the damage output, the result was a wipe.

For anyone playing about with warlocks heres somthing you only need 1 warlock with shadow embrace talent, haveing multiple warlocks with it doesnt make it stack or add more affliction effects to the target.

Just wondering if anyone knew of a macro that i could put in with my drain life that would check to see if Nightfall proc was up, if so cast shadow bolt if not cast drain life?

thanks for all your replies, I ran SFK twice last night and got around 13000xp plus some nice drops for my alts although they not high enough to use them lol.

simpletom you said:
"level 32 characters are getting about 82-100xp a kill which is more than the level 26 characters"

any idea why that is? Is it due to more xp required at a higher level so it scales?

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Originally Posted by Astrid

simpletom you said:
"level 32 characters are getting about 82-100xp a kill which is more than the level 26 characters"

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If I am not mistaken WoW splits the xp based on your level so if you have a lvl 18 and a level 22 in a group and you gain 40xp then 22xp goes to the lvl 22 and 18xp goes to the lvl 18.

Thanks, this explains why I (Astrid) am accelerating away from my boxees in xp. I was a little ahead of them due to a pally quest and a little grinding and am now 2 levels ahead...should I go level the others up so that they're at the same level? I'm now experiencing a problem in ghostlands where my boxees aren't at a high enough level to share my quests...I decided last night to mix it up a bit with some quests/grinding instances 50/50.

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Originally Posted by Astrid

Thanks, this explains why I (Astrid) am accelerating away from my boxees in xp. I was a little ahead of them due to a pally quest and a little grinding and am now 2 levels ahead...should I go level the others up so that they're at the same level? I'm now experiencing a problem in ghostlands where my boxees aren't at a high enough level to share my quests...I decided last night to mix it up a bit with some quests/grinding instances 50/50.

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Will probably be best to try and keep them synced somewhat. I started yesterday and just played around a bit and had a few kills on the primary before I got them grouped. They are only lvl 4 and already there is quite a few kills inbetween both gaining levels.

I think the drag the lowbies through technique is viable until about 40 - 45 with a 70 main.

After that though you will probably want to ungroup the 70 lest they suck too much xp.

i started doing deadmines at Lv 10 4 shaman and one shaman 70.
I had a level up about every 20-30min on my alts so I went up from 10 to 22 doing DM/Stockades in a day of playing.

Stockades is great because the mobs are all close together and all elites, but the instance is too short I have to wait a little bit sometimes, during that time I try to level up my alt's enchanting so I can DE stuff at higher level. And no I dont loot any corpse, waste of time.

in my situation I cant imagine grinding quests being any faster than this.
My 4 shamans are up to 25 now.

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Originally Posted by dniem

i started doing deadmines at Lv 10 4 shaman and one shaman 70.

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I'm currently doing the same.

It's a nice EXP Boost (not that much on a single mob because of the lvl 70 char in the group but you kill tons of mobs within one hour so it's ok and the loot is excellent.) I'm currently rushing deadmines, shadowfang and stockades.

btw. you get tons of cloth and green items which is excellent for training your professions.

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Originally Posted by beyond-tec

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Originally Posted by dniem

i started doing deadmines at Lv 10 4 shaman and one shaman 70.

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I'm currently doing the same.

It's a nice EXP Boost (not that much on a single mob because of the lvl 70 char in the group but you kill tons of mobs within one hour so it's ok and the loot is excellent.) I'm currently rushing deadmines, shadowfang and stockades.

btw. you get tons of cloth and green items which is excellent for training your professions.

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Just finished Deadmins the other night, moved to Stockades at 15 which is a big XP boost, but we hit the reset limit rapidly (6-9mins to clear on my lock). At 20 we'll move to Scarlet Monastery Cathedral & Armory until 35-45'ish depending on how ZF goes at 35...

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Originally Posted by Shogun

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Originally Posted by beyond-tec

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Originally Posted by dniem

i started doing deadmines at Lv 10 4 shaman and one shaman 70.

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I'm currently doing the same.

It's a nice EXP Boost (not that much on a single mob because of the lvl 70 char in the group but you kill tons of mobs within one hour so it's ok and the loot is excellent.) I'm currently rushing deadmines, shadowfang and stockades.

btw. you get tons of cloth and green items which is excellent for training your professions.

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Just finished Deadmins the other night, moved to Stockades at 15 which is a big XP boost, but we hit the reset limit rapidly (6-9mins to clear on my lock). At 20 we'll move to Scarlet Monastery Cathedral & Armory until 35-45'ish depending on how ZF goes at 35...

