returning to boxing...quest vs instancing question

[Zenthor]

I have not boxed since LK came out so, am currently trying to get cought back up. Can someone tell me how much slower leveling would be doing only LK instances vs quest? I solo'd a few 80s and seem to recall a ton of gatering quest...plus, the usual ganking slow downs. Would instances be drastically slower then quest? Thanks!

[Diwa]

In general, gathering quests for boxers are not advisable though there are considerations if it belongs to a chain quest that you really need. Just focus on instance quests and dailies. And I believe UK is the best for power leveling instance from lvl 65-80.

Dailies

[Ogloo]

U mean do striaght UK even at 79? im just wondering because im almost 75 and i dunno if thats still faster than quests or other instances at that level...

[Effex]

i found HOL very good for 77-80. our new guys are 76 so we'll be starting that tomorrow.

as for questing v lvling i cant say for certain whats bets but what we did was:

65-68 boost - UK
68-77 - quest all zones. with zuldrak only do non pickup as theres a load of pickup there.

[Fef]

I have two groups at 80, one did a lot of instances (mostly for the fun factor), and the other basically didn't instance before 80 (or something like each instance once, for the quests).

My subjective impression is that questing goes a bit faster (basically no learning curve involved). However, depending on your in-game financial situation, I would advice you to do a lot of instancing and save as many quest as possible for money making at max level. I ran my first group through three basically untouched zones, and made over 25k golds. Easy money, with a group of 5 level 80 characters, every quest is trivial.

[RdrckSmith]

Fef,

How was your experience with the WotLK collection quests from 70 to 80? I think you're the first person I've heard say anything positive about questing in that level range. Were you talking about total levelling in general (i.e. 1 to 80) or did you find that 70 to 80 actually went smoothly for you using primarily quests?

[Mokoi]

Colelction quests in WotlK seem slow, but are actually pretty quick. Your perception of time stretches out because of the monotonous nature of the quest, but my exp/hour stays steady throughout all questing in Wotlk at around 150-250k despite doing gathering, and usually collection quests lead to badass kill and travel quests which when combined, offer much more exp/hr than instances, which are around 130-175k/hour exp. I lvld in instances at the start of WotlK with a full t6 Prot Warrior and we found questing (even with 5 people) was WAY faster than instances.

[Enndo]

Even though none of my teams are above 60 yet since i keep rerolling lol. I woulda also assume if one of your toons has enchanting running alot of instances and DE'ing everything could be extremely profitable.

[Momo]

In my honest opinion.

Questing wins.

For two reasons.

Reason one is that you can get kick arse xp if you hit it hard over a few sessions. look up your quests on say wowhead, or use addons such as questhelper so you dont waste time. Big chains are big...and juicy xp runs that are usually easy as all hell.

Reason two is that you will make an absolute crapload of cash without even trying. It adds up crazy fast. If you are dirt poor and need to gear your crew in crafted items as soon as you hit 80 then this is the way.

Of course, @ 80 you can run through the same zones if you dont clear them. And make a crazy amount. If questing is your thing.

I found instancing somewhat slower, and became very repetitive quite quickly.

I quested my shaman from 72-80 without touching an instance. Very, very quickly.
My lock crew are almost at 80 and ran from 75-78 in about two evenings of effort. Plus each made 1k gold in that time just off quest rewards. And that was just doing the 100 or so quests in Dragonblight.

[Tonuss]

Collection quests aren't so bad if they are grouped with other quests in the same areas, because you are picking up your collection items as you work through your other quests. If you are not done by the time you complete the other quests, you usually just have a few more to grind out, so it's not so bad.

It really depends on drop rates and mob density. Some collection quests are really not worth it, but you'll know that after just a few minutes (ie, when you've looted 7 quest items from 35 mobs, and you still need 92 more of the item in question).

Best thing to do is what someone else already mentioned- check wowhead to see if that collection quest leads to something you want, otherwise consider skipping it or leaving it for another time. Quest reward experience is the big driver of exp for a group in WotLK, and any quest that requires you to grind out a lot of mobs to complete, will be inefficient in terms of leveling speed IMO.