Levelling Question

[Gallo]

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...

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.

[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...

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.

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

[dniem]

(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

[Meathead]

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?

[Bravo]

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

[dniem]

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.

[Feehza]

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).

[Kyudo]

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.

[Theanara]

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.

[Gallo]

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.