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ZF isnt the best for boosting. All of the mobs are really spread out, so it makes it hard to grind through at a fast rate. I stayed at SM Cath until I dinged 41, and after that the mobs turn green. I'd go to ZF after that.

It's post-ZF that I'm having difficulty planning... BRD, Scholo, Strat, BRS are all open at 45 iirc, but none of them are easy/fast to solo for viable ammounts of XP...

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Originally Posted by Shogun

It's post-ZF that I'm having difficulty planning... BRD, Scholo, Strat, BRS are all open at 45 iirc, but none of them are easy/fast to solo for viable ammounts of XP...

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I dont know, I think it depends on the class that your lvl 70 is. Mine is a warrior, with decent epics for DPS, and I think that BRD is going to do me well from lvl 48-58. There are huge concentrations of mobs in that instance all over the place. I should be able to go from group to group ripping things apart with a big 2h weapon.

A lvl 70 caster might have some difficulty though, because they can't take quite the beating.

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Originally Posted by Gallo

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Originally Posted by Shogun

It's post-ZF that I'm having difficulty planning... BRD, Scholo, Strat, BRS are all open at 45 iirc, but none of them are easy/fast to solo for viable ammounts of XP...

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I dont know, I think it depends on the class that your lvl 70 is. Mine is a warrior, with decent epics for DPS, and I think that BRD is going to do me well from lvl 48-58. There are huge concentrations of mobs in that instance all over the place. I should be able to go from group to group ripping things apart with a big 2h weapon.

A lvl 70 caster might have some difficulty though, because they can't take quite the beating.

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That's my problem... I'm using my lvl 70 'lock, and while SM is cake (just double dot every mob) ZF and ST are fine too, until you get hexxed and all the alts die, plus the instances are a pain... BRD is doable but I need to drain tank alot, Soul Link/Siphon Life (the PvP spec) will work, but I can see that causing alot of downtime to drink between groups. I'm confident I can clear Scholo solo as well, as I've done it, but it's not as fast as other stuff to clear due to mob levels...

Guess I'll see when I get there, levelling a bunch of toons atm, between 20-34 atm, a while to go before I leave SM, and by the time I do, I think any instance will be a nice change :P

(yes I know, I just copied and reposted the same post from the General chat, shaman on me. :)
I can tell about my fresh experience. Started to level up 4 new drainei shamans, I already had one to 70.

From 1-10, no choice, I had to do "some" quests that didn't involve gathering quest items because it's such a pain to do it. Mostly was grinding mobs until I ding Lv. 10 while only playing the 4 shamans.

From 10-18, brought in the 70 shaman and started running Deadmines. Didn't loot anything because it wasn't really worth it and I really had some money to start with. I had them follow up from a distance while I fully cleared everyone zone (or almost full clear). I was getting about 75% of a level a run which is pretty damn got, it takes me like 15min to do one, that's over 2 level an hour. Just as a side note, I got from Lv. 8 to Lv. 35 in my week end.

From 18-25, Stockades is awesome. It's a small and very quick clear instance with only elite mobs which give much more exp. The only thing was that I would clear it too fast so that I had to wait at times, so then I would loot most of them to get a starting material base for one of my alts that's gonna be Enchanting/Tailoring. While I would wait on the reset I would log the others out and craft stuff to increase my prof or go play TF2. I would usually get about 30%+ per run.

From 25-35(current), I did one graveyard which is crap, don't go there. I did 2-3 Library to get the key and all. Then decided to start on Cathedral, which was the right thing to do. It's also a small instance with alot of mobs everywhere, just run around gather them all and kill em quick, get you thousands of exp real quick. I do a full clear on the instance all the time. I did loot for the first few times again to gather mats for my 2 prof and to a point I stoped and only looted the bosses for the shards of which I have like 60+ now not sure. Can't even seem to seel one of those things anymore... anyway...

I'm going to stay in Cath. until like 40, then go to Uldaman for a while. I skip Gnomeragan because it's a huge instances and the mobs are all spread out so it's not really worth going, better skip up to Cath where it's quick and all stacked together.

I currently sit at like 18 hours played at Lv. 35 for the shamans that weren't crafting.

So powerleveling instance vs. grinding quests? I'll let you figure out my answer. ^_^

Hope this helps,
-D

Hmm.....Since the new Patch Questing gives your 15% more XP now. That is alot...so just wondering what is faster Questing or running thru instances? for 3xDuel-boxing?

it could just be my bitter side talking because I don't have a great lvl 70 class help me lvl up but I think power leveling your chars to lvl 40+ and then trying to manage them on your own could pose a bit of a shock with instances or harder quests when all they've did is follow a 70 around for a few hours. Unless you've played the class before, you have a dozen+ skills you've never tried to use effectively and macro's you've never taken advantage of except /follow. with 2.3's level xp reduction and quest xp gain I've been able to level on average in just under 2 hours per level making sure I do good chain quest and stay away from tedious collection quests. It's certainly slower than having a mage clear SM over and over, but it feels good to learn play my chars effectively, manage their mana and keep them all alive while I level

I dualbox 5 shaman, and everytime I think about questing, I pull up my guide, go to the places I need to be at the level I'm at. Gather all the quest, and then I start trying to do them and realize how much it sucks.
Gathering are really bad for multiboxer, even one person alone would take a while to gather the stuff, the probably is not really the gathering part, just the drop % and the amount of limited mobs to kill. Hey give me a 1000 of everything that drop my quest items to kill in a row and it won't be a problem, just whenever I clear one place you need to wait for it to respawn it's really bad.

I'm 45 right now, and it's getting slower in instances, mostly because ZF and Maraudon are not very good for exp. IMO. They are wide instances and takes a while to clear it, unlike SM Cathedral, but eventually I'll get through it and go to ST in a few levels.

i played my 5 shamans to level 38 in SM Libary. If you play very concentrated you can stay on 17-18k xp/hr. With good questing you can hit the 20k-mark, but there so much factors which affect the ratio (too less quest-mob, to much pvp etc).

Well I’m twinking my 4 man group for 39 BGs for a couple of weeks break on the road to 70 and I have a couple of boosting experiences to throw into the pot, Alliance Point of view, boosting with 70 mage, hunter or priest:

Deadmines/Stockades: Comments as mentioned by previous posters, but monitoring the XP gains, I actually noticed that the minions gained better XP the more they closed in on the “recommended” levels for the instance. So I’d actually recommend staying in DM till 18 or so, Stockades 18-25, then on to SM. Boredom can become a factor though :O

SFK: Did a couple of runs here. Was also pretty quick and efficient, but not as good as Stockades (but if loot is a goal, it’s MUCH better here).

RFK: Also a great place to boost, even for alliance. Good loot for the level. Nice big groups of mobs etc.

RFD: Also pretty damned good. Great 39 loot, mostly good sized groups, a couple of annoying skeleton patrols which may whack low level alts if you aren’t careful.

SM: Library is quick and easy with virtually any booster, but Cath is even quicker and easier, plus from my point of view, the loot is perfect for 39 BGs. Easiest and quickest possible XP if that’s your goal from 30-41 imo.

Uldaman: If you are considering twinking, or want some decent upgrades, Revlosh and Ironya are Sooooo easy to farm. By the time I started here, the shammy was already 39 so I was concered about him dinging, so he stayed outside till the bosses. But again, good groups of 8-15 mobs of level 36-40 all the way up to Ironya. Have not tried beyond this. Each run to Ironya takes 6 or so minutes. So it’s a nice alternative, and pretty easy to get to.

ST: Well I have mixed views about this place, given the annoyingly confusing layout, but armed with the excellent guide at: http://www.wow-pro.com/node/592 I actually found the place to be not only 1) A total cakewalk (thought it actually might be challenging). 2) Pretty efficient for XP. Just go downstairs and clear the bottom ring/activate the statue. Then Upstairs, clear the whole ring. Then the 6 troll bosses. Then downstairs for the dragons. Then Jammal etc. Takes ages, but there are LOADS of mobs. The minions went at 38, and never once got aggro. And all dinged to 39 during the process. It’s a big instance, and still takes a while, but might be worth a go. I’d still say ZF is the better option though, but getting the quest rewards for Jammal’s head at 39 was too good an opportunity to turn down…. L51ish item at L39 is pretty imba.

So overall, from my experience, I’d say as follows:

1-10/12 – Quest
12-18 – DM (and SFK if you want some loot)
19-25 – Stockades
26-39 – Combination of SM/RFK/RFD (if you have the luxury of a 70 mage) If not, just do SM.
39-43 – Uldaman
43-50 – ZF
50+ - ST is worth a try, but you may find it annoying.

General:
- XP distance. It actually surprised me the distance at which my minions can still gain XP. It seems to be a good 150 yards or so. So I just put one of the minons as the “lead” minon, the other 2 on follow, and have them move along after each batch of mobs is dead to ensure that I still get the XP.
- Looting. The lead is also the looter while the mage who boosts drinks up. I just switch the lead minion to the second or 3rd one when his bags are full. The time it takes to loot the 10-15 corpses means the mage is full mana and ready to roll again = no downtime and full loot.
- Access to instances: As alliance, getting to SM will always be a nightmare, but with my setup, I can really exploit the advantages of having a 70 mage and a couple of warlocks. I set my hearthstones for all minions and the mage in Ratchet at about L22 (long run down, but you have to get all the FP’s at some point), for easy access to RFK and RFD, and just do portals to wherever else for questing/other instances. My druid is on my main account, same as the mage, but when he tags along, I just portal then walk to the instance location, log out the mage, then summon him.
- Boosting with both the mage and the hunter is a breeze, but the mage (specced frost for aoe) is the quickest by far (despite crappy gear). This will change come BRD and above I know, but up until then she rocks. I’m sure the warrior would also be good, but she has pretty crappy gear, so I haven’t used her yet. As an aside though, my poorly druid is stuck being boosted by my priest, who, although well geared, is pitifully slow at clearing anything (priest is the only 70 I moved off my main account), so avoid boosting with a priest at anything above Stockades.

as ive posted here before,
i am boosting a lock/pally and priest. with a 70 mage.
did SFk, SM Cath and also ZF.

they stayed in ZF till 48 and uptill then it went good.

i went to BRD. added my 2nd 70 mage. but that nerfed the XP by half. so im now with 1 mage in BRD, only clearing the first part with all the mobs together.

im thinking it goes really slow now, but there is no other instance atm.
during 1 day in the instance (about 8-9 hours) i went from lvl 48 to 53.

i think ill stay in BRD till at least 56 and then maybe LBRS/UBRS.

sad is though that they get about 100 xp per mob in BRD if im boosting with 2 mages, and 200xp per mob with 1 mage present. (SM cath gave also about 100xp per mob at lvl 30 to give an idea off the difference).

So im thinking maybe i need to go up a notch to an instance where the mobs are 5 levels higher then my chars, to gain more xp.

Yeah, I hit 48 and brought my 4 clothies (priest/mage/mage/lock) to BRD with my 70 Warrior. Boosting in there seems alright. I'm actually using my clothies to DPS and heal now, which I didn't have to do in any earlier instance. It definitely seems slower than before, but the levels get longer as you go along anyways.

I can't quite do even half of BRD yet, because when the mobs are above 52, my DPS guys can't do enough damage (all the misses) and my healer pulls aggro way too much. I'm about to ding 49, and its taken maybe 3 hours? Not too shabby. Getting lots of runecloth and blues though.

My shamans are now 70 and 4x47. I've been doing a mix of ZF/Maraudon, mostly becaues I cant stand one or the other for too long. I also looked for all available quests that didnt involved a long chain prior to get them and did them as well, a nice exp on the side.

Exp is long in instance, but also other factors are to be considered, like money and loot. Buying skills for all 4-5 toons cost alot of money and the mounts too, but regardless of that I'm making tons of cash, cant wait to get to Lv. 70 and see how it goes that way.

Just have to keep on grinding, been playing and hour or 2 everyday, trying to do at lest 75% of a level now and then, eventually I'll get there.

damn, fck brd.

sorry.

200 XP per mob with 4 chars, off which 1 is a 70 mage.
I thought, why not try LBRS.

The level difference between my chars and the mobs there is about 5, so it gives maximum xp to them.

I grabbed my other 70 mage. and hell yeah.

200 xp per mob killed with 2 mages present. :)
and:
the speed <3
the drops are just a bit better then in brd.

The HUGE downside. Magisters bindings.. first run they dropped here, while a year ago i spend 4 months getting them and finally bought them on the AH. the enormous frustration at the moment they dropped last night. But it brought back memories aswell. they should make more instances like BRD, LBRS and UBRS. but thats a different discussion.

anyway LBRS.
keep the level off the mobs you kill about 4-5 levels above your chars to gian maximum xp. goodluck!

I have actually had decent experience powerleveling 4 toons with a 70 priest. I can clear the Armory in 15 minutes. Priest is in blues and greens only and I had to respec her for holy nova powerleveling... lol. But she does well. Self-shield, run around pulling large amount of mobs, holy nova. I have to drink before repeating. I do the Armory in 5 pulls and one boss stop. Since holy nova generates no argo I have to park the kids out of line of sight and do the AEing close by.

I tried 70 warlock and 70 warrior both with better gear and found that while the pace was faster I really apprieciated being able to rez if I accidently got one of them killed.

In the 50's I may have to abondon the priest or atleast add another 70 and drop a lowbie to level later as only 3 of the 4 are priority.